Hikes, Bosnia, and Thailand

Sunday I decided I was tired of watching people climb up and down Arthur's Seat all day from my window never having done the hike myself. Arthur's Seat is, "is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a wild piece of highland landscape in the center of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 m (823 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is quite easy to climb, and is a popular walk." (Thank you, Wikipedia!) Anyways, Sunday afternoon turned out to provide us with a perfect sunny day to head up the giant hill. Alastair came by around 2pm ready to go and after some bribing with croissants we convinced Zak to come along. The three of us, whilst munching on croissants, headed down a long road called the Royal Mile to the base of Arthur's Seat. We got up and down in about 2-3hrs, and definitely had our winded moments along the way. While the hike wasn't terribly difficult, we were surprised by the steepness of the rocky steps/paths and the narrowness of some of the passages. Getting to the very top definitely felt like an accomplishment, and the view was great. Also, unlike climbing a forest-y mountain, the hill-like nature of Arthur's Seat made for beautiful views the whole way up and green pastures springing up at different elevations.

Overall, a gorgeous hike. The first picture at the top of the post is the view from my window, while the others are from different points leading up to the last picture which I took from the top. The ones where you can see the ocean (the North Sea!) is looking away from where I live, while the ones where you see just the city (and the castle if you look hard enough) feature the city center of Edinburgh. I have a ton more picture if anyone is interested in seeing them, just email me!

I had my first class of week two today, and was a little nervous for my first real graduate school legal discussion but felt prepared after having completed all the required readings. The first two sessions of my international criminal law course are being taught by this older Italian woman and although she is a little hard to understand, she is very nice. We spent the whole 2 hours discussing jurisdiction which isn't the most exciting topic in law, but we hit on some interesting areas. One woman in my class worked in Sarajevo, Bosnia with the war crimes tribunals and spoke from a fascinating perspective on the universality principle (i.e the principle that any State has the capacity to prosecute those that commit certain types of internationally defined crimes such as genocide, slavery, torture, and war crimes regardless of where the crimes took place or the nationality of the victims). I love sharing a classroom with individuals from all over the world with such unique backgrounds - it makes for lively discussions and an overall more enriching learning experience.

Tonight Zak and I went out for dinner to a little Thai restaurant around the corner and I had a lovely Thai green curry vegetable dish. Not the cheapest dinner, but I realized I had not eaten a proper meal out since my grandmother left and was due for a meal that I didn't throw together myself or microwave. Tomorrow morning I have my IP and Technology class that is heavily populated with students from Bangkok and am tempted to ask if anyone has any special traditional family recipes for some of my favorite dishes. The Chinese girls on my hall that I'm friends with taught me the ways of the rice cooker and I've shown them how to cook with rosemary and garlic and make home-made salad dressing!

Miss everyone back home, hope all is well!

classes underway

Well I have completed my first full week of classes, although the first meeting of each class was basically just a brief discussion on course expectations. My first class, held on Monday from 4-6pm, is International Criminal Law. The professor seems incredibly nice but definitely likes to talk; he assures us that the course will soon take on a completely discussion based structure and we won't have to listen to him lecture for 2 hours, but I'm skeptical. My IP (Intellectual Property) and Technology: International Institutions course meets Tuesday mornings from 9-11am. The professor is a jovial South American man and it is his last semester teaching before he takes up a job in Costa Rica. I am completely unfamiliar with the course topic, as I have no background in IP or IT, but it is kind of refreshing. I feel well prepared for my other courses and I am looking forward to having one course where the material is completely new to me. I am currently working my way through a reading titled "The Outer Limits of Copyright Law - Where Law Meets Philosophy and Culture". Or whatever that means.

My third class is Fundamentals in International Law and I have already read the majority of the cases assigned for next week in my previous international law course. I'm hoping the course is worthwhile and not too much of a refresher of what I've already learned, but either way it should be interesting. The reading lists for each week for my different courses are extensive and overwhelming. My classes are all spaced out throughout the week, however, so I am trying to get into a habit of getting my reading for the next week done in the few days after each class. So far so good, I'm feeling on top of my work so far!

