Hee hee... So if you type my name into google you get seventeen results and three of them are actually me!! That's a pretty good percentage. Oh, and there is another Jennifer MacPhail registered at the Edinburgh library. I should meet her. Or it could even be a him...

Oddly enough, this page doesn't show when my name is googled. Lets change that:

JENNIFER MACPHAIL

Phew, that was a tough one.

Oh right, no job! But today is a "bank holiday" and job agencies are closed.

Went to buy a phone card today and there are so many options! I finally found one I liked and went into the store to buy it. (They have the rates and stuff posted on the outside windows, that's why I had to go in.) Alas, they had the one I wanted only in £10 cards. Not cool, because there is a 1-p daily "maintenance fee" thus why I wanted the lower value. Anyway. My journey will continue because I want a phone card.

So yesterday there was a "football match" that pitted Scotland against... someone. I have never seen so many skirts in one bar. Skirts on men. National pride here is huuuuuuuge, and the many drunk blokes randomly start singing Scotland-pride songs. The game was 1:30 in the afternoon, and when we went out to the bars at 7:00 the streets were still swarming with men in their kilts, blue Scotland shirts, funny hats, etc. So for the next match it has been decided that us Canadian girls will invest in markers, white shirts, and face paint so we can join the celebrations.

By the way, ever try to make out a drunk Scottish person? Here is what it sounds like muffled by the sounds of a loud bar: MWOAIJOIEWJKL MWA MWA HA JAJA ROOOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRJK!

People here just seem so much more willing to hop around and have fun in bars. Or at least at FILTHY MCNASTY'S, my favourite Edinburgh bar so far. It reeks of greatness! We had originally went to Brecks last night for Quiz Night, but left when Quiz Night wasn't really happening (literally) and some realllllly drunk boys who were originally entertaining, started to become really annoying. So Filthy's came to the rescue! Had a ball there. Drunk Scottish men seem to love singing and just prancing about. I have never seen so many men dancing and jumping around.

I forget the quote of the night from last night, but I think it was delivered by Keri. I can't wait for the next game, despite the fact I HATE soccer and think it's deadly boring. Ah well.

Anyway, I'm just waisting time. Yesterday I bought a pizza for 99p. It was good. We also ran out of matches yesterday. It's like we are back in the cave men days, "NO FIRE - NO FOOD!"

I feel like calling someone on PEI and waking him/her up. I'm actually being nice, because it would be 9:30 home and I had originally tried to call someone at 12:00, or 8:00 at home. I figure I'm allowed to wake people up because I moved away. Seriously, once you enter a new country the immigrations officer says, "Okay, you may now call home at ungodly hours and wake people up." And then he gave me a certificate and a high five.

The end.

Oops, meant to say that I'm NOT partaking in the high-heals trend... My boots with the thick non-stiletto heals are about all I can manage. For now,anyway.

PS: Bought the second Princess Diaries book at a discount bookstore... TOTALLY loved it!

Dearest Fans:

I have been noticing a crazy phenomina on the streets of Edinburgh. The cobblestone streets pose a danger to everyone, despite what footwear one wears. Us Canadian girls have been known to have our toes caught on uneven sidewalk. However, the local girls seem to survive by travelling the streets in high heels. Three-inch stiletos are quite the rage, and it will be one trend that I partake in.

In all seriousness, I have no idea how it is done. I see girls in bars that can barely stand in their shoes, but somehow they don't die on the walk to or from the bar.

Anyway.

Yesterday Keri and I went to the zoo!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! The advantages of having a digital camera is that you can keep taking pictures and not be worried about the animal moving its head away. One of the highlights of the day was the "world famous" penguin walk. The penguins were paraded around a walk-way and they were too cute!

Anyway, don't feel too much like writing a blog... Have some emails I should probably send to the dear people of PEI.

Here is what I have done the past few days:
- Ghost tour with Keri, Shannon and Eddie
- Free lunch at Office Angels
- Karaoke and dancing on Friday night
- Zoo plus aimless wandering Saturday after we arrived at the cinema to discover the movie we went to see was sold out. So we watched the top-six Friends episodes as chosen by the folk of Great Britain. I'm happy to report that people here have good taste! They picked (from best to sixth best) the one where they play football on Thanksgiving, the one where Ross and Rachel get together, the one with the many thanksgivings flashbacks, the one with Brad Pitt, the one where Phoebe tries to seduce Chandler because she and Rachel want Chandler to admit his thing with Monica and the one where they play that game and end up switching flats. Yaaaay!
- Walked around today and got groceries. I actually get groceries a lot.

