Nov 7-17: Friends, the Town, and the Lovely, Lovely Beach

More Around the Town

It's getting dark and grey out, but it's still lovely.

The private road, which I use as a shortcut to my classes, is very beautiful.

The leaves were very beautiful for a long time.

I love passing this little doorway every day. I'm really enjoying the massive amount of flowers around it.

Casual stone archway by the student center.

Market Street, where the shopping is.

They finally took the scaffolding off this beautiful building! I love the stained glass.

Dew on the moss :)

Can you see the military machinery two cars back? All the students were thankful for the extra military presence following the rise in terrorism in Europe.

My church, Cornerstone, is held in this building.

Across the street from my classes.

The library courtyard at night - so lovely.

Beach Adventures

A slippery, careful walk out to the rocks.

I always wear my rain boots to the beach so I can enjoy the cold, cold water without getting wet.

Golf course at night.

I love taking nighttime walks on the beach.

Skyline view from the beach.

I have yet to finish the walk all the way down this long, flat beach.

Love the rockiness of this cold beach.

The waves crashing on the rocks are very beautiful.

The beautiful town skyline.

Climbing the rocks out in the ocean.

Obviously, More Drinking Tea + Schoolwork

Drafring my essay on Ruth 3, a difficult passage to interpret. I've been really enjoying this Elderflower tea - Elderflower is a very popular flavor here in Scotland.

I've also really begun to like English Breakfast Tea.

Hard at work on my Cognition lab report.

Enjoying this yummy, yummy Echinacea and Raspberry Tea.

To save time, I've been getting packed lunches instead of eating in the dining room. Sometimes, they can be really gross... this is a "pinapple" flavored "bear chew." Mmm...

My psychology classes are difficult but very interesting. I'm now taking Cognition and Perception, and in our tutorial sessions, instead of analyzing studies, as we did in my Neuroscience and Theoretical Perspectives class, we are running experiments and analyzing data. It's actually really fun. Often our experiments include 3D glasses and video games. Lab reports on the other hand... much less fun!

 Friends!

Watching Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday with the girls!

Psychology pub quiz (at the library) with my friend Klara. It was very nice, with wine and snacks. I was very proud of myself - no one knew what the creator of the lie detector had also created - and I knew it was Wonder Woman! Point for Klara and Sarah :D

Making Hot Pot with my friends.

Hot Pot is a popular Chinese meal where you make a broth and cook whatever you want in it. SUPER delicious.

Yeah, we've been cooking this a lot recently :) Also Weizhen and I dug up the potatoes in this picture for our hall garden. It was so cool to get to eat something we had helped garden :)

It has been a lot of fun memories recently. My main aim these days has been to get ahead on my work, so I can enjoy the time with my family when they come to visit. I have a renewed love for this place, and while I look forward to returning home, I am definitely not ready to say goodbye to this lovely place that holds my heart.

October 23-November 6: Halloween, My Birthday, and the Flu

Another Birthday Party!

Surprise! Picture of what eventually became Catherine's surprise party.

Hospitable Church Members

A very sweet family from church invited my roommate and I over to their house for dinner. They had 4 exuberant and happy children, and we had a lovely evening chatting with them. I was very touched. Just another example of the kindness of strangers I have seen since I have been here. Just another way God blesses me beyond what I could ever expect. Just another example of the way God pursues me and loves me. I am so blessed.

Never show up without flowers :)

The Flu?

The weekend following Raisin Weekend, I knew I was coming down with something. I planned to go on a hike this weekend, but I cancelled it to try to preserve my health. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, I ended up running quite a fever (102 Fahrenheit) the following weekend, which was Halloween. I had been thrift shopping for quite some time to perfect my "Golden Snitch" costume, and I was looking forward to several fun parties, but that was completely out of the question.

In my fevered state, I bought way more medicine than I needed... oops. I tried to make an appointment at the local hospital, but you have to call a week in advance, and there are no other clinics in the town. I settled in for a weekend of Doctor Who and Downton Abbey. It really was pretty enjoyable to take some down time.

Harry Potter Formal

Despite that the parties were out of the question, I did attend the Harry Potter Formal my hall had on the 30th. I did not do this by choice, but by virtue of the fact that it was held in the dining hall, so if I wanted dinner, I was going to have to dress up. I'm glad I did. It was really quite nice.

Some wore the traditional red gown, others dressed in their fancy outfits, and still others dressed in Harry Potter costumes.

Poem in honor of John Burnett Hall.

My Birthday!

My birthday was so lovely. I am surrounded by the sweetest people. 

My roommate and I started off the day at my favorite breakfast place, North Point.

Next, Weizhen and I collected sea glass and sea shells on the beach.

(Last pic photo credit to Weizhen!)

I was still feeling sick, and the morning had tired me out, so I climbed back into bed and watch a movie. I got to talk to the special people in my life on the phone, and so many people wished me well on facebook. My parents thoughtfully sent me some really nice gifts for my birthday, and I even got a few cards! At lunch, all my friends said happy birthday to me and we had a lovely time sitting and talking. I spent the rest of the afternoon thrift shopping (I bought a cute tea pot!), doing devotions, and catching up a little bit on homework.

My lovely friends had hoped to plan a bonfire for me. However, since it was so wet out, they decided to have a surprise party instead. The plan went awry, however. Weizhen had asked me to get ice cream with her at 9, but we were never supposed to go - it was only to make sure I didn't have plans when they were going to come. But, they weren't there in time, so my roommate actually did take me out for ice cream! We saw them huddled in the lobby, looking horrified when they saw us leaving.

I genuinely ended up being surprised though! After ice cream, I returned to my room fully expecting to see all my friends there to "surprise" me... and the room was empty! Confused, I sat down. Then came a knock at the door and a chorus of happy birthday. I was very surprised and so touched. 

One girl made me a cake and cupcakes! Plus, there was ice cream, oreos, other cookies, and capri suns. Yum!

I had bought a bottle of Bailey's in case I had the opportunity to share, so I had a bit of that with my friends as my traditional 21st birthday drink :)

We all sat around and talked for hours.

These people are so lovely and sweet!

The Fairway Girls (our section of the dorm) stuck around for a while afterwards, and it was really nice.

My friends gave me this cute St Andrews bear with a St Andrews sweater and traditional robe! So adorable!

Cards from friends and family, a winter headband from my friends, and a Chinese luck charm from my roommate! How sweet. I have such amazing people in my life.

All in all, it was a lovely birthday. It couldn't have been more perfect, and it was certainly more than I deserved. I was overwhelmed by the amount of love I felt that day. 

Daily St Andrews Life

Working...

I checked out every book in the library on Ruth (the topic of my essay). That was one heavy backpack!

Spending time in cafe's...

Walking around town...

Idyllic little lane in St Andrews

Walking up to the center of town after visiting a friend

The leaves piled outside my dorm are particularly beautiful.

It's been raining!

St Salvatore's Chapel

St Andrews at night

It has been very foggy recently. It feels eerie, but it really suits the town, I think.

More beautiful leaves outside my dorm.

Guy Fawkes Day

I thought I'd note Guy Fawkes Day. I didn't participate, which I'm definitely going to regret, but I'm still fighting whatever awful illness I have. Guy Fawkes Day is a particularly British holiday, commemorating when a man named Guy Fawkes tried to bomb parliament. They're celebrating that the plan was found out and stopped. Now every year, they have fireworks and bonfires to celebrate. Interesting tidbit of British culture and history! From this we get the poem: "Remember, remember, the 5th of November: Gunpowder, treason, and plot. We see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!"