I have spent a lot of time in the library the past week, but I am also expanding my social circle slowly but surely. I am meeting new people in the history program through Zak and Ally and have met a bunch of interesting people in the law program through my classes and various

meetings I've been attending. There is never a lack of things to do with the plethora of pubs and

coffee shops lining every street! Everyone is very friendly and it is nice to start recognizing faces when I walk down the street or into a campus building. Update from my last post: I managed to get a bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland, which I should be able to official utilize starting Monday. I also finally got a gym membership and had my first go on the treadmill in Scotland. I first though the machine was broken, but then realized they are set to measure speeds and distances in km and not miles; it sounds weird, but I like it better! Running 6k sounds so much more impressive than its mile equivalent, right? (Ok, confession, I just can't make the conversion in my head and like running without any real concept for how fast/far I'm going.)

Enough procrastinating, and back to the philosophical inquiry into copyright law...

Beach in Scotland? Ok!

Today I took a road trip with my friends Zak and Alastair to the beach for the afternoon! We figured the weather was only getting worse and might as well push our luck and head to the shore for our last Sunday before classes began. We arrived at Gullane Beach in early afternoon to find the sun out, little wind and a gorgeous beach sparsely populated with young children running about and dogs enjoying fetch with their owners. The path to the beach revealed the most lovely, albeit pungent, floral scent and bushes of wild blackberries! Once on the beach we unanimously decided it was necessary to take off our shoes and roll up our pants and go for a stroll down to the cliffs at one end of the shore. While climbing on the rocks a curious dog stole one of Alastair's socks, however the rest of the beach trip was great! There was even a rainbow as we got in the car to leave. After piling back into Ally's car we ventured to a lunch spot in a nearby town where we all expected to get ice cream but ended up with full meals. It was nearly 6pm when we thought to finally head back to Edinburgh where Ally invited us back to his house for the evening. Ally grew up in Edinburgh and it has been nice having a good friend that can shed light on the ways of the Scotts. It was also nice to sit on a worn-in family couch and eat a home-made lemon meringue pie after a long day!

Tomorrow classes start, however tomorrow I only have one class that meets at 4pm. Thus I have the whole day to mentally prepare and clean up my room after a weekend of barely having time to put things

away. I also think I will get a gym membership tomorrow at

the Uni gym, which is conveniently located a block behind from where I live! I have heard that tomorrow might be a holiday, and the banks therefore won't be open, but otherwise I might finally take the plunge and get my new local bank account tomorrow as well (I have been trying to decide which bank to choose and am still not sure!). I have been accumulating some video footage and when I get a chance to organize and edit some clips together I will post it here!

the whirlwind is calming down

This week has been a whirlwind of adjusting to a new way of life on top of trying to coordinate social events and academic events. The hardest part has been sorting through the optional meetings and events and making sure I make it to the mandatory ones, particularly the Law School induction related programs. Today I had my official Law School welcome talk and (after finally finding the right office) "confirmed my arrival" with the school thus completing my registration for the program. The talk was relatively informative, but the best part was having all my fellow law post grads in one room - I have been anxiously awaiting the moment when this all feels real, this whole masters in law thing, and today I think it finally happened. With so many orientation week events going on, I have been surrounded by mostly eager undergraduates and have felt quite old and out of place (along with just foreign). After today I feel more connected and am excited for classes to start next week! [The photograph is of the entrance to the law school building]