Adios~

Well, it turns out I *don't* have a job because the job agency never called me back. So I called them again at 4:30, and oops, the job had went tosomeone else. I went for an interview at another job agency yesterday afternoon, and in the process missed a call from Office Angels with a job offer. I called back about an hour after they called, and the job had been filled.

Glorious, eh? Ugggggh. Anyway.

Today, instead of getting dressed up and hopping about the job agencies I put on my normal clothes and went hill climbing instead. I was going to make it to the top of Arther's Seat but did not. I took the hard way up a big hill thing at Holyrood Park then layed in the grass and listened to music and read a book. It was very nice! That's when I decided I would continue my journey and master the "seat". Until I fell. You have to come back down most of the way from the hill i was on before you can ascend arthur's seat. I was making my way down, when I slipped and fell. My hands are kind of scratched up, as is my elbow. My mp3 is mighty dirty but I'm quite fine. Except my hands are still filthy. I decided that was a sign to give up for the day and continue my adventures elsewhere. I'm at the library, which I kind of came across by accident so I figured that I would slip in for a moment.

Last night Keri, Shan and I went to TROY. At first I wasn't looking that forward to the movie, but once it started I was sooo into it. For some reason I forgot that I actually like greek mythology stuff so I ate the whole movie up. Especially the Brad Pitt naked bum shots - they were crucial to character development and they were also needed to forward the plot. Anyway, totally LOVED the movie despite the fact I knew how it would end. (Duh, trojan war.)

Tonight Keri, Eddie the Kiwi and I (possibly Shannon - she hasn't decided yet) are going on a tour of underground... something... I can't remember the name of it. I'll just call it the ghost tour since it has to do with dead people. And we'll probably hit a pub afterwards for a bit. Haven't had a beer since last Friday! ;)

Oh yeah, the cinema we went to was soooo nice. THe seats had HEADRESTS. Which were probably paid for by the 15+ min worth of commercials before the movie. Plus about 12 min of previews. Previews were for Harry Potter 3 (on my to-see list), Spiderman 2 (ditto), and The Day after Tomorrow (ditto again!). We have lots of movie watching to do this summer. HP3 actually opens this Monday... Something tells me it doesn't open until June at home. Monday is a "bank holiday" here. Means banks are closed and some other places. That is why I should work at a bank: one Monday off per month! (Except June, I'm told.)

Anyway, I have only seventeen minutes here so I best end this.

Kisses and adios!

Today I missed a job call again. I could hear my phone ringing when I was in the bath tub. But I called the job agency back, (they didn't leave a message, I just guessed it was them and was right,) and they had a potential job for me. Unfortunately, it fell through. But they called back with another job that I should be taking. It'll be at least until the end of June (unless I suck terribly) and pays £6.50/hour. About 20% of that goes to taxes, I think. Then I shoud qualify for £1.80/day in travel allowance since I'll need to take the bus or train to work. And holiday pay is on top of that. So yay! The job itself is with... I don't know. It is in... I don't know. Charlotte told me where it is but I didn't recognize the name hence I forget it. I'll be challenging myself with the ever complicated INVOICE PROCESSING. Hee hee... seriously, probably incredibly simple work, but it pays well and she said there will be opportunities to learn other new things. So right now I'm in an internet cafe awaiting a phone call for confirmation. I would be at the free-access library, but mobile phones have to be turned off in there so I'm scared I would miss "the" call.

