Swinging into second term

 After what seemed like an almost never-ending Christmas break (I was off for essentially a month), it's nice to be back in Edinburgh and getting back into the swing of things. I was excited to start the next semester of courses, since at least this time around I had 100% control over my class options. No more syntax for this gal!

 It was also great to get back to my "Edinburgh" life - meeting up with friends, going for coffee, going to the pub, dance classes, volunteering, etc. etc. The break was nice, but I can only live on hiatus-mode for so long!

My trip back to Scotland was uneventful and I arrived on a Sunday afternoon, apparently more jetlagged than I thought, because somehow I managed to go to bed at 10pm that night and wake up 16 hours later at 2:15 in the afternoon. Which also meant I had slept through my first class of the semester! Never thought to set my alarm...I mean, who sleeps for 16 hours?! (Me, apparently...) At least nothing major happens the first class of term, and I managed to haul my ass out of bed and make it to my next class at 3. Great way to start the new semester...

Aside from oversleeping, this semester is great so far, school-wise. I love all three of the classes I'm taking: Diachronic Linguistics, Northern Englishes and Historical Phonology. I'm also very lucky to have one of my fantastic profs from last term for two courses this term - actually, all the profs this term are fantastic, the course content is fascinating, and I have no work due until April (which means I'll have to extra-motivate myself to do all the readings).

The first Thursday into term I finally got to see my friends as we met up for a "poetry slam" at the university's Pleasance Cabaret Bar. Not really knowing what to expect, the evening turned out to be highly entertaining as each poet took their turn braving the stage and regaling us with their poetic talents (some had more than others).

 The evening got even better as I found out through my other Canadian friend Sarah that one of my favourite bands (who also happen to be Scottish), Frightened Rabbit, was playing in town that night and were selling a limited number of tickets at the door! After recovering from a mild stroke when I heard the news, Sarah, Dylan and I decided to try our luck. After waiting in a line in the cold outside Cabaret Voltaire for what seemed like an eternity, we got tickets! (For only 6 pounds!) We were so excited - I don't go to a lot of concerts, but this was one band that I was hell-bent on seeing while I was in Scotland. I had been introduced to them by my Glaswegian friend Robyn last year in Nancy (merci my dear!)

The concert was fantastic, but we were absolutely PACKED  into the tiny bar - they had let in waaaay too many people. Regardless, they guys put on a fantastic show and we had an amazing time screaming our lungs out to all our favourite tunes. What a great night!

excited for the show!

so many peoples!

The beginning of this term was also very exciting because it meant VISITS!!!  I was so lucky to have two really good friends come and visit me before school got too hectic. The first was from Kerstin, my awesome German roommate from last year in Nancy. I hadn't seen her since May and we had been talking for a long time that we were long overdue for a visit! She managed to find a conveniently cheap flight from Dusseldorf and we had a very happy reunion on the 20th. It was a short weekend visit but we packed a lot in! I showed her all around the city and walked and walked and walked - we covered the farmer's market, up to the castle and down to the bottom of the Royal Mile, Holyrood park (even part way up to Arthur's Seat before it got too windy and couldn't go any further), to Princes Street and all 300 steps up the Scott Monument, to lunch at Peter's Yard and an hour inside the National Museum before meeting up with friends at a pub in Bruntsfield. Such a great day! And best of all it was just so nice to see her and get all caught up - I really missed living with her, we had gotten on so well in Nancy and we reminisced about how lucky we were to have the experience we did. All the while I got to show her a little piece of my life here in Scotland and introduce her to the Scottish way of living!

yay roomies!

view from the top of the Scott Monument

Windy!

Only a few days after that came a second visit - from home this time! My dear Cigdem had found a ridiculously cheap ticket on Air Transat and would be hitting 2 birds with one stone visiting a friend in London and moi in Edinburgh! I picked her up from the train station on Thursday afternoon and we walked around a bit before I had to go to one of my classes, which worked out well since it gave Chee an hour to do a bit of work herself. After class we headed down to Princes Street for a look and so Chee could get some proper walking shoes for going up Arthur's Seat the next day. We also lucked out and got the very awesome 10 pound dine in for 2 meal deal at Marks and Spencers...yes! We had a very tasty dinner and headed to the Royal Mile at 7:30 for a haunted walking tour of the underground city and cemetery! Unfortunately we got there a bit late and the tour had left, but there was another one at 9 so we went to The Last Drop pub in Grassmarket for a drink (and Cigdem insisted on trying some haggis...which she very much enjoyed).

dig in!

At nine we met for our tour (there were only three of us!), but it was absolutely fantastic. Our guide was full of fascinating historical knowledge about the city and all the crazy haunted stuff that has happened over the years and on tours. It was super scary inside the vaults and even more so in the Greyfriar's cemetery mausoleum - gave us all goosebumps! I definitely want to do some more tours, interesting and creepy all at once - we had a great time! We then came home to warm up with some tea and dessert and watch a romantic comedy, which we very much needed after all the ghost stories we'd just been told.

The next day I left Cigdem on her own for an hour while I was in class, and we met after to head to Princes Street to climb the Scott Monument! (But not before we stopped in a shop on the Royal Mile for Chee to buy this awesome headpiece):

so stylin'!

It was a beautiful sunny day and hardly windy at all and was a perfect day to climb. Even though it had been my second time climbing it in less than a week, you can't get sick of the view!

the very windy staircase

Chee looking a bit nervous about going back down

We then went for a large indulgent lunch at Peter's Yard (god I love that place!) and after sufficiently stuffing ourselves we headed down the Royal Mile so I could show Chee how to get up Arthur's Seat. Unfortunately I had class again, so I left her to do the hike up on her own while I sat in historical phonology, almost falling asleep due to the large amount of food I had consumed.
We met up afterwards at St. Giles' Cathedral and went to the National Museum for a bit to check out some mummies and play around (it's not just for children, you know!)

to infinity, and beyond!

a born astronaut, for sure

It was a quick visit since the museum closes at 5, but we had a chance to relax at home for a bit before heading to the Golf Tavern, a lovely cozy little pub in Bruntsfield where we enjoyed a fantastic haggis dinner (vegetarian version for me!) The haggis, neeps and tatties were absolutely delicious and we finished off dinner with a nice sticky toffee pudding. Doesn't get any more Scottish than that!

my first taste of (veggie) haggis - yum!

My friends later met up with us there for drinks and we had a lovely evening - Chee and I were stuffed and very sleepy, so we didn't stay too late since the poor girl had to catch a train the next morning at 7:30. It was so nice to have a familiar face from home come and visit, I had such a great time showing one of my best friends around the city!

It was fun playing tour guide for a week - I don't often get to do "touristy" things here, it's a bit odd when you live here, plus I never actually have the time. So I'm glad I got to do a few new things with friends and explore this wonderful city a bit more.