Tuesday, February 8, 2011
2 more days
Two more days until the trip to London! :) Yeah. I guess some people are asking for a little bit of background so I guess I'll fill some people in.
Jacob Peebles is my boyfriend of 3 years. We are studying abroad here together in Scotland and we are having a great time. He isn't some random boy I met three months ago and decided to study abroad with :)
The program here is not the "typical" study abroad program. The program is called Wisconsin in Scotland and has been in session since 1986. Basically Wisconsin/Minnesota students come to this program where they bring in Wisconsin professors to teach us classes. So all of the students here are from Wisconsin or Minnesota, and so are the professors except for our Scottish history classes we have a Scottish professor. We live in this huge mansion called the Palace, and our professors, cooks, etc live here as well. It is kind of nice because we get to know our teachers on a level outside of the classroom. They eat meals with us and go on trips with us. One of our professors has her younger daughter here with her and our other professor has his wife here with him so it's like one big family.
We do recieve host families but we do not live with them. The purpose of the host family is to get to know the Scottish culture and be introduced to new things and ways of life. I am going to my host families home tomorrow for a homemade meal which I cannot wait for. They will spend days with us and show us around and basically be our Scotland parents. My parents names are Rachel and Michael Wilson. One of their sons actually married one of their host daughters from a previous year. They are both retired and have been host parents for our program for a very long time.
Also we only have class Mon-Thurs. This leaves ample time for traveling around Europe and within the UK. We leave for London (with the house) on Thurs., we leave for Paris (Jacob and I) next week, then for spring break we are going to Rome, Pisa, and Florence Italy, and we are hoping to squeeze in an Ireland trip and possibly Switzerland (just Jacob and I). We will see if we can accomplish the last two. We also have a trip to the Highlands planned at the end of April with the house so that will be fun.
Hopefully that clarifies some things.
Love and Miss you All,
Time to start reading my Jazz book,
Hayley and Jacob
Jacob Peebles is my boyfriend of 3 years. We are studying abroad here together in Scotland and we are having a great time. He isn't some random boy I met three months ago and decided to study abroad with :)
The program here is not the "typical" study abroad program. The program is called Wisconsin in Scotland and has been in session since 1986. Basically Wisconsin/Minnesota students come to this program where they bring in Wisconsin professors to teach us classes. So all of the students here are from Wisconsin or Minnesota, and so are the professors except for our Scottish history classes we have a Scottish professor. We live in this huge mansion called the Palace, and our professors, cooks, etc live here as well. It is kind of nice because we get to know our teachers on a level outside of the classroom. They eat meals with us and go on trips with us. One of our professors has her younger daughter here with her and our other professor has his wife here with him so it's like one big family.
We do recieve host families but we do not live with them. The purpose of the host family is to get to know the Scottish culture and be introduced to new things and ways of life. I am going to my host families home tomorrow for a homemade meal which I cannot wait for. They will spend days with us and show us around and basically be our Scotland parents. My parents names are Rachel and Michael Wilson. One of their sons actually married one of their host daughters from a previous year. They are both retired and have been host parents for our program for a very long time.
Also we only have class Mon-Thurs. This leaves ample time for traveling around Europe and within the UK. We leave for London (with the house) on Thurs., we leave for Paris (Jacob and I) next week, then for spring break we are going to Rome, Pisa, and Florence Italy, and we are hoping to squeeze in an Ireland trip and possibly Switzerland (just Jacob and I). We will see if we can accomplish the last two. We also have a trip to the Highlands planned at the end of April with the house so that will be fun.
Hopefully that clarifies some things.
Love and Miss you All,
Time to start reading my Jazz book,
Hayley and Jacob
Monday, February 7, 2011
Pictures
The sign to the entrance of the park where we live
The church on the property. It's beautiful.
Our house :) Aka the Palace
The Palace again
The sign on our door
The Palace again
Jacob and I sporting our Packer gear last night. We had a great time watching the game. GO PACK GO!
Jacob and I on our walk around the park.