Anyway, not too much going on. Last night was my first mopey night. I decided it is easier to get over someone when there is absolutely NO chance you will run into him on the street, at the pubs, at university, etc. However, sometimes it's kind of sad knowing that you will never run into him thus not know how he's doing. But I guess, at the least, there are no awkward avoidances or conversations since we won't see each other. Sigh. Apparently there are four stages to getting over a break-up. I'm mostly in stage three: anger. Which means I'm almost there! Then the mag says, "It could take months to get to stage four - the final stage." Boooo, but I shall be perfectly fine. In case you are wondering why I bought such a magazine, it's because it came with a free pretty make-up bag. I didn't have a make-up bag prior, just a plastic baggie. Plus some of the stuff in the magazine was good, there is a small section every month about women opening their own businesses. Anyway, time is up! Adios¬

In exciting news, I got a call from a lady today wanting to discuss jobs with me. In bad news, I didn't hear my phone ring early enough, and by the time I found my phone it was too late. Pathetic since I set my phone on a chair thinking, "If someone from a job agency calls I will know where my phone is because I set it RIGHT ON THIS CHAIR." Guess where I looked when the phone rang? On top of my dresser. Then on top of my desk. Then on top of my bed. Anyway, the lady left a message and I called her back pretty much asap, but she was on another call by then. I left a message with the secretary, but she hasn't returned my call yet. (Three hours later!) Now I'm in a bit of a bad situation, I'm not allowed to have the ringer on my phone turned on in the library, which is where I am. Anyway, I'll ring her back soon if I don't hear from her in the next hour.

So I figured out Edinburgh's Tim Hortons equivalency: pubs. It's just TOO easy to drink here! Instead of "Lets go for a coffee/hot chocolate," it's "Lets grab a pint some time." Cue beer belly expansion! And people don't go out to the pubs to get drunk (well, some of the time) but just to grab a pint. Like it's coffee. Don't get me wrong though - there are lots of cafes and places to grab a cup of coffee. As well, pubs are everywhere, just like Tim Hortons are everywhere at home.

Keri is WORKING today. I am typing a blob. She is getting paid. I am not.

But seriously, I was going to go around to more job agencies today but I decided against it. I am registered with two and I have another appointment tomorrow. Really, I don't need to be registered with more than three - it gets kind of confusing. Besides, if trouble brews at the places where I am registered or they have only shit jobs, THEN I get register with another one. Simple as that, eh?

Shan and I came across a pretty cheap (relatively speaking) grocery store over the weekend. That's a good thing. This place also charges you for plastic bags. You need three bags to carry your groceries home in? Have to pay for them. And the cashiers at all grocery stores are really efficient. You don't choose a line to stand in, everyone queues together and goes to the next available cashier, like at a bank. In some places there is even an automated voice that tells you which cash to go to.

They have LOADS of different chocolate and candy over here. Kinder chocolate is big, and you don't have to pay for the crappy toy, which is nice.

I still haven't figured out the cheapest way to call Canada. Phone cards are a good buy if you have a land-line, which I do not. They are still decent for pay phones, but once you use them on a mobile phone you use up phone card credit AND mobile phone credit. I'll figure it out soon, but I'm bound to make some costly mistakes! £££

Another word for pound in quid. Suddenly a few sentences in the Harry Potter books make much more sense.

In THRILLING news, I saw the place where the man who invented LOGRITMS lived while in school. Also saw Charles Darwin residence building from his university years or something. The evolution guy. Which explains why he is on a currency bill here.

Anyway, all done. I have some emailin' to do! But I miss you all! If you feel bad for me, come visit me. We have an extra matress and everything!

Oh yeah. Vaccuumed my floor today. It was DISGUSTING. I have no idea when our flat was cleaned last, but I am repulsed. I'm actually surprised that we haven't been really sick... The dust was CAKED onto stuff and I couldn't get it all off.

Ew.

Bye!

Well I am BITTER. Keri and I are at the internet cafe and the computers I try using just keep randomly shutting down. So I have lost TWO blogs. Now I have to some them up in extreme bitter point form.

1. My inbox is sadly empty. Disapointing, because I am awaiting gossip from a former roommate and I'm not getting any! Mind you I am sometimes slow responding to people, but I like to think people will at least write back if I write to 'em! (Hee hee... guilt trip...)


2. Some guy wanted to give me his phone number. I said just to give me a business card because he had said he worked at some financial/investment firm and I wanted to find out where it was, website, contact info for it, etc. I am a bad person, but quick on my feet.


