That title has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that these pants are so mom jeans. I think I will actually give them to my mother when I get back to the states. She's going to be so pissed that none of the clothes that we bought before I left actually, technically fit me. Everything is about a size and a half too big. I have no way of telling if this is because I've actually lost weight, or just because I'm a terrible shopper. I would bet on a combination of the two, really. I suck at clothing myself.
I've done a combined total of naught hours of anything of interest so far this week. The only reasons that I've left my flat were class and a short excursion to the overpriced computer store to buy a mic so I can Skype. Today, actually, I went to the Princes Street Mall, which is, coincidentally, a mall, to get money out of the ATM. They have the only Barclay's ATM anywhere near here, which is the type that I need to use to not get charged exorbitant fees by Bank of America. It's downtown, so like 15 minutes walking from my flat. It is currently sunny and crisp outside. It was a pleasant walk, and I stopped at the McDonalds there (okay, so that was half the reason for my leaving the flat) and got a Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry. As my Facebook status says, yes. Oh my God, yes. I am going to be so sad when the Easter promotional period is over. Also, McDonalds menus are super interesting here. They have faux falafel and BBQ pork sandwiches and hamburgers on ciabatta bread. Not that I would suggest eating any of it, but still. Cultural differences rule.
Tonight, I may or may not be going to one of the church member's flat to watch Monty Python. It depends if Alice (who often writes on my wall) wants to go and can therefore give me a ride. Otherwise, I would have to walk downtown to catch a bus, at night, for which I will have no idea of the area in which I'm supposed to exit. I'm just not feeling that adventurous. If I don't go, I'll probably sit here and watch a movie on my own. Hahaha leave me alone, all you people who know people. I honestly don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not going out and getting wasted or going to clubs every night. Free internet movies are good enough for me.
BESIDES, I will be going out on Sunday. To a football match. With Glenn. I got a Facebook message today that asked, very concisely, if I still wanted to go. To which I replied, ABSOLUTELY!!! Well, not so forcefully of course. Because that would be terrifying and completely out of character for me. But yeah, Sunday, Hibs match (Hibernian FC if you want to google the team). I will try to not get stabbed by ardent supporters of the other team (Aberdeen, I think). For those who don't know, Edinburgh is a two-team city, much like LA and basketball. Unlike LA fans, however, Hearts and Hibs fans make a habit of stabbing, maiming, and beating the shit out of each other. Trainspotting (which is set in Leith, the port of Edinburgh) makes reference to this, I believe. Yeah, football, woo! Go ahead, tell me I'm not being social enough. I will then tell you to suck it, and we can move on. I've been grinning since I saw the message, btw.
Part of the other reason that I'm not doing anything this weekend is that I think Ashley has taken a trip to the Highlands with her flatmates. So what I'm doing is saving money, or something. My mom gives me shit when she calls on weekend nights, and I'm home at 11pm or whatever. I mean really, what's the alternative? Getting felt up by some dude in a club and then getting impregnated? Yeah, thanks, Mom. Way to look out for my well-being.
I'm not sure that I really have anything of interest to drag this post out any longer. I should do a minuscule amount of reading or something, instead of being the creepy loner. But then that wouldn't be me. And there's always tomorrow.
I probably need therapy.
- C
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Adventures of the religious sort.
Okay, so here's the thing: as much as I am a non-believer, church is a comfortable place for me. I know what to expect, generally, I know what's going to happen next and what the people will be like. And when I say church, I mean the Episcopal church. I was raised going to church on Sundays and major religious holidays. I was an acolyte and then a lay reader, I was baptised and confirmed in my grandmother's church of choice (Church of the Atonement, a tiny congregation in the town where she was born all of a million years ago). Church is safe. I even enjoy church, at certain times of the year/when I'm in certain moods. Lent/the Easter season is my favorite. Like spring, it's all about rebirth and making things new- a fresh start, if you will. So, while here, I've decided to go to church, as I was saying.
Most of the reason that I don't attend services in the US, besides the part where I'm way too busy/tired on most Sundays to bother and the fact that I don't have a car, is because religion in the US terrifies me. People who go to church regularly are becoming more and more the type of person that lives for religion. I'm not interested in that. I think that it makes people one-dimensional and boring, in addition to making them ignorant of most other things that make up a life worth living. Not everybody, but yeah, my feelings on all things religious are well known.
