First day of school

When I go to class, I carry no fewer than twenty-eight pens and highlighters in fourteen colours (and their shade variations) in my pencil-case. I know. I've counted them.



My timetable for school looks like this:

TUESDAY
10AM-10.50AM - US Government
2PM-3.50PM - The Philosophy of Wittgenstein
4.10PM-6PM - Theories of Mind

WEDNESDAY
11.10AM-12PM - US Government tutorial

Two days of school a week, which if you ask me, is pretty dang awesome. (It used to be one day, until I realised I had tutorials. Damn.)

This week marks the beginning of going back to class after a solid four months of summer break. The semester in Edinburgh is only 11 weeks long, which is super short compared to the 13 weeks that we have in Singapore.

A whole bunch of nice notebooks never hurts either.

There's so much to do now that class is in session - printing readings and notes, making sure that we know what's going on in classes, trying not to fall asleep in class with the aid of the wonderful substance that is coffee.

I'm only taking three classes, which is a huge drop from the five or six that I'm used to - so hopefully this means more time to travel! I'm excited for classes, actually; going to school makes me feel like I'm doing something productive with my life.

Until the crazy 3000-word essays kick in, that is.

We'll just have to see how the semester progresses, but hopefully it'll all work out fine :)

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Fancy Dress Party

There's nothing cooler than going to school and having the first week of your social calendar include a ball. I mean, come on. A BALL. A nice proper one where everyone's wearing nice clothes and everyone's dolled up. How awesome is that?

I went with my new friends Ivana (on the left) and Som (on the right)!

I did my hair up in a low bun, secured by about 12 bobby pins and hairsprayed like crazy because I knew I was going to dance. I also wore fake eyelashes, crazy insane feathery eyelashes. There's always a reason to have people coming up throughout the night and saying hi.



These ones were only £1 from Primark - such a good buy, and my statement of the night, too!

The Fresher's Ball, held at the Teviot student union building, was an awesome event - the place was done up so nicely! Nice wall uplighters put in, with fancy decor that made the entire place look completely different from what it usually does.





In Scotland, everything is an occasion for a céilidh, which is awesome because I completely love céilidhs.



I've said this already, but céilidhs are the coolest thing ever. It's the most fun, and meeting with new people and dancing all over the room is incredible. It doesn't even really matter that I don't know if I'll ever meet the people I dance with ever again; it's a great excuse for good healthy fun.



Some of you have asked me what a céilidh is - it's a type of Scottish social dance and gathering, where there's a live band playing and the steps are taught to you right before a dance, and then you repeat the steps often with different partners for the duration of the dance.

I love how half of us don't even know what we're doing, and the majority of people aren't even proper dancers, but no one judges you for not knowing what you're doing. Super fun!

Tip: Don't be like me and wear stilettos to a party where there's lots of jumping and dancing! I had to kick my heels off halfway cos my feet were killing me. Amazing fun nonetheless; I'd do it again in a heartbeat.



The lounge in Teviot had jazz music playing, and the band were brilliant. I love the upmarket, classy feel of a lounge - a drink in your hand (Coca-cola for me! Hahahah) with jazz playing and everyone just having fun relaxing. It's a really nice atmosphere!





Hahaha I know that photo looks like I'm not wearing anything, but I've got a tube dress on I swear!

There were lots of other things going on at the ball too - a photo booth, face and body painting, even a chocolate fondue fountain! Of course, we attacked the fondue fountain first, because we're girls and chocolate is good.

A brilliant night and fabulous start to a new year of school!

If school starts soon for you, all the best and have a fabulous year; if school's already underway, then get in there and have a fantastic year nonetheless! Remember to keep those mental gears turning and push through - don't worry the holidays will soon be here again soon ;)

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The oddest thing

Today at the Fresher's Week societies fair, I was asked if I would like to join the Russian Society here at school.

I have no words.

Because, you know, I am totally a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Russian Anna Kournikova.



See the resemblance?

Aww, sweetheart who invited me to join - I'm sure Russian Society is lovely, but I'm as far from Russian as Russian gets! Ha ha ha :p

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Fresher's Week

Fresher's week is in full swing, and I've met some wonderful people going out to the events which the Edinburgh University Student's Association (EUSA) has organised. I met a dancing moose in a kilt, which was hilarious.

By far my favourite event so far must be the céilidh (pronounced kay-lee), a traditional Scottish dance with lots of mixing with different partners and jigs all over the place.

Although the dance which my group did was terrible and in no way anything like a proper céilidh, it was definitely the most fun thing I've done so far. There are tonnes and tonnes of céilidhs organised in school, and I'm definitely going to more of them!



Remember that scene in Titanic when Rose was dancing with Jack and friends in the third-class cabin? That was a céilidh.

Anyone who's never been to a céilidh - put it on your bucket list!

I have also finally got around to trying haggis.



That little brown mushy stuff at the bottom? That's haggis. It tastes like very salty meatloaf, and as soon as you get over what's actually in it (sheep's pluck -heart, liver and lungs; minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and simmered for approximately three hours - thank you Wikipedia) I have decided I like it!

I've also tried black pudding, which is essentially concealed cooked blood, which wasn't half bad either. It's easier when you don't know what does into what you're eating, I think.

Because hey, people go to new countries to eat strange local gastronomical delights, don't they?

There's a ton of stuff going on for Fresher's Week. There'll be the ball at the end of the week (dressing up in nice dresses and shoes!) and lots of poster sales (room decoration!) and societies fairs (Harry Potter society! Yes I am serious) which means this week is going to be hell crazy. It's a fun hell crazy though.

It's only Tuesday, which means there's at least four more days to go of Fresher's. Bring it on!

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One month later

For the whole past month I have been living out of luggage cases because I have been travelling around so much. At long last I have moved into my permanent room here at school, and I am quite proud of how it looks so far.

There is more decoration needed, of course - I need to buy posters to put on my walls and I've also ordered fairy lights off eBay. I like decorating my room just so; it makes me feel at home in my little personal space!





I have tonnes of bottles and soaps because I'm such a hoarder! I collect lots of soaps because they smell amazing, and I love bottles because they remind me of potions and apothecaries. They're all on my dresser so they're not taking up any space on my work desk.

I brought my three orange spray-painted cats from home; the sand in the plastic wrap at the back is actually a bag of oil burner granules; and I bought my two candle-holders (the flower and the lantern) for slightly over £1 from Sainsburys, more for the fact that they're turquoise than anything.

I'm just a little bit in love with the colour turquoise.



My collection of gemstones and minerals! I bought more than half of these only after coming to Edinburgh; stones are so pretty and they're inexpensive from the Dynamic Earth museum and exhibition. My favourites are aquamarine, tiger's eye, lapis lazuli and tree agate.

I also have enough food to last me through a war.



Dark purple satin sheets were from Primark and cost £12; I think they look beautiful against the white mattress cover!



Letters that my dear friends Carmen and Sunanda wrote to me before leaving. :)



There's lots of work to be done here of course; I've only moved in for less than three days! Right now my room is in a state of organised chaos - let's see if I can get it to become organised organisation, ha ha!

How do you decorate your dorm room?

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