3. Scottish guys sometimes appear gay, but apparently they are just more friendly with each other than Island boys.


4. Wore shorts during the day all weekend. Weather was very nice!


5. Had good pizza Saturday night.


6. Went to Finnigan's Wake on Sat night - was a cross between ODP and Peakes. (IRish pub with Peakes-like music.)


7. Met another Islander (friend of Keri's) and her roommate from Winnipeg.


8. Went to apub with SHan and Brad on Friday night called Filthy McNasty's!

That's all because I am bitter and figure the computers will shut down again in a minute anyway. Glad I'm paying for absolute CRAP. Heh...

And one more thing: both Keri and Shannon are working next week. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough? Ah well. I've been here only a week, I'm not worried!

Last night Keri, B.C. Brad and I went karaoking. Belushi's is officially the best karaoke place EVER due to having Ballroom Blitz. My lifelong search for this song is over and I can sit quietly in the corner during all future karaoke events. Heh, not really.

So, rundown of the new faces I met last night:

• Martin and Sally from Houston, Texas. They are on their way to Aberdeen. They work together and are here on business.


• James from South Carolina. He is here for the weekend, taking a little break before he writes his law exam. His uni down south has an exchange programme with a university in London which he is participating in. He confirmed that London is even more crazy expensive than Edinburgh: he pays £1100/month for his house/flat, which is shared with seven other people. Get this - they EACH pay £1100 a month. CRAZY.

Today Keri, Shan and I went to Office Angels for a free lunch! Every Friday they order food in for all employees and the temp workers they find work for. Even if you are just registered and jobless, like myself, you can still go! This week they had indian food and it was actually quite good! Lots of chicken dishes, some rice, little bit of veggies and weird slimmly stuffed pita bread style something or other. There, we met someone from SCOTLAND. Shocking, I know. But seriously, even the chick that worked at our hostel was from North America. I swear the locals must just work in the day and they hide at home (away from the foreigners) by day.

I bought some postcards today. Ten postcards, but only five stamps. This is when I decide who I love the most.

My mobile phone has GAMES on it. Sadly, Tetras is not one of them. But remember that Snake game from Queen Charlotte? Like, the only game our computers had? Well, my phone has that.

Last night the bar we went to had 50 pence shots. They were good, I think there was butterscotch schnapps in it and something... kind of milky? Bad thing about the bar last night: not enough karaoke. Seriously, they played a regular song between each karaoke song. Oh, and get this - the guy Shannon sat next to on the bus from the airport to the "city centre" (what I call downtown) was at the bar! I didn't talk to him, but I am 99.999999999% sure it was him.

More new beer last night: Fosters and Fosters Ice. (Basically the first is on tap and the second was in a bottle.) They were good, they have my stamp of approval. I believe they are Aussie beers, because we were in an aussie bar. Which served Budweiser. Which was more expensive than the rest of 'em.

So my goals for the week were:

1. Find a job by next Monday.


2. Floss my teeth more often.


3. Start eating properly and drink more water (not having a kitchen and stuff messed up my eating habits severly).


4. Exercise.


5. Meet someone new.

Well, I have worked on the job thing, but shouldn't meet my deadline. But set-backs appeared (lack of computer, lack of printer, holiday, etc.) However, I should have something lined up soon.

I flossed my teeth once. Since Monday. Better luck with this one next week...

Eh, I guess I have been eating okay. The water thing was supposed to encourage me to drink some local water. I did at a restaurant, and it seemed fine. But given the odd colour of the water in the bath tub, I don't know if I want to drink the local water. As for the eating healthy, yesterday I had a McFlurry for supper. But other days were better!

I did exercise yesterday! I know all the walking we have been doing is considered exercise, but I meant actually-sweat exercise. And I did that yesterday! And today I tried to do crunches/sit-ups/whatever they call them now and did approximately ten. I predict my six-pack to be formed by... August 27, 2066.

Goal number four was surpassed. I heart this city! Oh, and 4b was meet someone Scottish. I did that too at the temp agencies! Ooooh yeah.

Anyway, I'm wasting valuable strut-around-the-city time. And I need some groceries.

This weekend I think we are hitting up a cat exhibit at a museum ("Feel a tiger's tounge!") and maybe BBQing it with one of Keri's Islander-turned-Edinboughian friends. We shall see what the days bring.

Adios ~

Well now, congratulations are going out to the lovely citizens of Prince Edward Island: Canada's fattest province. Truly an honour.

