Snow and Ice- It's really nice!

And really cold too. We have finally started to get alot of snow, and it even sticks for a while now. It used to just melt away or get washed away by rain, but it is finally becoming cold enough to last for a while. Today was the first major snow. It was already pouring snow when I woke up, and did not stop until noon. The whole university and town was blanketed in 4 inches or so of powder. It was great, as I walked to class I didn't even feel cold, and I wasn't slipping and sliding on ice, I was happily crunching through fresh snow. Impromptu snowball fights between strangers were breaking out left and right, kids were building snowmen, I even saw someone trying to make a snow angel. After absorbing a few snowballs, I made it to my lecture. Unfourtertnetly around noon it started to rain, so some of the snow melted. Luckily I took lots pictures, and they say pictures are worth 1000 words, so I'll leave you with some of the best ones:

(The frozen lake yesterday, before the huge snow this morning)

(The lake from the other side, looking back at the dining hall)

(Heavy snow begins this morning)

(More snow)

(Walking to class through a parking lot)

(I'm glad my basketball team practices indoor)

(It's already starting to melt and turn into slush)

(A Snowman!)

(Not my handywork, but still pretty cool)

That's all for now, we're supposed to have alot more snow this weekend- so maybe more pictures soon.

-Gabe

December!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend?

Wow, the term is going by really fast, I can't believe it's December already! As I write this it's absolutely dumping snow out my window, the lake is frozen, and the sun is getting ready to set (at 3:30pm). I don't think it got above zero degrees this whole weekend... Celsius. But still.

It truly is winter now. It hasn't snowed too much, but the whole town is covered in frost and ice. It's really difficult to walk around without slipping and falling. Going outside without gloves, a hat and long underwear is unimaginable. It will be a shock to my system, albeit a happy one, when I arrive in Pasadena and its 80 degree weather in two weeks time.

I haven't made a post in a while because I've recently been really busy with school work. There was hardly any work the first few months, we just had to keep up with reading. But now that the term is ending, I have big term papers for most of my classes. I have four 2000 word papers to do before winter break. Luckily though, I've picked some pretty interesting topics for the papers, so I'm having fun. 'Fun' may be an exaggeration actually, but it's really not too bad. I've already written two of the four, so I'm doing well.

Well, I better get back to those last two papers so I can enjoy the last few weeks of term. Lots of fun events coming up, like a Christmas Formal and the Winter Ball. It's really starting to feel like Christmas too, with the whole town turning into a winter wonderland.

I'll be back soon with pictures.

Send Pumpkin Pie!!

I went to Edinburgh today for the University of California Thanksgiving event. My friend Chris (who goes to UC Berkeley at home) and I decided to take the 7:30 AM train from Durham, even though it would get us to Edinburgh 3 hours before the event started. With the exchange rate as it stands, anything to save money is nice, and this definitely saved money. However, we had to get up around 6AM. We met to walk down the station around 6:45, as it's quite a walk from College.

Now for those of you in the real world- with jobs, or high school, that may not sound ridiculously early. Well, the sun doesn't even come up here until 7:50AM, so it really felt much earlier. The streets were empty, and it was literally as dark as the middle of the night. And at the risk of huge understatement, it was cold. But it was only going to get colder.

Antarctica? No, just a bad photo from the fast moving train, 20 minutes from Durham

As soon as we left Durham and a few snow flurries in the train station, we were literally immersed into a "winter wonderland". Everything was covered in snow. I'm not sure why Durham missed out on this blanketing, but again, it won't be long.

The whole train ride up, we speculated and salivated about the upcoming Thanksgiving meal. Turkey. Cranberry Sauce. Mashed Potatoes. Stuffing (Chris's daydream, I hate the stuff). Pumpkin Pie! "As long as they have turkey and pumpkin pie, I'll be happy" I declared as we walked through the streets of Edinburgh. Well, I wasn't happy...

