First Week of Classes Done

September 28, 2013

           Hey all! Sorry I have not posted in a while, but I have been keeping busy with classes and volleyball tryouts and such. Therefore, I shall give you the highlights of my week! Tuesday was an exceptionally fun day because I had volleyball tryouts! They were at 6 pm until 9pm, however this time they did not provide transportation, so I had to make the trek on my own! It was a good hours walk from my flat, but I guess it was a good warm-up. There were far fewer girls there then there was at the taster session, for which I am grateful. Plus it was a lot more organized which eased my OCD nature, which was also a relief. We did organized drills and played this game called tennis and I really wished I had my knee pads! I got a couple floor burns for my effort, but I got the ball so it was worth it and I did not even feel the pain. :P For, the last hour we scrimmaged and it was a blast. I was a little awkward at first because I was the only one talking on the court because that is what I was trained to do, but they said it helped so I kept it up. We actually worked well together for never having played on a team together before! Any way, I heard back from the Team Captain on Wednesday and I made the team! I am so happy and it is not a terrible time commitment, so it should not interfere with travel or classes. We just have practice twice a week and then games on a few weekends, I believe, but I have not gotten the schedule yet. I shall let you know more after practice on Tuesday!

     The next awesome thing that occurred this week was the Ballet. Maggie, Sam,  Sally and I all had tickets to see the Rite of Spring, so we all got dressed up and went out. It was absolutely amazing! The first act only featured 3 dancers, but the intensity was absolutely brilliant. We could literally feel the tension and emotions from the dancers even though we were in the balcony. Here are some pictures of the theatre so you all can get a feel to where we were.

     I loved the second act because it took a complete turn from intensity to levity. It was so funny. All the dancers were wearing carnival-like outfits and dancing to jazzy-like music. There was this one guy in orange and he was my absolute favorite. I called him the Clark Kent of the ballet. I said this because throughout the act he acted like a nerd with glasses and all and he was totally enamored with this one woman who was the star of the show. He did all sorts of silly things to get her attention including dancing with a woman who appeared to be a foot taller than him. In actually he was hunched over and she was dancing point like the entire time. This reminded me of Clark Kent especially when Christopher Reeves plays him because he hunches too to look smaller and less muscular. Let me tell you, as obvious it is to the world watching the superman movies that Clark Kent is Superman, it was just as obvious that this dancer was one of their best and the most built for that matter. I am not ashamed to admit that I quite admired his physique and he had the best gluteus maximus that I have ever seen. I am happy to report Sally, Maggie and Sam all agreed with me.
      Now this is where some of the cons of Scotland appear so brace yourself and maybe I should say differences instead. Once, I got back from the ballet I was attempting to work on this assignment for my physical chemistry class. I must have worked on it for hours, but I was getting no where because I just did not understand it since we had not covered the material in class yet. I was getting frustrated to the point of tears, so I texted Meghan to talk and I felt better afterwards, so thanks Meghan. The reason I was so frustrated is I am not used to how they structure, at least this class here. I am used to having assigned readings before class so I can prepare and ask any questions if need be. Here, however they do not do that and the classes are quite large. Another thing that is peculiar to me is that in my Physical Chem class I do not always have the same professor for every lecture. They vary depending on the topic of lecture. However, things started looking up on Friday when I asked some people in class about the assignment, it turns out I printed out week's 3 assignment and not week 2 so I was doing the wrong one. This means it was okay if I did not understand everything on it yet. The only bad thing was I had until 5pm that day to get the correct one done. I was able to do it, but it was definitely not my best work. Now I know what to expect though, so I am sure I will get used to things soon enough. I guess hiccups are to be expected at a new school.
        For my last highlight of this week we went on a grande adventure to the highlands. Sam, Sally, Maggie and I all bought tickets through the international club to see the highlands. We saw the Duke of Argyll's castle, Glen coe and the Harry Potter Bridge more formally called Glenfinnan Viaduct. The castle of the Duke is not just a tourist attraction, the Duke and his family actually live there, which I think is so sweet. I actually met the Duke's son and he was super nice and attractive. I fell in love with him at first sight and we set our wedding date for the spring on his front lawn. So come summer you guys will have to call me Duchess Marissa of Argyll! (None of that actually happened. It would have, if my life were a book unfortunately it is not so all we did was take pictures and imagined what it would be like to live in that picturesque place.)

 My Future Home ;)

Cute candy chop in the town with the Castle. I said it looked like the one from Willy Wonka and it even had the Willy Wonka Chocolate! 

    Glen coe was probably my favorite place because I thought it was the most beautiful and it is also where the new James Bond Movie Skyfall was filmed. We stopped at a place called the Three Sisters which has three large mountains side by side, hence the name. Words cannot describe the peace and tranquility that emanated through the land. This is kind of an ironic feeling to have there because Glen coe literally means "Glen of the Weeping" most likely due to the massacre that occurred there in 1692. Despite its bloody history it was a place I would be happy to visit again. I guess places as old as Scotland all are bound to have some sort of tragic occurrence in their past, we just have to remember it but not let it take away from the beauty of the now.