Oooh yeah, more free internet today! And although this keyboard looks like your standard european keyboard, it appears to function as a north american keyboard! THus, when I hit shift plus the 2, I get the @, instead of " as pictured. Instead of pound for shift + 3, I get #. Crazy! ANd I think this keyboard may be broke a bit because it sounds really rattlely.

So the job hunt went well - I have an "interview" today, tomorrow, and Tuesday. They aren't exactly job interviews, but you meet with a consultant at a job agency and they sort of "get to know you" (as a sidenote, my keyboard just amazingly switched back to european... CRAZY) and see what kind of jobs you would like, for how long, wage expectations, etc. THe one today seems to focus a lot on administration work, and the one tomorrow is heavy into finance and accounting!! And the guy there was really nice. Actually, everyone has been fabulously nice to us.

Last night Keri, Shan, Irish Boy, and a guy from BC (Brad the BCer) went to The Last Drop. It was much more crowded that Tuesday night, but still cheap! Tonight Brad the BCer, Keri and I are going karaoking. Brad made the terrible mistake of saying he has never done it, but wants to try. Now he is stuck coming with us! Mwa ha ha...

More free net access today! I think the tourist centre is just short-staffed, thus they have no one available to track our computer usage and charge us appropriately.

The computers here are a weeeee bit of a tease: they have MSN, but you can't use it. You can't even use that weird e-messenger.net place!

I caved and bought a mobile phone yesterday. £70, but it came with £35 of airtime. Sad. There was a special on: buy a certain phone and getthe free airtime. I could have bought a phone for £30 and simply bought the airtime, but this phone will be worth more thus I should be able to sell it at a higher price when I go home!

Sorry I have been lacking in the personel emails as of late... But free net access only came about yesterday and that was used mostly for job stuff. You will all be happy to know that I did eventually find a place to photocopy my resume. Or, CV, as they call it here. There actually is a difference between the two, but hopefully my RESUME will do just fine!

Today I went for a run/waddle. I need to find a flatter area to run through until I get used to running. Holy hills. Anyway.

Well, I'm ooot. It's nice out so Keri and I are going to sit in the park. Then I'll go home and prep up for the lovely folks at Office Angels. We'll find out if they are truly the angels they claim to be.

Sigh.

I printed my resume. I bought a file folder to carry them around in. I arrive at the cheap photocopying place... And no photocopying will be done today. They decided to have a "free" day. Which means the internet is free, but they don't want free printing, copying, or faxing, so those services have been disabled for the day. Now I need to find another photocopying place. It actually shouldn't be too hard though. It's just one mere setback... I can rebound! And I should, because otherwise my dressing up today was a waste of time. And I dressed up nicely today! (There is a difference between dressing up nicely, and dressing up and looking bad.)

Last night I had a date with the wonderful SHANNON. We went to two pubs and chatted and boy-watched. I forget the name of the first pub, but it was a rather empty irish bar. The second one was called "The Last Drop". It's located where the hangings in Edinburgh used to take place.

The "bouncer" (I guess that's what he was) outside the door was wearing black pants and a cool long black coat. They look quite nice. "Themeing", I suppose. Just like Disney World! Woo! The second bar was cheap, so I was happy. A pint of beer for £2! Good beer too. It's the stuff I had in Edinburgh before, but now I know the name of it: J.R. Teffere...?? Something. Can't remember how the last name is spelled. But it's good beer. Maybe we have it in Ch'town, but I doubt it. The logo/box is generally yellow, with a large red, serif T. Good stuff.

Tonight we three plus irish boy are going to some singing thing on the hill. Well, whatever they call it here. Grounds in front of the castle? Sure.

Tomorrow I have a date with KERI. I tell ya, I am getting around! This time we will try to avoid falling down hills. And there will be no frolicking in the grassy knolls.

Oh! Important: last night was my first time cooking with our GAS STOVE. Our flat is still standing and I do not have any burn marks so I am happy. I cooked curry from a can. Well, the can had "mild curry sauce and chicken" and I cooked rice. I couldn't understand some of the overly scottish directions on the bag of rice, so I pretended it was to be cooked the same way rice would be cooked at home. It worked. Rice cooking is probably quite universal. I also had a pita with it. Not quite Churchill Arms, but it was certainly much cheaper.

