to perth

left athens to fly (to doha) to perth.  couldn't really believe that it was finally time to get to australia.  made it through immigration without the questioning like with the uk which was unexpected.  i did have to see 3 different people but that was because they were having a hard time scanning my older-no chip passport and apparently not because of any visa related issue.
even made it through the baggage collection and quarantine process.  i got shuffled into the line with the sniffing dog rather than the scanner and actually didn't need to take off my giant backpack for the dog.  the guys at the conference had told me i wouldn't need to declare the random tylenol medicine i had so i didn't tick yes to any of the questions which i'm sure got me at least partly into the dog lane as opposed to the others.

adrian and son were there to collect me and drove me to the hostel.  after finding it and dropping me off, i checked in to the weird looking hostel and didn't really know what to do.  i was reading the notice boards when another backpacker asked if i was a new arrival.   clearly he could tell from my assuredly dazed and confused look.  since i had no other plan than to walk somewhere to get a little something to eat we went out for the walk together.  having arrived the friday before, he knew his way around - which was nice and was friendly and talkative.  we walked through downtown in search of something other than the mcdonalds and kfc we passed but there wasn't much.  also downtown is incredibly small and apparently perth's size is made up from its massive amount of suburbs.  there are some free buses in the town other than the city ones and the trains and underground we passed as well.  thought we had found a deal at a pub ($20 for pizza and a pint - which sounded awfully high to my uk 5 pound ears) but it was the wrong day so we kept walking.  ended up back in east perth, in apparently an asian area of town, and had some chinese.  we walked a pretty big ambling loop in the end which at least took care of how i was going to spend the evening before going to bed at a time that would hopefully not hurt the jetlag.

still, as in greece, i was awake for the early hours of the morning without any explanation.  unfortunately.

tuesday 1 august
shortly past 930, there was a guy from curtin who came to the hostel and got me.  not used to driving in the rain, he was somewhat awkward but took me to see two places (and to drive by a third).

as this would be my first full day in perth, i've decided to make a new blog to represent the switch to phase two of my phd in australia.  so to continue the adventure, here's the link:

http://phdphasetwo.blogspot.com

athens

saturday 28 july
-easily got the metro from the airport to the stop for the hostel and after walking a short way the wrong way down the main road easily found the hostel.
-the air conditioning in the room was incredibly great.
-decided i had to pull myself out of the room and walk around though. had a long walk around and about the acropolis (decided not to go in) and then walked through the touristy trap of places next to it and down and around through town.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/athens-sat.html

sunday 29 july
-went on the free tour that the hostel told me about.  an english guy comes to a few of the hostels and gathers people for a tour he does.  george.  he was a great guide. we saw A LOT of the sights and he gave a bit of information --not an overwhelming amount, but definitely good facts.  We went by a lot of what i had walked by the evening before but then i had context and went in to some of the sights.
-it was really hot so we lost a few along the way but it finished in the early afternoon.  some of the people on the tour - 2 australians, and a mom and daughter from the states and i went together to the museum of the acropolis together.  it was nice to walk with some folks and have a bit of chat.  and i got into the museum for free with my student id so that was an unexpected welcome.  the museum was nice and air conditioned but small so it didn't take too long.  we parted ways there.
i went to go see if i could get a ticket for the opera for that evening but the box office was closed so i went back to the hostel and hung out for awhile before i could go back when it was open.  was a bit of a walk to do, but i got a ticket and then went to the corner restaurant to have a gyro.  knowing it was the cheapest place and would be tasty i had a chicken one that night and a beer before walking all the way back up to go to the opera.  so i saw tosca with a bunch of greeks in the ancient open air theare at the side of the acropolis.  that was cool.  however those rocks just keep all of the heat so it was hot.  so hot.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/athens-sun.html

monday 30 july
-walked to socrate's prison and that hill. but it was so hot that it was hard to climb that hill.  i had chosen that one instead of the big one which was a good choice, but didn't feel like i could do any.  did drag myself across to zeus' olympian temple or whatever but couldn't handle the heat.  did walk into the m&s for air con and had some frozen yogurt in attempt to be a bit cooler. so i went back and just sat around the hostel lobby.  it was still hot but at least i wasn't out in the hot sun.  and the tour with george had hit the other things i had wanted to see.  so i just kind of had to wait it out until going to the airport.  which i was going to do fairly early if for no other reason than air conditioning.  but there was a guy who noticed me gathering my bags and said he was going to go just a bit later than me so i waited for him.  only he was flying to rome and hadn't booked any accommodation so his 20 minutes turned into more than 45 --not that it was going to make me late or anything but i should have just gone because it wasn't like he was talkative or any real company on the metro ride or anything.  oh well. it worked out fine time wise in the end.
-points to qatar airline.  reminded me of emirates.  definitely much better than alitalia.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/athens-mon.html

thessaloniki

sunday 22 july - monday 23 july
-flew from chicago to rome to thessaloniki.

before the flight, dad drove me down to steph's house.  and then steph and i had brunch with jt and his girlfriend, jenny. it was nice.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chicago-brunch.html

 flew on alitalia which felt like i was on a plane that was maybe top notch 30 years ago.  i didn't have a video screen, the food seemed off, and it just wasn't that great.  and while i thought i'd sleep a lot since i hadn't slept much the night before, that didn't really happen.  managed to sleep a bit on the rome to thessaloniki flight, but i have to say alitalia is not my favorite airline.