My grandmother left this morning, and I am alas completely on my own now! The picture to the right is of her on the beach in St. Andrews when we took an afternoon trip to see the famous golf course, the university there, and a lot of Scotland countryside on the way! In other news, it did not rain today! Generally there are about 8 casual bouts of rain per day, with stretches of sun in between. And wind. Always wind. Today I got so cold andwith the wind on my search for the postgraduate law office that I sought refuge in the library for a while to regain my composure. Luckily where I live is a few blocks from the law school and otherwise central to most things so I will not have to worry about the weather too much. Tonight there was a welcome dinner for those living in my building and the other Uni accommodation nearby; they made it seem like it was a big fancy feast, and it was just pizza. Typical college free meal, I suppose! Now I'm about to head off to catch a bit of a pub crawl and socialize a bit. Tomorrow I plan on taking my flip video camera for a whirl and will post a little moving picture for all you tuning in to show you around a bit more!

Pictures!

Here is a picture of my groggy self right before I boarded the (slightly delayed)plane from Newark, NJ to Edinburgh:

The next few pictures are representative of my first experiences in Edinburgh. First we have a plaid cab:

A huge castle on a grassy hill:

And a man playing bagpipes on the street for change:

Here is the view from my bedroom!

Soon I will post more pictures of Scotland things, but until then rest assured that this country is gorgeous. I am now settled in my own bedroom and managed to figure out the internet (not wireless but relatively fast). The weather has been great (knock on wood) and I hope the sun decides to stay out the rest of the week! Time for some more unpacking before dinner.

A little less jetlaged

Well, I am finally here! My grandmother and I have landed safely in Edinburgh, Scotland and had a great first few days.Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day, as I hopped off a red eye flight with little sleep under my belt just in time to greet a slightly rainy Edinburgh morning. I was let through customs despite my slight fever and very runny nose. On the way to the cabs, my grandmother and I had our SECOND celebrity sighting! First, we saw *Update, it was Danielle, not Theresa!* from the Real Housewives of New Jersey reality show at the Newark airport. The second sighting was a little more exciting - we saw John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer (Jim and Pam from The Office) heading the opposite way as us right outside the airport! I am proud to say I made eye contact with both, and (most likely because I was too spacey from my recent NyQuil dosage) did nothing more than just smile. Too bad I didn't have my camera ready, but it did help my mood as I was otherwise occupied blowing my nose!

Our hotel is lovely, we have a suite with plenty of space. The city itself is amazing - so many old buildings, adorable little side streets, and views of lush green hills and crags everywhere you look. While yesterday was very restful - we only ventured out for a bus tour around the city - today we have managed to accomplish a lot. We took a short cab ride to my new home on Roxburgh Place, waited in line to register and collect my keys, and then excitedly ventured up to the 4th floor to check out my room. Honestly, I could not be happier. I have a spacious single room with a BIG bed and a GORGEOUS view of Arthur's Seat with the city sprawled out beneath it. **There was also a little elephant charm randomly pinned to the bulletin board in my room, which as for those that know me will already guess, it a huge good luck sign! (The curtains are also a lovely mustard yellow and I have blue sheets!) I'll post pictures once I am off the hotel computer and have my own laptop all set up. After unpacking a few bags we went to a nearby Pound Saver store (think a small step up from the dollar store) and purchased a ton of cheap but much needed items to get me settled in my new space. In the store I met another postgraduate student and her mother from California doing the same thing - the city is overflowing with students and it is easy to pick out the American accents wherever we are. After dropping off the bags we got a nice Greek lunch at a shop on the walk back to the hotel.

Overall, I am very happy here so far and can't wait to get my room all set up and start off the school year. Once my head is all clear I'll be happier, but otherwise I have no complaints. The weather is much cooler than home, but luckily not cold yet. Yesterday it rained briefly, but has been sunny ever since. Today I decided I was going to stave off wearing boots as long as possible and threw on a pair of flip flops, but I can confidently say I might be the only one in the city wearing them despite it definitely being warm enough. I am ready for fall, but I do wish I had a few more days lounging poolside in the sun before it is all leggings, boots and sweaters.

That is all for now, but expect a post in a few days flooded with pictures!