An Edinburgh Summer

I'm finding it hard to believe that the end of August is near. I feel as though summer has passed me by, like I must have missed it somehow. It's not only because I've been studying and writing all summer, although that's certainly helped the months fly by. In fact, my First Year Review is upon me, and very soon I'll be a PhD-2. I can't really believe that I'll no longer be a first year.

I think that the main reason I'm feeling like summer has passed me by is the weather. With the exception of our days in London during a heat wave, this has not been summer weather. Not terribly surprising, I suppose, but its still a new experience to deal with. We've had a rediculous amount of daylight (although its noticeably disappearing), and lots of sunny days with blue skies and white fluffy clouds. The temperature just never gets up to a warm, comfortable temperature, and during the brief moments of direct sunlight you may feel the heat of the sun, but the warmth is gone the second a cloud passes by (which is pretty frequent). There's always a chill in the air, and usually a crisp cool breeze that necessitates bringing a jacket or sweatshirt whenever you go out.

There's also be a lot more real rain than we've had at any other time of the year. Unlike in the fall and winter when the rain was more of an annoying mist blowing around, we're now getting actual rain (or what we would call rain back home). There was even thunder and lightning a few nights in July! I'm happy I invested in a good Marks and Spencer's umbrella that's been tested in wind tunnels, and its clear (something I've always wanted) with silver stars so it makes me smile every time I use it.

So there have been no tank tops, no shorts (for me, anyway), no suntanning, no lying on the beach or swimming and no call for a bathing suit this summer. I don't think that's ever happened before. I have managed to get sunburnt once or twice -- its tough to remember sunscreen when its cold enough to require a sweatshirt in the morning. And I am rarely fooled anymore by a sunny morning, because dark rain clouds could be speeding towards Edinburgh, so a jacket and umbrella are musts. Occasionally I shrug off the sight of impending rain clouds, like I did last Friday at the MSc's Goodbye Dissertation, Hello Beer party in the Meadows on a beautiful sunny afternoon, but I got my comeuppance as the bunch of us got soaked running for cover in front of the grocery store up the path.

I don't think I'll be able to get used to the quickness with which the weather changes. Rainstorms blow in and out within an hour, quite handy if I'm trying to time my 15 minute walk home from the library, but rather annoying if caught midway home after a successful shopping trip while carrying canvas bags which do nothing to keep out the rain. It has made us appreciate the time the sun is shining, to the point where Derek and I will throw a couple books in a backpack and head out to the park on a sunny afternoon or a walk around the neighbourhood in the evening, or a coffee break with a friend at school will turn into a chat in George Square or the Meadows. We've learned to treasure sunshine and warmth, as its gone all too fast around here.

Although it sounds like Southern Ontario is getting quite the beating this summer, I will say that I do miss distinct seasons. However, I've been told by several friends that May is the most beautiful month here, which we missed this year due to a trip home, so I'll be looking forward to checking it out for myself next Spring. And I can't forget that with only about 5 days of snow last winter, mild, strikingly similar seasons do have their upside :)

The Tattoo

On Thursday night Derek and I went to the preview performance the 60th annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and it was absolutely amazing. Because it was a preview performance the media were all over the ground shooting video and photos of the performers, but it was only distracting when soloists were performing. The tickets were half-price, so we had amazing seats that we'll probably never sit in again, but I sure got some great shots. We were 6 rows up facing the castle, so the performers would come out towards us, and leave along the openings in the stands on either side of us. We had great views of the lights and images which were projected onto the castle, as well as the various formations the marching bands made during their performances.

The tattoo consisted of about a dozen bands (plus a choir and two groups of dancers) from around the world, most of them military bands, and about half of them highland/bagpipe playing regimental bands. It was the mass bagpipe performances that I enjoyed the most, although the unbelievable drumming of the Swiss Top Secret Drummers was probably the most exciting. I'd never seen synchronized drumming with fire! They were also the only group to drop something (a flag), but that didn't take away from their amazing feats. True showmanship!

There were a ton of memorable moments, the most shocking of which was at the very start when an RAF fighter jet flew overhead as the castle's cannons fired. That blew everyone away (not literally). The first time the highland musicians entered the performance area (the walkway up to Edinburgh Castle which is now surrounded on three sides by massive stands) was really striking. Linking arms and singing Auld Lang Syne with everyone else in the stands was also pretty cool. The Last Post, performed by three trumpeters on a lower platform of the castle, was followed by the Lone Piper higher up, and this was really beautiful. And the fireworks were great (I love fireworks! although not at midnight when I'm trying to sleep).

