An American Accent

Friday was the first day of class. It was somewhat strange to enter into an educational environment after spending the last couple of days solely enjoying the hospitality of Edinburgh, Scotland.
In order to get to our rented classroom, we walked through an affluent neighborhood that reminded me of the posh, Queen Anne neighborhood in Seattle, except with houses made of stone that probably date back hundreds of years. The classroom space that we rented was in a quaint hotel across from a beautiful, stone church with a bell that rang on the hour- it was all very European.
In class, we discussed the unavoidable experience of feeling extremely displaced when first arriving to a foreign country- even a Westernized one like Scotland. People inevitably treat you differently, and that isn't always a good thing. It is also very strange to be the one with the accent-people often ask me to repeat myself, even when I am speaking slowly.
On Thursday, we spent a couple of hours on a walking tour of Edinburgh, the highlight being Edinburgh Castle. It was odd to explore the dungeon, and realize that the Scottish were quite feared in years past, and there was even an engraving of an American flag on one of the prison doors that was carved by an American prisoner (see picture). On the way home from our tour, Katherine, Kelsey and I got a bit turned around, and we ended up taking the scenic route. It is suffice to say that I don't know how many miles we walked, but we had a good appetite for dinner that night.

Here are a few more of my pictures so far:

The yellow flowers were growing all over downtown- they smell like coconut!

The little cottage was at the end of a large garden space downtown, I think that it may be the gardener's cottage- I took this picture for you mom!






Finally, the tower with the spires is Scotland's monument to the author Sir Walter Scott who was native to Edinburgh. Prior to Scott's writing, traditional Scottish bagpipes and kilts were outlawed by the ruling English, but his novels managed to popularize Scottish culture and heritage in England. King George IV was so inspired that he not only repealed the oppressive law, but also visited Scotland wearing a kilt himself.

Gearing up for Britain

Life as I know it has been turned upside down.



I have spent the last two weeks packing up my life in Seattle, moving all my earthly possessions to Portland, and preparing to spend the next 9 weeks studying with my English literature program in Britain and Ireland. I will be graduating college within a week of my return to the states, so I have been forced to bid farewell to being a college student, to being a nanny, to a wonderful church community, and to the majority of my Seattle friends as we seem to be scattering to the four winds after graduation. I am, of course, excited to see Europe and have many amazing adventures, but change is often hard for me, especially when I am enjoying life as is.


In the last two weeks I have:


- Celebrated my birthday twice: with both my Seattle housemates and my family
(I will be in Scotland on my actual birthday)

- Survived finals week (after dropping and breaking my lap top)

- Celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday a month early ( I will be missing his birthday as well)

- Said goodbye to my nanny family of four years- very sad

- Taken a mini road trip with college friends from Seattle, Washington to Ashland, Oregon

- Attended an amazing play at the Shakespeare festival in Ashland with Gitta and my aunt and uncle

- Burned myself out on shopping (for travel essentials)

- Learned to ride a motorcyle- kind of :o)

- Enjoyed the company of good friends with fun activities such as the Portland Saturday market, swing dancing, and an edge-of-your-seat game of spoons

- Celebrated Easter and the gift of divine grace

Having never been to Europe before, it is hard to know what to expect, but I am pretty sure that I am going to have an incredible time. The group that I am traveling with seem like a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to learning under one of my favorite professors for the whole nine weeks. Also, I am planning to travel to other European countries while abroad, and I have already planned one trip to visit a friend in Germany so that will be fun.

One hope that I have for this blog is that it will serve as a means of accountability. I have been in a pretty dry place in my relationship with God recently, and I have determined that this trip is going to be a turning point for me. To put it plainly, God has been faithful and I haven't. It isn't that I have been living wrongly, but I simply have not made Him a priority in my life as of late, and the realization that the lack of relationship with God only leaves you with religion has inspired me to make some changes. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Wish me luck as I embark on a new adventure!

As always, I would appreciate your prayers.