Whirlwind Wedding

24 July 2013

I just returned from a whirlwind trip back to the States to see my sisters (one birthday and one wedding) and it was fantastic! Of course, it was also exhausting, but so are most fun trips :) While this trip isn't directly part of moving to Scotland, it certainly impacted my moving more than I thought it would (see final paragraph). So in order to show no favorites, I'll go in chronological order:

Happy Birthday, Whitney! (Biological Sister)

Although my sister got married two days before I left the country the first time, I didn't really get to spend time with the bride and groom during their wedding, so I made a special trip up this time to help them move into their new home and celebrate my sister's birthday. HuHot Mongolian Grill with a free piece of heavenly birthday cake for my sister! I hope she liked her birthday present - I boxed up most of their kitchen for them :)

The chef is doing a special birthday demo for her -
look at his hands ablur with motion!

The new couple and their beautiful new house!
(Sorry for the repeat from Facebook) 

Happy Wedding, Kristin! (Nico's Sister, My Sister-In-Law)

As was expected, the wedding was beautiful, the bride and groom were radiant, and a good time was had by all! It was absolutely worth the trip back from Scotland and I know that I would have been devastated if I hadn't been able to make it. 

One of the great things about the wedding was the opportunity it presented for Nico to dress up (he even wore shoes!) and we took a few pictures to commemorate the occasion. Of course, no photo shoot goes perfectly with Nico around. I don't remember all the details, so I've done my best to recreate the experience here for you:

"One, Two, Three - Cheese!"  "Nico, what are you doing?"

"Okay, let's try another pose. Wait a minute - what are you doing behind my back?"

"Here, Sweetie, let me straighten up your tie" (I hope you read that as though I was speaking through gritted teeth...)

Ahhhh, I love my husband :)

Amazingly, we actually got a couple of nice photos. 

Yes, those are dress shoes on his feet. I double checked,
it WAS actually Nico and not a stunt double :)

My sister was nice enough to play
photographer for our photo shoot. 

It was also nice to take advantage of some of the down time to catch up with other family members too. I didn't have my camera out the whole time, but I did manage to get few pictures of Nico and Melissa:

Grrr...You're my cousin - I hate you!

Just kidding - Love you, Cuz!

The first time I got on the plane for Scotland, I was excited about the adventure and I knew, in the back of my mind, that I had a safety net. If I forgot something, I was going to be back in a month anyway (and bringing two more checked bags over!). However, this trip had a finality to it that the previous one lacked. I was moving to Scotland for more than a year with no planned trips back to the States until AGU in December of 2014. Although I'm mostly moved in, there are still a few important things that I can't speed up: I move into my flat (not just the room I'm renting temporarily) at the end of August and then Nico and Kasha join me at the end of September. Until that's all done, I will still be in limbo, but at least things are calming down and I remember thinking on the plane as we were landing in Edinburgh, "I'm exhausted. It feels so good to be home!"

Arthur's Seat

14 July 2013

First, a quick note for my husband (technically the 15th of July, but close enough!):

Happy Birthday, Nico!!!! 

It's hard being away from my husband for so long. My trips and my blog are my ways of dealing with moving to a new country by myself. Even when I go to work, I spend a lot of time working in my lab by myself (I'm working on a lab tour post, so I can share my new "home" with everyone). The people I've met here have been great, but it's still a lonely time. I have things lined up to help me do things I love and meet people, like joining an orchestra and finding a swing dancing club, but most of these things don't start until the fall. I was looking forward to having my dog and husband at some point in August - however, the timeline has been pushed back due to heat. There is a temperature limit on shipping dogs on planes and it looks like Kasha can't fly until sometime in September. Hopefully, Nico will be able to join me by the end of September and I'm really looking forward to sharing all this with him!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post: 

Hiking Arthur's Seat

It was another beautiful, sunny day so I headed out for a "workout" - might as well take advantage of the prominent geologic feature of the area: Arthur's Seat. You can see it from almost anywhere in the city (like in the photo below). I also feel some responsibility to see it due to my geology career path :)

A view of Arthur's Seat as I walked over to hike to the top.
Historical significance of the feature in the foreground: This structure is called a dovecot
and it was used to house several hundred nesting pigeons in the 16th century.
These pigeons provided meat (pigeon-pie was popular!) and eggs year-round for
Lochend Castle, owned by the Logans of Restalrig.  They even used the droppings
in the garden. It was repurposed as a "plague kiln" for infected clothing in the  1645 plague. 

