The Highlands

It is with great pleasure that I write this blog. Lately, life has been filled with bus rides, Latin, rain, and reading - and not a whole lot more. Intermixed in all of it has been hanging out with a lot of good people - but between my stresses as well as Kelli's stress of looking for a job and studying for her board exams, we both needed a day away. Jim and Agnes to the rescue.

Late Friday night the Wilson's, who we are staying with, asked us if we would like to go to the highlands for the day on Saturday. After thinking about diving into the books for the day again we both decided that we needed to go. We woke up that morning to a thick rain - and I mean thick. We went out regardless, following the Scottish axiom that if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes - and it proved to be true. Once we had left the cities behind the sun came out and it turned out being a beautiful day. We stopped for lunch and tea at a little place in a small town called Aboyne (see picture of Jim holding the mug below). The food was great - even though their mugs a little sticky!

After that we went to Ballater, which may or may not be spelled right, which is near Balmoral Castle - the place where the royals make frequent summer trips. The little town was beautiful, with a stone bridge going over the Dee River, and an old stone church in the middle. We knew that the pictures wouldn't do justice, but we decided to put a bunch up from the car. Remember that these are from a moving car, many of them were taken by me just holding the camera in an arbitrary direction and pressing the button.


















All in all, we had a pretty awesome day. It was great to get out and see the highlands a little, and even better not to do any reading! I hope you enjoy the pics!!!

eating habits

well, as you could imagine, our eating habits have changed quite a bit. Hopefully, they will change again shortly, once we move into our flat on Wednesday! The benefit in eating out frequently is that now we know of places to take visitors (or not to take them I suppose :). I've decided my next few blogs will be mostly about our experience with food in the UK, which actually has been quite surprising. I feel like every one tried to prepare us before we left, saying the food is just horrible. There has not been one thing I've eaten that has been bad. Well, except for the chips at the Mexican restaurant (previous post by kyle, titled "north of moscow"). But really, the food has been great!!

Believe it or not, I eat biscuits (cookies) everyday, and not usually one, more like 5. So, once I have finally tried all the different types of biscuits, then I'll probably decrease my in-take. I think I actually have tea every day now too, instead of coffee. Big changes!

These photos are of the restaurant that has been voted to have the best fish and chips in the UK. I have not actually eaten fish from there, but Kyle has twice, and he said it was in fact, the best fish and chips he'd had. I had a cheeseburger one time, very good, very well done. The last time we went I had this broccoli potatoe bake that was quite good. Their soup is excellent as well.

The Countdown Begins

So, sorry it has been a while since we posted, but things have been busy. Kelli and I are happy to say that we are within a week of when we move into our apartment. We are extremely excited about that. We have had a wonderful time with the Wilsons, but we are both excited to be out of our suitcases!

That said, I also heard that the offices have been assigned, and some people even get to be in them this week. I, and many others, unfortunately do not. Evidently the locksmith only will cut keys on certain days for the school or something, and there seems to be a huge rush in Aberdeen to have keys cut. Actually though, most of the keys around are still skeleton keys - and I bet those take forever to cut. In any case, it will be soon - and for that I am happy as well.

This past week has been filled with surprises. I was sick, and then gave Kelli whatever I had. She unfortunately got it much worse than I did. We are both feeling better now though. I saw my book appear on Amazon, which was fun, yet weird, since at the time I was working through some edits! We have also seen the website I have been putting up with my close friend Jamin for about a year now come online (for our eyes only). Everyday more and more gets finished with it, and we should be launching it soon. It has really come out well - the site is really beautiful if I can use that term. When you see it I think you will understand. Anyway, that is our update. We continue to get more and more settled in, and in a week, we will be really settled!