Our high expectations were crushed. It was basically just a standard fancy dinner. Small portions, fancy plating, decent food. It wasn't even a buffet, so we couldn't stuff ourselves silly, as of course one must do on Thanksgiving. There was turkey, but that's about all this meal had in common with Thanksgiving.

Compare that, with this:

Last year's thanksgiving plate.

The most crushing disappointment however, came masqueraded as dessert. Chocolate cake with ice cream... Chocolate cake... It was the first time I've nearly been moved to tears by chocolate cake. And we're not talking tears of joy.

Not Pumpkin Pie...

I would have even settled for apple pie! Or pecan! It was decent cake, but it just wasn't pumpkin pie. And that sums up the whole event. I hope this doesn't come off badly, I don't mean to be complaining so much. It was a nice event, and a great gesture for UC's Education Abroad to put on this event to thanksgivingless Californians. The food was good. It really was. At any other time, this would have been a great meal. It was nice to hang out with other Californians, and Edinburgh is a great city to spend an afternoon in (even in 20 degree weather). But it wasn't Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, to me, is about family, carved turkey, my dad's cranberry sauce, home made pies, stuffing myself far beyond necessity, spending the weekend in Ramona, and so on. This just wasn't the same. The most important part obviously is spending time with family- both immediate and extended. Thanksgiving is a great holiday to bring families together. But I knew I wouldn't be with my family this thanksgiving, I was resigned to that fact. Secondarily though, Thanksgiving is about the food. It's not as important as being with one's family obviously, but still important. And I think if this meal was very thanksgivinglike, it could have helped me cope with being away from my family on thanksgiving. I would have been able to salvage something from the holiday. But of course, it was nothing like thanksgiving. I think this was the first time I've experienced homesickness since I've been here.

We still had a fun afternoon, mostly commiserating about the food.

There were around 100 or so Californians

Other Californians saddened by the food

Scottish Dancing

But it was with heavy hearts and less than satisfied stomachs that we trudged back into the dark and freezing streets, and back towards the train station.


(PS- in respect to the post title, you probably shouldn't actually attempt to send pumpkin pie. I'm not sure it would survive the two weeks things take to send here... Although, it's the thought that counts, so I won't fault you for trying)

Snow!

When I said yesterday "the first snow can't be far off", I wasn't kidding. It happened today. I had just taken a shower, and was on my computer before going off to breakfast. I went over to weather.com to see how cold it was (rather than just looking out my window). It said 34 degrees, "feels like" 27, snowing. Oh, okay, so pretty cold then I thought... Wait, SNOWING?!?

I jumped over to the window, and practically tore open the curtains. Sure enough, it really was snowing. Lots of fluffy white stuff was slowly falling from the sky. This was no freezing rain, hail or slush, this was the real deal. One of the few times I've seen falling snow in my life. It was pretty great. It only continued for about 5 minutes though, and there was no accumulation on the ground at all. I didn't even have time to get dressed (warmly) and go outside and really experience it. I'm sure I'll have plenty more chances though. To catch the 7:30AM train to Edinburgh tomorrow, I have to leave college around 6:45. Weather.com is forecasting 22 degree temperatures at that time...

I'll be back later this weekend to write about the Thanksgiving event, and hopefully post some pictures too. Have a good weekend!

-Gabe

Winter is (un) Officially Here

Although Winter doesn't officially start until December 22nd, it certainly doesn't feel like fall anymore. During the past few weeks I was treated to classic fall scenes like the following:




Not anymore. At the moment, Durham looks nothing like the above pictures. Nearly all the yellow and orange leaves have fallen from the trees, leaving only skeletal remains.

It's not just the leaves, or lack thereof that make it feel like winter. It's also properly cold now. People have stopped chiding me for shivering, and remind me "oh it's going to get much worse, if you're cold now..." far less often. Even the locals are rarely seen in T-Shirts these days. It hasn't snowed yet, but I don't think the first snow is far off. It has certainly been cold enough to snow. The rain has picked up quite a bit, and we had two weeks of Soccer matches canceled in a row, before finally playing a match last Saturday.