For Packer Fans Only
Hello Fellow Packer Fans,
What a game last night huh? Actually I should say this morning. The game didn't start here until 11:30 p.m. The game was definitely a heart pounder seeming that it was such a close game. There was about 30 of us that watched it here this morning and everyone was going crazy. There were a couple people cheering for the Steelers, let's just say they should've stayed at the pub. We had a great time watching the game except they didn't show the commercials here. Kind of a bummer because it made the commercial breaks very boring. The one thing that freaked everyone out, was at 1:59 minutes left in the game, our tv decided it was going to update and scan through the channels. Everyone was standing up and shouting at the tv trying to get it to work, and finally it did. Thank goodness we didn't miss anything, it seemed like an eternity. Of course in the end the Packers won and I might add that Aaron Rodgers has the same amount of Superbowl rings as that other lame quarterback we used to have. When it was over we decided we should go to bed and that was at 4 am. Needless to say I haven't gotten much sleep lately and could definitely use a nap right now, but I have class from 1:30-5 so that's not in the plans! Anyways, GO PACKERS! :)
Hayley and Jacob
What a game last night huh? Actually I should say this morning. The game didn't start here until 11:30 p.m. The game was definitely a heart pounder seeming that it was such a close game. There was about 30 of us that watched it here this morning and everyone was going crazy. There were a couple people cheering for the Steelers, let's just say they should've stayed at the pub. We had a great time watching the game except they didn't show the commercials here. Kind of a bummer because it made the commercial breaks very boring. The one thing that freaked everyone out, was at 1:59 minutes left in the game, our tv decided it was going to update and scan through the channels. Everyone was standing up and shouting at the tv trying to get it to work, and finally it did. Thank goodness we didn't miss anything, it seemed like an eternity. Of course in the end the Packers won and I might add that Aaron Rodgers has the same amount of Superbowl rings as that other lame quarterback we used to have. When it was over we decided we should go to bed and that was at 4 am. Needless to say I haven't gotten much sleep lately and could definitely use a nap right now, but I have class from 1:30-5 so that's not in the plans! Anyways, GO PACKERS! :)
Hayley and Jacob
Friday, February 4, 2011
I think I've fallen in love.....
Hey Everyone,
Today Jacob and I went to St. Andrews, the birth place of golf. The day started off really crappy and it's probably just because of my personal preferences. We were told that we were leaving at 8 am, and we waited around until 8:30 for the bus to show up. That irritated me for the simple fact that I could've gotten a little bit more sleep this morning. I guess my obsession with punctuality might kill me on these trips.
We got on the bus and had an 1.5 hour drive. Since we got up so early for this trip (early in my opinion) Jacob and I slept almost the entire way there. It was raining outside so watching out the window wouldn't have been ideal anyways. They gave us a bagged breakfast for the bus which consisted of chips, bread, cheese, fruit snacks, banana, granola bar and a bottled water. I reached for the chips first of course because I have a salt tooth, not a sweet tooth. So needless to say my breakfast consisting of chips and some water was delicious and was a perfect way to start out the day.
We visited the St. Andrews Cathedral and it was just the ruins of the cathedral. There were tons of tombstones and a huge bell tower which I can't believe I went up in. Explaining it doesn't really do it justice so I'll just put some pictures up at the end of this post. We also visited the St. Andrews Castle and again it was just the ruins of the castle. At the castle there was a mine that we could go down into and I made it only about 8 feet in before I was clastrophobic and turned around and left. Jacob made it the entire way down and said that I definitely wouldn't have like it. Also, I'll post pictures so you can understand better.
St. Andrews is on the coast so it was definitely chilly. Also it rained the entire day making it even colder. The wind was insane today and maybe pushed 40 to 50 mph. The beaches were beautiful and if I could visit them everyday of my life I would. There was something about it that was just so serene and peaceful. I took some seashells from the shore to bring back as a little token.
Jacob and I went to a small cafe called Cafe 13 for lunch. It was beyond delicious and very affordable compared to most places in "touristy" towns. We orderd a 10" cheese pizza and a pizza panini. They were both very good and it felt good to eat some hot food on such a chilly day. The best thing though from this cafe was the hot chocolate that Jacob ordered. For me personally I don't like hot chocolate, but when I tried this I could've had the entire cup. The mug alone was huge and was filled with hot chocolate, large marshmallows and homemade whipped cream which was sprinkled with some cocoa powder. All together it only cost us 13 pounds which is pretty cheap for 2 meals.