Here, it's much different. Religion isn't about abstaining from things and depriving yourself of worldly pleasures and not enjoying your time on earth. Religion, like everything else in Scotland, is fun. With that said, I went to a young persons' group meeting for the church that I'm planning on attending last night. The meeting was at a pub and was really just a small group of people who were willing to make me feel welcome. We talked about "church" for approximately 5 minutes the entire night. Other than that, we talked about everything else under the sun. While drinking. After the pub, we decided to go to CC Bloom's, which happens to be a gay nightclub. Yeah. Everyone's welcome in the Episcopal church. At I don't even know what o'clock, I left the nightclub with a girl named Alice, and Tom, an economist (ahaha) who are both in their mid to upper 20s. We went back to Tom's flat for "coffee" which actually ended up being a bottle of wine and some scotch (my first woo). I haven't been so drunk in a long, long while. I don't actually remember going to bed, though I do remember walking home.
Anyway, Tom's flat is in New Town, which is the other side of town. It's very wealthy, as well. Imagine the type of townhouse where you would expect to see a rich Victorian family, and that's Tom's flat. The person who owns it is the heir to the position of head of the Clan Cameron, though I didn't actually get to meet him. I assume that he's Tom's age or a little older.
Today, I got up and went to church (still slightly drunk, not gonna lie), which was a good way to pass the morning. There was a coffee hour afterwards where I met some more people and bought a ticket for the Burns supper and ceilidh that the church is hosting next Friday. Again, something terribly exciting to do.
And that has been my weekend. Also, I haven't been to church since last Easter, and I figure that I could use some spiritual cleansing after last semester ahaha.
I've heard that the weekend back home was passed with debauchery and insanity, so well done. Until next time, send me emails.
- C
Most of the reason that I don't attend services in the US, besides the part where I'm way too busy/tired on most Sundays to bother and the fact that I don't have a car, is because religion in the US terrifies me. People who go to church regularly are becoming more and more the type of person that lives for religion. I'm not interested in that. I think that it makes people one-dimensional and boring, in addition to making them ignorant of most other things that make up a life worth living. Not everybody, but yeah, my feelings on all things religious are well known.
Here, it's much different. Religion isn't about abstaining from things and depriving yourself of worldly pleasures and not enjoying your time on earth. Religion, like everything else in Scotland, is fun. With that said, I went to a young persons' group meeting for the church that I'm planning on attending last night. The meeting was at a pub and was really just a small group of people who were willing to make me feel welcome. We talked about "church" for approximately 5 minutes the entire night. Other than that, we talked about everything else under the sun. While drinking. After the pub, we decided to go to CC Bloom's, which happens to be a gay nightclub. Yeah. Everyone's welcome in the Episcopal church. At I don't even know what o'clock, I left the nightclub with a girl named Alice, and Tom, an economist (ahaha) who are both in their mid to upper 20s. We went back to Tom's flat for "coffee" which actually ended up being a bottle of wine and some scotch (my first woo). I haven't been so drunk in a long, long while. I don't actually remember going to bed, though I do remember walking home.
Anyway, Tom's flat is in New Town, which is the other side of town. It's very wealthy, as well. Imagine the type of townhouse where you would expect to see a rich Victorian family, and that's Tom's flat. The person who owns it is the heir to the position of head of the Clan Cameron, though I didn't actually get to meet him. I assume that he's Tom's age or a little older.
Today, I got up and went to church (still slightly drunk, not gonna lie), which was a good way to pass the morning. There was a coffee hour afterwards where I met some more people and bought a ticket for the Burns supper and ceilidh that the church is hosting next Friday. Again, something terribly exciting to do.
And that has been my weekend. Also, I haven't been to church since last Easter, and I figure that I could use some spiritual cleansing after last semester ahaha.
I've heard that the weekend back home was passed with debauchery and insanity, so well done. Until next time, send me emails.
- C
Saturday, January 19, 2008
How I've been spending my time.
Since I basically have nothing to do with myself for a lot of the time, I tend to wander around the city. It's pretty awesome, as it's basically impossible to get lost.
