The First Days

I have arrived in Dalkeith! I actually arrived 5 days ago, but have been kept busy with orientation, not to mention poor internet connectivity. I will fill you in on my first days in my new host country.

Our flights went good: no delays. Our London airport experience was one I do not wish to relive, however. We arrived on time and in the same terminal as our departing flight. However, this terminal is the biggest one in the airport. We went down and up escalators, took a tram to another part of the terminal, made it through customs without a hitch, went up more escalators, made it through security, down more escalators, and made it to our gate. No sooner did we sit down to wait, and they called for boarding. The rest of our travel to Dalkeith was relatively uneventful.

Once we arrived at Dalkeith House (which will be our home for the next several months) we had time to unpack and settle in. Then the orientation began. The next three days were filled with sessions on the history of Dalkeith (coming in a future blog), using the bus system, pub etiquette, etc.

On Friday afternoon, our second day in the country, we got free tickets into Edinburgh Castle. The Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny are housed here! The Crown Jewels are the oldest crown jewels in Europe and when a new King or Queen was crowned, they put their feet on the Stone of Destiny.

Here I am in front of the Castle with Gabby and another WIS student, Hannah from UWRF.

Day three, Saturday, we spent most of the day in Edinburgh again, this time walking all around the city on a scavenger hunt. It was rainy, cold, and my group got lost twice, but I also now have a list of places I'd like to go back and check out in further detail.
One of the stops on our scavenger hunt was "The Elephant House" the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling thought up/wrote Harry Potter!

We stayed in the House on day four and had sessions all day. After the pub etiquette session I tried my first cup of Irn Bru (pronounced "Iron Brew"), Scotland's National drink (non alcoholic).

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