monday 23 july
-decided while waiting at the baggage claim carrousel that i would ask the girl standing with a poster tube if she was there for the ICMPC conference.  figuring it was a good bet that she was.  Yohana from france in fact was there for the conference and we then were able to travel the bus together to get to el greco hotel.
-yohana and i walked around town and looked around. it was hot.  i was wearing a U of MN tshirt and a woman came up to me and asked if i was american and asked if she could help or offer advice, as she was from MN and now lived there.  points to her. she was really nice and had great suggestions- i'm just sad i couldn't follow through on them with the conference activities.
-we rode the tourist bus around most of the loop but i was basically falling asleep sadly so that's slightly blurry.
-we went to the opening conference thing in the evening.  two speakers who we couldn't really hear and then a little reception.  it was alright but not knowing anyone was really a deficit.

tuesday 24 july
-moved my luggage across the street to where i'd be staying for the rest of the time. i couldn't check into my room but they held my stuff.
-then spent the day at the conference.  wasn't feeling great about it as there wasn't anything really that corresponded to my research interests.  although i found out lunch was included each day and while we had to wait in a long line, it was good and definitely a lot to eat.
-went with a group of students from london to a pub for a drink following the conference. we had a little tapas plate to eat.  it was nice. but i definitely felt out of place for not being connected to the lab or knowing anyone.

wednesday 25 july
-presented my ESM research in the first afternoon session block following john sloboda.
-the presentation definitely wasn't the best one i've done, and i rushed it and had lots of time for questions but i think it went okay.  i felt like i could answer the questions so at least that was something.  but i'm not happy with it overall.  was nice to have it finished and not looming in the future though.
-went with Yohana to try to go see a landmark in town before the evening concert but it wasn't open.  we had delicious gyros and then went to the concert.  i didn't like the modern greek stuff, but there was a group of women who sang acapella traditional songs (their arrangements) and that was awesome.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/thessalonki-wednesday.html

thursday 26 july
-conference presentations in the morning and then excursions in the afternoon.  a lot of the conference folks went to the beach but i went on the trip to the vineyard.  we first went to see these tombs which were pretty cool.  it seems somewhat crazy to build a huge structure to immediately and completely cover it with a hill of dirt, but i wasn't there at the time.  they built the museum basically around and in/over the tombs so it was really neat to see and they had displays of the stuff found inside as well.  from there we went to the vineyard where we got an abbreviated short little translated tour and then tasted 4 wines (2 white and 2 red) with a buffet dinner.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/thess-thurs.html

friday 27 july
-more conference during the day and then the gala dinner in the evening.  it seemed like none of the students were going to the gala which didn't make me inspired to go, but i did have a nice time.  sat at a table with some canadians and australians and one american.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/thess-fri.html

saturday 28 july
-i decided to skip the conference stuff in the morning and go and walk around the city.  the first hour or so was alright but the second it was getting later in the day and so hot.  ugh.  hot.  but i saw some more of the churches and ancient roman forum and whatnot.  it was better than going to the conference.  i then had to go back to the hotel and haul my stuff to the bus stop.  i had thought i could take two buses and not have to walk but apparently that wasn't a good plan according to the guy at the desk so i did walk through town a bit to get the bus.  that was rough but i got to the airport fine from there.  and at least it was cooler in the airport.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/thess-sat.html

-my flight was on a little prop plane and had nice scenery out the window but i was super tired that i just wanted sleep but it was a short flight down to athens.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/flight-to-athens.html

birthday-wedding

saturday 21 july

got to share my birthday with liz and brian's wedding.  which was super nice and a fun reception.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/wedding-birthday.html

july at home

with this crazy move, it meant that i got to spend basically 3 weeks at home in tosa. this was the longest time spent home since before moving to london.  it definitely pointed out american culture to me as i knew it would, but it was nice to get to spend a longer period of time at home.  plus it wasn't during the winter - although it was super hot and abnormally unpleasant for like half of the time.

although i had originally created a grand plan of getting a lot of school work done while home, i did not follow through on the plan.  and i became quickly okay with that.

i did a lot of great things while home. most of which don't have accompanying photographs (not that they're always necessary, but the lack of photos probably comes with the fact i was home, but is not representative of some of the cool things that happened).

-i saw two fireworks displays.  the ones on the third were awesome.  brian, liz, brian's parents, and i watched them from outside of summerfest out on the rocks which was a perfect view.  and this year's show seemed extra long and really good.  saw tosa's on the fourth from brian's apartment.  then went into hectors and ran into josh.  was really nice to catch up with him and spent some time hanging out with him then as well which was fun.

went to the zoo with mom one day.

went shopping and spent a lot of the time packing and re-packing and dealing with packing strategy for the move.

went to the dentist.

went to bastille days.

hung out with brian, his sister and cousin.

went to the art museum with dad and saw a fantastic exhibit.

went to a dave matthews concert at alpine with liz, brian, and brian's friend.  randy got the tickets but had to work so he didn't get to go.  that was a good way to throw myself back into an american culture - dave matthews tailgating at alpine.  good show.  enjoyable.

finished two more state fair entries.  experienced entering my entries and the judging. the judging is a process.  but luckily, i placed in my four categories.  and while my awesome, amazing cassette tape lamp didn't win, it did place in a large category.  so i'm a ribbon winner, but still haven't gotten a first place yet.  (will have to think of something for next year)

hung out with mandi a bunch.

had frozen custard. mmm.

went with mandi to eau claire to meet missi and had ourselves an overnight roommate reunion.  which was awesome.  we won that trip.  maybe not with eau claire, but we went to the leine's brewery, went in the hotel pool, had a good dinner, watch a movie, struggled to find brunch but eventually did and it was a nice little weekend.

