I leave tomorrow. Just in case you were wondering, yes, I am looking forward to a 7 hour plane ride devoid of reading material! As long as the movie choices aren’t Dirty Dancing or A Walk to Remember I think I’ll survive.
I’ve been meaning to write this entry for a long time. There are a lot of things I could mention, fond memories, highlights, etc…but those have all been captured in past entries of this blog.
I anticipated that I would have mixed emotions upon returning to the States, and I was right. However, I did not expect to find it so hard leaving Scotland. To be honest, there is no place I am really able to deem “home.” Sure, I tell everyone I am from Chicago, but, in reality, I have only spent a few months there every year for the past four years.
More or less, Naperville, was my parents home and just a long stopover for the summers (where I spent two of them hardly in Naperville) and breaks. Bluffton (Ohio) is more of a home to me because of the amount of time spent there, but, I have obviously graduated and moved on. Charlotte (Michigan) ceased being home to me when I graduated high school, although my fondest memories are in the Great Lakes state. So….what does this mean?
I am leaving a place where I have become very comfortable. I have a big group of friends, a flat that I love, a job I enjoy, a city I can’t get enough of, and a church I feel at ease with. Those are a lot of things to be giving up. When I move to Lombard I am going to an area where I really only know my brother, sister, brother-in-law, and a few random acquaintances. Whereas all my friends here are close and near, in the U.S. they are scattered across the Mid-west and even from coast to coast.
This isn’t to say that I don’t want to return. I am just realizing how much I will miss Scotland.
Things I’ll miss…
Fish and Chips
Bicycle lanes
Strong Currency
Mild winters
Football (soccer)
Friends
Pubs
Pickle spread
The Scottish accent
There are more, but that is more or less just a random list
Well, I think that is all for now. I am not sure if I will write in this blog anymore. It is just as popular to make in fun of blogs as it is to write them! I admit before I poked fun at blogs but justified this one because I was away from many friends and family. However, I realize this is a good way to keep in contact with people and let them know what is going on in my life. I won’t commit to retiring it yet; rather, it might just slowly whiter away. However, I hope that I post some more entries and let you know how I am adjusting to a strange weird lifestyle in the U.S.A.! Thanks for reading my ramblings this year.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
long overdue
The reason I have not wrote since July 25th is because this is only the second time I have been online in the last two weeks. I thought I would get a chance to catch up on some things when I came back to Edinburgh, but that hasn't been the case.
Quick filler on what has been going on....
Mel and Eric came and visited for a couple of days, actually the day after I flew in from Glasgow I went back to Glasgow to pick them up. We had a great time and took in a lot of the city.
The day they left I put them on a train and then helped move one of my friends into his flat. An all day chore!
The next day I went car shopping! Not for myself, but with another friend. So that was an experience, the first time I've ever done that and in Scotland no less. Not really anything to write home about but we heckled down the price! That night my small group had a nice dinner/sending off party for me.
I worked the following days, Saturday I went on a day trip to St. Andrews. When we got back at the city around midnight we went to a show for the Edinburgh Festival.
Let me say that this city is offically crazy, there are so many people here and so many things going on.
Yesterday I got up and went into the city to watch a small show and then walked up the Royal Mile. The best thing is people will come up to you and try to sell their show, I was able to get a couple of free tickets for things this evening!
I saw an interesting drama about American humour and then was able to score some free tickets to a one man comedy play. Both were quite interesting and good!
Every public building, pub, open space, Edinburgh University room, hotel function space, open courtyard, coffee house, church, (whatever!) has a play, drama, comedy, music, art display, street performer. They estimate that at peak times there is a show starting every 6 seconds!
You can walk down the street and on one side there is a guy playing four games of chess, two guys on one unicycle, a small parade of Chinese dancers, and a group of Irish blokes singing accapella. The atmosphere is great and amazing!
All that being said I really haven't stopped since I came back. There are so many things I need to do but a lot of things I would rather do in terms of entertainment.
After going to shows yesterday we had a going away BBQ with my co-workers and this morning we managed to squeeze in 9 holes of terrible golf, although the weather was great.
More to come hopefully, I fly out next Tuesday to Ireland and then on Wednesday from Ireland to the U.S. Time is running out, but I'm making due.
Mike
Quick filler on what has been going on....
Mel and Eric came and visited for a couple of days, actually the day after I flew in from Glasgow I went back to Glasgow to pick them up. We had a great time and took in a lot of the city.
The day they left I put them on a train and then helped move one of my friends into his flat. An all day chore!
The next day I went car shopping! Not for myself, but with another friend. So that was an experience, the first time I've ever done that and in Scotland no less. Not really anything to write home about but we heckled down the price! That night my small group had a nice dinner/sending off party for me.
I worked the following days, Saturday I went on a day trip to St. Andrews. When we got back at the city around midnight we went to a show for the Edinburgh Festival.
Let me say that this city is offically crazy, there are so many people here and so many things going on.
Yesterday I got up and went into the city to watch a small show and then walked up the Royal Mile. The best thing is people will come up to you and try to sell their show, I was able to get a couple of free tickets for things this evening!
I saw an interesting drama about American humour and then was able to score some free tickets to a one man comedy play. Both were quite interesting and good!
Every public building, pub, open space, Edinburgh University room, hotel function space, open courtyard, coffee house, church, (whatever!) has a play, drama, comedy, music, art display, street performer. They estimate that at peak times there is a show starting every 6 seconds!
You can walk down the street and on one side there is a guy playing four games of chess, two guys on one unicycle, a small parade of Chinese dancers, and a group of Irish blokes singing accapella. The atmosphere is great and amazing!
All that being said I really haven't stopped since I came back. There are so many things I need to do but a lot of things I would rather do in terms of entertainment.
After going to shows yesterday we had a going away BBQ with my co-workers and this morning we managed to squeeze in 9 holes of terrible golf, although the weather was great.
More to come hopefully, I fly out next Tuesday to Ireland and then on Wednesday from Ireland to the U.S. Time is running out, but I'm making due.
Mike
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