From Scotland, With Love

It's been quite the month. Since I've last blogged, my husband and I journeyed our way to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. And while that is an amazing story in itself, today, well today we talk about the big move to Scotland that I've been incredibly nervous about for the last few months. 

In case it wasn't obvious, we made it to the U.K! Nothing has changed for you, dear writer, but for me? Everything has changed! Let me tell you all about it. 

After we arrived from our wondrous vacation, I had a day left of work, one day to pack and then a quick 24-hour stint in Boston before we flew to our new homeland. To say we were booked would be an understatement. We had goodbye parties, birthday celebrations, niece sleepovers, state fair adventures and of course, lots of time spent figuring out what was coming across the pond with us. It might have been a good idea to be so busy — it kept my mind off of what was happening in a few short days. 

To Scotland We Go!

Our flight from Providence R.I. to Edinburgh was.... long. It was an overnight flight and we thought, "Great! We can sleep!" Man was I naive. We were on a brand new plane (so pretty and clean!) and even though everything was great, we managed to forget our travel pillows in our luggage... which was in the bottom of the plane. No pillows = hard time sleeping. I even took a Tylenol sleeping pill to help lull me to sleep, but instead, my eyes felt heavy and I felt groggy for almost 24 hours. I survived, but of course I was on the crabbier side. 

When we landed, it felt just like we flew to another city in the U.S., only the buildings were transported from another era. For some reason, I was unfazed at first. Planes, Airport, Trams, we have 'em all. It's nothing new. But as you really start pulling in to the city of Edinburgh, you start to notice things. For instance, how everyone drives on the other side of the road. Or you start hearing that strong Scottish accent. Road signs also look funny to us. There's so many little things. 

We were lucky to fly in on a day that was sunshine. It was beautiful. The grass is green (probably from all of the rain), the buildings are unreal and our apartment is better than I expected. But, here, I'll break it down for you all on our time here in the last several days. 

The Flat of My Dreams

Our flat is on the top floor, meaning there are skylights everywhere. Even on a typical cloudy day, we rarely need our lights on until the sun sets. I think that if we are going to live in a place where you get about 1 hour of sunlight a day, this is where we need to be. The skylights make it feel alive and full of life. We already bought a few plants to make it feel homier. I'm also surprised on how much space there is. From the website we found this place on, it said the square feet was in the 500's. Now that we're here, there is no way that's true. The bathroom and living room are giant. Our room is the perfect size for us. The kitchen is functional. So to me, it's perfect. 

One side of the living room, new plant included 

Small, yet functional kitchen. And yes! That's our washer 

It Rains. A Lot. 

I was told there would be a lot of rain. And this was not a joke or a false alarm. There is rain everyday. Some more than others. It reminds us of Hawaii when they say that it rains everyday, but it's mostly a sprinkle mid-afternoon. This rain, however, is unpredictable. Our weather app told us there was no rain in the forecast until 6pm. It was sprinkling on us by 10am. We also got poured on walking 20 minutes back to our flat with groceries (and plants) in tow. I was not amused. Lesson: ALWAYS wear your raincoat. This is non-negotiable. 

Timing is Tough

Edinburgh is 5 hours (6 hours once Daylight Savings starts) ahead of back home. So when I wake up here, it's the middle of the night in Minnesota. And I didn't think this would be a problem for me. But I think it will be. I wake up, shower, eat breakfast, work out, run errands and start on lunch and people are just starting to wake up to start their day. That's a whole lot of lonely right there. I'm used to waking up and having the world wake up with me. I'm used to checking social media and having a bombardment of new stories and pictures. I'm used to texting people or sending snaps. I'm sure I will adjust and it won't be so bad when we start relationships over here, but for now, it's strange for me. I don't think Justin notices. 

Justin's School is Hogwarts

Many people have commented on a few photos I've taken of Justin's school and completely believe that he is attending Hogwarts. I personally believe he is. In case you didn't know, J.K. Rowling attending the University of Edinburgh and wrote her first novel's pages on the these streets! There is a street near the main campus called Pottersrow. Hmmm... seems like she may have gotten someone's last name from the school. Just saying. I feel like I need to re-read the books to see if I can catch anything that she may have picked up from this town. 

This is part of the Old College. Unreal

The campus though, it's something one can only dream of. The buildings are made of sandstone (told to me from a girl who brought us to church) and are remarkable. I don't even have words to describe it. The city is filled with old buildings that scoffs at everything the States have done. I'm being dramatic, but you get my point. I never imagined how beautiful Edinburgh could be. 

Outside of New College, Justin's campus

Justin said he always wanted to go to an old school. Well, I think he can check that off his bucket list. 

I Have No Idea How Much Things Weigh/Cost

This sounds ridiculous but it's true. I went and bought pork today to make something in the crock pot. It told me it was £5 for some sort of kg. I am not even confident that that's what the packing said. I weighed myself today at the gym, just to see since I haven't checked since mid-August. It gave me a number in kg. I had to convert on my phone. When something tells me it's £24, I'm thinking, "Hey, that's pretty cheap!" But I forget that it's really over $31 after you convert it. I tried to tell someone what Minnesota weather is like when I realized, I don't know Celsius. So yah. I'm an American drowning in pounds, Celsius and kilograms. Help. 

So Much Walking

On vacation I thought we were walking a lot. We walked almost everywhere in Waikiki. But also we hiked a lot everyday, which brought up our numbers. On that vacation we probably averaged 15,000 steps. Which is a lot considering I walked around 3,000-5,000 on a daily work day. But that's vacation. Of course you're exploring and doing a lot. Hawaii has nothing on Edinburgh. The city is walkable enough, but everywhere we go seems to be 20 minutes away. Justin's school, main campus, the large grocery store, the gym. I'd say we are averaging about 18,000 steps here. I'm tired at the end of every day. But it also makes me think of how lazy we are in the States. Granted, not many places are as walkable as this, but if you would have told me to walk 20 minutes in Uptown last year, I would have laughed. 

At Ease, For Now 

So far I've been handling the change quite well. I guess Justin has adjusted slower than me. We took a nap on the first day and he woke up telling me that he dreamt about how wonderful I was to move so very far from home. There was more to it, but it was a restless and stressful sleep. He woke up and thanked me over and over for being so accommodating and amazing. I'm trying. It's not too bad for me yet. We've spent our days together, exploring and wandering down these cobbled roads. There's nothing to fear quite yet. What it will look like when he starts school next week and I'm looking for work? Who knows. But for now, prayers are definitely working because I'm happy. Like I've said before, if I have to go on this adventure, I want Justin at my side taking it all in with me. 

I know this has been long, but thanks for sticking through it. I just wanted to give everyone a snapshot on my first week here in the U.K. I'll be sure to write more soon! No more long periods of silence from me. Too many adventures and anecdotes to share. 

Always,

A