I rarely go outside now without long underwear, gloves and a jacket (and obviously an umbrella). Of course as I write about all this doom and gloom, it's sunny and in the high 40's today, so it's not always terrible.

While it seems that we've transitioned into Winter, that doesn't mean Fall's greatest holiday has been forgotten- Thanksgiving! Of course, it's not celebrated or even really known about here. One of my friends admitted she'd only even heard about it from watching Friends. But, this does not mean I will miss Thanksgiving this year. The University of California is putting on a Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday in Edinburgh, for all the California students anywhere in Northern England and Scotland (not just Durham). While I'll miss being home with family for thanksgiving (the first time I've ever been away for the holiday) it'll still be nice to get some turkey and pumpkin pie.

All for now,

Gabe

Sunrise on a Thursday Morning

Although I didn't have any lectures until 10:00AM, I still woke at 7:30AM this morning. While deciding whether to go to breakfast or back to sleep, I decided to have a look out my window. I wanted to see if it was raining, if the sun was up yet, if the ground was blanketed with 4 feet of snow, etc. When I opened my curtains, I was surprised to be treated to this:





Not a bad way to start off the day. The pictures hardly even do it justice; it was one of the most amazing sunrises I've ever seen. I may have to wake up at 7:30 more often.

Fireworks!

This weekend I was treated to one of the highlights of the year so far, the Grey College Annual Fireworks show. Grey is another of Durham's 14 colleges. Every year during Guy Fawkes weekend they put on a really spectacular fireworks show. For a few days before the weekend I could hear various fireworks going off every night. I could even look at my window and see large firworks going off in the distance on Thursday and Friday night. All the second and third year students kept saying that was nothing, and the real deal was Saturday. They said if there was one thing we couldn't miss this year, the Grey fireworks was it. And it was free, so what more could I ask for?

It certainly didn't disappoint. There were about 5000 people- a combination of students and local families- packed into a tiny quad area of the college. Although it was freezing (much colder than 4th of July in South Pasadena), everyone was bundled up and happy. The backdrop was stunning, we were up on a bluff overlooking the whole city, and the giant silhouette of the Cathedral was right in front of us.

(Before the crowd filled in)

(Nearing full capacity, and most of the crowd was behind this photo too)

I couldn't believe how close the fireworks were. That's what made this really different to July 4th celebrations. Sometimes those seem like they're close to you, when they are high above and directly overhead. These fireworks were only a couple hundred feet in the air, and launched literally yards from the front of the crowd. The whole show felt almost dangerous, but in a good way, it added to the excitement. Here are some of favorite pictures from the night (as always, click the photos for a huge full resolution view):

And for your added viewing pleasure, how about a couple of videos? One of the fun things that made it really different from the 4th of July was the music. There obviously weren't any patriotic American songs- instead they played contemporary popular music, which was different, and added some fun to the show.


I think the sound is kind of low, so you may want to turn your volume up for full effect.









That's all for now. As always, thanks for reading. Check back soon- I promise it won't be a week between posts again.

-Gabe

My Room (Video!)

So the promised blog about basketball will be coming soon, but I had to post this today. People have been wanting to see some pictures of my room, but I hadn't gotten around to taking pictures of it. Today was cleaning day though, so I figured it was the perfect chance to capture my room in its "clean state", which is unfortunately a bit of a rarity. And yes, you read that right- cleaning day. Once a week we have housekeepers come in and clean our room. They also come three times a week to empty our trash bins. It's a bit ridiculous actually, I'm used to cleaning up after myself. But I'm not complaining. They even scrub and clean our bathroom. Yes, you read that right too, I have my own bathroom. I am one of the lucky few in the "en suite" building, which comes with it's own toilet and shower. Very nice after shared bathrooms for two years in Santa Cruz.