Oh right, and now I'm off to find a photocopier. I also decided my blog looks quite boring and I should add a splash of colour and a pinch of pics or something.

And one more thing: if you are looking for hot guys in Edinburgh go to the public library. The university is still in session here so people are there studying. I'm sure there are hot girls there too, (obviously since Keri, Shan and I were there! ;)) but I decided not to check out girls today.

Adios ~

I'm supposed to be job hunting. Whoops. But I'm awaiting a couple of references to get back to me regarding whether I can use 'em as a reference or not!

Sigh. I hate applying for jobs and stuff. And the first little while at a new job when you don't know where anything is, don't know how to use stuff, etc, blah blah blah.

ANyway, I decided I am discouraged even though I haven't even really started. And I think my free one-hour internet time is up. Maybe I'll go walk around to some job agencies and see what they can tell me, despite the fact my resume isn't quite finished.

Wish me luck!

And lets talk about my place to live. It is loud. THe street in front of our house is made of cobblestone, thus every sound seems to amplify by 900x. And my room gets bright in the morning because I have a window in my room that looks out to the flat stairwell. (people can't see in it though and there are bars in case a thief gets into the building.) My curtains on my giant window aren't very thick or dark, so they practically glow white once the sun comes up!

Anyway, off job hunting I go! Woo!

¬

Hey all,

Speedy blog once again. Yesterday Keri and I climbed up a big hill and took pictures of stuff. We also saw some swans, ducks, pigeons, and EVER SO BEAUTIFUL SEAGULLS. I taught Keri how to blow on grass to make the funny squeak noises. We named our beautiful music "Ode to the Ducks".

We both fell going down the big hill. It was HILARIOUS! First, Keri started to fall an dI though, "oh no! Keri is fa...!" and I then I was on my ass.

Took some pictures over the last few days that I'm going to toss somewhere on the net.

Scotland is good to my face and hair! seriously, blemishes be gone for some kooky reason. And my hair doesn't get as frizzy here and it dries quicker and better. Except then I got out in the wind and it blows it around a lot. THis will be the summer of big, curly, tangly hair.

Yesterday was a SHORTS DAY, believe it or not. It was great! Sweat galore, however.

Anyway, another interent session ticks away. Adios!

Ooooh yeah.

Two days in a row! But alas, still paying for using the internet so I'm going to fill this with typos and probably not fix them.

We found a place to live last night! It's in a rather posh part of town, but we got a good rate on it. It's £600 per month, plus a very extra special COUNCIL TAX, or something like that. So what seems like a steal is technically £760/month. Uggggh... I swear, money is flying out the window hear. SO I'l be paying about $640 for our new Seasame Street house. I call it that because it looks like the gray version of that main 123 house on Seasame Street. Except there are a whole bunch of them hooked together. I'll take some photos. ANyway, our place will have CHARACTER, due not only to the crazy people in it (*cough* me) but also because it was built in the 1820s. The ceilings are really high. There is a private gardens across the street that we can have access to for a £50 deposit for the key, but we don't have that kind of money right now. We had to scramble to find the money for our rent and deposit (one month's rent) that is due this evening. Our place is in New Town. It's new only relative to Old Town, which is over 800 years old, I think. New Town is over 200 years old.

Last night we went out with a few guys from the hostel. So much for meeting the locals: one was from New Zealand, one from Ireland, and one from South Africa. The first beer I had was good, but I can't recall the name of it. (T. J.'s something or other? I jsut pointed at it when I ordered it.) The second was Caffrey's or something like that. They don't have it in Ch'town, but they do in Ottawa and Halifax. It was a glorious £2.65 for a pint... about $6.80. Jeez. BOO! The bar itself was nice, but someone lacking in things to do. It was playing dance-y music, but there was not a dance floor. So I sat, talked, and drummed my hands on the table a lot.

In more exciting news, I fell down last night. It was HILARIOUS. The irony was that I was talking to Mr. South African earlier about embarrassing moments and I said I don't really get embarrassed anymore. And the fall down the step proved it! I just laughed. No worries, I'm completely fine minus a small red dot on my knee. Honestly? I've gotten far worse cuts shaving. It was nothing at all. However, future travellers note: if you get hurt while you are drunk your insurance won't cover it. (Not that I drank that much... MOstly I just have a habit of running down stairs too quickly.)

