Well, I am here and finally adjusting to the time. I cannot believe that I will be living here for a semester, it seems so surreal. There are 11 of us students and the professor travelling with us, Dr. Beaty. Before the trip I barely knew any other students but hours of traveling forces friendships and I now know all of them relatively well. The flight left on the 30th and we arrived into Glasgow early morning here (about midnight in Texas). There was allocated about 45 minutes to clear customs and make our connecting flight to Edinburgh, which everyone in the group made but just barely. We then had a short flight to Edinburgh, where we collected our luggage, met two representatives from St. Andrews University, and got on a bus.

The arrival into Scotland was incredible, I have never seen the color green as it is here. The bus ride, about an hour, was gorgeous. We crossed a long suspension bridge over the River Tay shortly into the trip which gave me my first shoreside view of the grey and forbidding North Sea. The drive was through populated low hills with alternating fields of grass and hay, forests, and glens. About 20 KM outside of St. Andrews, we drove past the Scottish Deer Centre which afforded me my first view of the Scottish Red Deer. Supposedly, there are wild herds in some forests just North of St. Andrews. Shortly before you reach town, you cross the river Eden which is gorgeous (it looks cold!) and supposedly has a reasonable salmon run which I hope to encounter. The golf courses are on your left as you enter town, and they are incredible, I hope to play this sunday (supposedly we can get a student pass where I can play as much as I want over the course of the semester).We arrived on the 31st, about noon and had to stay awake that whole day so as to allow our bodies to adjust, which was difficult. We spent that day and evening unpacking, moving into our halls, and then ate out as a group at an Italian place named Zizzies. I then returned to my room and crashed, only to wake up at 4 am unable to get back to sleep.

Andrew Melville Hall is an ugly building but it more than makes up for it in location; it was constructed to resemble a ship so many of the windows are round and it has a very distinct architecture. The view from my room is incredible, Looking NE, on my left there is forest and straight ahead I can see the North Sea. Just beyond the trees is the Old Course (not 3 minutes walk away). However, It is a 15 to 20 minute walk to the building where my classes will be held.

I spent my thursday at different orientation meetings and shopping for soap and all that kind of stuff I forgot back at the states. Last night three of us Baylor students and some guys I met in my hall went to a couple different pubs which was a lot of fun. We met a really really drunk old scottish man who wouldn't stop challenging me to a game of darts (there weren't any darts) and kept calling me Bob Dylan, no idea why. We also met an Englishman who overheard our accents and came over to tell us how much he loved America, saying we take our V-8s, guns, and girls for granted. The one thing he really didn't like about America was that everyone was seemed so religious (there are many beautiful churches here but they are often empty). That was an interesting conversation because I was with two American Divinity students. I have met a lot of students here, though am having a difficult time keeping their names straight. Also, most of the ones here so far are American or international, the scottish students are still on break and won't arrive till tomorrow or Sunday.

Today we registered for classes and filled out some forms at the medical center which was a pain. I am taking some awesome classes but it is a really full load: intermediate arabic, contemporary moral theory, the social contract, and the problem(s) of divine goodness. This afternoon I walked down to the beach (crossing the old course) where four of us from the hall played frisbee in full view of the 18th green of the old course on the same beach where the famous running scene in Chariots of Fire was filmed. The weather has been absolutely incredible, right at 50 degrees F. and very little wind. However, this is not expected to last but I plan to make the most of it as long as it does.