had a family gathering in honor of parents anniversary and my birthday. and that was a good gathering of folks.

went to the gym some.  the weather was stupid hot for most of the time which was not pleasant, but seeing friends and family and being home was quite nice.

spent a day with steph which was a lot of fun.

then of course there was brian and liz's wedding. which was great.

and even managed to have lunch with steph and jt in chicago before getting on a plane to go to the conference.  awesome

PHOTOS:

11 july - http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/zoo.html

15 july - http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/roommate-reunion.html

15 july - http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/family-gathering.html

dc

a return to the states

tuesday 26 june
-flew from london to dulles.  dave came and picked me up from the airport and dropped me with autumn who was at the mall.  we went and picked up the little one from day care and went home.  was really nice to catch up with autumn and hang out.  we played with annaleigh and whatnot. and took a trip to the park.

wednesday 27 june
-hung out during the day and then went into dc in the afternoon.  walked through part of the art museum and then met sara and monica to go to a concert on the mall as part of the folk life festival.  got to see george clinton which was pretty sweet.  although his voice was gone so it was all of the other folks up on stage doing most of the singing.  the other 2 groups including the neville brothers were good too.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/p-funk.html

thursday 28 june
-autumn and i traveled into the city to meet chauhan for lunch.  we had thai down in eastern market which was delicious and some baskin robbins ice cream.  although for it being crazy hot and sunny outside and the middle of the day, baskin robbins didn't have half of their (read: the good ones) flavours available.  it was odd.
-i then went to kipp to meet heimy.  she was re-organizing yet another classroom.  which was fine, because i had to finish my oxford university press blog post.  we then went to target and to have vietnamese soup for dinner.  pretty sure my last time with heimy involved being in her classroom and a trip to target, but that's all fine and fun. i hadn't been in a target since last being with heimy anyway.

friday 29 june
-went with heimy on a ridiculous bank/post office errand and with her to sign her new lease.  and then to lunch with tommy and an intern at a thai place that opened around the corner from where we lived.  a bunch of stuff had changed around there.  lunch was good and had we still lived there, we'd probably have eaten there a lot.  so much better than the chinese take away on the other corner - although i hesitate to even make a comparison between the two.
-in the afternoon i made my way back to autumn's so she could pick me up post-nap time.  another afternoon of hanging out and dinner prep.  after dinner, dave and autumn went to dq since i could be home and then shortly after they got back and dave's banter resumed, the power went out prompting us to go to bed.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dc.html

saturday 30 june
-with awaking to still the loss of power and the news of how terrible and widespread the storm actually was, dave was off to make disaster plans.  autumn's college friend showed up and we hung out until it was not a distant alarm going off but one in their building.  opening their door, we found their neighbour at the end of the hall's water pipe had burst so he was drowning in water.  assisting him for awhile, while others just stood around and talked about it, it became obvious that with no power and no water and a baby, plans may to change.  so when dave came home with a hotel booked, we decided to pack up and drive to the hotel with the anticipation of air conditioning and power.  however, upon reaching the hotel, we found out that his reservation was not going to be accepted as they had no power either and weren't accepting guests.  as i was really the only person needing to stay in the area to get to the airport the next day, it became a crazy chase of seeing if chauhan could house me for the evening.  luckily after some major planning and a crazy cab ride, i was off to spend the night with chauhan and they were off to relatives in Pennsylvania.

sunday 1 july
-chauhan drove me to the airport, which was awesome of her. and i flew from reagan to milwaukee.

londontown (leaving the UK)

23 june
-went to the soane museum and the british museum.  i hadn't been to the soane museum.  it's his house as he wanted it, just full of tons of random stuff he amassed.  pretty intriguing to walk through.
-visited the 'olympics related' sights at the british museum (along with assorted other things).
-got a ticket to see sweeney todd (kim performing in it) so i saw that in the evening.  was a great show, and really nice to see something in the west end.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/london-museums.html

24 june
-went to the mall where the olympic stadium is.  it was raining but we saw it from inside the shop out the window in the proper gray, london weather.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/olympics.html
-went back to the hotel and helped the sheas get part way on their journey.  traveled back on the underground to the hotel and hung out for a bit.  unfortunately couldn't get things to match up with meeting any of the perez's so i sat outside the underground in canary wharf for awhile but then something was worked out.  so i dropped my stuff at their flat and then met carlos.
-we had sushi and then went to the globe to see henry the v.  it was a good show and really nice to hang out with carlos again.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/globe.html

25 june
-rode the underground with jonna to start my day (he headed to work and me to walk down the thames/southbank.
-had a lovely stroll. went in the tate modern.  had a sandwich from pret.  really enjoyed the walk as usual.  part way, carlos managed to catch up with me.  we walked across the bridge by big ben and up to the wetherspoons by trafalgar.  so i could have a summer pimms (delicious).  then we walked over to covent garden.  i had snog (again delicious).  and then we walked along to picadilly circus so i could see it without scaffolding.  then as we walked, one of the new buses came by so we hopped on board so i could experience that and rode to victoria station.  it was a great london day.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/thames-walk.html
-had dinner with abner.
-played uno with abner and rachel in the evening and it seemed as normal/usual as ever.  as though it was a sunday night while i was living in london.  it was great.  i miss that a lot.