I was going to take some pictures of my room, but I thought a video made more sense and would be more fun. The quality isn't great, as I did on my regular camera, but it's fine. Check it out:




(UPDATE- video tips: if your internet is as slow as mine, you may have a bit of trouble watching this. If it keeps stopping to buffer, I'd recommend starting it, then stopping it and letting it load for about 5 minutes before watching it. Let me know either in the comments or via email or facebook if you're able to get it working. If not I'll post it on youtube or something, thanks)

So there you have it. I really can't complain- my own room, lake view, en-suite bathroom, a heater. I really was lucky to be put in this building (broken elevator and all). The domestic students had to request it, but for internationals it's kind of random. Some of the other UC students here were put into regular, kinda junky dorms.

As you had to request the en-suite bathroom, and presumably pay a bit more, the composition of my floor is interesting. I'm the only boy on a floor of about 16. I guess girls find the en-suite bathrooms more useful. It's an interesting dynamic- but again, I'm certainly not complaining.

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to keep the steady flow of posts coming. Check back soon.

-Gabe

Sports

One of the things that made Durham really attractive to me was how popular intra-mural sports are. Something like 80% of the students participate in some kind of sport. Because Durham is broken up into colleges, like Oxford and Cambridge, this makes sport even more exciting. Every college has a number of teams in every sport, and they all form giant leagues with other colleges. So instead of just playing with friends, you are really representing something, your college, which is really fun.

The sport I was most excited to play was soccer, or as I am forced to call it here, "football". On a side note, the nomenclature really is a lose-lose for me. If I call it "football" people assume I'm talking about American Football, because I'm American. But if I call it soccer, out of habit and in an attempt to avoid confusion, they scoff and say things like "soccer?" or "you're in england now, you better call it by its real name". I normally just call it literally "football slash soccer".

Anyway, back on topic. My college, Van Mildert, has over 1000 students, and thus has 8 football teams playing in the various university leagues. An A team, B team, C team, D team, E team, a women's team and two practice/indoor teams. You have to try out a first year, and they put you onto one of the teams for the season (the whole school year) based on how good you are. After seeing how many first years ("freshers") turned out to training- around 60- I was pretty overwhelmed and nervous. My goals were to not be the worst player, not to embarrass myself too badly, and to make the E team.

The field complex, where we train, is unfortunately about a 30min walk from my college. So by the time we got there on the day of the trials, I was already a bit tired- not a good start. They had us do some warm ups, but we pretty quickly jumped into a few small sided games with all the captains wandering around and observing. There was a bit of pressure, but I managed not to embarrass myself. After a few more drills, I got subbed out of one of the games early. I thought it was because they could see how tired I was. But the captain said he'd seen enough, and wanted me on the B's. I was pretty surprised, but happy. Not happy that I'd made the B's exactly, but happy that they pulled me out of the game, because I was ready to collapse.

I had a few trainings with the B team, and the level of play was very high. These were obviously kids who'd been playing their whole lives, and really took it seriously. I wasn't neccesarily the worst player, but I was far from the best. I play forward, and that's pretty much the only position I can play, unfortunately there were two strikers above me on the depth chart. So in our first match, I started on the bench, and wasn't subbed in until the 80th minute (out of a 90 min game). At the next training the captain decided that I should move down to the C team, just so I could get more playing time.

Life on the C's has been really good. It's much more fun being one of the better players than one of the worst. Training is more fun, and we joke around, it's not serious and pressure filled. We may be having too much fun though, as we lost our first match 3-0. I'll provide more updates (and maybe picture) on here as the season goes on.

Tomorrow I'll explain about college basketball, the other sport I'm playing, which is, to say the least, very different from college football.

On Elevators

My college here at Van Mildert has seven blocks of dorms, each having a different reputation. Some are average, some are supposed to be really worn down and junky, and one is renowned for being by far the best. I happen to be in that building, Deerness as it's known. I'll post more about my room soon, but for now, the important part is that we have an elevator, or "lift" as it's known here.

