Getting our land legs back!

Nana and I just returned today from a week-long trip to Orkney and Shetland, two island groups on Scotland's northern fringes.

And I'm proud to report that, after even a very calm overnight ferry between Shetland and Aberdeen (compounded by three hours on the train), the ground has almost stopped shifting beneath my feet!

Look for a bevvy of "Shorkney" posts in the near future, plus a little dash about Aberdeen, capital of Scotland's North Sea oil industry.

Classes; My New Modeling Career; Nana's Job

Classes have started, and the first week so far has been busy, as expected. Nana may have a short post about our Monday hospital visit, seeing as she was the one who was actually lucid throughout the day (long story, nothing major, and I'm feeling much better), but otherwise we'll probably be on a short hiatus, through Sunday or so.

In other news, earlier this week, I was invited to be a model for the University Prospectus (ie, gigantic brochure). Apparently almost no guys applied, and they thought it would look more scholarly to have a balding guy with a beard!

If you e-mail me in a few weeks, I should be able to send out some of the photos. For copyright reasons, though, I can't post them here on the blog.

Last but not least: Nana landed a cool part-time job today, working for TANDEM, a student union group that organizes free language-learning partnerships and cheap activities for students looking to improve their skills in a foreign language. Apparently, she completely rocked the interview, so hats off to her!

Internet!

We now have internet in the apartment, which means we're back in touch with the world!

Back from the Highlands; Internet Update

Got back to Edinburgh safe and sound last night. More details on the trip to follow!

And for those many folks who've been trying to reach us by e-mail, many apologies for how long it's taken us to respond. It turns out we won't have our broadband line installed at home until next Friday, so for now the university library is our only means of contact with the outside world . . . !

Heading for the Highlands!

The Educated Burgher is headed for Inverness tomorrow--last chance to play tourist before the term begins. We'll be gone through Wednesday evening. See you then!

Our stuff's here!

An update for friends and family following along:

Our shipment arrived in Edinburgh from Korea today. So we're that much closer to having moved in!

It looks like it'll be at least another week before we have internet in the apartment, though. The university library will have to do until then.

Update: Flat Reserved; the Fringe

After a whirlwind 24 hours of apartment hunting and letting agent wrangling, Nana and I have a flat reserved on a quiet street near the university.

We move in on Friday, after which we plan on finally going to see some of this Fringe thing we keep hearing about. Some events we're considering:


-The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Survival of (R)evolutionary Theories in the Face of Scientific and Ecclesiastical Objections: Being a Musical Comedy about Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
-A Rap Guide to Evolution (yes, two Darwin musical acts!)
-Emma
-The Importance of Being Earnestina
-Barber Shopera
-Tao-Samurai Magical Drumming
-The Canterbury Tales
-Broken Holmes

. . . and more!

Expect at least a post or two by the end of the weekend, at which point our 3G wireless runs out.

Safely in Edinburgh

We arrived in Edinburgh around midday today after three thankfully uneventful flights. The bus ride from the airport was a little more eventful--we had to cram all our bags into what turned out to be a local bus, not an airport shuttle, then make a transfer in a brief rain shower--but by about 3pm we were settled in at Pringles Ingle in the Morningside neighborhood south of the city centre. (Yes. I'm going to type it "centre" now. I'm pretty sure our profs will expect it.)

Despite the jet lag, it's been a very pleasant evening--a long stroll around the Meadows park, some good pizza, and some last-minute finagling of our apartment viewing schedule.

And as you can tell, our rented 3G wireless modem is working like a charm! Expect a post about that (and about our rented mobile phone) sometime in the next few days.

In the meantime, wish us luck searching for our flat!