For some reason I can't visit any blogspot site on my laptop. It's really anoying and also the reason why there aren't any updates this week. I hope to fix this and if anyone might have clue what could be wrong tell me.
Thanks to:
- Marcel and Jetske for their nice card. It was the first one I got *yay*
- The whole family Backx for their special Oosterhout greeting card, ghehe.
- Lisa for the beautiful card. It's framed now :p
- Tom for the text message. Í keep forgetting to text something back -_-'
I'll tell you about my first schoolweek as soon as I can. That week was quite confusing :s
The new up to date version of my room in Edinburgh. With the bathroom and new Ikea stuff. I needed to do some editing in the movie because the white balance of my camera was freaking out :s
This week was a busy one! After working some days behind the computer I decided that it's a waste of time to stay inside during the free days I still have left. My adventures:
holyrood house fountain
Holyrood House
I’ve visited this place on a Tuesday (or a Monday? I can’t remember). There was an exhibition going on called ‘the art of Italy in the royal collection: the renaissance’. It may sound boring for some people :p but I really wanted to see it.
The exhibition wasn’t big but it contained some famous works from artists like Bellini, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio and Titian. I was stunned by some of the portraits and most of all by the sketches. I wish I could draw and paint like that. After that I went on with a tour trough the palace. The palace is beautiful and I enjoyed walking and listening to the history of it. I have a weakness for costume drama’s and especially that of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots. So I really enjoyed this visit. When I got home I was exhausted :p
Holyrood Abbey
Night out
One day (I can’t really keep track of days here :p) Joy asked Julia and me if we’d like to meet some of her friends and go out. We had dinner in a French restaurant at grasmarket. The food was nice and some people even tried escargots (yuk). We talked about strange eating habbits and most of the people were Asian so we heard some shocking stories, haha. Like eating monkey brains and other nasty parts of an animal. Even some stories about eating animals alive. That was a nice conversation while we’re eating, haha. It was fun though, really nice people (although that sounds a bit weird now :s but they are nice!)
After that we went out and tried some pubs and clubs. It was early, 9pm so everything was kinda empty. We explored cowgate and found some nice clubs and a live band. At some point we stood outside in a que to get in a irish pub. When we asked the security guy how long it would take to get inside he says’well this place is closed, I dunno why everyone is forming a line to wait, I can’t let anyone in.’ XD
For the rest of the night we played pool and soccer. There was also a punching bag that could meassure your strenght. Everyone tried it once but me. I hate those things and I know I can’t punch. However after some persuasion of everyone I hit that stupid thing and my score was somehow good, almost high hahaha. So yeah, just to let you know :p I can punch. That night we were home at 1am.
The next day our new flatmate visited us. We were all tired and wasted from the night before and they waked us up with the doorbell. I guess we could do a lot better for a first impression XD I was walking around like a zombie, just a few minutes awake. But she took the room she had come to see and now we are complete. Four people in the flat.
All my flatmates. From left to right: Joy, Julia, Kim and me.
Freshers week
There’s a festival going on this week. It’s for all the new students at the University and although my school doesn’t participate in this event I did (in secret). I still don’t know if it’s allowed for non University students but they didn’t check me so I gues it’s their own fault. It’s a bit complicated because (I guess) my school is at university level although it’s called College of Art and didn’t show up in the list for freshers (new students) of university’s. Anyway, you have to buy a freshers pack online if you want to attend the festival. It contains a agenda, student servival guide, a lot of info booklets, and a week guide of the festival. Julia wanted to buy one online for me too but we found out that she bought the last one! So we went to the shop a few blocks away where you can pick up the freshers packs (it’s so retarded that you have to buy it online first with online payment and then pick it up in a store :s) and because they were sold out online they did it from now on in the shop, so I could buy my pack there.
The first night of the festival I convinced my flatmates we should play wii in the pub (that was one of the events you could choose from). Walking there we thought that there would be long lines for the wii’s and that everyone is younger then we are. Once we’d arrived we thought we were at the wrong place, there was nobody! We had the wii all for ourselves! After playing for a few hours we left to go to a party for students. This time there was a huge que with a waiting time of three hours! Joy also heard from one off the staff members that her gold card (which she payed a lot of money for together with her freshers pack) was no more in use because they found out it was rubbish last year, waah. Julia and I went on to a pub to get a drink. It was fun until some boys were anoying us and we went home.
Monday I went to a Ceilidh workshop with Julia. It was a workship of three hours! Totaly exhausting because youre jumping all the time. I really haven’t got any fatigue. It was fun though. Seeing some new people and get some exercise. Although I don’t like it to dance with a partner. I haven’t got the patience for that. After two hours Julia and I left the class tired. I had an one hour break before I would be attending a bellydance workshop with Joy. Bellydancing was fun too although the room was to small for all the students that showed up so we had to dance shoulder to shoulder. I knew the moves already but it was fun doing some bellydance again. Signed up for weekly classes and I finaly found a tribal style bellydance workshop!