Other things to note: our hostel has 77 stairs. BUt it's really not that bad.

Just things to note in general:

• You have to pay to use the washroom in the Princes Street Mall and other places. I now like fast food restaurants for use of the free toilet.


• Yes, they are called toilets. Signs labeled TOILET are where you should go should you need to pee. I like the logic of it, but it ignores the fact that you can wash your hands there.


• I hate exchange bureaus. They charge $2.72 to get a pound. Banks are about $2.53.


• Lots of hills. The back of my left leg is starting to get sore. On the plus side, leg workouts are easy to come by.


• Things are still expensive. I am cheap. Not a good combination.


• The guy from South Africa wasn't black. I'm mentioning it because we are from PEI, and I know you all assumed he would be black.


• My hearing aid works! This is a good thing. I tried to use it when I arrived, and it still wouldn't work after trying three new batteries. Cue my hatred for my right ear. Then, later on, I decided to try a battery from a different pack. It worked fine. So I'm stuck with, what I will assume is a whole pack of bad batteries. Radioshack will feel my pain and bitterness. I seriously didn't know what i was going to do... Some people here have thick accents and I knew the lack of hearing aid would be the end of me. But now we are good. And Radio Shack can burn in hell.


• Went on a bus tour today... it was windy. And informative! I can now point out to you where Alexander Graham Bell went to school when he was young, where Robert Lewis Stevenson grew up, where people used to be hanged (hung?), and other stuff.


• There are three different looks to bank notes here as there are three banks which publish their own notes. So there are actually four variations of a £20 note: Bank of England, Royal Bank of Scotland, and two others that I can't remember right now.


• I tried to pay for a pint last night with £1.02. See, the 2-pence coin is the size of a toonie, and bigger than the 1-pound coin (100 pence = 1 pound) so I assumed it was a £2 coin. I was wrong. I laughed. They don't have 25-pence pieces here, but they have 20. It's all crazy and stuff.


• Many guys here have short hair and spike it up on the front. Lets just say it is not flattering for receiding hairlines.


• Some girls have to hold their skirts down when they walk due to the wind.


• It's actually pretty nice out today...! And it hasn't rained yet... where are the heavy rains I was promised?! Ah well, I am sure they will come.

So that is all. I decided I am going to be thrifty and save half of my time for another day. I'm really not that cheap, but can't think of much to say. It'll come to me once I log off though.

Oh yes, email: formingapaste@hotmail.com or jennifermacphail@hotmail.com. I'm not posting my new address on here because I don't want crazy people knowing it and tracking me down. I don't have a phone yet (they are expensive - of course) so no phone number either. Email me though if you want either!

Wooo!

oooh, PS: use the comments feature so I know you care =)

Time is still ticking... soo... Hostels don't accept travellers cheques in their own currencies, isn't that silly? Luckily the banks have to honour them! And a random grocery store was also helpful.

Wish this place had a little clock or something so I could keep track of this. I did look at my watch, but I can't remember what it said.

In CRAZY news, I am doing well and haven't been lost yet. I have declared myself official map holder.

Also had an older italian man ask our group for a picture... Awkward... How do you tell an older italian man that he is creepy and not the stud he thinks he is? Answer: You don't, you just smile awkwardly and sort of creep away. And feel relieved because you went to the wrong flat (Drummond St vs. Drummond Place) and you will never see him again. Yay!

Also, visit SHan's blog. Real link will come when I have more time
Shannon. My roommate. Word.

Low time warning... bye!

WooO! I made it, and I'm very short on time to update this. No place to live yet, but soon, hopefully. Hostels are fine, but actually kind of pricey for the long-run considering what you get from them.

Saw men in skirts last night, but I ended up being more distracted by the girl with them. I swear, her skirt was so short I'm surprised I didn't see her undies. But maybe because I was to far away. But seriously, I could almost see ass-cheek. Not cool.

Stuff here is really expensive. It has been decided that I am going to buy food, liquor, a pair of shoes (I need dress shoes) and very little else. THis promise will be broken within days of getting a job. I haven't started a job search at all, but that's because we decided a place to live is first priority.