From the front (the cliff side), it looks pretty far up. However, the view from the beginning of the train on the back side doesn't look so bad:

However, this doesn't mean that it's not a bit steep in places - this little girl was crawling on her hands and knees. It was a relatively easy climb (<30 minutes including all my stops for pictures and sunscreening on the way up) and I think that anyone can do this hike. 

There was also a race going on this morning: the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run (http://www.greatrun.org/Events/Information.aspx?ctid=322&id=3). It has been referred to as the "UK’s most scenic urban course" and, from my perspective at least, it looked very fun. The end was especially scenic given that Holyrood Palace is right at the finish (shown in the picture below). In addition to water stops, they have bands playing along the race route. Maybe I will be ready to run a 5k by next year... 

Here are a couple of pictures from the top. The view is fantastic! I'm looking forward to doing this more often (especially when people come to visit...hint, hint!). From the top, I can see my building, even my office window (although my desk is not actually near the window). This old volcano makes for a beautiful, dramatic view (See this website for more details of the geology of the area http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/undergraduate/field/holyrood/history.html)

Yes, I'm in shorts and a tank top! It's usually colder, even in the summer, but it has been really hot lately (up to 28°C - use the converter tool at the right to find out what that means in other units!). These are some of the only warm weather clothes I brought! It was also a bit windy. In the background, you can see Edinburgh Castle.

On the trail, I met two women on vacation together - one was from France and the other Australian woman had been the French woman's English teacher at one point in the past. They were speaking in French to each other and English to me and other people on the trail, but it was clear that French was easier for the French woman to understand. Conveniently, I speak some French! I got to practice my French - although we mostly spoke Franglais (combination of French and English, in some cases using a verb from one language but conjugating it in the other language). It was nice to find pleasant people to chat with on the hike up and it made the entire experience even more fun! 

I found a nice place to eat lunch. Here's a picture of the flowers decorating my formal "picnic table":

On my walk, I saw TONS of thistles, which are famous symbols of Scotland. I took some pictures today of this famous plant, but I didn't know why it was famous. Here's a quote from a website with a fun story on how it might have come about: 

In truth, no-one knows, but legend has it that a sleeping party of Scots warriors were saved from ambush by an invading Norse army when one of the attackers trod on a thistle with his bare feet. His cries raised the alarm, the roused Scots duly defeated the invaders, and the thistle was adopted as the symbol of Scotland. Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence for this, but Scots, like other nations, love a good story. 

From the website: http://www.visitscotland.com/about/arts-culture/uniquely-scottish/thistle 

This is what I climbed today - you can see the city on the left of the main part of Arthur's Seat, to the right - Firth of Forth (carved out by glaciers in the last glaciation)

Here are the hills right next to Arthur's seat: They don't look much bigger in the photo, but I promise that they look that way in person! They look steeper and the trails have lots of zig zags, so it looks more difficult. Here's a picture of my next goal:

 

To the beach!

13 July 2013

It's hot and sunny in Scotland - Quick, get outside and enjoy it!

This seems to be how things work here and I am trying my best to fit in. It was a nice day today, so I headed to the beach! One of the "suburbs" is called Portobello and is only about 15 minutes by bus from where I'm living right now. It was a bit windy, but I enjoyed a nice lunch on the beach and a bit of time reading in the sun.





The beach seemed relatively busy with lots of families and plenty of dogs. The esplanade has a couple of nice places to eat and get treats like ice cream. It was a bit windy and not terribly warm, so I opted for a sugar and lemon crepe instead. Yum!





I walked along the beach and enjoyed sticking my toes in the ocean - it's been a long time!

Toes in the sand :)

I enjoy carrying a carabiner around -
you never know when it might be
handy!

While I was walking along the beach, I ran into this little guy crawling around:

A panoramic of the beach:

Some other scenic pictures from the beach:

Shells, seaweed, and ripples.

Two types of ripple marks in the sand - I would
love to ask my students to look at this and tell me
what is going on here...

Somebody is hiding in the sand!

These were the waves before the wind picked up.

Random Observations - The first of many...

7 July 2013

This post doesn't really have a unifying theme, but here are some interesting observations (all shown in photos) from my first 2 weeks in Edinburgh. Enjoy!






They have interesting dog poop warnings painted on the sidewalk. This was the least explicit artwork from my walk to the store today.









The doors here are very historic. They are large, made from wood, and look like something that should be on a castle. This also means that the keys are cool - when was the last time you saw a skeleton key in the US? I now have two on my key ring...













