upupandaways

[upupandaways]

RIP Waterpik

I was getting ready for bed, and since I bought an electrical adapter, I thought I could finally use my waterpik water flossed. I first tested it, empty, in my room: I plugged it into the adapter—honestly, with a little bit of a struggle since it felt like it didn’t fit too well—and then plugged it into the wall. There’s also a switch for each outlet, so I flipped that on. Then there’s a switch on the pik, so I switched that on. Bing bang boom, the machine went clickety clickety clack and I though great! It works now and turned it off after two quick seconds. I excitedly brought my waterpik, toothbrush, toothpaste, retainers, and no real floss to the bathroom. I then put all my stuff down, filled up the water reservior, put it on the machine, and when I went to plug it in, I realized the bathroom plugs were different—not three pronged. I was determined to use my water flosser though, so I brought it back to my room, set it down on some towels to keep it dry and quiet, and plugged it into the wall again. Switch one, switch two, clickety, clickety, clickety... silence. Then, the smell of burnt electronics. There was no question about it. It’s dead. RIP. I went through the stages of dealing with death: denile (no it can’t be dead), bargaining (what if I give it a bit of time, maybe it’ll come back alive), anger (how could I have been so stupid? I should’ve known the adapter wouldn’t work when it was so hard to plug in), grief (I am so sad without my flosser, why even bother flossing now), and finally, acceptance (it is what it is).

RIP Waterpik, you served me well.

[upupandaways]

Day 1

Sept 9

It was a productive day today! I slept all right, but I was pretty cold while falling asleep, and woke up around 2:30 am cold as well. I ended up getting up around 11:30 though. The first thing I did after getting ready was write my Edinburgh Arrival Update for our study abroad advisor which was required within 24 hours of checking in. Right after I clicked send on that email, I saw messages from our study abroad group chat about a welcome talk. I didn’t think much of it, but after I opened facebook and went to the facebook page for my building, I saw that it was a mandatory event. It was starting right about when I realized this. This talk was only advertised on the facebook page--once on a schedule that was released a while back, and once this morning an hour before the event. I was going to eat breakfast/lunch, but instead I grabbed a piece of a cookie that I had brought from home and ran out to the talk. Of course, I walked in the wrong direction for 2 minutes first, but I finally found my way to the building and room, 15 minutes late. It turned out the talk was just orientation information anyways. 

After that, Helena, Kevin, and I walked to an Asian market called Aihua. On the way there, I also bought a pork bun for lunch. At the market, I bought the essentials: soy sauce, sesame oil, black vinegar, green onions, tofu, kimchi, dried noodles, shiitake mushrooms, curry blocks, etc. It was fantastic. The two Chinese ladies at the cashier were also Edinburgh students, and I asked them where is good to eat. They recommended Imperial Palace and Lian Pu. I’ll have to check them out sometime. Kevin, Helena, and I then stopped by Poundsavers where I bought toilet paper, a notebook, cutlery, a plate, a bowl, tupperware, and a power adapter. 

We carried all these things back to Kincaid’s where I unpacked, claimed my kitchen cabinets, and typed up my “Day 0″ post. I also created a group chat for my flat and added a guy from the facebook group. He suggested we all meet up in the lounge in person, so I suggested at 5:50pm so we could head down to welcome drinks afterwards. We met up at 5:50pm, and ran into another student, and we all chatted. Only James and I headed down to the welcome drinks though, and we chatted and socialized with some other people--talking about weird American vs UK differences. 

I got quite tired of this, however, and went in and met up with Cherish who just moved in today. I saw her room, met up with Michael, chatted with him, ran into Andy and Juliette, those two left,  hung out some more with Michael and Cherish, and finally met up with Andy, Juliette, Michael, Cherish, and Kevin to go to dinner. We decided to go to a ramen place called Maki Ramen. The first location we went to was quite small and full, but they had a second location right around the corner which was larger and had space for us. I got the Tonkotsu Ramen. It was maybe 6.8/10. I didn’t like the texture of the noodles, and it needed a bit more depth of flavor. It was still good and hearty though.

The six of us walked back to our building, and checked out a number of the flyers hanging around advertising events, and then we played some foosball (4v2, and the 4 of us won by 2 pts!). After this, we browsed the events app and chatted about events we wanted to go to. I was tired of standing, so I suggested we all head up to my flat and chat there, and we did. 

This lasted until maybe an hour ago, and I finally got back to my room to finish my international check in and call Tony for 30 min. Now I’m writing this up, brushing, and calling it a day. Another big one tomorrow!

(I promise pictures will come!!!) 

[upupandaways]

Day 0

Sept 7

Day 0, just got to my gate at LAX, and waiting to board.