I think we are the only building to actually have an elevator. As I live on the third floor, I don't really bother taking it. I much prefer walking up the stairs than waiting for the lift. Occasionally after an especially tiring day, or after football practice I take it, but very sparingly. A couple of nights ago, for whatever reason, I felt like taking the lift. I just couldn't be bothered to walk up three flights of stairs, it must have been after football or something. Anyway, I pushed the button and waited. Nothing happened. I noticed the button hadn't even lit up. I pushed it again. Nothing happened. I gave up and began walking up the stairs.

When I got to my floor I saw a girl sitting on the ground next to the elevator, looking distressed. One of the college porters (men who work the front desk at night) was standing around somewhat awkwardly.

"Chris, are you still okay?" he yelled, to what seemed to be nobody in particular. Surely he wasn't talking to the girl, she was only feet from him, why was he yelling? Entranced by the scene, I stopped to see what was going on.

And then came a partially muffled voice from somewhere deep inside the elevator shaft,

"Yeah, I think so... It's really dark" said the voice of a desperately unlucky person, apparently known as 'Chris'.

"You're okay, just sit tight, I've been on the phone with the repair guys from Newcastle, they should be here in around a half hour" said the porter.

I'd seen enough. Without saying anything I snuck out of the corridor and into my room. I knew full well it could have been me if I'd only arrived a few minutes before. I never heard what happened to the kid, "Chris", but I haven't taken the lift since and don't have any plans to in the near future.

Brrrr...

The weather. One of my biggest concerns about spending the year in England. For someone who gets cold in the moderate climate of Santa Cruz, the idea of spending 9 months in a place with real seasons was daunting. I prefer 35 Celsius thanks, not 35 Fahrenheit. It hasn't been that cold yet, but we're getting there.

The truth is, it really hasn't been too bad so far. For the first couple weeks I was able to get away with jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt and a warm sweater or sweatshirt. Of course locals would be walking by in shorts and tee's or short skirts and sleeveless tops for girls. But I wasn't trying to compete, I was just happy it wasn't snowing yet. We have even had lots of sun.

In the past few days however, it has started to get much colder. Now during the days I have to go outside in a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a heavy sweatshirt or vest. In the evenings a jacket is a must. I think the average high in the days is around 50, with generally partly cloudy skies. In the nights it is normally in the mid 40s. It hasn't got to the point of long underwear, gloves or hats yet, but it won't be long I'm afraid.

The rain hasn't been as bad as I anticipated, so far at least- knock on wood. I think my whole time in England (3 weeks) it's rained probably about 7 days. 33% is pretty low. I have learned however, that a storm can come from nowhere. Imagine a completely sunny day- cold of course- but not a cloud in the sky. You go into your lecture and then emerge an hour later, not into that sunny afternoon, but instead into a pouring rainstorm. You learn quickly to always carry an umbrella.

Funnily enough, the locals rarely seem to have umbrellas. For living in a country where rain is always a possibility, its baffling how little of the population seem to be prepared for this. I don't know if it's optimism, toughness, forgetfulness, or just en vogue to be soaking wet, but umbrellas really are pretty rare.

While I'm freezing and cowering under my umbrella, the locals still insist on wearing what seems like shockingly out of season clothes. People also love to tell me that I've seen nothing yet, and that it will soon get much worse. For example, during a recent football (soccer) match, I was still on the bench midway through the second half, and itching to get into the game. Not because I was dying to play, but because I was dying of cold! My teammates all seemed to get a laugh out of this, and asked me how I was possibly going to survive the winter. The answer is, in Pasadena. I'll be home for one month during December and January, on Christmas break, ideally missing some of winter's worst. Hopefully I can soak up enough warmish weather to get me through February and March upon my return.

Food

One of the main reasons I decided to study here in England was their great reputation for cooking. Everyone has heard stories about great English food, and loves eating at their local British restaurant... Right? Or maybe I'm thinking of Italy or something...

