Benvenuto a Edimburgo!

I believe that the past few days deserve a blog. I'm going to write this in sequential order, so as not to get confused:

Monday-6 of September

I wake up in the early morning to go workout with my trainer Kathy, I then rush home and hurriedly pack everything which isn't already packed (basically everything except my clothing). I take an afternoon flight from Portland to Amsterdam, and the man sitting next to me is Russian, and only speaks maybe four words of English. Lucky that he sat next to a girl who for nine months had to pantomime things to be understood in a foreign country. I understood him better than the internationally trained flight attendants (GO ME!). I didn't sleep at all on the flight though, which was a massive bummer.

When I boarded my next flight at Schiphol, I saw the Dutch flight attendant who was greeting people holding entry cards (required of all non-EU citizens to fill out). I asked for one, and he said

"Oh, no, this only is for non-European Union Citizens, Miss."

(At this point, I was so tired, I just sort of looked at him)

"So, you will not need this to enter the United Kingdom," he tried again (looking a little doubtful at this point).

"But, I do need one."

"Oh!" And he handed me the card without further comment.

I thanked him Dutch hoping to further confuse him (haha).

I sat down and watched him greet the rest of the passengers. What I found interesting was that he only offered the entry cards to those who looked like they weren't from Europe. I inspected my own outfit. I guess it could be interpreted as the Euro version of grunge-chic. Dark Calvin Klein jeans (yay Nordstrom Rack!), a brown and black lace cami from a independent shop in Milan with a floral print underneath a draping black top from H&M in Zurich. Finished off with brand new converse-esque shoes from Payless (gotta love that one too). My hair was braided back and the frizzies trapped down by a white beaded headband. Fine, I thought, I'll give him that. I was interrupted from my introspective examination of my outfit by two Dutch people sitting down next to me. I smiled at them, and the lady immediately launched into conversation...Dutch. "I'm sorry," I said, "I don't understand you" (all this said in English). She proceeded to try and speak to me in Dutch for the next couple of minutes. I kept shrugging, and she kept insisting. (At this point I was thinking, wow, I must really look Dutch!). It turns out, she speaks fluent English, and was surprised to find out that I was American.

Gotta love my life, huh?

Tuesday-7 of September

I don't really want to go into detail, because you all should already know the story, but I arrived to my new flat to a giant leak in the ceiling in the hallway. I cried, called my mom, cried some more, and professed my hate for Scotland (which wasn't earnestly meant, I promise). Basically, I had to stalk my neighbor, deal with Edinburgh City Council, and then that evening a plumber from Glasgow came. I spent the night at my friend Christian's flat because he had extra bedding and an empty bed (his flatmate hadn't yet arrived).

Wednesday-8 of September

Got up super early (only four or five hours of sleep at Christian's) to get back to my flat. Plumber came again. Took a long nap in the afternoon from sheer exhaustion, had hardly slept at all in the past 48 hours. Before I went to sleep, I was literally shaking. Couldn't sleep for a long time so watched the episodes of Arrested Development that I have on my iTunes.

Thursday-9 of September

Went out shopping for various household things, and to change some currency. When I got home, my lights went out, but the electrical sockets still worked. I called two different electricity suppliers (because I didn't know who mine was) and then British Gas finally told me that I am supplied by Southern Electric or something. I called them, and they walked me through some things, and then it was finally decided that it probably is a wiring problem. Great. Jamie brought my stuff round later that night, and teased me about seeing a mouse. I had a nightmare about mice in my flat. The rest of my dream was pretty cool though, I spoke in four different languages. Have never done that before :) (in a dream state).

Friday-10 of September

Opened up my boxes from Jamie's house. I HAVE SO MANY CLOTHES. I honestly don't know where I am going to put them (yikes!) Ah well, I'll make do. Tonight I am going to the cinema (I am in dire need of some comic relief). Hope that everyone is well. Love you all!

EXPLANATION: EURO GRUNGE-CHIC IS BASICALLY WHEN A CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN WEARS ITEMS THAT COULD LOOK GRUNGE, IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY GRUNGY, BUT ARE INSTEAD BRAND NEW AND NICE.