It’s a bit surreal that I’ll be leaving for the other side of the world for four whole months in just a bit under an hour. I feel a bit anxious and nervous, but mainly excited I think. I’m anxious and nervous about being homesick and long distance, but I’m excited to be able to travel around Europe and explore Edinburgh, to study at a large university and experience the pub culture. Boarding is starting now, but I’ll be writing more on the plane I’m guessing.

On the plane now, up, up and away, and I feel like I need to document my day leading up to here. In the AM’s of California time, I woke up and showered, brought my bags downstairs, and my mom was preparing some delicious breakfast. There was 副手瓜，山药和胡萝卜，腊肉，咸菜，锅���，鸡蛋馒头，稀饭. It looked and smelled delicious, and it made me not want to leave home that much more. She was finishing up cooking and cleaning while Wayne, Jeffrey, and I ate, but she joined after she finished. She ate really quickly though, and went to the bank to get me some cash before my Dad came home. Right when she said she was leaving, he came home from work. She still went though, and my Dad finished breakfast with me. Then we packed up the car and headed out to lunch with Tony and Azula at King Meditterrano in Torrence. I ate a gyro bowl and fed Azula some of my rice--she was so cute and needy. Tony and I then had some alone time together, and we chatted in person which was so nice, and said goodbye. I miss him already.

Then my parents and I headed out to LAX. Check-in and baggage check was quick, so we sat outside of the security area where I gave my dad one last massage. Then I went to the bathroom and headed up and away. It was hard not to cry when leaving my family—home has been so nice. TSA was also simple and surprisingly quick, but my gate was all the way at the end of the terminal. That’s when I wrote up the first bit of this post. During boarding, the physical boarding pass was required, but since there are so many people, there were 3 scanning machines and 2 doors to the airplane. It is so exciting to be on a Boeing 747-400 after working at Boeing this summer. It feels so big. At the beginning of the flight, however, a couple wanted to sit next to each other, so they switched with me, and the new couple next to me didn’t leave room for me to put my bag under the seat in front, so I had to put it overhead. I got a chance to dig out my floss and toothbrush beforehand though which was all I really needed.

Now, on the plane, I’ve been watching The Greatest Showman. The snacks just came by and they have delicious sour cream and onion pretzels. I also got a ginger ale, and free white wine!

Lunch/dinner time!! I got a chicken curry dish which came with a salad and dressing, bread roll and butter, cheese and crackers, Black Forest gateaux, and tea and crackers. Sill had some of my wine left as well. The curry is delicious, but I’m still pretty full from such a  big breakfast and lunch.

I took a nap, watched a Ramen movie, and took another nap. I only woke up because they turned on the lights. The food cart is coming by again for breakfast. 

They had breakfast burritos and sides for breakfast. I didn’t have time to document the rest of my day settling in, but here is a more but still not very brief overview:

I first flew from LAX to London Heathrow, and the immigration check at London Heathrow was very quick and easy. I just handed them my passport with the student visa, landing card that I filled out on the LAX to LHR flight, boarding pass for LHR to EDI, and UoE letter. The officer just asked me a few questions about where I was headed, why I was there, how long I'll be there, and what I will be studying. Then he took fingerprints of my right thumb and index. LHR also had signs that clearly indicated where I needed to go.

The new student website had mentioned there might be UoE people there to welcome and guide us at EDI, but I didn't see any. This was fine, though, because I've traveled on my own enough. I checked out the bus (£4.50, 35 min bus + 5 min walk one way), but with all my luggage in tow, I decided to grab an Uber X, their cheapest option, straight to Kincaid's Court (£18.70, 25 min). 

This brought me directly to Kincaid's Court where I checked-in in the Common Room where I received my keys and University (ID) Card. An RA then showed me to my room and help me bring up luggage. She was very friendly and tried to give me a warm welcome.

The rooms are as advertised, and settling in has been fine. Kevin, Helena, Andy, Juliette, and I went shopping for bedding and toiletries from Primark and Boots respectively--still forgot to buy toilet paper though. Then the five of us were joined by James, Katie, and Veb for dinner at Yum Yum where I got the lamb shawarma. It is very nice living so near all the other students from my school since it's a good starter for community and social wellbeing--something I know plenty of study abroad students, not just from my school, struggle with. However, after dinner, there was a social/mixer in the Kincaid's common room where I branched out, met new people, and made new friends which was much easier with friends from my school to tag-team with when meeting people. We ended up not going to the Big Cheese, and just socialized in the kitchens here with some drinks.

After this, I was very tired, jet-lagged, and still had some unpacking, so I unpacked, got ready, and went to bed. 

Overall, the first “day” has been exciting, tiring, and fun. Looking forward to the rest of the term!