I needed to buy a mug to keep in the office for tea time. I found one on the discount shelf because it had a chip out of it - so cheesy, it's cool.










Gas prices mean nothing to me here. After a little bit of work, I converted 133.9 p/L (pence per litre) to $7.69 USD/gallon. Happy we don't have a car here!

Andy (my colleague) ordered me a hammer for our field work - so excited to go out and use it! Tentatively schedule for the beginning of January.

These are ALL ciders of one variety or another.

I LOVE all the cider here! There is a cider festival at one of the local pubs. At the grocery store, there is an entire section that is all hard cider. So much more selection than in the US. It's also nice that every pub has at least one cider on tap :)  I think we are definitely going to have a larger alcohol budget over here...

 My first time out for whiskey, there was a menu that explained how to determine the "palate" - the text in the photo is normal, but the items shown for this are apples, coffee, and asparagus. Who has ever smelled asparagus in their whiskey? I don't think I want to try that one...

It's very light here until late - this picture was taken at 10:15 at night on my way home on July 4th. The street lights were just starting to come on.


Enjoying the sunshine this weekend and hoping it stays sunny for at least a little while longer!

How to get a UK bank account

 5 July 2013

If ads really showed the truth: "You, too, could have your very own UK bank account in only 14 painstakingly slow steps!"

I need a bank account before I can get paid, so this is high on my list of priorities when it comes to getting settled in here. The steps should be 1) go to the bank with documentation and 2) sign up for account. However, it certainly has taken a lot more than that for me and this is AFTER they've improved the process. There are numerous horror stories about the catch 22 that used to be in place: you couldn't get an account until you had utility bills in your name and you couldn't typically get a flat until you had a bank account. This particular problem has been fixed, but it still hasn't been a simple process. As far as I can tell, here are the steps to getting a UK bank account.

Obviously, you first need to obtain a job in the UK and get a visa. Once you are in the UK, you need to:

1. Get a letter from your employer that states that you have a job, specifies how much you make, provides your complete name and your current address.
2. Take a copy of this letter to the bank where you wish to open an account.
3. Have them verify that you have all the proper paperwork in order and then book you an appointment to open the account (several days in the future).
4. Show up for the appointment with paperwork and passport.
5. Have the bank personnel explain that you need to have the letter addressed to the bank (instead of "To whom it may concern") and that it must be an original (not the scan of the original which was sent to me by the university and then printed out). This is despite the fact that they verified my letter 3 days prior to this appointment.
6. Schedule another appointment for several days in the future.
7. Walk to the other part of campus in order to pick up an original, signed copy of the letter. See the map below for an idea of just how far apart the pieces of campus are from each other.
8. Get information about the type of accounts (see * below) - some come with interesting perks that have nothing to do with banking...
9. Go back to the bank for the third time.
10. Wait for ~60 minutes while they critically scan every document, make numerous photocopies, and step out to ask the manager numerous questions. 
11. Register for the account and deposit money (no change fees!). 
12. Receive debit card in the mail next week.
13. Celebrate bank account with a pint at the pub :)
14. (Optional) Go back in three months (after you have a few months of credit history) and apply for a credit card so you can start building more credit in the UK. 

* I discovered that there is a "credit-free" account for free but that most bank accounts here have a £10/month fee if you want to build credit. Building credit is necessary because my more than a decade of great credit history in the US apparently doesn't count for anything, despite the fact that they have the same credit company (Experian) in both places. I guess when you move abroad, you become a different person and you might just stop paying your bills on time. This is also interesting considering that you have to show proof of financial ability to support yourself in order to get a UK visa in the first place. We're going to get this account now, but we're shopping around and we can always move it around once it's set up.

The other interesting thing about these accounts that have fees is that they come with "perks" including:

• Insurance for your mobile phone for both joint account holders
• European travel insurance (medical, trip, etc.) for both joint account holders
• Identity theft insurance
• Three free movie rentals each month and 2 hours of streaming video
• 5 free song downloads per month

I'm still not sure what any of this has to do with having an account at a bank, but it seems to be universal. The banks issue the equivalent of renter's insurance (content insurance) as well as the travel insurance, so I'm guessing they lump these services. However, the movie and song downloads are still baffling...

The star is the location of my building. The other part of campus is called King's Buildings
and is located at the bottom of this part of the map. It is approximately 2 miles from
one to the other. You can see Edinburgh Castle (top left corner) and Arthur's Seat (park
in the top right) for landmarks. 

A great weekend!

