Kate’s Rants

i’ve never had any really strong bouts of homesickness. until NOW. i guess being in a foreign country does that to a person. even though it’s basically still the same culture: consumerism at it’s highest, people in a hurry, bustle bustle bustle.

however, i got really used to davis, and the bikes and the slow atmosphere. that’s why i loved it there and went to school there. it was so laid back all the time. even when everyone was stressed out from class and work and they were all studying, it still seemed laid back and awesome. i miss it so much.

living in a city is interesting. but i dont think it’s really my style. i like it here, but it’s also almost TOO much. everyone is very trendy. i like watching all the people and their crazy outfits. i like all the cool buildings and how there’s always something to do. but it’s like i got lost in it. less intimate i suppose. i like the small town feeling where you always see someone you know.

this weekend brad sent me a package. well i got it this weekend. it was so nice to have a reminder from home! but at the same time it made me even more homesick. i guess i didn’t really realize i was until i got the package. then it all came flooding forward. also, brianne was away at a juggling convention/festival this weekend, so i was by myself. i don’t have any other friends here really (just the work friends who i don’t talk to outside of work) and so i pretty much stayed in my room the whole weekend. i managed to go see a movie and do some internet stuff, but having a friend makes things so much better.

anyway. i got over the homesickness. i talked to brad and my parents and my brothers on the phone. it was really nice to hear all of their voices.

i also convinced myself that it’s rediculous of me to be wasting my time alone in my room, when i could be exploring the city or going on adventures. so i really am going to have to do that more.

i think i want to go to somewhere in england. probably london, since it’s the nice big city. but who knows? i’ll do some research and see where i really want to go.

i’m planning on going for a week-long bus tour/trip in january up to the highlands. that way it will be SNOWY! and i’ll have a better chance of seeing the northern lights! i’m very excited about that. and maybe the bus people will have a snowball fight.

on the upside: work is picking up a lot. i’m very rarely bored there now (bored as in having nothing to do. the work is still rather boring…) so the time passes by quickly. i have regular lunch crew which is cool. one of our members is also a temp, and he’s being kicked out next friday! sad times. i guess they are replacing him with a permanent person. so it’s bye bye to pippin. hello new girl. dunno if she’ll be in our lunch crew.

the other members are myself, luca, and this girl who’s name is either lorelise or noel. dunno which. i’ve heard her being called both. i think lorelise is prettier. anyway, she’s really nice. she’s from the caribbean, but she’s lived in scotland for over 10 years! crazy! she’s got a good sense of humor. well, we all do. we all joke around and laugh lots at lunch time. (and other times too.)

one of these days, (as soon as i can get brianne a new camera) i’ll bring my camera to work and take pictures so you can all see what it’s like.

i miss everyone a lot. i miss having lots of pals around. i miss understanding my job fully. and i miss biking to work. (i have to ride the stinky cheese bus.) i don’t really miss taking classes, although in a few years i’ll probably miss that too.

i also miss my harry potter books. but don’t anyone send me any because you’ll probably send paperbacks, and i like my hardback versions because there’s something magical about reading harry potter in hardback. it’s just cooler.

hopefully we’ll get internet at our house soon. still no word from the neighbors upstairs. those slowpokes. sheesh.

it’s time for me to go to bed. pretty much. work tomorrow!

the end.

ok. so all you readers out there. take a look to the right side of the screen. it’s ok. go ahead. look over there. you’ll see a link that says “BRIANNE’S BLOG”. you should click on that, and it will bring you to brianne’s blog. you can read her adventures and funny stories and see her pictures! and you can leave her comments too.

HORRAY!

you might want to go back a few weeks too, to get all those stories. if you wish.

(her pictures are in her flickr account, which will bring up another window and allow you to view her pictures in a slideshow fashion.)

so go check it out. and you can view brad’s too if you want. but he’s only in davis. not so exciting. (haha just kidding brad! i love reading your blog when you actually post…)

alrighty then. get reading!

well, i’ve moved into my little flat. it’s nice. unfortunately, everthing decided to break the day we moved in.

first, the washer broke. well, the handle to the washer was already broken. so andre (our roommate from brazil) showed us how they open and close it. i’m still unsure…. and then brianne did a load of wash. we went to a hostel party that night, and she spent the night there. the next , we discovered that her clothes had been sitting in a pool of water all night. the washer doesn’t drain. (this caused us to have to go to a laundromat, or “laundrette” as the brits call them.)

the next thing to break was my fault: i accidentally used the voltage converter that i had already blown up (i had a brain fart) and so i blew a fuse in the house. i promptly threw away the voltage converter. i’ll have to find a new one, but for now i’m fine without it. anyway, that fuse caused our room’s plugs to not work, and half the kitchen plugs to not work.

we then called johan, the landlord. he came over, and fixed the fuse problem (he showed us where the fuse box was… way up high close to the ceiling by the front door… i would have never looked there… ) and looked at the washer. he said it’s broken.

anyway, basically andre said he knew a guy from work who might fix it, and then johan said he would try to find a guy. but i think it’s getting fixed next week. we might have to pay more money for that. GREAT.

then brianne and i were goofing around and i was taking a picture of her with her camera, and i DROPPED IT. so i totally busted her digital camera. yeah. you are able to view the pictures still, but you can’t TAKE pictures anymore. the lens is busted.

so today we went to some stores and talked to a really helpful salesgirl who told us it would probably cost 100 pounds or more to fix it.

well. great. washer’s broken. camera’s broken. plug converter’s broken. yikes.

i got a new plug converter today, and i tried it out and it works so that’s good. my computer plug is on the fritz, it should probably be replaced pretty soon. but as long as it still works, forget THAT.

we don’t have internet at our flat. i’m in a cafe right now using theirs. our upstairs neighbor came by last week and said they were going to get internet and they’d split it with us. but they havent done anything about it as far as i know. i might go talk to them today. dunno. gah.

so pretty much not having internet is annoying. i’m at work all day with a computer and BLOCKED internet. i have a work email address that i’ve used to email some people who’s emails i just remembered. but most of the time i use my address book or whatever old emails i have from people to get their addresses. not memorized. i’ll have to write them down and email everyone.

speaking of work. my job is completely and totally pointless. the only reason my job exists is because some people who work in my office don’t really know how to use the computers or email and are also too lazy to want to learn.

pretty much they should just get trained on it and it would make things so much more efficient. but meh.

i’m still sick. it might be all the mold that grows here because of the moistness. it’s not cool.

ok. ASIDE from all the crappy stuff, i still really like it here. i’m enjoying living in a city. it feels like i’m living in a movie or something. it’s pretty funny. i take a bus to work, and see the same faces all the time. working in an office is also hilarious. there’s work drama, and office flirting. it’s so funny to just sit back and watch it. (there would be tons more office flirting if less old ladies worked there. but oh well.)

i was supposed to go to a party last night at the hostel. but brianne and i feel unwelcome there now that we have moved out. it’s kinda sad. oh well. last night we went out with the intentions of going to a jazz bar that brianne saw. we passed it up in search for food, and the only thing that we could find was “american style pizza”. it was ok. i’ve had better. and then i was incredibly tired so i just went home and brianne went to find the forest cafe. but she came home about 5 minutes after me and said she didn’t want to sit there by herself.

one nice thing about edinburgh is that there are lots of little cafes around. you can just go in and hang out. they have to have these to provide a sanctuary from the weather.

well since this post just seems to be more and more of me complaining i’m going to stop. hopefully next week when i can post again i’ll be in a better mood.

i might go to london in a couple of weeks. yay.