They're Coming!

Derek and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of two friends from 'the continent,' who will be staying with us for the next week for the one's graduation. I'm not too nervous anymore, although as I look around the living room I keep spotting more areas that need to be dusted, and I wonder if I should be cleaning the windows or tidying up the counter. This will be the first time that we've had anyone stay overnight since our very first week in Edinburgh, when Derek's cousin stopped by for a couple nights as part of his backpacking trip across Europe. It's therefore also the first time that we've had anyone stay in our new flat, which has resulted in a number of questions and challenges to solve (and some which will just have to unfold).

For example, our flat is very open-concept. The living room and kitchen are one; therefore, our guests will basically be sleeping in the middle of our living room/kitchen/dining room. Also, as we're living in the city centre, our flat is rather tiny, and definitely not built for four. The bathroom is rediculously small, and feels even smaller because the door opens inwards. The bathtub is a tad raised, and the ceiling in there is lowered, so I'm thinking our one guest might not be able to stand up in it. I've raised this issue with him, and as he's quite tall he said its not uncommon so not to worry. But I don't think my dad will have a chance at standing up in there :)

One of the best things about having them come to stay is that we are now totally ready to have people stay. Luckily we have a fold-out couch which makes having people over somewhat comfortable, although it has seen better days and is really only comfortable when lying on your side, but if its a clear morning you'll wake up with a partial view of the castle. There was a nice but dingey Ikea duvet in the closet when we moved in, so we've had it cleaned and bought a gorgeous hot pink and red duvet cover and matching pillow cases (the couch itself is red, so it all works). We also got a couple lime green towels which I love. Ikea really is amazing for bright bedding and linens at a reasonable price. Therefore in the past few days we've gone from having just enough for two people, to being able to handle four or so. So come visit! :)

It should be an interesting week. Lots of reunions with friends from the MSc programme who are coming back for grad, a couple parties I would bet, and the experience of living with 3 other people in a flat built for one or two. Should be some fun, and some very interesting times. I'm sure we'll all get to know each other very well. It's also going to be a busy week for me at school. I've still got another 9 essays to mark, and there's a number of administrative meetings, tutorials and seminars that I need to attend. I'll let you know how it goes!

My London Trip

I (Derek) had a day long interview this Thursday in London. Being a 5 hour train ride away and a 9:00am start I had to go down the day before. I was put up in a very posh hotel, got a bit of attitude from the lady at reception, I think because I was young and not in a business suit.

Unfortunately I ended up getting a headache while on the train, had a horrible night's sleep and still had the headache the next morning.

Thursday morning I got up early had breakfast and then got ready, putting on my suit and gelling my hair. The company had hired a taxi for me and I was greeted by a chauffeur with a sign for the company. At the company for the day I started off with talking to the recruiter and she was able to get me some pain relievers and yet everyone know I was feeling slightly bad.

The interview consisted of written tests followed by discussion about the problems. A 30 min presentation, which I did about Cribbage, 2 straight up interviews, and a chance to hang out with a recent graduate hire for lunch and a tour of the building.

I did pretty well on the tests and during the discussion about them I was able to explain my ideas and expand and improve them, so I think that went really well.

The presentation about cribbage was very nerve racking before hand but once I got started there was so much interaction with the audience that I was able to relax and enjoy the talk. It ended up going so long that I had to cut out about a third of the slides.

Lunch was very nice, I ordered ham, chicken, cheese and lettuce with mayo on a whole wheat roll and it was too big to close the bun. It was a good lunch during which I enjoyed chatting with three relatively new hires, who poked a little bit of fun at my sandwich.

Having 10 hours on a train in two days seems like it would be pretty much unbearable but thanks to the availability of wireless internet I was able to chat with both Paula, and my mom while aboard the train.

I should be hearing from them very soon, and I will update you when I know how things turn out.

Shouting Out

Hi again! I wanted to give a shout out to my cousin Claire and her travel blog. If you think my life in Scotland sounds foreign, check out her blog about her experiences in Ghana, West Africa. Claire left Canada and moved to Ghana at the end of August. She's there as part of her university program in international relations (I think that's right), and having finished the coursework associated with her third year, she's now about to embark on some volunteer work within an African community for the rest of the school year. Her experiences have been absolutely fascinating (though I'll warn you -- some aspects of her life there are difficult to read about), and provide a real insight into living conditions in one part of West Africa. So if you're interested, check out Going to Ghana (and beyond)

It's Musical Madness!

Over the past five or six weeks I have been dancing again, and it's been great! About two minutes down the road in Grassmarket is Dance Base, Scotland's national centre for dance, with fantastic instructors and great facilities (including views of the castle above), so I had no excuse not to check it out. All last year a friend of mine had been raving about this lunchtime drop-in class she'd been attending, called Musical Madness, where they would learn choreography to well-known musical theatre songs. It sounded like a great time, but I'm the type of person who, if I stop work in the middle of the day for two or more hours, I'm don't pick it up again until tomorrow, so it wasn't practical for me to go.

This year the class is held on Wednesday nights, and now that we've moved it's literally two minutes away. Unfortunately, because it's in the evenings lots more people are able to attend, so getting a spot is a struggle. Our instructor is incredible, talented and a lot of fun, so it's no wonder he's one of the school's most popular instructors (so they've told me). Another friend and I showed up half an hour early on the first night to get a spot, but there already two others waiting in line and we left empty handed. Now we have dance cards that let us book our places online first thing in the morning. This can also be problematic, however, as there's only a couple spots available to book, and the time at which they are offered varies from week to week (spots have become available as early as 8:30, or as late as 9:45 am), and then there's also the worry that my friends won't have gotten a spot even if I did.

Luckily, other than the first week I've made it to every class I've wanted to. I'm considering signing up for the entire term in the winter, to cut out the stress of trying to get a spot, and because it is so much fun! Every two weeks we learn a completely new style of musical theatre dance, and its always a surprise. We danced some complicated steps to music from the Queen musical We Will Rock You, and learned a detailed number to All That Jazz in Fosse's signature style. The last two weeks we've danced to Aye Carumba from Copacabana, which was ridiculously fun and so very camp, shaking our maracas, banging our bongos and balancing fruit baskets on our heads as we danced around. The steps and routines are challenging enough to keep me completely focussed on the task at hand (something I also always loved about ballet -- I can't worry about school while dancing), and with daylight disappearing around 4pm it's also good incentive to get out and be productive and active in the evenings. It's also been great going with friends. This is a new experience for me, and it makes class a lot more fun.

So I'm looking forward to going again next Wednesday. Who knows what style we'll be dancing to next?!