30 June 2013

A good friend of mine, experienced at moving internationally, told me that there would be really high highs and really low lows associated with this experience. He was right. I have definitely had some lonely and difficult times, but this weekend was great and it really helped lift my spirits. (If you're interested in his experience with living in France, and now New York, while his wife is at working in the Netherlands, here's a link to his blog: Anonymous Mad Scientist in a Strange Land. His wife's blog is a little more up-to-date and has lots of great pictures and a fun trivia contest so you should check that out as well: Traveling Through the Stars).

What went into creating the positive "perfect storm" of a weekend? 

• I was going to save the best for last, but I can't because I'm too excited about it: WE HAVE A FLAT!!!!!  I decided on a flat and contacted the landlord. I sign the tenancy (lease) this Wednesday. I had narrowed it down to 2 choices. When I was describing the second option (the place I hadn't seen yet) to Andy's wife (Andy is my colleague on the project), she recognized the neighborhood and advised against living there. I guess I really liked the other place and just needed an excuse to choose to live there. We have a place to live worked out and that is really a burden lifted off of me. I don't move until August 26, but at least it's all worked out.

  

  Our flat will be the windows on the top floor
  (not the ones on the weird corner). 

  
  
  

  

  This is the park that is about 2 blocks from our new flat. Saw lots of  happy dogs, so Kasha will enjoy it.

  

  There is a canal that runs near our place. We can take it
  into town or miles outside the city. It reminds me of a
  paved ditch-bank road. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  A view of the sitting room in our new flat.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• I woke up on Saturday morning with energy and felt normal for the first time since I arrived. The main part of jet-lag has been over for a couple of days, but there was a lingering tiredness in the mornings that made it difficult to get up and moving. I'm a morning person so this was extremely weird and difficult for me. At the end of the day, I started to feel like I have enough energy to do things like grocery shopping.

• I went out hiking with Andy (the person I am working with on the research project) and his son and his son's friend. We went out to Blackford Hill and set up a climbing rope for the kids to play on. Of course, that only lasted a little while and we spent the rest of the time playing hide-and-go-seek and running around. The day was beautiful and I actually got more of a tan here than I got in New York. We finished off the day with Star Wars pancakes - those definitely went over well with the kids :)

Climbing at Blackford Hill.

The crew. Scottish/British
accents are adorable on little kids!

We used the pancake moulds that I brought
from the US. They were a hit!

• I dug around in the luggage that I had packed and found some of the things that I didn’t remember packing in this load, but that I really needed – tennis shoes, sweatshirts, and another pair of jeans! All things that I wasn’t wearing back in NM because it was WAY too hot. It’s still pretty hot over there and only getting hotter with the heat wave going through. I wish I could share the rainy, chilly weather. Finding all these clothes felt like Christmas morning! 

• I heard from Nico that he bought Kasha an airline-approved crate and she slept in it the first night. This bodes well for us being able to bring her over on the plane without traumatizing her. Although she was originally crate-trained, she hasn't actually used a crate in years (except for the cancer-removal surgery recovery). That was also an open design and the one she has to use on the plane is more closed. 

• I heard back about the bands/orchestras in Scotland and everywhere seems very friendly and they are looking for trumpets. I need an orchestra that rehearses once a week and doesn't have a concert during my field work in December/January. It looks promising - One group is doing Shostakovich Symphony 8 and the concerts are end of November and then in March and May. Some of the places even practice close (about 5 blocks) to our new flat. Sounds like I will find a fun group to play with this year!

• Finally, the Queen is in town throwing her annual garden party. Although I didn't actually see the Queen, I probably wasn't that far from her (relatively speaking) and I still think it's kind of cool :) 

Hopefully the next week will bring even more settling in and next weekend will see me just as happy!

My first pint!

26 June 2013

After one of the people in my office had a hectic day working on a grant, we headed to the pub to let off steam. Of course, if she had completed the grant that day, we'd have been out to celebrate at the pub. Or if we just needed somewhere to hang out, we'd have headed to the pub. It seems to be the social place to hang out no matter what the occasion. I learned a lot more than just hassles of grant writing - in fact, I was educated on all sorts of fun new terms and traditions here in Scotland.

I tried a new hard cider: Black Rat. It was
very light, but with good flavor.  Pints
are typically ~£3.50.