Many flats here are furnished, and they are expensive because they go waaaay overboard in trying to keep them pretty. Booo, I'm fine with crappy furniture and non-balconies and non-victorian furniture. ANyway, I think my time is ticking away... Ahh! Bye!

Heh, four hours till we leave.

Crazy.

So I'm *almost* packed... I know I should be doing that now but I had to print off a few emails and junk.

Leaving for Scotland is going much better than leaving for Ottawa 16 months ago... Maybe since I have done it before, or maybe since I had been pretty busy last week with grad stuff and haven't had time to worry and get upset. Or, more likely, it's the lack of boyfriend. I'm still in a rather confused state about that whole thing. Maybe not confused, but I have my sad and angry moments despite me knowing that ending things was for the best. But still, every time the phone rings it's like a little bit of hope ringing but it never comes through. Or something like that.

Although I'll still crave phone calls when I'm away, I won't have a phone for a little while for there won't be any false hopes!

Note to self: Email people and tell them I have a blog.

Note to self: Go finish packing.

Desperate memo to my over-worked brain: Just because people don't call to say good-bye after saying good-bye in person doesn't mean they don't care - maybe said person doesn't want to upset you again!

Thanks for the joy of graduation gifts, I feel filthy rich. However, I expect money to be flying out the window over the next two weeks. Getting ready to move away is expensive (buying stuff they may not have there) and getting stuff once I'm there will be expensive. (Phone, PLACE TO LIVE [high on list of priorities], food, other stuff.)

Oh right, go finish packing.

So, this is the last post until I get to Edinburgh. Unless I find a free computer in the London-Gatwick airport. The nerd in me squeals with delight at the idea of posting on a blog from LONDON. ..... LONDON ..... Let me repeat: I WILL BE IN LONDON. Be it for only a mere five hours, but I will be there and definitely be back. (Hopefully in June.)

LONDON.

Woo!

Uh oh... Here I type again. This will be addicting. Is this foreshadowing a return to my nerdy junior high days? Probably not because puberty has ended and (most of) the pimples have disappeared. You can't be a nerd without zits!

In other news, Rebel Yell is officially my favourite Billy Idol song. See? I don't have to go to Scotland to find myself. I managed to determine my favourite Billy Idol song from the comfort of Charlottetown. Now I will just go to Scotland to sole-search and figure out if Scottish blokes think I'm pretty. A report, complete with hypothesis, methodology, literature review and findings, will be written and published sometime in December.

Today I bought pounds. Giving a bank teller $127.10 and getting only 50 BGP is a bit disappointing.

Dilemma: I won't have a pet in Scotland. Sad! I'm told to get a fish, but I don't really consider them pets, more like decorations. Maybe I'll capture a crow and keep it in my room or something. There is a zoo in Edinburgh with penguins, maybe I'll take one of them and keep it in the bathtub! His name will be Zoot. Actually, this would be when the "pet" fish become useful. The "pets" would also double as "meals". My future roommates will LOVE this. I know they both want a pet penguin, they just haven't realized it yet. Just give them some time.

Oh right, no packing done yet. I talked on the phone and wasted time on here instead. So precious.

Just testing out the comments feature...

I'm also moping because I started my many good-byes today! And I got to start out with one of my hardest ones. The result was a day-long headache from crying for, like, three and a half hours and the realization that this person who I will not see for many months (if ever, sob), I think, has my earphones among other stuff. It's a good thing I'm so organized as I didn't even realize this until my mum asked me where my earphones were since I had taken my dad's. Whoops.

On a packing update, I still haven't packed anything. Today was spent sobbing, eating my first-ever steak sandwich, visiting relatives, lightly crying, organizing photos, watching the Friends finale, watching the Survivor finale and almost crying some more. If you reread today's accomplishments, you will find nothing Scotland related. Procrastination is key, especially if you want many things to go wrong!

Anyway, this silly thing is going to be addictive. And I think the earphones thing mentioned above makes me sound insensitive to the fact that I may not see this person ever again. Rest assured, this person is worth much more to me than something so easily replaceable. I highly doubt that having earphones (or headphones, whatever they are called) back will even remotely fill the huge, hollow pit I feel now. Getting past this is going to be worse than quitting smoking. Except I never smoked thus I never quit smoking. So much for that comparison.

Countdown to more tears: 3... 2... 1... Sob!

Ugggh....