Kelli's jog in the highlands

Well, I went for a nice little jog today and saw some interesting things. I had a lot of energy, maybe had a little too much coffee in me...so it was a pretty exciting run. Try to picture this with me if you will...lots and lots of green rolling hills with stone fences and animals all around. I came across an open field with about 10 horses on one side of the fence and then about 30 cows on the other side. However, right next to the fence were 4 cows facing the horses and then one horse facing the 4 cows...just starring at each other. All the other horses and cows were dispersed throughout the field. Then, perched on the fence about 10 feet away was a large black crow, and about a foot away from him was a hawk of some sort...and they were both starring at the horse and cows that were looking at eachother. It was pretty interesting and I wish I had my camera. However, stopping to take pictures kind of disrupts the run. So I continued over this bridge that crosses the river Dee, and I heard some random yelling...and then I saw a football game...of course, a highly organized soccer game out in the middle of nowhere...only in scotland! There were no spectators though, which I thought was kind of odd.

On the business side of things...I finished my application to be approved to work as a physiotherapist , and I will send it to London on Monday. I've also looked into working at a local gym. So we'll see what happens with that...prayers much appreciated!!

Not for the faint of heart

I warn you, this post is not for the faint of heart.

I was going to the bathroom in the bathroom that is attached to our bedroom. I'll try to avoid any specifics, but I was standing there (man thing) and one of the largest spiders I have ever seen starts crawling around the bowl. I nearly wet myself - which was hard, since I was already going to the bathroom. Once the opportunity arose, I started jumping up and down screaming like a girl in a teenage horror film. In the epic battle that proceeded, I managed to throw rolled up toilet paper at the spider from a distance (because I was pretty sure it could jump onto my face and bite me or something), and knock it into the water. I immediately flushed the toilet to wash down this flesh eating mutant, but it didn't work. The spider remained.

After several other technics, I found toilet bowl cleaning solution, and I cleaned the spider to death. I am not proud of this fact. But I did win, and that is what mattered at the time.

Since then, we have run into many more spiders. It is "spider season" to quote a local. Since kelli and i shreak and squirm when we see them, we have proceeded to just put glasses on top of them until one of the women from here can take care of them. There is evidently a gene in Scottish women that allows them to pick up large spiders and throw them outside. It all wigs me out. Anyway, there are several glasses which often stay around the house for several days. We named one Alfred, but he is gone now. We didn't get any pictures of the really big ones, we were too busy hiding, but here are some pictures for those who think they can handle the horror.

day to day

So, upon request from Aaron (yes, I do take requests), I will give an update about what is actually going on. So as it stands, we will move into our new flat on Nov. 1st. We are really excited about it, but that seems like an endless amount of time. It is not hard because of our immediate situation, it has been awesome living at the Wilson's place, but because we are just so removed from everything out here. Kelli and I were able to have dinner the other night at one of the other first year students place, with him and his wife and 2 year old, and that was great. At this point I am only seeing people about once maybe twice a week. If you have read my bus story, you can imagine how much I enjoy riding the bus into school - it can easily take 3 hours of my day, which is way too much time that I need to use to study. The solution to all of this would be to go in early and come back later, but they haven't assigned our offices yet, so finding a place to settle down and work is next to impossible.

So, that has been hard. I still feel like I haven't really been able to jump into the semester yet - and since I am well behind in Latin, and barely moving in German, it is hard to get on top of my reading as well. One of the hardest aspects of my degree at first is figuring out what you are going to focus on. I am still very much up in the air, and not being settled has not helped that at all.

Days so far have gone reasonably well. I was sick a couple of days ago so I just stayed home and worked from here (see pic), which was really nice. Kelli is exploring a lot, and as you can tell from the last blog, making herself known at the local starbucks.

Other than that, we are doing well. There are times when it is hard knowing what everyone is doing back home, and Thanksgiving this year will be depressing, but as we settle into more of a groove here we seem to get more and more comfortable. Coming into this we both had the feeling that at the end of it all, we would be very ready to come home, but that leaving would be very hard. I can already tell that will true. In the meantime I am still trying to learn how to play snooker, and I want to take up curling.

random thoughts...by Kelli

Today was pretty awesome. A kind of day that will probably not be repeated. I slept until 10:30, got up and made breakfast for the husband, went to starbucks and studied for 2 hours, took a bus to the grocery store and walked home, made dinner, had some wine and dessert, made a few phone calls, and now I'm blogging. It was great. I remember two specific feelings from this day. The first was while I was at starbucks (pictured below). I realized how much I love being in a starbucks coffee shop. I know, it sounds quite cheezy, but really...being there brings such comfort. Not only did I meet my husband there, but I have spent hours and hours studying there. So now living in another country, going to Starbucks and studying a few hours is really comforting and quite enjoyable. And, I happen to know someone who works at the starbucks in Aberdeen!



