Since landing back in Edinburgh on June 15th, I have been starting to come to terms with the fact that in a few months I will be leaving this home I've made here behind. As much as I may knock the weather and all the hard work I've had to tackle this year, I have really learned to love Edinburgh with all of its old architecture, vibrant pubs, and small-city charm. On the taxi back from the airport a few weeks ago, I was just as overwhelmed by the beauty of the green pastures, stoic castles, and colorful gardens as I was the first day I arrived last fall - I am all too aware how much I take all the amazing things Scotland has to offer for granted, and the closer I get to leaving it all, the more I am not sure I am ready to say goodbye. Alas, soon I will have to leave the comfort and familiarity of the student lifestyle and fend for myself in the process of s
tarting a career.Fortunately, I am not quite there yet. I still have a whole summer of dissertation writing ahead of me, and a lot of other things on my plate as well. Next week I'll be traveling with a group of fellow International Law LLM students to The Hague, Netherlands to visit the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and Europol. We received grant funding from the University and managed to get enough financial support to cover the costs of our airfare and accommodation! Then, come August, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival will be in full swing and all the different concerts, shows, and exhibitions will definitely be vying for my attention as I try to stay focused on my writing. Ideally, I plan to get enough accomplished prior to the festival that I can enjoy the swell of the city and not come to loath it.
The final submission date for my dissertation is August 19th, and I am excited to say that I have booked a little (okay, not so little) post-graduation trip for myself. After visiting some relatives in London the final week of August, I will be flying out of Heathrow to BANGKOK, THAILAND to visit my good friend that is living there teaching English! I know, kind of a big adventure to plan so spontaneously, but I have actually been considering the possibility of planning this visit for a while now. I will be flying back to Boston from Thailand, so I have essentially just added Bangkok as a stop on my itinerary (albeit an out of the way stop) so the entire cost of the trip is significantly less than if I ever planned a trip to Thailand when based in the U.S. Furthermore, I have a great opportunity to visit and stay with a close friend that is beyond excited to show me around during a unique transition period in my life where I have nothing yet to rush back for back home. I am very, very excited for this excursion to the far East and will most certainly post about it there for anyone that checks back.
Yesterday was the 4th of July, and a few Americans and I banned together to plan a big bbq party in the Meadows for all of our fellow Americans and international comrades. It ended up being a big success - the weather held up and the evening was actually quite warm! We had lots of grilling, drinking and even some pickup wiffle ball games. Unfortunately, we didn't have any fireworks, as it is illegal for the public to buy them this time of year and Scotland apparently wasn't too keen on celebrating America's Independence Day with any public displays. I made a festively decorated American flag cake for the occasion, though, and it thankfully tasted almost as good as it looked!I suppose that about sums things up for now. I am currently on lunch break at my internship (which is still going really well) and should get back to work now. I will post later in the month about my trip to The Hague and at the very least give an update when the arts festival begins to take over Edinburgh