26 june
-got up early and hauled me and my stuff to heathrow.  collected the suitcase i had left there and checked in for my flight.  flew to dulles.

trip to the highlands

saturday 16 june
-didn't do a whole lot on saturday. went to newtonmore (a tiny nearby town) and talked to a woman about walking around the town (there's the wildcat walk) and went to a little cafe as they had internet.
-we also drove into the property to see the backside of the large house.  oh there was a wedding that happened in the morning at the house and we stood and waved from our gatelodge.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-1.html

sunday 17 june
-we went to the crazy department store complex of the highlands (clearly the day's event for anyone who lives there).  i did have some tasty free trial snacks in the food hall though.
-we went to a castle (and it's garden).
-we stopped by the 'queen's view' looking point.  very picturesque.
-we walked a small portion of killiecrankie.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-2.html

monday 18 june
-we went to the 'old world wisconsin' equivalent: the highlands folk museum.  some anthropologist collected stuff and rebuilt buildings.  lots of different dwellings - farmhouse, other houses, a school house, post office, store, curling hut, old time pre-town little group of things. very cool.
-we walked the wildcat trail.  or at least half of it around newtonmore.  that was pretty cool.  you just walk through different farmers' plots.  sometimes on the other side of a fence from coos and sheep and sometimes just right there with them.  always just making sure you close whatever kissing gate you've opened to walk through.  beautiful scenery and views. and a waterfall and creek.  it was lovely.  and we beat the rain - only started to drizzle as we made it out (back by the folk museum) to walk back into newtonmore.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-3.html

tuesday 19 june
-we drove further west to take the ferry to the isle of skye.
-had lunch in the wee town and then drove back to take the bridge back.
-stopped at the 'most picturesque castle in scotland' and saw it from the outside.  got on the webcam so people could see us (and it apparently worked which is fun).
so we saw more nice scenery of scotland including coastal, island goodness.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-4.html

wednesday 20 june
-went for a walk on the property.  beautiful, reflective loch.  had to go through the bit where they do the logging and then didn't get very far upon realizing it would take forever to follow the map to get to the waterfall so we turned around and went back.
-had lunch and then went to the dalwhinnie distillery.  glad to check going to a whiskey distillery off the bucket list prior to leaving scotland.  friendly tour guide and learned more about the differences in whiskey depending on where they're made in scotland.
-popped back to the lovely cafe in newtonmore
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-5.html

thursday 21 june
-drove north.
-went to the public library in some other random tiny town.  which took a bit of work to find but we got there.  and saw the wildcat woman there, so clearly it's the happening place.
-saw some awesome coos.
-drove up the cairngorms but didn't end up going up to the top on the funicular railway.  just enjoyed the view from 2083 feet up.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/highlands-6.html

friday 22 june
left the highlands and drove back to edinburgh (photo: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/to-perth.html); sat in the edinburgh airport for most of the day as alison and mrs shea were on an earlier flight and i couldn't get switched.  then my flight was delayed but eventually i got into heathrow.  dropped off my big black suitcase to leave at the excess baggage place and took the underground to the other side of london.  i love the first few rides on the underground after a long time away.  or maybe it's just that i love the underground.  it makes sense to me, i know how and where i can go.  and i can swipe the card and go.  it was nice. it was like being home.

the first half of june

still in edinburgh for the first half of june:

friday 01 june
-ellipticaled 7km
-met with morag (the loan person) on campus.  in person we had a lovely meeting.  she told me she'd work on getting my disbursement paid in line with my unenrollment process
-worked at oscars even though it was friday.  fridays are long days but we went to the park as a field trip so that was nice and not too bad.

saturday 02 june
-ellipticaled 8km

sunday 03 june
-ellipticaled 8km
-had dinner with brittany and jane-marie.  we went to pizza express and then had frozen yogurt at the nw (kind of like snog but not the greek sour goodness) place. mmm. was a really nice dinner outing.

monday 04 june
-oscars work

tuesday 05 june
-skyped adrian in the morning
-oscars

wednesday 06 june
-hwu postgrad research conference
i presented my work (thought i was going to have 30 minutes but got there and realized it was only 20 so it was a bit rushed).  i presented in the morning.  brittany was able to just make it and jet out but it was nice that she made it.  the guy who went after me did well and actually got an award.  but most of them had no relation or real interest to me.  got lunch though and sat with some of the marine biology folks.  had a little wine&snacks reception at the end which was nice and then i went straight to the gym which was an interesting choice.
-ellipticaled 9km

thursday 07 june
-oscars work

friday 08 june
-skyped adrian at 9
-tried to get some work done on campus
-ellipticaled 8km

saturday 09 june
-moved brittany into her new flat.  helped put together her dresser and had some pizza
-went to campus and ellipticaled 8km

sunday 10 june
-my twitter anniversary
-went to brunch and for a nice walk with brittany.  we went to the place i had wanted to try down closer to holyrood park.  it was a delicious full scottish breakfast.  although i didn't actually get sausage....but i did get some haggis with it.  and it was delicious and only 5 pounds with tea. mmm.  the place is known for burgers which is too bad we never got there earlier.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/brunch-walk.html

monday 11 june
-spent all early morning dealing with my visa application.  it all seemed very difficult to deal with but when i came home from work i had an email stating my application was approved.  so that was all very strange.
-ellipticaled 7k
-oscars work: i spent my time building a working windmill for mini golf out of cardboard.
-hung out with brittany.  we went to the world's end pub to have a drink and then we walked over to new town to have the burger and pint deal at wetherspoons.  it was a super fun evening.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/end-of-world.html

tuesday 12 june

-ellipticaled 8km
-tried to do a bit of work on campus, but really just got to borrow jane-marie's scale to weigh my luggage.
-oscars work: i built a couple other things for my mini golf and a sign with some kids.
-got a ride with folks back to town although we ended up on the other side of town by the train station. so sandi, bernie, and i walked through the train station (saw the m&s where bernie also works) and then i walked down princes street home.