The finale, in which all of the participants came out, was pretty amazing (the conductor was up on a platform in the middle of the grounds conducting a couple hundred people), although the singing was out of sync due to having a second conductor conduct the Canadian male chorus who were way at the far end in the castle gate. I wasn't a fan of the live demonstration of the role of medics in Afghanistan, but I understand that this is predominantly a military performance and Britain is at war (though, as the emcee stressed, they're no longer in Iraq).

The performers came from all over, including China, Britain, Tonga, Switzerland, Australia and Canada. We actually saw many of them after the show on our walk home. We live about two blocks away from the castle, so as we walked along one of the roads around the side of the hill we passed a number of coaches (which is pretty typical, as there's always tour buses around there), but Derek spotted some costumed performers in them. It turns out they were all filled with the bands and performers, so that was pretty cool.

I'm really glad we went. We weren't really planning on going this year, but as more and people we know got their tickets, realizing we'd be hearing it every night anyway, and a gentle push from Dad all worked to get us up at 6am a couple weeks ago to get these tickets. I probably wouldn't go to a preview performance again, even though it was pretty funny to watch the photographers run backwards to avoid getting hit, so we'll probably never have such good seats again. But considering we've got a good view of the fireworks from our living room window (which are so loud I jumped at midnight last night, although I think it must have also been the cannons firing that made it so shockingly loud), I think any seats in the stands will be pretty amazing.

So if you're trying to decide when to come visit Edinburgh, August is pretty darn amazing around here (and so far no humidity!). But I think I'm going to find it pretty hard to get used to the noise of the fireworks and the fighter jets every night for the next 3 weeks!

Good Service, Rubbish Service

Well, I'm still sick, and getting pretty bored. The sinus headache keeps me from concentrating on schoolwork, and the plumber's here replacing the moldy sealant we've been complaining about for 2 months, so its so noisy we can't watch tv. And so my mind turns to two other areas that play a significant role in my life right now: medicine and mail.

The NHS (National Health Service)

NHS Scotland is awesome, at least what I've experienced of it. Coming from a city where it's next to impossible to find a family doctor, I was amazed to read in the university's guide that in Edinburgh you can walk into any GP's practice and sign up with them, provided you live in their catchment area. We're registered with University Health Services, and they've treated us pretty well. They are also the only healthcare providers I've dealt with here, so all of my knowledge and experience comes from them.

There's a number of elements I really appreciate about their services. First, you can book appointments online with any doctor, or with your preferred doctor. You have access to all the dates and times of available appointments, so its easy to find the right one and there's lots of choice. I also like that when you see a GP, you see them, not a nurse. You don't have to explain your whole story to the nurse, or have your temperature read and blood pressure taken even if you're there for a new inhaler or something completely unrelated. You also don't need to say why you want the appointment, regardless of booking online or on the phone. It's rather nice not to have to tell the secretary, the nurse and the doctor about your personal health problems.

The NHS has a great website and a 24 hour phone-line for healthcare help (like back home). Prescriptions are a flat rate of £4 each, but from what I've seen you can't choose between generic and name-brand medicines. If you're likely to have more than 10 per year, it makes sense to buy a certificate for about £38, which covers the full cost of prescriptions for the year. Basic eye care and dental services are also covered by the NHS. I haven't heard the greatest things about these services, but I haven't tried them myself so I can't really comment.

Full disclosure: I did have a really bad experience with a nurse attempting to syringe my ear with way too powerful of a power washer, and 3.5 months on I'm still on ear drops to deal with the mess she made, but at least my hearing is unharmed and the infections are bound to end someday soon. But the doctors I've had have been helpful and very good listeners. They ask me what I would normally take for certain illnesses back home (like for my annual bout of bronchitis) and work to find the British equivalent.

Royal Mail

Mail delivery here sucks, and according to Derek's Google search of 'Royal Mail is rubbish,' a lot of people would agree with me. Now, not all mail delivery is rubbish -- letters seem to travel at a crazy speed (1-2 days within the UK, and less than a week to send a or receive a letter to or from Canada or the US), but much of it is.

I think in total Derek and I have had three packages and one large envelope containing numerous items from home sent to us which did not arrive properly. The first one, from a friend who was in England, was a medium-sized package containing a hair dryer, straightener, extension cord and alarm clock (she was moving back home to Canada where it wouldn't be worth getting power converters for them all). Even though Derek and his cousin were home, a 'Sorry You Were Out' note was slipped through the door. They thought that perhaps they had both been in the kitchen with the fire door shut.

Because the small post offices around the city are run privately, Royal Mail returns all undelivered packages to their main depots, about a 30 minute walk from us. Not a fun situation to deal with when the package should and could have easily been delivered on time in the first place.

Before Christmas my Grandma sent us a little package of goodies, newspaper clippings etc. It arrived in a clear plastic bag with a note from Royal Mail apologizing for the package being wrecked, and saying that they might have lost stuff in the process of ripping it. But we think everything still managed to arrive.

