They're Trousers, Not Pants

To the left: a sunset over the Firth of Forth. Say that five times fast. A firth is like a big bay type thing at the mouth of a river. The Forth, then, is the river.

I've been walking around the city today. Went food shopping and got familiar with campus. The uni (university) had some kind of activity or meeting for international students today, but I didn't go. I heard it was just some talks and a tour of campus. So I just printed out a map and gave myself a tour.

I need to buy a larger comforter, or duvet, or whatever. The one I have barely covers me and doesn't have a cover yet. Last night I slept rolled up in a cocoon in hopes of staying warm. Didn't manage to get out to the store to buy a better one today, so tonight will be a repeat.

Last night was fun. Met Iain and he and Calum and I went upstairs to another flat to socialize. As far as pop music and rap go, kids here like the same kind of stuff as do Americans, but some of the songs will randomly be a couple years old and just getting popular now. It's fun to hear them sing American songs in their accents.

Speaking of accents, my usual sobriquet is, of course, KBreezy. Here, however, they're inflections make it sound like "Cupreesi" or something like that. They think it sounds funny and like to say it, and I think it sounds funny the way they say it. Also, Kevin has been transformed into "Ken" by way of their accents dropping the 'v' - like saying "Ke'in." Not everyone does it but it'll catch me off guard at times.

One of Calum's friends, Don, is in town from Glasgow (where Calum's from, too). We hung out a bit today and talked about America/Scotland. Tried to figure out the differences and similarities between our political systems but ended up watching YouTube videos instead, of course. When discussing American culture, he asked me if I'd been to a Walmart, and if my family owned a gun (and if everyone carried a gun, or not) haha. I tried to clear up the issue, but of course I guess that's just as bad as an American asking a Scot if everyone wears a kilt and has a red beard.

The friends I made upstairs are all proper partiers. We had a good time and were out and about. I've successfully introduced the term "to rage" into their vocabulary, and they look forward to 'raging' soon. For the elder subscribers to my blog, it means something along the lines of drinking and partying wildly - not a new concept by any means, just a new word popular at F&M and elsewhere. So rage we will.

ALERT: I had the most delicious sausage I've ever eaten in my entire life this afternoon. Woke up about noon, went to Tesco, the local grocery, and bought some foodstuffs and whatnot. Thought that a certain package of sausages looked particularly appetizing and so picked them up. I don't know if it was a fluke, but it may be that America has heretofore been incapable of producing a sausage in the league of that which I ate today. Amen.

I have class at 9am and 12pm tomorrow, and an advising appointment at 10:15am. Might drop the 9am class (archaeology) and pick up an art history class that meets during the same time. Can't go to both though, so I'm going to the one I'm already signed up for until my advising session to see if I can switch in.

There's no Tylenol here. Buzz. So I had to ask what was the equivalent. Not sure if I'm just fatigued or not, but I hope I'm not getting sick. Also bought the equivalent of Airborne fizzy tablet things in hopes of buffering my immune system. Apparently American television shows aren't the only things to show up later on in Scotland: Swine Flu is still a problem here. 1.

About to make some lamb chops. I'm still going out tonight but won't do much drinking, due to my 9am lecture. Wondering what being in a class of 150 kids is going to be like. Largest one I've had is 25 - 30 kids.

Also, their education is subsidized by the state. Wtf F&M?