wednesday 13 june

-ellipticaled 8k
-last day at heriot watt
PHOTOS:http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/leaving-hwu.html
-oscars work: my amazing mini golf. which the kids enjoyed playing as it was awesome.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/bus-to-pentlands.html
-went to the pub after work with sandi and met bernie there as a goodbye drinks outing which was nice.
we almost saw the torch on our bus ride through town but we were just slightly ahead of it.
- met jane-marie to do one of the underground tours since i hadn't done it and it was a two-for-one deal.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/underground-tour.html

thursday 14 june

-brittany and i got up super early to go see the torch start its relay.  she met me at our flat and then we walked over to the little plaza to see the torch.  i got to touch the torch and i was glad that we got up (even though it was early) to do something olympics  related.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/olympic-torch.html
-we then spent the next 3ish hours cleaning our flat.  i spent basically the entire time in the kitchen while brittany did the living room and bathrooms and her room.  we got to lunch time and it was basically finished (other than my room and mopping the floors).  so that was an accomplishment.
-last day at oscars.  we had a special snack.  they gave me a rasta mouse stuffed animal.  i hit a kid in the forehead playing cricket. it was a nice last day.
-went to brittany's new flat to have a little bbq with brittany and janemarie.  we bbqed in her back yard and had some cava (bought for my leaving).  it was a nice evening.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/bbq.html

friday 15 june

-spent the morning cleaning my room while waiting for the internet box to be picked up.
-finished cleaning and since i no longer had internet, i went to starbucks to use the internet and wait for brittany to finish her shift to then hang out in the afternoon.  marek also came into starbucks so we sat an chatted for awhile.
-of course it was a gray, rainy, scottish day outside so brittany and i rode the bus over to the museum and then decided to eat at biblios (since we had never been there).  i had a super delicious haggis appetizer and she had a burger (i had already had 2 burgers earlier in the week so i didnt want a burger).  we then went to new town and ended up going to m&s to have tea and cakes.  i had a victoria sponge cake (even though i was full enough without it).  then we walked to where she was taking the bus to go tutor and where i was meeting mrs shea.  it was a great final afternoon in edinburgh.  wouldn't have known it was right as i was leaving other than that was the case.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/edinburgh-farewell.html
-had a drink at mrs shea's hotel and then went to my flat to wait for alison.  finished the last cleaning bits and then alison arrived.  managed to get all of our luggage in the car and went to the big sainsburys on our way out of town.

the rest of may

20 may sunday
-the hearts beat the hibs in the scottish football finals. so there was a parade for the hearts through town.  it went down our street so we watched it from our window.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/hearts-parade.html
- walked 4km

21 may monday
-ellipticaled 5km

22 may tuesday
-ellipticaled

23 may wednesday
-oscars work

24 may thursday
-ellipticaled 8km
-oscars work
-went to dinner at wagamama with danny and sandi.  we then got frozen yogurt from the new place and walked around town. it was a beautiful evening.  we went down princes street up the royal mile to the castle, back down the royal mile, and back across the bridge and down rose street. we went for a drink and it was a nice evening.  it showed me what edinburgh in nice weather with people could be.  too bad both danny and i were soon to be leaving.

25 may friday
-skate 6mi
-worked on reading some articles in the sun on campus

26 may saturday
-went for a looonng walk with brittany.  we walked the waters of leith from where we could get to it by our place and walked all the way through to leith.  ended up having a pint on the river down in leith.  beautiful weather.  and then we rode the bus back. fantastic use of the nice day and took care of a 'to do list' item (walking the waters of leith)
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/waters-of-leith.html

27 may sunday
-went to campus
-skated 4.5 mi

28 may monday
-oscars work

29 may tuesday
-ellipticaled 8km
-oscars work
-worked on my power point slides for the hwu postgrad conference presentation (brittany helped tremendously)

30 may wednesday
-ellipticaled 8km
-worked on campus
-oscars work

31 may thursday
-oscars work
-chatted with steph online

super big catch up time

it's july. my last post was from may. in that time, i have moved out of the flat in edinburgh, and moved out of the uk.  currently i am home in wisconsin and soon will be leaving to move to perth, australia by way of a conference in greece.  things pertaining to this move have been crazy and a large undertaking of planning.  onward we go though.

14 - 20 may

14 monday
went to renew my buspass, went to the gym, went to the grocery store, and went to work.
spent a bunch of time breaking the still-remaining pinatas.

15 tuesday
went to the gym.  used the computer on campus. went to work.  painted pet rocks.

16 wednesday
went to glasgow to have an appointment at the apple store about my charger.  becky met me so not only did i get a new, working charger, but i also got to spend 2 hours with becky.   we went to the debenham's cafe and then the modern art gallery.  i only wish we could have spent some more time.  but both of us had to go to work.
went to see a flat with brittany.

17 thursday
went to the gym, went to work, went to wannaburger with brittany to celebrate her finding a flat.

18 friday
went to work - made fake, peanutbutter free, uk-style puppy chow.

19 saturday
walked around town with brittany.  went to the bank to cancel our standing order rent payment.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/town.html

20 sunday
today.