Here are a few of my favorites (with more to come in
future blogs as I discover them!):

Some things make logical sense, but it's not the word I
would have used:
     Filled rolls - Sub sandwiches
     Cooker - The oven/stove combo
     Toasties - Grilled sandwiches

Some things are popular and I've heard them
plenty on British TV shows:
     Flat - apartment
     Diary - Day planner/calendar
     Bin - Garbage can

And some things were completely new to me:
     Swede - Turnip-like vegetable (although, I'm still not clear on it exactly, although this blog does the best job I've seen). I've been enjoying some carrot & swede, or sweet potato & swede mixes, so I guess it doesn't matter how it is technically classified.
     Hob - Stove top (not necessarily in the same location in the kitchen as the oven).
     Jobbies - Dog messes. It seems to be a "tradition" here to tie these up on the branches of a tree instead of walking over to put them in the bin.

There were a few more words I learned, but I don't think they're appropriate for a public blog. You will have to come over and visit and I'll fill you in on the "adult" parts of the conversation...

Finally, I learned that Scotch eggs are, in fact, something that people eat in Scotland. Essentially, it's a hard-boiled egg, covered in meat (like sausage) and then covered with bread crumbs and fried (See an example recipe and photo here). I'm hoping to apprentice to my officemate and learn the recipe the next time she makes her popular treat.

Flat Hunting

25 June 2013

This is a nice, but small, kitchen in one
of the flats I looked at.

There are lots of flats. In fact, my initial problem was that there were too many flats available on all the websites. Once you filter by location (within walking distance, so less than 2 miles), price (needs to be something we can afford with one salary), and type (looking for 1-2 bedrooms so no studios or huge places), there are still somewhere between 30-50 flats on the main websites (like gumtree). However, there are a couple of big problems: the good ones disappear within a day or two and almost all of them don't accept dogs. We want to bring our "daughter" with us, but it may be more difficult than we thought...

Looking for a place to live brings up a couple of other issues: phones and buses. Just calling places to arrange appointments was harder than anticipated. I got a new SIM card for my smart phone that had 300 UK minutes, 3000 texts, and unlimited data for about 15 pounds. The phone system is set up differently than in the USA. The phones have free incoming calls and the cost varies depending on what type of phone you are calling. Calling a local number is the cheapest (landline), with mobiles (cell phones) and business numbers being more expensive. The minutes included on the plan, however, are only landline minutes. I had to add additional money to my plan to call mobiles and businesses. I like the US plans where I don't have to worry about who I'm calling.

A crucial part of looking for a flat included actually seeing properties and I used the bus system a TON. In general, Edinburgh is small and easily walkable, but for longer trips and especially at the end of the day, it's nice to take the bus. (Side note: First of all, I'm still getting used to which side of the street I need to stand on to get the right bus.) Bus tickets are only £1.50. The buses are designed well and no matter where I'm going, I generally only need one bus and a small amount of walking. I also really like the bus stops here with their electronic signs indicating when the buses are arriving. Thank goodness for Google Maps and the great navigation on and off public transportation! 

There are lots of big letting agencies that focus on Edinburgh. As a general rule, letting agencies don't allow dogs. That leaves me looking for private landlords. However, it is harder to find private landlords. I spent the first week or so looking at flats through agencies but only got more depressed about the prospects as I went. These days were great exercise, though. I walked a bare minimum of 3 miles a day and usually closer to 5 miles. 

Shared garden of the flat that I really liked - most flats don't have any yard at all and this one is actually quite large.

After not finding anything and having numerous appointments cancelled or rescheduled, I got smart and put up my own "Flat Wanted" ad on Gumtree. I got several great responses from that and set up a couple of viewings. I absolutely fell in love with one of the places that I saw! I didn't want to commit right away and she said she would hold it for the weekend for me. I plan to see one other place and then decide between them. However, it was a weekend and not much progress can be made so I switched gears. 

View part of the way to the flat. Fun city landscape. 

29 June 2013
Time to explore the local pubs! 

View of the castle on the walk to the flat that I liked.

I walked from my office to the flat that I liked (~35 minutes with beautiful views of the castle) and then I found a pub to try. While I was there, I met the pub mascot (a golden retriever) and his owner. The nice, retired gentleman told me how the neighborhood is great, how the take-away restaurants are delicious, and how the neighborhood is nice and quiet and I would be lucky to live there. I couldn't have asked for a better reference. He also complimented me on the fact that I was 
drinking a pint :) While we were talking, he found out I was a geologist and told me how this area used to be covered by a mile of ice - very impressive and not your run-of-the-mill pub patron. 

Back to the flat in time to get some laundry done. It's a nice feeling to be in the home stretch - just need to look at one more flat before we decide!