Jacob and I of course went to the St. Andrews golf course. It was a gorgeous golf course and is worldly renowned. We walked a little bit of the course, including the 18th hole of the Old Course, and it was so much fun. No one was golfing today because the winds were so forceful. We wanted to go to the putting green but they said that the wind was so bad that they weren't even letting anyone do that. We went to the Club House and looked around their gift shop and toured the locker rooms. It felt weird to know that so many famous golfers had walked where I was walking. I know that my Dad is going to fall in love with St. Andrews. When Jacob and I went into little gift shops/golf shops we would pick out all the things we could picture my Dad buying. Everything to do with/related to golf. I'm so excited that my Dad will be able to see this course because it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. With my Dad being "obsessed" with golf, I think that this will really trip his trigger. I'm planning on going back to St. Andrews when my family comes and visits me in Scotland because I completely fell in love with the city.
There is just something about being on the coast, with a gorgeous golf course, with old architecture and ancient ruins.....it just took my breath away.
Well it's 12:30 am here and I've been up since 6 am. I'm thinking it's time to get some rest because I am meeting my host family in the morning.
Goodnight :)
The view from the top of the bell tower
Jacob inside the mine
Thank goodness for waterproof shoes. My feet didn't get one ounce of water on them.
Again with the waterproof shoes, THANKS MOM! :)
Jacob and I on the beach:)
Is this talking about passing gas? :)
The Old Course
The Old Course
Jacob and I at the Club House
Jacob and I on the famous bridge on the 18th hole of the Old Course
The bridge again
Today Jacob and I went to St. Andrews, the birth place of golf. The day started off really crappy and it's probably just because of my personal preferences. We were told that we were leaving at 8 am, and we waited around until 8:30 for the bus to show up. That irritated me for the simple fact that I could've gotten a little bit more sleep this morning. I guess my obsession with punctuality might kill me on these trips.
We got on the bus and had an 1.5 hour drive. Since we got up so early for this trip (early in my opinion) Jacob and I slept almost the entire way there. It was raining outside so watching out the window wouldn't have been ideal anyways. They gave us a bagged breakfast for the bus which consisted of chips, bread, cheese, fruit snacks, banana, granola bar and a bottled water. I reached for the chips first of course because I have a salt tooth, not a sweet tooth. So needless to say my breakfast consisting of chips and some water was delicious and was a perfect way to start out the day.
We visited the St. Andrews Cathedral and it was just the ruins of the cathedral. There were tons of tombstones and a huge bell tower which I can't believe I went up in. Explaining it doesn't really do it justice so I'll just put some pictures up at the end of this post. We also visited the St. Andrews Castle and again it was just the ruins of the castle. At the castle there was a mine that we could go down into and I made it only about 8 feet in before I was clastrophobic and turned around and left. Jacob made it the entire way down and said that I definitely wouldn't have like it. Also, I'll post pictures so you can understand better.
St. Andrews is on the coast so it was definitely chilly. Also it rained the entire day making it even colder. The wind was insane today and maybe pushed 40 to 50 mph. The beaches were beautiful and if I could visit them everyday of my life I would. There was something about it that was just so serene and peaceful. I took some seashells from the shore to bring back as a little token.
Jacob and I went to a small cafe called Cafe 13 for lunch. It was beyond delicious and very affordable compared to most places in "touristy" towns. We orderd a 10" cheese pizza and a pizza panini. They were both very good and it felt good to eat some hot food on such a chilly day. The best thing though from this cafe was the hot chocolate that Jacob ordered. For me personally I don't like hot chocolate, but when I tried this I could've had the entire cup. The mug alone was huge and was filled with hot chocolate, large marshmallows and homemade whipped cream which was sprinkled with some cocoa powder. All together it only cost us 13 pounds which is pretty cheap for 2 meals.