Yesterday, I went out to lunch with the girl that I met from SC. I also got a Young Persons Railcard, which basically gives you discounted train rides through the British rail system. SC is reimbursing us for the card, so mostly I did it because it was free, and it will probably come in handy later. Lunch was at a chain Italian restaurant, called Bella Italia, which was actually fairly delicious. I was impressed. And to get the railcard we had to go to Waverley Station, which is Edinburgh's main (and I think only) train station. It reminded me a lot of Paris' Gare du Nord. There are shops and food stands and whatnot down by the platforms. European train stations are basically the same as airports, just less of a hassle to get into and less crowded. So more pleasant, really. I wish the US had such a developed train system.
Last night, I was going to go on a pub crawl with the Water of Life Society (which is the university's whiskey appreciation society), but the pub that they were meeting at first was way too crowded for me to figure out who the members actually were etc. It was a tiny little place, and very loud. So basically I had a nice walk through the city at night, and then went to a different pub, closer to my flat and way less crowded. I sat by myself and had a pint of Stella and played the one game on my cell phone, which happens to be an impossible version of soccer. It's like electronic foosball, mostly. It was way less pathetic than it sounds.
Today, I walked over to the main shopping street, Princes Street. It's ridiculous on the weekend, but only on the side of the street where all of the shops are. The Royal Scottish Academy, which is that museum that I took pictures of from up by the castle, is also on that street. I went over there to buy a belt, because I desperately needed one, and got 2 for £2 at H&M- definitely my favorite store for accessories, here or at home.
Also today, I walked past the church that I think I'll be attending. I need something to do on Sundays, and church is as good an option as any. I can't spend all of my free time in my flat, and church is generally entertaining and basically free. It's also a possible place for meeting people. Besides, going to church once in a while couldn't hurt, in the event that I'm wrong about my whole well-reasoned atheism stance. But mostly, it gives me a reason to get up and out of the flat instead of just sitting here and eating shortbread (ahah so good). The one I'm looking at is called Old St. Paul's, and it's the oldest Episcopal church in Scotland. I really like all of the history behind it, my views on religion aside. It's sort of like a living museum, which is my favorite kind of church. It even has an impressive website, if you care. Added benefit: my grandmother will be absolutely thrilled.
Another thing that may be of interest to you is the type of American chain places that exist here. I've seen: Subway (albeit with different sandwiches to cater to British tastes, i.e. Sweet Chili Chicken), Domino's, Pizza Hut, KFC (which was the only place I saw a black family ahah terrible), Starbucks, Gap... I think that's it. KFC has ads for these weird chicken-on-a-stick things called Firecrackers or some such. It's like three balls of fried chicken stuck on a skewer. I guess so it's easier to eat and walk. And very exciting for me, I've so far seen 3 Mexican restaurants. One of them looks like Chipotle, with all the shiny metal and light wood, so I don't have high hopes for that place. But one of them is probably at least decent. Maybe. I'll try them all with an expectation of disappointment and see how that goes.
Something that I forgot to mention when I was talking about classes is that all of my instructors are women. And none of them are Scottish. One is Chinese, one is Canadian, and the other is American, though she did her undergrad work at St. Andrew's here in Scotland. It's odd, as I thought that the academic field was male-dominated everywhere. Granted, art history is becoming a very female-associated field, but classics definitely isn't. I think every semester at SC I've had a majority of my classes taught by men. So this is something else new and different.
I talked to my mom for a long time last night. She called, since she always does lots of shopping on the weekends and didn't want me to call today or tomorrow when she might be out. It's not like I'm that much further away from my family now than I am when I'm in CA, but I think, to them, it feels that way. My mom worries because at least when I'm in CA she knows that I can figure out how to get help if I need it, or she knows how to use the existing governmental/whatever structures to get to me, but here, she has no idea what to do in case of emergency. I understand her concern, and phone calls are as good a way as any to pass some time. Especially when I'm just sitting home on a Friday night. What I miss most, right now, is having people that I can just call up when I want to do something.
However, I do enjoy having the flat to myself on weekends. I can't decide if that evens out the weirdness of having Marina's boyfriend live here from Sunday night to Friday morning, but it definitely helps.
I think I might go read or something, as I'm tired of spilling my guts at this moment. Enjoy your day, kids.
