This and that...

As we've settled into our flat over the past month, Tony and I have claimed our respective places in the living room. Tony usually settles into the comfy reading chair with a book or his laptop in hand, while I grab a throw pillow and plop myself directly in front of the heater attached to the wall. I'm usually reading, journaling, or have my laptop set up on the coffee table in front of me. Ever since I was little I have always gravitated toward the warmest place in the house. I used to cuddle in front of the furnace vents in our house with a blanket over me, and still sit by the vents occasionally when at my parents home, so it's only fitting that I have claimed my spot in front of the heater. Tonight I'm home in my spot while Tony is off playing soccer (or football, as we're slowly learning to call it), and I thought it would be a good time to write an overdue blog post.

The fall weather has definitely moved into Edinburgh and there's a distinct chill in the air. The leaves are changing colors and falling, and yesterday I actually got hit in the face twice by falling leaves! There are few things I love more than blustery fall days and the crunch of leaves beneath my feet, so I have been soaking this up since we missed fall last year in Peru. Tony wears khakis and sweaters most every day which seems quite fitting given the weather and setting of his studies. As for me, I'm rotating between my 6 long sleeve shirts and realizing I shouldn't have doubted all the advice blogs for Americans moving to the UK that said, "You will not wear short sleeves, so you may as well leave them behind."

Tony's classes are going well and he's fully immersed in the world of philosophy. The British style of academics has taken some getting used to as it is very self-directed and unstructured, but he's now enjoying the freedom to investigate topics of personal interest and contribute his findings to class discussions. I generally work out in the morning and then spend my days looking for jobs, applying for jobs, cleaning, cooking and remembering what it's like to have free time. I've been working on some continuing education courses to keep up my counseling certifications and have really enjoyed the engagement of my mind as a therapist again.

A few random observations we've made about life in Scotland over this first month:
- Scots do not like to do thing early in the morning, therefore they don't. Coffee shops, even Starbucks, don't open until 7am or later. It makes my days of getting up at 3:45am to be at Starbucks for my opening shift at 4:30am seem like a bad dream!

- We understand why Scots don't like to do things early in the morning - it's always very dark in the mornings. The sun doesn't rise until 7:30am, so it's still rather dim around 8am, and it's very cold out, which isn't very inviting when you're warm in bed. The worst is yet to come, however. By the end of December we'll have a total of 6 hours of daylight!

- The friendly Scottish-British rivalry we heard about is not so friendly, actually. There's a good amount of resentment still brewing towards the English here and it comes out in all kinds of ways. A vote will be taken in Scotland in 2010 regarding the Scottish Independence referendum, which would officially separate Scotland from England. Apparently Westminster could ammend the referendum if passed and bring Scotland back into the UK and under it's control, but that doesn't seem to squash the spirits of people who are for Scottish independence here!

- Edinburgh is a very international city. During the 15-minute walk from our flat to Tony's main school building we usually hear about 7 different languages being spoken on the street. Tony plays soccer with a group of guys on Thursday afternoons and estimates 8 nationalities represented among their group of 20 players. It creates an interesting synergy within the city and offers a great selection of international cuisine. YUM!

-We have settled on a church to call home here in Edinburgh. This has been quite a challenge because the suffering condition of the church in Europe has resulted in many historical and traditional churches that scarcely uphold the basic doctrines of Christianity. There are only a handful of churches that continue to uphold those doctrines, and they have moved towards contemporary styles to meet the desires of young church goers. We were really hoping to find a liturgical and contemplative church to be a part of this year, but most of those churches are quite liberal theologically and have no young people in them for us to build relationships with. You ultimatley have to choose between liturgy and tradition or theologically sound with potential to build community. All that being said, we have been attending Holyrood Abbey, a church that offers a lot of potential for building community with other believers and upholds Christian doctrine in their teaching and worship. It's a rather historical church in Edinburgh - if you're interested you can read more here.

- Lastly, it is surprising to realize how much interest even non-US citizens have in our election this year. The McCain/Obama dynamic comes up in most every extended conversation we have here. I have been glad to skip all the TV campaign ads and have the freedom to avoid that part of the campaign and do my own reading and news watching as the campaign moves along. We are registered to vote from abroad and we'll be voting in this historic election, even though neither candidate is one we'd really love to see as president.

Well, that's the update from my spot in front of the heater. I'll be posting some pictures next of our adventure last weekend to the Highlands. Stay tuned!