a "wow times flies!" post

Hard to believe just about a whole year has passed since I moved to the UK. Last year at this time I was packing up my entire life, saying goodbye to all my friends, and thinking of all the places I'll miss...and now it seems that I've barely blinked and I'm here doing all those same things again! However just as the sadness of leaving home last year was sweetened by my excitement for what was in store for me across the ocean, I am thinking of my departure from Edinburgh in a very "one door closing, another door opening" way. As weird as it will be to shape up and ship out, I am so happy with what I've accomplished while I was here and am really looking forward to starting the next phase of my life, Master's Degree in hand (hopefully!).


Yesterday I turned in my dissertation, and all I can say is that it is kind of insane the extent to which that one Microsoft Word document has drained all of my time and energy the past few months. It is safe to assume I will not be opening that file again for a very long time, and the next person that asks me to explain my dissertation topic might not get such a diplomatic response. In the end I was happy with the final product, and am proud of myself for the work I put into it, but I'm mostly just glad it is done and submitted! The deadline for submission was 4pm, and afterwards everyone gathered for a fun evening of drinks to celebrate. The photo above is of me and a group of my friends having a little celebratory wine symbolically outside the library :)

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is well underway now, and it is pretty phenomenal. The festival isn't just isolated to one building or area, it encompasses the ENTIRE city. Nearly very building you pass, from schools to churches to pubs, has turned into a venue for all sorts of different shows. There are outdoor food carts and bars that have popped up all around the city just for the month of August to accommodate the festival crowds, and it's a good thing since every place is packed! Unfortunately my dissertation has prevented me from enjoying much of the festivities firsthand, but just walking around the city is like going to a show with all the lights, music, food, and outdoor pubs! Hopefully this weekend I make it to some events!

My trip to the Hague a while back was really interesting, but unfortunately there was a crazy hurricane pummeling the city most of the time and not only did we all spend most of the trip drenched, but our flight home was delayed resulting in a lot of wet, tired and cranky law students in Schiphol Airport. Luckily the places we visited were worthwhile and we got to witness the inner workings of a lot of major players in international law - definitely a good experience. The photo to the right is of me in the court yard of the Peace Palace which houses the International Court of Justice. The Palace was one of the cooler buildings I've ever been inside - it was constructed and decorated as a collaborative effort from all the different nations that first founded the international criminal court, so for example the hand painted tiles on the floors were a gift from France, the wooden ceilings are American redwood gifted by the US, there is an entire room decorated with Chinese tapestries and vases...you get the idea. The polar bear fountain behind me in the picture was a gift from Denmark!

Let's see...other fun things I've done. I went to a Scotland vs. Ireland rugby game the other weekend! The first and only other game I've been to was South Africa vs. New Zealand when I was in Cape Town. Our outing to Murrayfiled Stadium was rainy but a fun time nonetheless, and Scotland won (although I was mostly with Irish folk that weren't too thrilled with the end score)! Even after my second live game, I have to say that the rules of rugby are still beyond me.

So here I am at the end of my Scottish journey. I catch the 8am train to London on Tuesday, and then an 8pm flight to head to Thailand! Lots of packing and goodbyes the next few days for me, but I'm so excited for my traveling adventures to start and then to finally head home. Crazy how fast time flies, a whole year done and dusted! See you all back in the US of A :)