Happy Thanksgiving!!

The good news is that I'm consistent. The bad news is that I'm consistently bad about consistently updating my blog. But after the 4th nagging message from mom, I guess it's time to take a break from stats and write a quick bit. So currently I'm sitting in the lounge of the graduate school sector of the Crystal McMillan Building sipping instant coffee with borrowed milk.

As for the past couple of weeks, I've done a couple of exciting things, I mean beyond my normal exciting life that's oh so full of adventure and intrigue. Unfortunately, I have to refer back to my diary (translation: calendar) to remember what they are...

I think I mentioned in my last update that I was performing in a production of Amadeus at Bedlam Theartre here in Edinburgh. The show went really well, but after a week of long rehearsals and performances, I was glad it was over. I even got off the last night of the show to go to the Scotland vs. New Zealand RUGBY game!! The pregame show was complete with a piper band, fireworks, and the HAKA performed by the All Blacks. You must look it up on youtube. It's pretty cool and definitely would be intimidating if I was 10 feet away from those men while they were yelling at me and beating their chests - which is the intent. The game was very interesting - I had no idea what was going on - but I think I learned a lot. Unfortunately, Scotland played terribly and the All Blacks won 49-3. Even as an ignorant spectator, I could see that New Zealand completely outplayed Scotland. I was really hoping for at least one try (translation: touchdown), so that I could experience the stands of Murrayfield Stadium going wild. But no, that would happen the next weekend, when Scotland beat South Africa! Go Scotland! (South Africa is the #1 team in the world.) But I couldn't be at that game because I was in Amsterdam! Beautiful city, but not the one for me.

Lindsey and I left for Amsterdam last Thursday night. Leaving the city, we both felt as though we'd forgotten something and couldn't quite figure out why we were heading to the airport. I mean, it's not everyday that you can just hop on a flight to Amsterdam for a weekend trip. I felt like I needed to prepare, spend more than 10 minutes packing...or something. But there we were, boarding the plane at 6:30 and would be in Amsterdam in a couple of hours. I might as well have been flying to Miami, which wouldn't be so bad as I'm now in a constant state of cold.

So Amsterdam. I could say that the flight was uneventful, but that would be a lie - at least in reference to landing. Do not worry, the plane was not in collusion with Death, threatening a gravity-propelled decent into the Amsterdam airport. Instead, we had social turbulence in the back of the plane, instigated by a man who'd had too much to drink and wanted to use the bathroom after the "fasten seatbelts" sign had been turned on. To make a long story short, there was arguing, insults flung left and right, and in the end, after we were on ground, the police were invited onto the plane to escort the man off the flight. What a way to start the weekend...

In the Netherlands, their signs aren't in English, and we don't know Dutch. This made navigating the airport to train to city an interesting process. And after an extended stint on the plane waiting for the police to arrive, we were a bit tired. But now that we were in the city, we still had to tackle the task of finding our hotel. So we disembarked, went through 'customs', found Lindsey's bag, and made our way to the train station. Step 1 - done. Step 2 was a little more difficult because, as I mentioned before, the signs are in Dutch. Fortunately, the people were really nice. Eventually, we found the right queue, got our tickets, and (Step 3) made it to the platform just in time to join the confused crowd of people trying to get to Central Station. The platform we were on said the train didn't go to Central Station, and the other train was headed in the wrong direction! What to do?! Well, we decided to frantically pace the platform, check all the signs again, listen in on other confused people in conversation about how to get to our 'final' destination, and wait. So yes, eventually the correct train came, we got on and made it to the right place. But again, we still hadn't made it to our actual final destination - the hotel.

Step 4 - Get out the map. Again, look around at the hustle and bustle of others knowing (and not knowing) where they're going, and try not to look like a tourist. Let me tell you, this was an impossible feat. I asked a couple of police officers, who tried to be helpful but really weren't, and then we decided to rely on our brilliance and the map skills we learned in primary school. Lo and behold, after 40 minutes of wandering, stopping at every cross, and matching the street names to the mumble jumble on the map, we found our hotel. It was now after 11, and we were knackered. So we checked in, found our room, and decided to explore the city. Ha! We made it about half an hour before we returned and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up, grabbed breakfast, and headed into town to the Anne Frank Haus. It's a powerful place, and terribly sad. The museum, though, was very interesting. Otto Frank didn't just want it to be a display of their life of hiding and Anne's story. He wanted it to be a lesson about discrimination and the harm it causes. I would definitely recommend going if you make it to Amsterdam.