The other cool moment occurred while I was walking home. I was pretty hungry, getting a good workout carrying the groceries home, and then some wind picked up and leaves slowly fell off the trees onto my face. It was so peaceful. I've never really seen falling leaves or even seen the seasons slowly change.

Tomorrow I think I'm off to the organic store, across from which we took this picture!

For those of you who have never been to Aberdeen, and I assume that is most, let me explain something about the city. Aberdeen is the third largest city in Scotland boasting about 200,000 people. For the benefit of those people, there has to be at least 10,000 hair-dressers in town.

It is truly one of the oddest things I have ever seen. At one corner we were less than 100 feet from 6 hair places....6! It seems that there is something in the water that effects people who want to open new stores - and they feel an uncontainable urge that it must be a hair-salon of some kind.

For sake of space, and because I have no pictures today (and I know how you get when there isn't a picture), I will tell you about my two favorite hair places thus far. The first on is great because it is called "A Cut Above", and it is actually on the second story of a building - directly above another hair salon. I kid you not.

My absolute favorite is called Gents, and they have a large sign that says, "For Men Only" that is out front. At first glace, this seems really smart - let all of the other places deal with the woman, but try to dominate the nich market which would really bring in more customers, just less frequently. But upon close look, particularly when you look inside - you will usually see the following: 4 women, three of which work there and one of which is getting her hair done - all desperately looking out the window for a real man to come in. Behind this business model is a desperate ploy for a man....beautiful.

Anyway, that is all. It is a slow day, which is nice.

Why Buses are so useful

For many in the States, like myself for so many years, buses are never an option for travel, even short travel. Any kind of system like this seems a bit scary and a bit sketchy, which, in the States, they often are. But, here in Scotland, everyone rides buses, they are the major way people travel within the city and suburbs of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

That said, there are new thoughts that go on in your head when you are on a bus. Thoughts like: Why aren't I wearing a seatbelt? What if we hit a car? Would we even feel it? What if we hit a castle or something? start going through your head because you are moving quickly throughout the city and a lot of times you are standing up holding on to some kind of pole or something.

Anyway, Friday wasn't the best day for the buses in my mind. The first bus I took into school, the 19, was running about 20 minutes late. Usually at every bus stop there are buses that come every 10 minutes, every 15 minutes, or every 30 minutes. The bus route 19, which is basically the only one I take, comes every 15 minutes until 7 p.m. and then comes every 30 minutes. So for a bus to be 20 minutes late is not very good. On top of that, the bus just stops at a bus stop and tells everyeone to get off and that he is not going farther and to catch the next 19 that comes around!

So I want to leave school after a meeting with my supervisiors, and I get to the bus stop at 4:42. Immediately looking to see what 15 minute increment I was closest to, I see that I have only one minute to wait - or so the sign says.

I was going to meet Kelli for dinner at the best fish and chips place in Scotland, and arguably the best in the UK (as well as universe), and I could have walked, but it would have take at least 45 minutes to get there. Usually I can grab a bus and get back to the house in 45 minutes and the restaurant is only half way.

So, moving along, I wait 15 minutes for the bus to get there. We leave school around 4:57. We make good time getting into the downtown area, but then stop. It proceeds to take us 30 minutes to go a block. In that time, I kid you not, we sat at a light (the first vehicle in front of the intersection) and watched the light change 5 times. Now mind you, this particular intersection allowed the cross traffic to go twice, and the pedestrians to go once before we were allowed to go, so that 5 cycles of the lights was a long time. After we get going, the whole bus explodes in applause and the bus driver starts honking his horn.

