C is for Ceilidh |kay’-lee| (n.)

Ex. Have I been to a ceilidh yet? It feels like all of fresher’s week has been a ceilidh!

That’s actually a totally incorrect usage so sorry about that – ceilidh is Gaelic for “dance or small gathering”. The word ceilidh has since evolved to describe a traditional Gaelic folk-dancing party, basically. Scottish children learn these dances in their primary schools (IMAGINE HOW CUTE THAT MUST BE) and then they teach them again when they start uni. Apparently. It's a big deal. People ask you if this is your first ceilidh and if you say yes, they will usually say, "ach, you're in for a treat." 

An awful picture, but you get the idea

Seriously though, my time in Scotland so far has basically been a really long party. You have lots of friends because everyone’s your friend during the first week of school, and there has just been a bunch of stuff going on. Seriously. University of Edinburgh’s Freshers’ Week boasts of over 700 events. The events range from city tours to night-club-type events to pub crawls. To my knowledge, there are a total of 4 big ceilidhs. Most of Freshers’ Week is free and pretty much all of it is fun.

Throughout this week, too, is the opportunity to acquaint yourself with the city. Between going to events, friends’ flats, getting groceries, and somehow finding your way home, you get to know the city well. Turns out when I said “Edinburgh is so walkable,” I was ignorant to how big Edinburgh actually was. The only parts of it I have to navigate on a regular basis aren’t as large as they could be, but it still takes about 20 minutes to get from my flat to the main part of campus (I’m glad I chose a small school for the rest of my time at college). In spite of it being a bit bigger than I was anticipating, there’s a measure a pride that comes with kind of knowing my way around after being here a week. The beautiful statement still stands.

The Old College. Looks like the rest of the city. I KNOW

The other part of Scotland I’m falling in love with is the drink culture. I’m sure there’s a real name for it, but I feel like I’m constantly drinking something – coffee, tea, cider, etc. They told us if we’re going to budget, that’s the thing that’s gonna kill us, just because that’s just what you do. Living in the Northwest has made me realize that beverages are the best conversational medium, and it’s awesome to be in a place where that philosophy is a given. It’s not just like, Northwest afternoon coffee; it’s all the time.

Sign for the coffee booth I frequent on my way to campus. They know my name already.

More updates to come, including classes. Woo!

And I included pictures this time so quit whining