In all seriousness, British cuisine's less than sterling reputation is a bit unfair. So far, most of the food I've had has been different and enjoyable. In Edinburgh we were treated to two meals as part of the orientation. We had dinner at a nice French restaurant which was in cozy, cellar-like setting. The French waiter jokingly chided me for ordering my steak "medium", which is ironic in Britain where they famously overcook anything. He brought it out rare anyways of course. The following night we ate dinner at a very authentic Indian restaurant. British Indian food is typically accepted as an exception to the bad and boring English fare stereotype, and this may be fair. The food was spectacular. Easily the best Indian food I've ever had.

Of course, dining hall cuisine is a whole different topic. The whole dining hall system here is different than in Santa Cruz, and I would venture, most American dining halls. Rather than whatever you want, whenever you want, the system here is much more structured. Meal times are set: 1 hour each for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner every day. And the fare is not unlimited, you are only allowed 1 main dish and a few sides. It's an adjustment, and I do often find myself hungry, being a physically active person. The food itself however, is decent, if not very British. Meals normally consist of some sort of meat, vegetables, french fries (or "chips") and then at least one more type of potato. They really like their potatoes here.

Outside of the dining hall, I have only tried a few different things here in Durham so far. There are no McDonalds thankfully, but there are at least two Subways. There is a cheap, local bakery which I've popped into a few times to pick up a "pasty" for a snack or light meal. It's just a counter service place, and they put your food in a bag to take to-go. It looks quite like this:

A pasty is basically a sort of meat pie. It has a breaded, pie like crust, and some sort of warm meat, potato or cheese filling. I'm partial to the corned beef and potato ones, but only because they are the cheapest on the menu, at 75 pence. I tried their "chicken bake" pasty today, splurging for the 95p option, and now probably won't be able to go back to the cheap stuff. It was great, basically a chicken pot pie in to-go form. It's the perfect hot and filling snack to eat while walking through the cold streets.

I've been to a few other places, including a corner cafe that stays open very late at night, and is the perfect place to get a late night pizza or side of chips (fries).

However, maybe the most interesting place I've been to is Durham's local Mexican Restaurant. I want with a couple other Californian friends on a night our dining hall was closed for an event. We weren't necessarily craving Mexican already, we were just too surprised and excited to pass this place up. I didn't know there would be any Mexican food in England, let alone in tiny Durham. It turned out to be a bit expensive, the type of place you might bring your parents too if they visited. There was a 25% Durham Uni student discount though, which definitely helped. But onto the important stuff, the food. I ordered enchiladas, thinking that was the quintessential dish I would miss. Of course they came with french fries, not beans and rice. My initial remark to my dining companions after my first bite was, "well... we are pretty far from Mexico". But it wasn't too bad, just distinctly average and not very authentic, though that's hardly surprising. If I ever have a serious craving for Mexican food I know where to go at least...

So if anything, don't worry about me starving on the terrible English food- I'm doing okay. The food is different, and that makes it exciting... for now at least. If anything, worry about me freezing over here, and it's only October. I'll be back with more about the weather tomorrow.

Around Durham

I just can't believe how beautiful Durham is, especially when the weather is nice. I must say I've been very lucky to live in Santa Cruz (where I walked through 200 foot redwoods and saw the sunset on my way to the dining hall) and now Durham, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I guess it beats going to school in... Well I don't want to insult anyone, so you can fill in that blank with what you will.

Anyway, simply walking around Durham it's easy to see why UNESCO has protected it as a "heritage site". I'm sure these pictures won't do it justice, but here goes, just a few of my favorite photos I've taken in the first few days:

just any old (pun intended) street in Durham

Inside the grounds of Durham Castle

Durham Cathedral

Rowers on the river

More of the Cathedral

Courtyard inside the Cathedral (Scenes from Harry Potter were filmed here)

More of the Harry Potter Courtyard

My view as I walk to class... Really

I'll be back soon with more about the weather, my room, food, etc. I'll try to post again tonight or tomorrow. Also, if there is anything you want to know about that I'm not talking about on the blog, make a comment or send me an email, and I'll answer it either in email form or here on the blog.

