I received a email late Wednesday night from my Aunt Danielle asking if I was going to be free for lunch on Thursday. I was. She drove all the way from Dunoon to Edinburgh to see me. I thought that she might have business in the capital, but she said that she just came to see me. It was so great. I haven't seen some of my Scottish family in years. It's just another reason I like this place.
Anyway, She took me to the City Centre (downtown) and we went to go eat at this little restaurant called Vittoria. It is a local favourite of my Uncle Neil (Aunt Danielle's husband). We had a nice little lunch and then set off to do some walking. I took her (listen to me, sounding as if i've been here longer than a week) up to Calton Hill, the famous overlook of the city. She had actually never been up there. Then she took me to Holyroodhouse, the summer getaway of the Queen of England. The house was alright. Sure, it was very luxurious and fancy and we even got to see where Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed, but it didn't look very livable. Maybe you get different taste when you have that much money. I really enjoyed spending time with my aunt and I can't wait to go visit her in Dunoon.
Last night, I got a chance to connect with my small group at home. My video didn't work, but I saw everybody and it was really good to see them except that it was about half past midnight here when we connected.
Today was a very busy day for me and I can surely say that I am "knackerd." I woke up at 6 this morning to catch the bus to get to work and did an 8 hour shift at Starbucks. When I got off I headed over to the associate pastor, Perry's, house. I got to met all of their children: Evan, Justin, Elise, and Jon. Perry's wife, Danielle, made a delicious dinner for us. Afterwards, we met up with a bunch of the people from the church and play Lasertag for an hour. We went to Pizza Hut afterwards and enjoyed conversation, and then walked 5 miles home. I could have taken the bus, but it felt right to walk and enjoy the night.
Now for the differences. I'm learning key differences in life here and at home. Here they are:
You end up with so much bloody change here. The smallest note is 5 pound (about $10) so when you buy anything they give you all kinds of coins, and you pockets get really heavy.
Lunches at work are paid here. So for an 8 hour shift you work 8 hours total including your breaks, and you are paid for all of it. I earn $5 eating lunch. How cool is that?
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches here sound gross to people. They never have thought to mix the two and don't think that they would go well together at all.
Waiters don't expect to be tipped much. They made roughly 1.5x's minimum wage and you can leave less than 10% and they will be happy and thankful.
There are many dialectic differences such as:
If you say pants here, it means underwear
Trousers means pants
(at the onset of this, I thought I had a lot of those, but I can't remember anymore. Maybe next time)
This difference theme will be an ongoing attempt to give you a glimpse into culture here. It seems to be a very understanding culture as I spill barbeque sauce on my pants and said so, and they just laughed and let me know that they were trousers and that I shouldn't make such comments about my undergarments. That's one that is going to be hard to get used to.
Anyway. I hope this satisfies those hungry minds for a few more days until I can write again. Tomorrow I will sleep late and go do some tourist stuff. Until then.
Cheers
Ian
