Societies Fair, Gym, and Shopping

Hello again from Edinburgh!

I am again sitting in my room writing and enjoying an incredible view out my window. I feel like I have done so much in the past few days and so here I am to tell you all about it!

Just a few days ago, EUSA (Edinburgh University Student Association) put on a Societies Fair where all students could attend and sign up to be a part of a variety of societies (clubs). After walking around and passing over 100 booths, I chose some that fit my personality well:
-Wine Society
-Water of Life Society (Whisky)
-Economics Society
-ChocSoc (chocolate)
-Jewish Society
-Golf Club
-Radio Society
I hope that I can be active in these societies and also hope they will increase my level of enjoyment here. I am most excited about the Wine Society because, well, who else in Scotland is a Viticulture and Enology major? Also, the Radio Society is sponsored by FRESH AIR (see March 16 post), so I am exited to see if maybe I can do some work in the Radio Biz.

Yesterday I joined the gym at EU called the Edinburgh Centre for Sport and Exercise (E-CSE). The lower part of the gym is awesome and features brand new Nautilus resistance machines as well as 70-some-odd cardio machines with individual TVs. The upstairs with free-weights and benches, however, was a huge disappointment. First off, the benches room was closed to to “Upgrades and floor repair”. The Free-weights Room was very old and well worn. I used the bench press station and it almost fell over on me. The dumbbells were from the 80s and weren’t labeled (and when if they were they were in KGs, which is not my native unit). After the gym I attended an essay writing seminar where a lecture was given on how to write essays the UK way. The british essay writing style is much different in that it is not personal at all. Pretty much everything has to be objective, but also novel. I didn’t think the seminar to be much help because it didn’t discuss any helpful writing tips.

Last night was cross-dressing night at the local bar, so a bunch of my dorm-mates were looking quite odd. I decided not to indulge in this theme, but I did manage to snap some pictures of some of the ones who did for memory’s sake. Last night I decided to instead just goto another bar and have a few drinks with some California people, before meeting up with another group of california people for Kebabs at an indian restaurant. Why is it that a 2 mile walk home is so much easier after a beer or two? After getting back, I watched part of the West Virginia - Maryland football game before going to sleep.

Today was a shopping excursion! I really needed to pick up some cold weather clothing and today was a perfect day to do so. I got a nice H&M lined jacket for 39.00p, rain-boots for 5.00p, a sweater for 15.00p, and some nice cologne. It was much fun walking up and down Princes St, looking for places to shop. Edinburgh is such a vibrant city, and I am so lucky to be here!

Well, I leave you now with a smile on my face and hope in my eyes. I am looking forward to starting my classes and taking on new challenges. Here are my classes:
-Structures and Functions of Proteins
-Plant Physiology
-Microeconomics

Well, have a good day-- I am off to have some dorm food next door!