After that we joined a que for a cabaret performance of two guys. It was taking so long and we heard that the comedians hadn’t arrived yet. Once we finaly could go in and got to sit, I was so tired of dancing. The comedians were fun, there was one guy from Finland sitting in the audience that tried to hackle the comedian (not part of the show). The comedians did a lot of improv and the last one didn’t want to stop. So he kept talking and asking some questions to the audience although his time was up for a long time. After that we collapsed at home and went to sleep.
Today I have a LOT of aching muscles. It’s even so bad that when I sit for a while I can’t stand up. I have to walk on my toes. I’m feeling a bit sick too. However I made Burrito’s (or Enchiladas I dunno) for everyone. Although I improvised they liked it!
Joy and Julia Wii gaming
Whoppa and that are my stories! Hope you liked it :p There’s a Ghost tour comming up tomorrow and my school starts next week. Until then stay entertained with this wonderful game!
 Magic Pen Collect the flags with the red ball to complete each level. |
| Play this free game now!! |
A short video tour through my new home. I've bought a lot more stuff so I'll update this video with a more recent one showing all the lovely stuff I have in my room, hehe.
After a terrible sad farewell to Maarten I was on a plane towards Edinburgh. Thanks to the doctor the flight went fine. The only thing is that the pills make me so extremely sleepy I couldn’t do much that day.
The first night we booked an extra room in a hotel for me because I couldn’t sleep in my new room yet. They only had a double room left so I slept in a huge beautiful room. I can’t remember much of that day (I think because of the medicine I took) but we’ve walked through the city and in the end we saw a big firework show at the castle. It was quite special, the firework was timed with the live orchestra in the park. Together it was a beautiful experience and my first day in Edinburgh!
The first night we booked an extra room in a hotel for me because I couldn’t sleep in my new room yet. They only had a double room left so I slept in a huge beautiful room. I can’t remember much of that day (I think because of the medicine I took) but we’ve walked through the city and in the end we saw a big firework show at the castle. It was quite special, the firework was timed with the live orchestra in the park. Together it was a beautiful experience and my first day in Edinburgh!
My parents and me visited the castle, the master show at my new school, and of course my new room. They helped me to clean it and went shopping with me for new stuff (thanx guys!). I also meet Joy and Julia, two of the other girls renting it. They’re really sweet and fun.
My first night totally alone wasn’t bad. I was so tired of walking all day that I had no problem sleeping. The second day I stayed inside to get to know the flat, to clean my room some more and to rest. The next day I went shopping. It was a hot day and I’d bought so much stuff I had to go back home because I couldn’t carry any more things. The only thing that’s different from the Netherlands during shopping is that everybody waits in a line. For example; if there are three cash registers in Holland there are three lines, one for every cash register. So you have to guess which one is quick (and I always pick the wrong line). In Scotland (and I guess the UK) there is one big line for all three of them. If it’s your turn you walk to the cash register that’s free. And they do it everywhere this way, even in the supermarkets.
Oh and the supermarkets, that’s also quite different. The street next to were I live has about 4 supermarkets. One that’s open 24/7, a good thing but there’s not much to buy. One that sells only frozen food, so you have a supermarket with only freezers. Kinda weird to see. One supermarket that we also know in Holland; the Lidl. All the stuff they sell is in cans or packed, there’s nothing fresh :s All the supermarkets have like a huge selection of microwave meals! And there’s finaly a supermarket that has actual fruit and vegetables! And good meat! I’ve cooked two times now. It’s difficult to cook for one person. I always make more than I can eat. The other times I’ve made a lazy microwave dinner XD
The rest of my days I stayed home to work on the Droomwevers animation that I still had to finish. After three days of hard work that was done. I’m still waiting for their answer. (got their answer now and they would like some changes to be made if I have some time -_-‘ ).
Today it was a sunny and hot day so I went shopping for clothes. They have so many clothing stores! Though I couldn’t find much. I’ve bought a new trouser, a sweet tshirt and a warm sweater. Tomorrow I’m going to visit the palace I guess. And Julia, my flatmate, has a car and suggested we should go to Ikea some time. I can’t wait ^^
I’ve got mail from my school and my matriculation starts 22th of September (if I’m correct). It’s an introduction week and I guess I hear there when my actual MA would start. So exciting! I hope it’s fun. I’m really feeling at home here in Edinburgh. I have a great time and haven’t been sad (though I miss Maarten much). I think it’s going to work out just fine and I’ll be having a great time here.