After leaving the Anne Frank Haus, we decided to go on a walking tour of Amsterdam. It really is a beautiful city. I can only imagine what it would look like in the spring with its canals and flower baskets full of blossoming tulips. Even in late November, Amsterdam was nice to us and gave us beautiful weather for the weekend. So, a few things I learned about the city while on the tour:

*The smallest house in Amsterdam is 1.3 meters wide.
*The widest bridge is over the old prison.
*They pull 25,000 bikes out of the canals every year due to people not locking their bikes up and a game called 'who can make the biggest splash?'
*The buildings lean, either due to poor engineering when built (and instead of fixing the foundation, they re-level the floors inside...) or because the Dutch decided to use the pulley system to list heavy items to the top floor of houses, so they built the house to lean forward so that those items wouldn't hit the side of the house as they were pulling them to the top.
*Rembrandt has an unmarked grave in Amsterdam because he was so poor when he died.
*The bikes don't stop. Really, the don't. No breaks and no gears because the city is flat, and tourists are used to stop the bikes...
*Holland has the largest people in the world.

So, interesting stuff. The rest of the weekend went along as such, exploring different areas of the city, eating a lot of food, eventually finding "I AMSTERDAM", and seeing Harry Potter!!! So good, I'll totally see it again. It might've even been the highlight of the trip...but all weekends come to an end, as did this one. We got up early Monday morning, made it to the train station, then to the airport, and eventually back to Edinburgh. I love Edinburgh, and I'm so glad to be back except that now I have work to do again.

This week has been full of catching up on reading, starting my final exam for stats, and stressing about how I'm going to get everything done. But alas, I suppose I will. Today, though, I'm taking a break to be thankful!

Over and out.

sdakfkl;sdhag;

And here, it's happening again. Two weeks and no update. Terrible track record. You may thank my mom for her little hints via addenda to emails or chats in Words with Friends reminding me that I haven't blogged in a while...

This afternoon, I walked from hanging out with some friends to the Crystal McMillan Building in George Square to check my email and do some work in my spare time this afternoon. I got into the microlab, which was packed with people printing articles and writing papers as the end of the semester encroaches upon us, sat down at a computer, and logged on. While waiting for the computer 'load my settings', I looked out the window to find that it was nearly dark and I could really only see the shadow of the trees against a navy sky. I glanced down at the clock on the computer, which said it was 4:40. Really? 4:40?? We're not even halfway through November and it's already darker sooner than it would be the shortest day of the year in Atlanta. A week an a half ago, it seems I blinked and the weather began to show its true character. Short days. Cold and windy. Rain. And all-around ugh. So thank goodness for a sunny day today, even though it was cold and windy and ended 2 hours ago.

I took my exam for Part 1 of my Core Quantitative Data Analysis class, aka Stats, last week. I got an A! Well, sort of. I got an 88. Their grading scale here is super messed up and makes no sense. Anything above a 70 is an A, just different degrees of A-ness. Either way, not bad for my first mark. Unfortunately, I left the exam feeling like I was finished with the course. Now let me tell you, it is no fun feeling like you're done with something only to have to remind yourself that you're actually only done with half of it, especially when it's statistical analysis. At least all I need to pass the course is a 12 on my final take-home exam. I don't think that'll be too much of a problem.

David took me to high tea at Prestonfield House in the south of Edinburgh last week. It was really fancy with peacocks in the front garden and a man with a kilt waiting with an umbrella to walk me to the front door (it was raining...). The house itself, I think, is nearly 400 years old. But there's a lot of extra history that goes along with the entire estate that I don't really know, so I'll just not say anything so as to avoid getting it wrong. Anyway, while wet, was quite nice, and I really enjoyed it. He did well to think that one up.

So, now comes the time that I really need to start thinking about my final essays. I don't think it will take me too long to actually write, but the preparation is going to be a doozy(sp?). Basically, I plan on reading more in the next month than I've read in the last year. Great. But I'm hoping it'll at least be interesting. Right.

I've been performing in a production of Amadeus at Bedlam Theatre the last couple of nights. It's running all week. They've done quite a good job with it, I think. It's just taken up a lot of time. I've realized that theatre people just don't have a concept of time. And I do. So, it's frustrating to show up for the dress rehearsal at 7:00 and then not start until 7:50. Typical, I suppose, but still annoying. But alas, only 2 more nights.

Okay, surely there's more that has happened the last couple of weeks, but I can't think at the moments. Work, work, and more work. Sleep. Eating occasionally. They gym when I find the time. The life of a student, I guess you could say. Now it's time to print off a few readings and head off to another performance of Amadeus.

Signing off!