So we are on Union street, which is the main street in the city. Union has a bus lane by the curb, so we were flying down that. It is weird to watch because I was standing all the way in the front, so it feels like I am just flying at an incredible rate with nothing holding me. So as we are flying down this bus lane a car decides to pull in front of us - and we hit it. To answer our earlier question, no, you don't feel it at all.

All in all, it took an hour and 20 minutes to take a bus down a 45 minute walk. Not the best day for public transportation. Well, it seems I will have to get used to the fact that rush hour exists even on buses.

alice in wonderland

so, correct me if I am wrong...but aren't these only seen in cartoons??



It's difficult for me to run safely in Scotland. There are so many beautiful things I'd rather stare at than the path I am running on.



and another random thought...if your looking for a good read, check out this book!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578567947

Ergonomically Responsible Silverware

There is a real sense where we need to be ergonimically reponsible. I have no idea if I am spelling that right, but if it is ok I will just proceed. Something I have noticed lately, within the last 6 months, is that restaurants are growing more and more ergonomically irresponsible with their silverware. I think there should be a scale for ergonomic responsible silverware (the ERS Scale), not unlike the richter scale, but not like it either. Take for instance the silverware offered to us the other night.



This is a 4 out of a 10 on ergonomic responsibility. First, anytime a fork is that much larger than a wine glass there is an automatic 3 point reduction. I want to eat my food not spear it. There is a sense as well where I want to be somewhere near my food, and not feel like I am using some kind of shovelling mechanism to eat. That being said, this was much better than a place kelli and I ate at in Del Mar. The place in del mar received a 1.4 on the scale. Their silverware was extremely handle heavy, and even worse, bottom heavy as well. Imagine with me a knife where 85% of the weight is in the last inch of the handle. Now imagine setting that knife on your plate. What happens? The knife slides down and springs whatever food it may be in contact with up in the air and in your face. Terrible.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with Aberdeen really, other than the fact that we have used a lot of silverware that would rank highly on the ERS. Soup spoons for instance are very useful. In any case, let us all band together to form an allegiance for ergonical responsibility among the restaurant owning community.

Hotel California

The odd fact of the day is that grocery stores here evidently use the same cd as the ones do in the states - so Kelli and I got to shop while listening to Hotel California.

The day was very Scottish today. The sun was never out, not once. It misted all day with an occasional rain, and a good amount of wind. All in all though it was kind of fun. Kelli and I walked down a path that is an old railway that has been paved over for walking or evidently binge drinking. What was interested though was that in certain areas we would be walking through woods, and there would be a stone platform running next to the path. The platform was barely visible, with trees growing up through it, moss, ground cover running along the top of it. It was really odd. After looking at it for a moment we realized it was an old train station, or really more of a stop, from over a hundred years ago. It ended up being really cool to see.



Other than that, Kelli and I will be adding signs to my myspace page. I will be updating everyone on my ability to learn how to play snooker, which I am convinced holds the key to every culture difference between America and the UK, and hopefully get a picture of one of the spiders which plagued our room for the first two nights. Well, it is time for tea - though it is always time for tea, so that is really just a way of saying I'm taking off! I hope you all are well.

North of Moscow

Our random Aberdonian fact of the day is that we are north of Moscow. I never imagined that I would live north of Moscow, but now that I am doing so, it comes with some odd experiences.

Today, for instance, Kelli and I tried Mexican food. Why, you may ask, would we ever try Mexican food in the UK? But before any jokes get told about Scotland cuisine, may I say that Kelli and I have had some incredible food while we are here - the soups, breads, and meat have all been very good. But nonetheless, we wanted a taste of home, so we had Mexican. All in all, the food wasn't half bad, and except for one key element it all tasted great. The problem was the tortilla chips. Tortilla chips, to the all the mexican fans out there, are a key part of the diet - at least in the Americanized version of the diet. What was specifically odd about these particular chips though was the thick layer of salt on all the chips. We're not talking about the kind of salt you sprinkle on food, but the thick and congealed salt that usually goes on the rims of margaritta glasses. For your viewing entertainment, we took a picture.



