Festival, follies, family, friends and fun!

Well, it’s just short of a month since I’ve been here. I suspect this will not be the only time I ask, “Where has the time gone?” I have generally filled my time with wandering the streets taking in the eclectic nature if the Edinburgh Fringe Festival- including a “show” by the Guinness Book of World Records holder for the most facial piercing. That was well…. educational! I’ve seen some really great shows and a HORRIBLE free comedy show that left me wishing I could get the two hours of my life back! But the city is just as gorgeous as I remember. Everything is so green!

I took the train last week to North Berwick, a small resort town, to take in the sea and sand. I have great memories of going there with my Mum and Granny and sitting on the beach eating ice cream cones. It was a gorgeous sunny day so I proceeded to do just the same thing. I even put my toes in the sea! Burrr!

Dad has been here for the past few days so we have had a chance to catch up and get all the boring logistics sorted out, such as setting up a bank account. However there have also been a couple of very funny moments. Unfortunately and in true fashion for my life, I just so happened to be the butt of the joke. Below are a few funny anecdotes that will stay with me forever.

During an amazing adventure such as this, it is wise to make every effort to stop and smell the roses. The most ideal (and literal) opportunity came along the other day whilst on a walk down my uncle’s street. I spotted a fist sized, blood red rose hanging over someone’s fence about a foot above my head. I pulled the stem and blossom down towards my nose expecting the most amazing fragrance.

Mother Nature’s gorgeous creation quickly deposited about an ounce of rainwater, up my nostrils and all over my face. Much to the amusement of my Dad and Uncle, I did not get to smell the rose. I wiped my face off and blew my nose all the way to the end of the street. Moral of the story: The intention to slow down and smell the roses may be met with unexpected results. However, sometimes what happens is much better and will provide a more memorable story and experience than the original plan! Hopefully this will remain true for the rest of my time here.

Another comical moment that occurred is really a lesson in the communication barriers that can occur with various accents. In a desire to reminisce and treat his family to dinner, Dad took my Uncle and I out to Café Royal, a very posh restaurant and bar that my Mum and him had visited several times in the past.

We had a delicious (and insanely expensive!) dinner served by a very charming Irish guy. To finish off a lovely dinner, I ordered a coffee with baileys, one of my favorite treats. What appeared however was not at all what I expected. I got the coffee all right, but the waiter proceeded to place a ramekin of some creamy white substance beside my cup.

In a highly confused state I politely asked what it was. “It’s what you ordered isn’t it? It’s mayonnaise.” He responded. With an amused look on my face, I proceeded to explain that no, I had ordered Baileys, pronouncing it in a way you would expect when speaking to someone from Mars. He continued to tell me that it was the strangest request he had ever heard, but he had tried his best not to judge. Not ever having been to Canada, how would he know what we like to put in our coffee! Funny!!

My Dad and I have also had the opportunity to visit with my Gran (Dad's Mum). She lives in Peebles close to my Uncle Lindsay and Aunt Marilyn. Gran has severe dementia and only has passing moments when she knows who you are. This is really difficult to accept, but just being here to take her for a walk down the river filled me up with gratitude. We have also visited my Mum's good friend Kate who was the first person who lives in Scotland to see me when I was born. We had a delicious lunch and and a good chat at her house one afternoon. Dad was also able to catch up with a bunch of his university friends. We had dinner at Bob's gorgeous house in Fife one night. Seeing Dad with his friends made me wonder if I will be sitting around a table in 30 years time reminiscing about the good old days with the people I meet here.

This brings me to the update about the whole reason I am here in the first place. University! I have just completed my orientation week and well, lets jut say I have been reminded that this is not a holiday!! The first day was filled with info about how to properly reference research to avoid being kicked out for plagiarism and we received a crash course using the library catalogue. Fun!!

But everyone in my program seems to be pretty awesome. There are 24 of us all together but only 9 in my avenue of focus. There is a great mix of people from all over the world too. A few Americans (of course) another Canadian from Nanaimo, a Japanese girl, a guy from Germany, another from the Netherlands, an Aussie and a girl from Greece who has already offered to show me around her home turf when we are finished! The rest are a combination of people coming from various parts of Scotland and England.

Despite the “jumping in with two feet” introduction we received and the general state of overwhelm everyone was feeling, I can’t help but wander around the Moray House of Education campus (my department of Uni) in awe knowing my Mum walked the same courtyards and halls. This is very much meant to be.

Tomorrow, we are all heading off on our first big adventure into the Scottish highlands for our Lochs and Rivers professional development course. We spend two days at Firbush to review paddling skills on Loch Tay. We will stay in the outdoor education residential center there where everything is provided, including, breakfast, a packed lunch for the day, a three-course dinner, a pub, a comfy bed and even someone to make it! Rough, I know!

The following 2 days will be spent at another residential site called Woodlands, a place we will visit at a few times over the next year. The last 4 days will be the descent of the Spey River, which eventually meets the sea at nearly the most northern point in Scotland. This will be good old-fashioned camping and expedition cooking. I couldn’t be more excited! As long as the midges, (the Scottish version of mosquitoes that make death by haggis look appealing) aren’t too bad. I am armed with bug spray, antihistamines, a raincoat and a warm sweater- or 5!

Next update when I return, no doubt with tales of Scottish history, getting really wet, getting tired, getting eaten alive by foreign bugs, getting to know the people who will keep me sane and insane in equally proportion this year and having the time of my life!