Holiday or Vacation Time

So my parents and brother made it over here a-ok! They were just a wee bit jetlagged, but we ended up going to Hard Rock Cafe.. kinda randomely because I wasn't exactly sure where it was and we kinda went on a slight diversion or detour and then saw it and were like, hey lets go there so we did. It was kinda annoying though because when I ordered a lemonade the waitress said "you know that is like a 7up or sprite?" and I was like yeah.. I've been living here long enough to know what a lemonade was. I mean I don't blame her at all but I really liked not being treated like a tourist. Then on Sunday we went to church at Carrubers.. it was kinda weird because almost none of the students were there, but it was nice to hear from Wayne one last time... gotta love the New Yorkian quirks.. my Dad guessed that he was from New York, yay for recognizable regional accents. Then we went to chocolate soup for lunch.. good stuff. Next up to the castle, it was my third time there and I still really enjoy reading about all the history and stuff behind the crown jewels of Scotland and wondering what it would have been like to be a prisoner or war or a Mary Queen of Scots. Then we came back to the flat and I cooked some chicken tomato pasta fun stuff. My dad said that it felt like I was cooking for them for the first time in my first apartment after graduating from college. It was kinda weird to think about because that feels like it is so far in the future when in reality it will probably be in about a year and a half. Time certainly does fly.

Anyhow, today we climbed up Arthur's Seat and drove around Holyrood Park. Then we went to the Royal Museum for a bit and went to Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. I got a mocha and the rest of the fam got some vanilla tea.. I really like being the only member of the family that likes coffee.. means no moochers. Then I showed them the Grass Market and we stopped at the Whiskey Shop where my dad got some for a friend from work.. but we need to go back and get some Heather Cream... mmm tasty.

I really love to travel and do the tourist thing, but to me, living in the place for more than a month is so much more meaningful. I love getting to know different people and I feel like a few weeks spent seeing all the sights does no justice to the actual place. I've always wanted to live for an extended period of time outside of California and that is a big reason why I wanted to study abroad. I absolutely love it. I just hope that I will have more opportunities to do something similar in other places. To me the people make the place what it is and immersing in the culture and learning all the different quirks in the language and meeting those people is the only way to really get to know a city or country or wee village.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I will get to see Karen and we are going to St. Andrews for the day. G'night all!

PS. If you the loyal readers (?) comment more, I will be more encouraged to write more posts... so get commenting!