Anyway, all in all, we are getting settled into the Aberdonian lifestyle. I am still waiting for my office at the college, and once that is figured out things will finally settle into place. For now, I have to go get ready for my German and Latin classes which start tomorrow.

We're not in the 1700's anymore

As most of you know, I am a religious person. Of course, in this day and age, the term "religious" has such a negative connotation that no one likes to use it. I, for the purpose of this blog, will hold on to this term. Being religious is nothing more than devoting your life to a specific end, the end of which is formed and guided by a tradition and community who seeks to honor and commune with God. That being said, lets move on to the point of this introduction.

Kelli and I went to lunch the other day in a place called Soul Cafe. Soul Cafe is a pub that resides in a church that had to close its doors due to the declining number of people in Scotland who would use the term "religious" of themselves, but who no doubt call themselves the more ambigious and self-serving term, "spiritual." I thought a pub in an old church might have an unusual atmosphere, so we went in.

Now, I will be the first to say that a building is just a building. But there is also something to be said about a building that was created with an end in mind, and that end was to speak something to the world; that was now being used to speak the opposite message. As we entered this pub I was suprised to see the stain glass was all still in tact and eluminated. The stain glass of this building was particularly beautiful (see picture below), and surrounded the entire bar area. To further my shock, they had kept the pupit in tact, and it loomed above the open area towards the back of the large room. In the pulpit, there was no one who would now proclaim words that were meant to guide people to a life of love, but there were turn-tables set up for the DJ who came during the night hours of operation.

While I understand the appeal to use an old building, with all of its beauty and depth as a place for people to hang out - that is not what bothers me. What struck me as especially sad was knowing the hearts of the people who first built it, and what they wanted this building to say to the people who saw it. I couldn't help but look at the stories being told in everything from the stain glass to the details in the architecture that pointed to something much more than the sum of its parts. There is something to be said for a space that was built as sacred space, as someone recently said to me - and I find this to be true. Interestingly enough, the pub hasn't ceased to be sacred space, but it has ceased to be a certain kind of sacred space. The people here have not ceased to be religious, they have just developed a different kind of religion. Worship happens everywhere, and this place does not differ from any other - the difference is that it was designed for the worship of God, and now it is used for the worship of man.

grave yard lunch with pigeons

ok, so this is my first blog ever...kind of scared..but kyle insists I contribute, and I want to... but it's going to take me a while to warm up to this whole blogging thing.

So, I thought I'd share about my interesting lunch. There's this awesome place where I am currently sitting, Books and Beans, that has amazing soups and stuff. I purchased some butternut squash and yellow pepper soup and a coffee and then headed to find somewhere outside to sit. There's this massive church in the middle of downtown Aberdeen, founded in 1150. Surrounding the church are just tons and tons of gravestones, and people pass through the graveyard to cut across the block or stop and have lunch or to actually attend church. There are two separate chapels, St. Mary's and St. John's, which both are still active. The area I was sitting in is called "Kirkyard of St. Nicholas". I found it oddly peaceful and comforting sitting there, eating my lunch with pigeons starring at me. When I left through one of the side gates I was immediately faced with a large shopping center, starbucks and the gap. This town is just weird, one minute you're in a church that began in 1150 and the next minute you're ordering your grande soy caramel macchiato...strange.

Life as a nomad

Adventures in Aberdeen

It seems that living life as a nomad, as kelli and I seem to be, brings us into contact with a certain amount of odd experiences that usually would elude our rather mundane existence. For instance, on our normal day to day existence we probably would fail to see a man (think Doc from Back to the Future) running across the road with a T.V. being missed by a bus by 6 inches.

Life as nomads has also put us into contact with very generous people - who have gone well beyond the socially obligatory dinner, but who have invited us in to their lives and allowed us to rest in their graces. We find this odd as Americans, who seem to value a certain level of independence, even in rather odd circumstances, rather than depending on one another. But it has really been a blessing and an exciting time in life as we have to learn how rely upon people we barely know.

Anyway, I regress. Welcome to our blog. It will most certainly be random, but hopefully enlightening as to life in the highlands for two odd americans.