More soon,

Gabe

Hello from Durham

Sorry you haven't heard from me in so long. It has been pretty hectic settling in here in Durham, though not in a bad way. It's been exciting, but I just haven't found the time to make a couple posts on here.

Instead of a huge post about all I've done in the past week, I thought I would make a few smaller posts. I want to try to get in the habit of putting out a small blog update every couple days instead of a long winded post once a week. I will certainly have more time to post now that I'm fairly settled in here, however my subject matter to write about will admittedly decline. This is not to say I won't be doing anything, but as I'll mostly be in the same place and doing the same things for the next couple of months, it won't be as easy to figure out what to post about. Nevertheless, I'll try to give updates on how I'm doing, things I've noticed and other observations every few days, so you'll have reason to check here regularly.

With that said, I'll convey what Durham's been like the past week in my next few posts, hopefully soon.

Edinburgh

After getting a restful night of sleep- actually, it wasn't quite so restful. I wasn't used to the time change at all. So although I was able to easily fall asleep before 10:00, something I haven't been able to do in years, it was the other end of the night that was more troublesome. I woke up around 3AM, and couldn't fall back asleep for an hour. I finally woke up around 8:30 and was laying in bed contemplating getting up when the fire alarm went off. I wasn't sure if it was sleep in my eyes or a blurry peephole, but when I looked out the peephole, I was sure I saw smoke in the hallway. Needless to say that started off my day with some excitement.

(the "fire drill")

Of course there wasn't actually a fire, but the whole hotel had to evacuate and the firetrucks did come. This whole procedure happened again only 2 nights later.

I obviously couldn't go back to sleep after the firedrill, so I set off to explore the city. The University of California orientation didn't start until the afternoon, so I had much of the day to myself. In the sunshine of a nice day I got a new perspective on the city I had barely glimpsed the previous night. It was amazing. My only complaint was that I didn't know what to take pictures of, because literally everything was worth a photograph.

(as always, click for a larger photo)

I grabbed lunch (chips and curry) at a place where I saw lots of locals going, and took it outside and sat on a nice bench to eat. It wasn't too bad and was only about 2 quid.

The orientation itself started with a meet and greet of sorts with the other UC students. There are 8 of us in total going to Durham, with most of the other UC's- Santa Barbara, San Diego, Davis, Berkeley all represented. There are 5 girls and 3 boys. We met the study center directors (one of whom was an American professor from UC San Diego, and one a local from Edinburgh), who are basically our representatives to the UC whilst we are abroad. After they took us out to dinner, the study center director's son, who is just above college age and living in Edinburgh for the year with his dad, took us out around the town. The highlight was watching the Liverpool soccer (football!) game at a local pub. That was certainly an experience, and I now can't wait to go to see some games in person.

The following day, Thursday, we met at the study center, which is in the campus of the University of Edinburgh, for a meeting about logistics and advice. The rest of the day was spent touring the city with the highlights being a tour of Edinburgh Castle, and a hike up Arthur's Seat- which upon summiting produced a fabulous view of the entire city and surrounding area.

The following are some of the best pictures from my few days in Edinburgh, but there are literally over 100 omitted. I am looking into a photo sharing website in order to display more of the photos I've taken, but in the meantime, enjoy these starters:

(the Royal Mile)

(same spot, looking the other direction)

(a photo through one of the many "closes" or alleys of Edinburgh)

(Michael, the study center director, at right with some of the other UC students in the castle)

(the gate)

(at the summit of arthur's seat)

( we got hot climbing up, but it was freezing at the top)

All for now, I'll be back with more from Durham soon,

-Gabe