     Lastly, we visited the Harry Potter Bridge and it was pretty cool because we timed it so we could see an old steam locomotive pass over like the one from the movie. We took many pictures and we even went so far as to touch it. Although, I did tell Maggie and them that Daniel Radcliff actually did not ride this train because it was from the second movie when they flew Ron's car to school since Dobby barred the entrance to King's Cross so Harry would not go to school. This news did not daunt them or make the view any less spectacular. Any way I need sleep because I feel a cold coming on, so good night and thanks for reading!

Beginning of the Term

September 20, 2013

            Today was absolutely awesome, although it did not start off that way. First, I got up early because the horseback riding taster session was meeting at 9:30am at the main gates. Maggie, Sam and I decided that it would be fun to try it out so we signed up. We arrived along with like 60 other people. So we checked in and told them our skill level (mine was beginner in case you did not guess :P), then all we had to do was wait for the minibus to take us to the stables. Sounds simple right? Wrong, the minibus got lost while carrying a group out there, so Sam, Maggie and I stood outside in the cold for 2 and ½ hours. At one point we were so chilly we decided to go to the café to get hot chocolate and we still made it back before the bus got there! Once, we finally made it onto the bus it was about a 20-minute ride to the stables. Then we had to wait for our turn to go on the horses meant for beginners. I have to admit the stables were pretty cool and the horses were gorgeous. They also had several dogs running around. I even played fetch with one of them although I did not catch his(?) name. Around one it was time to mount up and I think that I was not completely ungraceful, so I say it was a success. Maggie and I got to ride in the same arena so were able to take pictures of each other. Maggie posted hers on facebook and I shall put mine at the end of this entry. I rode a slightly lazy horse named Spencer, but he was very sweet and even-tempered. He just did not seem to notice when I nudged him to go faster. We did manage to trot a couple times and I think I got the hang of it or a better grasp of it in the end. It is all about rhythm! I liked this session a lot because while we were riding they instructed us on how to hold the reins and things that people don’t usually say when you go on a trail ride on vacation or something. Once we were done riding I said goodbye to Spencer and thanked him for carrying one so inexperience and clutzy as me. We were waiting for the minibus when we noticed some fancy trailers pulling up with some lovely looking horses. Turns out they were going to use the area and stable with the lovely horses for a new BBC TV show that is coming out and I have to say I squealed like a little girl when I heard which one. It is Outlander, which is also a book and if you have not heard of it shame on you and you need to stop reading my blog and start reading it because it is amazing! Well go on, get to it. :D Now, I am going to assume that you have read the book since you are back reading my blog again and I know now you are excited as I am and you will know who I am talking about next! I tried so hard to see if there was a gorgeous redhead named Jamie with the trailer, but I had to leave before I could have a proper look. Over all it was quite an eventful day!

Sorry, I could not get my pictures to load so I put them on facebook. Please check them out if you are so inclined!

September 22, 2013

            I was able to do what I loved today and boy it was worth every bruise. In case you do not know what sport I love more than any other and that I willingly sacrifice my body to get to the ball no matter what, it is volleyball. Today was the taster session for the volleyball team on campus and it was wonderful! I loved being able to play volleyball with people who had either play before, like me, or who were eager to learn about a sport that I hold dear to my heart. There was a wide range of skill set from beginner to advance, so it was quite a collection. The one complaint that I would make is that I wished it were a little more organized. We only had one court and a lot of people so I think they should have some drills or games prearranged for us but it really was more of a wing it kind of a thing. I really should not complain since playing volleyball no matter the setting is always worth it. I met some pretty nice girls named Emma, who is a libero and Ellen, who is a middle hitter. We worked well together because we had a passer, a setter and a hitter. I exchanged numbers with them and we all decided we would go to the tryouts because it was a lot of fun at the taster session and we felt that we could probably make one of the teams. Any who I came back a little bruised and battered, but smiling which is the important thing right?

September 23, 2013

            Today was a day that I was both dreading and waiting for, it was the beginning of classes. It started off pretty, well! I did not have to get up super early since my first class was at 11! It was my Level 3 Physical Chemistry class and it was really the typical first day of going over the syllabus and expectations and getting to know one another basically. It was honestly a relief that they did not jump right in because it allowed me to get a feel more my professors and see that even across the ocean all a professor wants from you is for you to do your best. One thing that is unique and new to me is how they divide up the lectures. In my P-Chem class they have lectures on Quantum Mechanics, which is taught by one person but then they have lecture on Spectroscopy by another professor. Overall, I think it works but it is most definitely an interesting system. After P-Chem, I went to my Scottish Enlightenment class, unfortunately I was a few minutes late because it was not in the same building as my previous class. And the Scottish Enlightenment started right when my other one ended which is slightly inconvenient but all well. I guess it is no different than having a lecture in the stadium then having another all the way in LAC right? I am pretty excited for the Scottish Enlightenment course because I love interdisciplinary classes since it gives so many perspectives to an area of study. Okay dork alert, I have already looked at the essay topics for our first assignment and I think I might do one about the changing art and portraiture painting of that age and why it did change. I think it will be a blast to write and it will take my mind off the chemistry. Any who, I am exhausted and need to get some sleep for tomorrow, which really means I want to finish this book that Maggie recommended to me, so see ya! 

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Kelvingrove Museum Photos