Jacob and I of course went to the St. Andrews golf course. It was a gorgeous golf course and is worldly renowned. We walked a little bit of the course, including the 18th hole of the Old Course, and it was so much fun. No one was golfing today because the winds were so forceful. We wanted to go to the putting green but they said that the wind was so bad that they weren't even letting anyone do that. We went to the Club House and looked around their gift shop and toured the locker rooms. It felt weird to know that so many famous golfers had walked where I was walking. I know that my Dad is going to fall in love with St. Andrews. When Jacob and I went into little gift shops/golf shops we would pick out all the things we could picture my Dad buying. Everything to do with/related to golf. I'm so excited that my Dad will be able to see this course because it is one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. With my Dad being "obsessed" with golf, I think that this will really trip his trigger. I'm planning on going back to St. Andrews when my family comes and visits me in Scotland because I completely fell in love with the city.
There is just something about being on the coast, with a gorgeous golf course, with old architecture and ancient ruins.....it just took my breath away.
Well it's 12:30 am here and I've been up since 6 am. I'm thinking it's time to get some rest because I am meeting my host family in the morning.
Goodnight :)
Jacob and I in St. Andrews
The Beach
The Cathedral
The Tombstones at the Cathedral
And of course, Jacob's hot chocolate!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Not much not much
Hola,
Not much to say today. Went to class and that's about it. Jacob and I were going to go to the grocery store today but it's been downpouring since this morning. Jacob and I have been working on our travel plans for spring break and hopefully a Paris trip in 2-3 weekends from now. Everything seems just so expensive here. If only the pound=euro=dollar. Then we'd be set. But with the exchange rate being so shitty it's hard to find anything decent and affordable.
Tomorrow is our St. Andrews trip. We are leaving bright and early at 8 am. I should probably go to sleep now since I had a lack of sleep last night. We have finally started to get some decent tasting meals so that's been giving me more energy (minus the depressing rain). I guess I'll try and write tomorrow about our travels in St. Andrews. Maybe Prince William and Kate will be there since that's where they went to college! ;)
Love and miss you all,
Hayley and Jacob
Not much to say today. Went to class and that's about it. Jacob and I were going to go to the grocery store today but it's been downpouring since this morning. Jacob and I have been working on our travel plans for spring break and hopefully a Paris trip in 2-3 weekends from now. Everything seems just so expensive here. If only the pound=euro=dollar. Then we'd be set. But with the exchange rate being so shitty it's hard to find anything decent and affordable.
Tomorrow is our St. Andrews trip. We are leaving bright and early at 8 am. I should probably go to sleep now since I had a lack of sleep last night. We have finally started to get some decent tasting meals so that's been giving me more energy (minus the depressing rain). I guess I'll try and write tomorrow about our travels in St. Andrews. Maybe Prince William and Kate will be there since that's where they went to college! ;)
Love and miss you all,
Hayley and Jacob
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The classes have begun!
Hello Dear Friends,
I hear that the weather in good 'ol Wisconsin is pretty horrid right now? Glad to say that there isn't a pinch of snow on the ground here and I definitely hope it stays this way. It's been raining off and on all week and I'll take rain over snow anyday!
Classes started on Monday and I can't decide if I'm going to like them or not. As bad as it sounds, I kind of forgot that I was coming here for school. I love school don't get me wrong, but when I'm here I'd rather be going into town and exploring the land instead of sitting in a freezing palace doing homework. We have 2 faculty here and between the two of them they teach 6 classes. Again I have 2 music classes, a business management class, and a Scotland Globalization course (taught by a Scottish professor). For the Scottish class we have to do group presentations and they're spread out all throughout the semester. Everyone is required to take this class so the presentations start next week already. Well since I'm such a lucky duck (as well as Jacob), I have the presentation for next week! Talk about chuckin' on the homework quickly! I am partnered up with another girl named Jessica (I wish it was Jessica Van Hoof of course, but sadly she's a million miles away at Michigan Tech) and we have to talk about our initial impressions and differences between Scotland and the U.S. Thank goodness this topic is easy and basically our opinions. Jessica and I sat down tonight and did the entire thing and so did Jacob and his partner so we are both ahead of the game. I'm glad to get this presentation out of the way before more homework piles up.
One of the things that our Scottish professor mentioned was that Scotland and England don't exactly get along. The United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) actually act like the disunited Kingdom. Scotland is having elections this May for a new "president" and some of the people running would like to have Scotland be separate from the United Kingdom. Scotland already has their own government and they are actually not connected to England in any way except for geographically. Scottish people get extremely upset if you call them English and they don't even consider themselves British.
