Day One

Hi everyone!

So, I have safely arrived in Scotland. The flight was long and I didn't sleep at all. It was nice and quiet though, which was nice considering there was a 5 year old boy in front of me. I watched episodes of The Office and Two and a Half Men on the headrest and the movie Definitely, Maybe, which was really cute. I also was able to see my plane track across the Atlantic on a map on the headrest. I watched the sunrise out of my window, and I swear you can see the curve of the Earth from 39,000 feet. As we flew over the UK, the cloud cover was so dense I couldn't see land. I was getting anxious and nervous - feeling like I made a mistake and was going to miss home and Jason too much to even deal with being here. The longer I waited to see land, the worse that feeling got. But as soon as the plane dropped below the clouds and I saw the Scottish countryside dotted with white sheep and old rock barns, I couldn't help but smile as my excitement overtook me. Of course, I will still miss home terribly.

I arrived early in Scotland, at around 10 am Scotland time and had no trouble getting through the border. The gentleman checking my passport and VISA tried questioning my knowledge of Scottish literature, to which I have minimal, and I had to apologize to him about my lack of articulation since I had not slept in 24 hours.

Kirsty and her sister Lisa were right there waiting for me and tried to get me to drive right away. I adamantly declined - too tired and stressed. So, I got in the wrong side of the car and off we went. We went straight to Kirsty's house and I tried to use my calling cards to call home. They didn't work, so we went to the Post Office to buy different ones. I was able to call home and Jason. Then I went straight to sleep while Kirsty went to work.

I woke up around 5pm and we went to the Allanwater Cafe in Stirling where I had Fish and Chips with a tall glass of Irn Bru. Irn Bru is a Scottish soda that tastes like a combination of orange soda and pink bubble gum. It's very odd, but it gave me the courage to try driving. On the wrong side of the road. On the wrong side of the car. Stick. This was a stressful experience. I drive standard fine, for the most part, but the roundabouts are so stressful to me. There are no intersections - just roundabouts. And I drive to far to the edge of the road on the left, which is odd, and have to stay closer to the line. So, I am nervous about getting around, but I am tough enough, hopefully, to figure it out. Tonight we hung out in the "lounge" and watched reruns of Friends and I tried to make friends with Kirsty's cats who are really nervous by my presence. I took a few photos which I will share through Ofoto. I will certainly be taking more - I was just taking everything in today.

Write more tomorrow after my first day at school. The kids are really excited about meeting me and seeing if I speak English and all of that!

Love,
Jess

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