6 - 13 may: modena italy

6 sunday
day of travel to get to modena, italy.  took the bus to the airport, flew from edi to amsterdam, flew from amsterdam to bologna, hung out waiting for the shuttle bus, took the bus from bologna airport to modena bus station, and then walked from there to my hotel in the centre of town.
had dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel where i was sat next to a canadian couple so we chatted throughout.

7 monday
met chiara and a number of people at the hospital.  found out more about what the project is and met with the computer tech guy, luca.  had lunch at the hospital bar and upon trying to charge my computer, found that the charger stopped working.
had a light dinner at a cafe and some gelato by myself in the evening.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/modena-1.html

8 tuesday
went to the hospital.  tried to track down a charger and downloaded a trial spss version on chiara's computer in the morning.  went off campus with chiara and francesca for lunch.  had a delicious modena-style sandwich for lunch.  worked on inputting data into an spss file in the afternoon.
went out with people for happy hour and a traditional italian dinner.  lots of food, lots of fun.
had a guy get angry that i was from wisconsin and liked chicago at the bar.

9 wednesday
re-made the spss file with updated data and spent all day making the data file.  had lunch at the hospital canteen - a salad as i was stuffed from the previous dinner.  went to happy hour with chiara and francesca after work.

10 thursday
made 2 additional databases for the other sets of data.  had lunch at the hospital canteen.
went out with the group to have a japanese meal.  delicious and ate far too much again.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/modena-2.html

11 friday
created lots of tables and a summary of the preliminary findings.  was hot.  had lunch at the canteen.  met with the professor to present the work i did and discuss the project.  finished early and went to the museum.  had a slice of pizza and some gelato.  sat in the plazza and listened to the bells.  watched speed 2 dubbed in italian.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/modena-3.html

12 saturday
tourist day.  went to the enzo ferrari museum.  passed by pavoratti's theatre, went through the park, saw a small modern art exhibit.  sat at a cafe by the ducal palace and had barotzi (modena's specific dessert).  climbed the bell tower. watched some pop up video in italian.
went to bologna with chiara, francesca, and bazzo for a concert: john spencer's blues explosion.
had dinner at a pizzeria mmmm.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/modena-4.html

13 sunday
day of travel to get back to edinburgh: walked to the bus stop, took the bus to the bologna airport, hung out there until my flight to amsterdam, and then had a quick change to get to my flight to edinburgh and took the city bus back to the flat.
went to the pub for dinner with brittany upon returning.

30 april - 5 may

30 monday
went to the castle to get the pressed pennies and went to buy the blanket at the weaving mill.
went to oscars.

1 may tuesday
skyped with adrian.  tried to sort changing my scholarship start date.
ellipticaled 5km
went to work.

2 wednesday
ellipticaled 5km
went to work

3 thursday
went and collected my last pottery pieces and saw the final edinburgh hoodie street art.
PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/more-caslin-hoodies.html

4 friday
went to work - first friday worked.
long, obnoxious day.

5 saturday
finished packing for my italy trip.
went to mexican for cinco de mayo with brittany and janemarie.
PHOTO: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/dinner.html

4000 words or so

or so i thought.  i worked on writing up results this weekend.  results that no longer are anything.  and that's many words deleted.  and many new analyses to be done.

i try to think that this will be an improvement.  in fact i know that it will.  but i hate to lose that time and start over again.

i'm in the wrong time zone for these issues.

with twitter and others' posts, i read/see a lot of stuff.  most of it isn't really worth it.
but here's two that i've enjoyed this week so far:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577366332400453796.html

http://www.solitarywanderer.com/2012/02/date-a-girl-who-travels/

23-29 april

23 monday
worked on my ICMPC abstracts, went to work, had a group come look at the flat, did more school work.

24 tuesday
went to the gym, worked on my abstracts, went to work, looked up bpms online.

25 wednesday
worked on my abstracts, went to work, made paper mache pinatas, dealt with my bpm file.

26 thursday
went to the gym, finalized my abstracts thanks to adrian's feedback, looked broadly at my bpm data, went to work, played rounders.  i took the opportunity to reinforce baseball terms rather than random rounders primary school nonsense. according to one child, it's my specialty.  i liked that comment, but it was a rough go at trying to have a game.

27 friday
went to the post office to post off my genie (magic bullet uk-style) so there goes another thing.  glad to have it sell, but i've learned the larger heavier objects don't do as well since the shipping is so much that it doesn't give you as much as lighter things like books and CDs.  although i suppose any bit of money back it more than nothing.  plus i sold the slinky dog toy i got for my birthday and the boules set so that's not too bad.
went to campus.  worked on my CLOUD data results, but soon had more questions than expected.  went to the gym.
dealt with scanning/taking pictures of my papers from roehampton so that takes care of a binder's worth of papers that no longer have to be moved.

28 saturday
had a skype chat with a student in australia who might be able to help me get a few participants.  definitely will be an adjustment learning those phrases and that accent coming from here.  then video chatted with autumn which was really nice.  glad to talk to her although i got sort of sad to be away from friends.  had a girl come look at the flat - she'd be great so we're hoping that it could work out with her.  went to campus to get some work done.  worked on my cloud results, and then went to the gym.  except apparently the gym has switched to summer hours and it was closed already.  i probably looked really strange standing in front of a self opening door waiting for it to open. was sad that i couldn't get into the gym.  talked with mom.
brittany and i decided to cook a nice dinner.  so we had bangers and mash.  homemade mashed potatoes and veggie sausages cooked with onions. and a side of corn and a cheesecake for desert.  plus this sparkling berry cider.  it was delicious.