My parents are sad because I'm living so far away (NOT!)
[UPDATE]
Today I went to visit Ikea instead of the palace. The weather was rainy so I didn’t feel like walking all day :p Ikea was fun! There’s so much nice cheap stuff and again I went a bit crazy. I’ve bought 2 throws, 2 photoframes, a lot of candles, a laundry basket, a sweet small lamp, and a matras cover (I keep thinking I’m forgetting someting). It was quite a adventure going to Ikea haha. Julia has a small mini and she had to drive left. However she was doing great! I couldn’t imagine me driving left, but hey I’m scared of driving anyway :p We both looked very careful and found our way easy to Ikea.
We came home a bit late for dinner. After unpacking our stuff I called home to tell them about my day. Julia made some pizza and used the oven for the first time. Suddenly there was a big black cloud and it smelled really aweful! I had to hang up and open a window because I couldn’t breathe anymore in the kitchen. And then suddenly the fire alarms went off! What a horrible sound! Our ceilings are very high so we had to grab a pole quick and push some button to switch them off. One fire alarm hasn’t survived.
So that was quite a busy day *sigh*
Ohyeah! woohoo! [insert lots of dancing kirby's]
Just wanna scream that I've recieved a scholarship from Edinburgh College of Art! This means no more money problems! I don't have to search for a job during my study! woohoo!
Well I'm going to shop now! Buy myself some nice gifts to celebrate. I'll write about my new room and moving in here tonight....no really!
[update later that evening] Well dunno if someone's reading my blog -_-' however the update of my new room is coming an other day. I've bought a lot of stuff today though. I even had to come back home because I couldn't carry it anymore. I've got; the 4th part of twilight, some unimportant beauty and health stuff, an aquarelbox with paper, wool and knitting needles, a green bowl, socks, some desk stuff like a stapler and more.
At last an update! I’ve put my story in chapters to make it better to read.
Lowlands
My parents gave me a ticket to Lowlands. Lowlands is a ‘music/theatre/and a lot more’ festival of three days. It was my little holiday of this summer. I went with Lisa, Marielle and Hanneke on Friday. The plan was leaving early ( 6am) so we could get a good spot for our tents. So after some lugage stress I went early to bed that Thursday to get a good rest. Suddenly at 2am I heard some loud music comming from the neighbours. It went on and on and it was driving Maart and me crazy. We knocked on their door and complained, and they didn’t listen. That night I’ve gotten 2 hours of sleep...-_-‘So I felt a bit rubbish that day. The journey to Lowlands was fine. We had to wait putting our tents up because the field wasn’t open (for people that know Lowlands, we were on camp 7). We managed to get a good spot and there was actually some space between us and our neighbours.
I’ve seen many bands and I really don’t know their names anymore. The best acts were (my humble opinion :p) asakussa jinta, some weird 8bit computer guy from Sweden and de jeugd van tegenwoordig. I’ve seen a lot more though.
At the end of the festival I felt dirty, tired and satisfied.
A fight
So yeah, the neighbours that appeared earlier in the story...Well they’re playing loud(!) music. That’s not a problem if it wasn’t like every day from 4am till 7am. I think the average was like 2 nights of no music in a week. First we explained them we could hear it really good through the walls, second we’ve complained, third we let the neighbours come over and let them listen how loud it was and it all didn’t help. When we complained at their door once again they were not home :s some drunken guys of the neighbourhood had a party in their house and left the door open. That was it, we called the police. They recieved a warning.
The last night in our house (before we moved out) the music was really getting bad. Lots of drunken people on the street, loud music. I was so tired, I didn’t got much sleep that week. In the end at 7am Maart was yelling at them and I was crying on the phone calling the police hahaha. I’m glad I don’t live there anymore. It’s ok to play loud music once in a while however not every day at inhumane times.
Farewell party
So last Thursday was my big birthday/graduation/farewell party. The whole house was empty because we were moving out. Maart did so much for the party, he put big pillows on the ground to sit on, created a huge low table and had taken care of the music. My mother provided all the drinks and food, hehe. And I was buisy with other things than my party actually.
So many people showed up and thank you all guys for the nice presents! I was feeling a bit weird. Happy because it was a party :p and sad knowing I won’t be seeing my friends after this. However I’ll be on msn and if you want to add me its: me_and_ul@hotmail.com (yeah I know, there’s a typing error in my email but I’m too lazy to correct it).
Short news:
- We let our birds free (because nobody wanted to take care of them, not even an animal shelter) and got yelled at by people of the animal shelter :s no kidding.
- My tattoo is scheduled for later.
- I have found my felt pieces and finished my squid bag!
- The big moving to Edinburgh story is coming soon (somewhere this week).