In the last two months since we've moved we've ordered a couple things online to be delivered to our home. The first item was a set of dvds of The IT Crowd, and the second was two books. Neither was delivered to our door, even though we were home on both 'attempted' delivery days. We were pretty ticked off after the first 'Sorry You Were Out' slip came through our mailslot, because it was dated the day before, when the postman hadn't buzzed us to let him in like he normally would, and definitely didn't knock. We considered complaining, but didn't.

Today the same thing happened again, but this time we can prove the mailman was lying about us not being in yesterday. That's because yesterday he made the mistake of buzzing and making verbal contact with me to let him in. He then didn't come to our door or deliver any mail, and today silently slipped a 'Sorry You Were Out' note through the mail slot having buzzed someone else to let him in. Oh, this time I complained. They say they'll get back to me within 5 days, but I don't have high hopes. It sounds like this is a regular occurrence. It doesn't make sense to me that postmen and women would choose to not deliver packages. Sure, they can be awkward and heavy on the long trek up and down stairs, but wouldn't you know that that's part of the job description before signing up?

Anyway, the plumber has now gone, leaving behind beautiful new white seals all along the kitchen counter (and the bathtub, which is exciting and unexpected!).

The View from Here

Well, it's been a long two and a half weeks. I've fought off sore throats, headaches, my standard deep chest cough and a continually runny nose. Halfway through a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection which I hadn't even noticed when I went to the doctor's last week, I'm sure feeling it now! I've got a wicked sinus headache and nose that won't quit running. Yesterday I lasted just over an hour in the library; today I'm not even venturing outside. So I thought I might blog about a topic oh so close to my heart -- television. When I'm sick I lie on the couch and flip on the telly. With clogged sinuses I usually can't concentrate enough to read or even go on the computer, so if this entry isn't terribly polished or concise, well, I'm sick.

I've said it before, I love British tv. I've grown up on Britcoms and soaps. People are quite surprised when they find out I've got about 20 years of Coronation Street in my head. Lately we've been delving into more documentaries and reality tv. I've loved reality tv since the first episode of MTV Real World which I saw down in Texas, and who didn't become obsessed with the first season of Survivor?

I watched every season of Big Brother except for 2001 (I was a bit busy that summer :) ) and loved it, but Big Brother here is so much better! First of all, its shown every day. Every evening we get an hour-long edited episode showing the previous day's activities in chronological order. There's also two talk shows devoted to Big Brother, and live footage late at night every night. Friday evictions are also shown live, and the evicted houseguest gets interrogated by the lovely and witty Davina, her other guests (usually including a psychologist or body language expert) and the audience. This season has been pretty exciting, with boyfriends and exes entering the house unexpectedly, rebellious housemates breaking the rules by talking about nominations (here nominations must be kept a secret, and the viewers vote people out), and one guy even climbed over the wall, making quite a memorable exit.

Other notable reality tv shows we've watched (Derek will watch them with me most of the time, but if it was up to him we'd probably only turn away from Bloomberg business news when monkey shows were coming on) include Spendaholics (twenty-somethings in deep debt but with tons of clothes or tickets to the footy), Freaky Eaters (teens to middle age people who have very weird eating habits, often only eating chips and chocolate), and Project Runway (ok, only I watch that one, making fun of Kelly Osborne trying to fill Heidi Klum's shoes). We probably would have gotten into the UK's Biggest Loser, but we were home in Canada when most of it aired.

The latest one we've started watching is Young, Dumb, and Living off Mum, a reality tv show where 8 guys and girls between ages 17 and 25 who still live at home and don't work are moved into a house where they must fend for themselves, buying and making their own food and cleaning up after themselves, in order to win a trip around the world. Each week one parent assigns a task for them all, like a 12 hour shift in a hotel, or organizing and running a fashion show in 6 hours, and then the parents watch the footage and boot out the kid who did the least. We were a tad annoyed when they changed the rules in the first week and booted out the best working kid, who really should have been in the running for the trip.

There's also some great series and documentaries about real life and real things. One of our favourites is Monkey Business and Monkey Life, which documents over ten years of adventures and happenings at Monkey World rescue centre in Dorset, UK. We're determined to go there sometime. Its a great show featuring all sorts of monkeys and apes, including chimps, orangutans, gibbons (my favourite) and lemurs. Sometimes very sad things happen, like when a head chimp gets ousted or a little one gets sick, but seeing a tiny baby wooly monkey cuddle with its carer or cling to its stuffed animal surrogate mummy is just the cutest thing! Needless to say we've watched almost every episode of Monkey Business, and the complete first season of Monkey Life.

So here's hoping that I get back on my feet soon, so that I'll have more to write about than what I can see from the couch. Odds are we'll be seeing some pretty amazing things by the end of the week, so we can look forward to that!