29 sunday (today)
went to the castle since it was basically the last day i could go still for free from my english heritage membership (runs out tomorrow).  was super chilly - 40 degrees or so out and cloudy so not a nice day.  walked around the castle and the military museum (which i didn't see the other time i was there).  although at one i tried to hear the gun and it didn't go at one so i'm not sure how i missed that. oh well. saw the crown jewels and strolled through the hall and whatnot.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/castle.html

went to the weaving mill on the blanket mission, only to discover the one i was meant to get is no longer there.  the guy recognized me though, so that's special.  clearly he's answered my questions more than once about the blanket options. told him he'd see me again as i'll have to go back.  went to the gym and did a bit of work on campus.

PHOTOS: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/hwu.html

was thinking i'd get to a different section, but really just went back through one i did yesterday.  not excited with the results (still may have to re-run the analyses, so i'm hoping the relationships stay the same and i'll just then have to change the specific numbers...we'll see) but maybe something will come from it.  nothing is standing out as a great result, and there's some that seem to be contradictory to what i'd think so i could use some assistance with it.  

15-22 april

15 sunday
went to campus to work on my ESM draft and to the gym.

16 monday
had a skype meeting with adrian at 9 in the morning.  end of his day but the start to mine.  it was really really really nice to talk to him.  hadn't had contact other than emails since he left i  guess.  and with the things we were discussing (related to this ESM article draft) it really works better to be able to have a back and forth conversation.  not a delayed attempt at describing my question via email.  so that was great.  it was the last day of the holiday break and so i wanted to do something before re-starting the regular week. and since it wasn't raining, i decided that i would take part of the afternoon and go for a walk and see the modern art gallery since i had never been.  so i did that and had a lovely few hours to myself seeing sculpture and walking through a bit of town that i don't usually.
and then i went to campus and worked on my draft and went to the gym.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/modern-art-walk.html


17 tuesday
article draft work and then oscars work

18 wednesday
went to the gym and to get work done on campus before oscars work.
received word that i have been awarded a scholarship to curtin university which makes it financially possible to live in australia while going to school there.  which is amazing. it really is, but while that news is great, it didn't come with a revised letter to be able to apply for a visa.  so i'm still trying to sort out the visa, and being here, and getting there and whatnot.

19 thursday
while my pottery class has finished, the thursday people still have class. so i went to pottery class to finish glazing my 3 pieces that weren't fired before my class finished.  and i picked up a bunch of my finished stuff.  i like some of them.  i don't know what to do with them though now.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/edinhoodies.html


20 friday
called australia to ask about my scholarship offer and then went to the post office to post my acceptance of the scholarship. sadly it has to be a physical thing and will take 7-10 days to travel there.  and the lady that goes to is not someone who is able to help me with my enrollment letter. so i emailed that lady hoping that in this coming week i can get that letter sorted out.  i'm still stressed about the whole process - my brain hasn't really factored in this scholarship to make it more likely that australia will happen.  i think i need to have the letter to apply for the visa before that.  i went to school to try to be very productive.  and i was sort of productive and cleaned out most of what i had there but being on campus wasn't that great.  was hoping to see jane-marie but she didn't come in so that was that.
spent the evening going through clothes and things to find more to donate and clean up my room. and scanning some documents to cut down on papers that i then won't need to move.

21 saturday
spent a large portion of the day cleaning since brittany and i are having an open house today (sunday) for potential new renters for the flat.  as part of our deal in breaking our lease early we're sort of in charge of dealing with finding new people for the flat.  the open house is happening right now, we've had three sets of people come in.  only one group was interested but we're waiting on more people who said they were coming although it's close to the end of the time we said we'd have it.  so i'm less excited about the chance of sorting it out today.
after cleaning, brittany and i went to the cafe to do some writing.  i re-went through my discussion and conclusion bit of my draft and figured it's at a point to send back off to adrian.  so i did email it to him last night.  hopefully it's not too terrible.  i think that bit is a bit jumbled - the ideas are there but it's not the most precise writing. and now it's 19,500 + words (a dissertation amount).  as adrian said, it will make a nice sound when dropped on a desk in paper format.  and it is a then a considerable chapter of my thesis.  so hopefully it's not terrible.
we went to wetherspoons to have a pint and burger meal deal for the evening.  there was this concert thing that was supposed to happen but then plans got all iffy and weird so we opted not to do that and just go to the pub. it was a chill evening although real madrid was playing barcelona so the pub was packed for the match.

22 sunday (today)
went for a walk along the canal and ended up at asda.  and this open house.  so far not as successful as hoped.  but the flat's really nice and clean and tidy. maybe people will still arrive.  we'll see.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/canal-walk.html

8-14 april

8 sunday
went to the grocery store with brittany.  we decided to walk to asda to get some exercise so there's an easter event.

9 monday
went to campus to get some work done.  sadly couldn't go to the gym, but did get a push  to start getting back on track to get some work accomplished.

10 tuesday
worked the afternoon shift of easter holiday after school club.  again only a few kids and nothing that great.