- C
Yesterday, I went out to lunch with the girl that I met from SC. I also got a Young Persons Railcard, which basically gives you discounted train rides through the British rail system. SC is reimbursing us for the card, so mostly I did it because it was free, and it will probably come in handy later. Lunch was at a chain Italian restaurant, called Bella Italia, which was actually fairly delicious. I was impressed. And to get the railcard we had to go to Waverley Station, which is Edinburgh's main (and I think only) train station. It reminded me a lot of Paris' Gare du Nord. There are shops and food stands and whatnot down by the platforms. European train stations are basically the same as airports, just less of a hassle to get into and less crowded. So more pleasant, really. I wish the US had such a developed train system.
Last night, I was going to go on a pub crawl with the Water of Life Society (which is the university's whiskey appreciation society), but the pub that they were meeting at first was way too crowded for me to figure out who the members actually were etc. It was a tiny little place, and very loud. So basically I had a nice walk through the city at night, and then went to a different pub, closer to my flat and way less crowded. I sat by myself and had a pint of Stella and played the one game on my cell phone, which happens to be an impossible version of soccer. It's like electronic foosball, mostly. It was way less pathetic than it sounds.
Today, I walked over to the main shopping street, Princes Street. It's ridiculous on the weekend, but only on the side of the street where all of the shops are. The Royal Scottish Academy, which is that museum that I took pictures of from up by the castle, is also on that street. I went over there to buy a belt, because I desperately needed one, and got 2 for £2 at H&M- definitely my favorite store for accessories, here or at home.
Also today, I walked past the church that I think I'll be attending. I need something to do on Sundays, and church is as good an option as any. I can't spend all of my free time in my flat, and church is generally entertaining and basically free. It's also a possible place for meeting people. Besides, going to church once in a while couldn't hurt, in the event that I'm wrong about my whole well-reasoned atheism stance. But mostly, it gives me a reason to get up and out of the flat instead of just sitting here and eating shortbread (ahah so good). The one I'm looking at is called Old St. Paul's, and it's the oldest Episcopal church in Scotland. I really like all of the history behind it, my views on religion aside. It's sort of like a living museum, which is my favorite kind of church. It even has an impressive website, if you care. Added benefit: my grandmother will be absolutely thrilled.
Another thing that may be of interest to you is the type of American chain places that exist here. I've seen: Subway (albeit with different sandwiches to cater to British tastes, i.e. Sweet Chili Chicken), Domino's, Pizza Hut, KFC (which was the only place I saw a black family ahah terrible), Starbucks, Gap... I think that's it. KFC has ads for these weird chicken-on-a-stick things called Firecrackers or some such. It's like three balls of fried chicken stuck on a skewer. I guess so it's easier to eat and walk. And very exciting for me, I've so far seen 3 Mexican restaurants. One of them looks like Chipotle, with all the shiny metal and light wood, so I don't have high hopes for that place. But one of them is probably at least decent. Maybe. I'll try them all with an expectation of disappointment and see how that goes.
Something that I forgot to mention when I was talking about classes is that all of my instructors are women. And none of them are Scottish. One is Chinese, one is Canadian, and the other is American, though she did her undergrad work at St. Andrew's here in Scotland. It's odd, as I thought that the academic field was male-dominated everywhere. Granted, art history is becoming a very female-associated field, but classics definitely isn't. I think every semester at SC I've had a majority of my classes taught by men. So this is something else new and different.
I talked to my mom for a long time last night. She called, since she always does lots of shopping on the weekends and didn't want me to call today or tomorrow when she might be out. It's not like I'm that much further away from my family now than I am when I'm in CA, but I think, to them, it feels that way. My mom worries because at least when I'm in CA she knows that I can figure out how to get help if I need it, or she knows how to use the existing governmental/whatever structures to get to me, but here, she has no idea what to do in case of emergency. I understand her concern, and phone calls are as good a way as any to pass some time. Especially when I'm just sitting home on a Friday night. What I miss most, right now, is having people that I can just call up when I want to do something.
However, I do enjoy having the flat to myself on weekends. I can't decide if that evens out the weirdness of having Marina's boyfriend live here from Sunday night to Friday morning, but it definitely helps.
I think I might go read or something, as I'm tired of spilling my guts at this moment. Enjoy your day, kids.
- C
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
