I'M HERE (finally)...

Alright so I finally made it to Edinburgh in one piece. It's been a long 2 weeks since I left home. It feels like it's been a month already. It's been a while since I last posted especially so let me update you quickly on the last week I was in England. My dad and I went to the Liverpool vs. Bolton match on New Years Day. We took the train over from Bolton to Liverpool for the game. On the train we met two guys (maybe 25) from Australia who have been in the UK for 7 months just watching footy games. It seemed a little ridiculous but some people will do anything for football. Anyway we got to the stadium, which I like a lot more than Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's grounds). The atmosphere was great too, though I feel there was a lot more singing/chanting from the Bolton side than the rest.

The fans pass up this massive flag along the stands

We spent a couple days staying with my family, and on the 6th, my dad flew back to the States. It was my mom's birthday, so you know- he couldn't miss that. I stayed with my aunt and uncle for a few more days until FINALLY the day I'd been waiting for arrived- we were going to make the long trek north to Edinburgh! Let me tell you, I thought I had a lot of stuff before. Now it is nearly impossible to close my suitcases with all the stuff I had. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get rid of some of it before I try to fly home. I hope. But anyway, we got up early yesterday (Saturday) morning. The car ride was about 5 hours long, but it was sunny the whole way up. I would like to let everyone know that I counted 5 castles along the way, and then of course Edinburgh has its own castle. I also observed no difference in English and Scottish sheep, but maybe they baa differently. Who knows.
Yesterday, we arrived around 2 in the afternoon, and I proceeded to unpack maybe 1/3 of my stuff in my flat and then went out to dinner with my aunt and uncle. When I got back, there was a meet-and-greet which I thought I'd stop at since my friend Katie from Illinois was there. After I came back (maybe around 8:30 pm) there was a firetruck outside my flat. It turns out someone had set fire to something in a closet or the stairwell. I'm not entirely sure. The bad part was that even though they put the fire out, the smoke alarms on my floor and the floor below me were damaged so we couldn't spend the night in the flat. Luckily my relatives were still in town in a hotel so I spent the night there, but let me tell you, I was pisssssed. It also meant that I had to carry my computer, toiletries, and pajamas with me all day today since we had orientation from 10-2. Now it is all fixed though, and I have a wonderful room! Also, outside of the building where we had orientation today was a student playing bagpipes, which I could here down the block. I love Scotland already.

My room, complete with bed, 2 desks, a bedside table with drawers, and a wardrobe

The lovely kitchen

Living/dining portion of the common area

My flat has 4 bedrooms, a common bathroom, and a kitchen with seating area, as you can see from the pictures. It's not too bad. We're on a pretty busy road but I'm in the basement and my window points towards the back, so I can't hear traffic or anything.
After orientation, I met some people, and we wandered around the city a bit. I forgot how gorgeous it is here. I absolutely love it.

So basically now that I've moved in and I've seen part of the city, I remember why I'm here. Look for new posts soon seeing as I plan to wander around on Tuesday, when I don't have class.
Hope everyone's doing well. I don't miss the States yet, so I think that's a good sign.