Last night Jacob and I took a garnishing class by a professional chef which was one of the coolest things I have ever done. He showed us how to make flowers out of onions, red/green peppers, celery, etc. He also taught us how to make like 5 different things out of radishes such as toad stools. His name was Henry and I was completely amazed by his talent. We then tried to make a swan out of an apple (mine was an epic fail) but Jacob's turned out magnificant. He even taught us how to make easter baskets out of oranges and peppers. The things we did were endless and I wasn't smart enough to grab my camera until the very end. :(
I hear that the weather in good 'ol Wisconsin is pretty horrid right now? Glad to say that there isn't a pinch of snow on the ground here and I definitely hope it stays this way. It's been raining off and on all week and I'll take rain over snow anyday!
Classes started on Monday and I can't decide if I'm going to like them or not. As bad as it sounds, I kind of forgot that I was coming here for school. I love school don't get me wrong, but when I'm here I'd rather be going into town and exploring the land instead of sitting in a freezing palace doing homework. We have 2 faculty here and between the two of them they teach 6 classes. Again I have 2 music classes, a business management class, and a Scotland Globalization course (taught by a Scottish professor). For the Scottish class we have to do group presentations and they're spread out all throughout the semester. Everyone is required to take this class so the presentations start next week already. Well since I'm such a lucky duck (as well as Jacob), I have the presentation for next week! Talk about chuckin' on the homework quickly! I am partnered up with another girl named Jessica (I wish it was Jessica Van Hoof of course, but sadly she's a million miles away at Michigan Tech) and we have to talk about our initial impressions and differences between Scotland and the U.S. Thank goodness this topic is easy and basically our opinions. Jessica and I sat down tonight and did the entire thing and so did Jacob and his partner so we are both ahead of the game. I'm glad to get this presentation out of the way before more homework piles up.
One of the things that our Scottish professor mentioned was that Scotland and England don't exactly get along. The United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) actually act like the disunited Kingdom. Scotland is having elections this May for a new "president" and some of the people running would like to have Scotland be separate from the United Kingdom. Scotland already has their own government and they are actually not connected to England in any way except for geographically. Scottish people get extremely upset if you call them English and they don't even consider themselves British.
Last night Jacob and I took a garnishing class by a professional chef which was one of the coolest things I have ever done. He showed us how to make flowers out of onions, red/green peppers, celery, etc. He also taught us how to make like 5 different things out of radishes such as toad stools. His name was Henry and I was completely amazed by his talent. We then tried to make a swan out of an apple (mine was an epic fail) but Jacob's turned out magnificant. He even taught us how to make easter baskets out of oranges and peppers. The things we did were endless and I wasn't smart enough to grab my camera until the very end. :(
Jacob and his Swan
Close up of Jacob's swan. He did amazing at this. And he made it all with just one apple.
The other day in the Scotland class the professor was reading off the list of names and taking roll call. Once he was done he was like, "Oh, I noticed some Scottish and Irish names in this bunch!" So he yelled, "Who's the Peebles?". Jacob raised his hand and the professor told him that he must be Scottish. Pretty cool when a teacher can pick people out just by their last names. I can't wait to visit Peebles which is only a hop skip and jump down the road from here.
I hung up some pictures yesterday to make me smile everyday. I've got a pictures of my family, friends, and a couple angels hanging up just so I can remember that I'm loved and that I have people taking care of me. Thank goodness for Skype or homesickness would probably be pretty bad. Skyping is super easy minus the 6 hour time difference and it's almost like I'm just at home. Also, I think my mom would die if skype didn't exist. Just saying :)
Not much else to talk about except tomorrow some more classes, Friday is the St. Andrews trip and I've got to start getting some more sleep. Have a fabulous time with the snow and be safe!
The gorgeous double rainbows yesterday after it rained. There's a very faint one to the right of the very visible one.
This is the view out of my bedroom window. This bridge is amazing and on the Palace's property so it's all ours!
Another picture of the bridge.
Some random Scotland facts:
We spell words without the letter "u" according to them. For example color vs colour.
They call gas "petro". And by the way, gas is super expensive here therefore they have tons of public transportation. Gas is $8.40 per liter here. I guess we have nothing to complain about in the states :)
Instead of grading papers they "mark" papers.
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