11 wednesday
brittany and i had only one day that both of us weren't working in some way during the holiday break and so we took a day trip.  we took the train to north berwick (east of edinburgh).  i'm really glad we were able to at least take a day during the holiday.  was really sad that i wasn't off traveling somewhere ( i mean last year i was on an island having amazing indian food for easter dinner), so i was glad we could take the day.  and i hadn't travelled east on the train (only really have gone to glasgow to the west).  so we went over and it's a little tiny town on the water.  it reminded me of cape may in a few ways.  we walked along the beach and then checked in on the bird centre.  there was supposed to be a cheaper boat trip option, but that was no where to be found so we ended up booking with the scottish seabird people so it was more money than either of wanted/could spend.  the boat goes out and around two little islands to see the seals, puffins, and gannets.
The gannets live on bass rock and it really is an incredible sight.  so in the end the boat trip was definitely worth it.  So because we booked that for the afternoon, we had time to walk over and climb the law (north berwick's equivalent of arthur's seat).  It was a good walk and an awesome view from the top.  when at the top, we were able to watch the train from edinburgh come across the fields into the town which was really neat to see.
And we lucked out with the weather because it was a beautiful sunny day (came back on the train to the rain falling in edinburgh).  it was forecasted to be rain and sun so it could have gone either way, and with our entire day being outside, it was really great that it was nice.
We walked through the little main street and had lunch sitting on the beach.  And went back on the train after our boat trip.  Was a nice day.  We saw lots of animals.  Oh and i also got to hold a lobster.

photos, lotsofotos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/north-berwick.html

12 thursday
Went to work for the morning shift of holiday club.  it was a pirate themed day although the kids didn't really want to do much of the activities.  i did spend a chunk of time making paper gold coins.  which occupied my time if nothing else.
Went to oxfam to donate some clothes on the way back and went in and out of about 4 charity shops.  Was nice to actually be able to go in them instead of just pass them on the bus.  To actually be out during day hours was weird.
Went to campus to work on my ESM article and the gym after that.

13 friday
went to work for the full day of holiday club.  we had 3 kids and took them into town for the science festival.  we had tickets to go see the bang goes the theory (a BBC science tv show) which was interesting although probably above the kids knowledge levels. and had lunch in the park on princes street and visited the interactive bit of the festival.  it definitely was a nicer way to spend an entire day of work.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/field-trip.html


14 saturday
went to campus to get work done on my ESM paper.  did pretty well throughout the week working on it which was definitely needed.  also went to the gym.

1-7 april

1 sunday

2 monday
it was easter holiday week. so i only worked from 8-1 on the first monday day.  we only had about 5 kids and 3 adults so it really wasn't that great.

3 tuesday
didn't really do anything for the rest of the week.  sadly was not a productive week, not even a little.

4 wednesday

5 thursday

6 friday
went to the cinema with jane-marie.  we saw the hunger games and then had some nachos at nachos fiesta.  it was really clear to me that i haven't been out in town doing something on a friday night in a really long time and that i haven't been out and around in a place with a large group of strangers because it was kind of bewildering evening.  just probably more sad than anything else.  but we had a nice evening.

7 saturday
i went for a walk down to holyrood and then up the mile home.  was a nice walk although it started to rain and was really gray and dark when it wasn't raining.
brittany, jane-marie, and i went to have dinner at nando's which was nice and then brittany and i got a cake from tesco for dessert that was super delicious.  we called it dinner for easter, not that it was fancy or in any way easter-like, but it was nice to go to nandos.  haven't been in a really long time.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/april.html

12-30 march

1. i can't believe it's the last day of march. Which just intensifies my anger (self directed) at the stress levels prompting me to really not be productive this month. time keeps moving forward, but i really feel like i'm in a holding pattern with school. and it just keeps getting worse. i think it's why my current cold just is lingering. and why i wake up with headaches (i'm thankful i'm sleeping though, i'll even accept the intense dreams). so frustrating.

but in an effort to try to do other things that then will maybe give me no other choice but accomplishing things, here's a recap of the rest of this month.

12 march - monday
pottery, oscars work, and tutoring work.


13 tuesday
oscars work

14 wednesday
oscars work, mexican dinner at nachos fiesta with jane-marie. yummy meal. jane-marie found a 2-1 mains voucher so we were able to get meals and (free margaritas). it was really nice to go out for a meal.

15 thursday
oscars work. made leprechaun masks.

16 friday
went to campus to do work, went to the gym.
had hoped to work on my draft that i had gotten back from adrian but it made me so overwhelmed i couldn't see how to start tackling it. unfortunately.

17 saturday
went to campus to attempt work and to the gym.
brittany and i went out to an irish pub for st patrick's day. they had live music. first group we saw was really good and then we waited for the next group. shockingly there was an hour and a half break of them setting up and it really wasn't worth the wait. that was a bummer. but we some guinness and heard/sang some irish drinking songs out for the holiday. it was nice.

photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/st-patricks-day.html

18 sunday
went to campus and to the gym.

really not an exciting week.again. sad.

19 monday
got a letter from curtin university (finally) although it wasn't one that would make me be able to go to australia. so then i felt even worse and more depressed about the situation (as opposed to being able to take a step forward in the process). spent the morning looking for how to get things notarized.
pottery. yay pottery although trying to glaze things really isn't my favorite part of the process. probably because it involves navigating around other people in the class and within the two hour time block there's not a whole lot of time. i tried to make a few more pieces too but there just wasn't a lot of time.
oscars staff meeting (ugh they're so drawn out and a waste of a lot of time) and work.

20 tuesday
went to the gym, made copies on campus, looked up more notary information. couldn't focus at all.
oscars work.

21 wednesday
met with a lawyer lady who notarized my documents. she was nice.
went to work

22 thursday
went to the gym, was on campus, went to work (we had a bake sale for dogs trust), went with brittany, jane-marie, and louise to see edinburgh uni's production of dracula. i really enjoyed it. it was done in the round. they didn't really have chairs though so we had to sit on the floor and there wasn't a lot of space so that was pretty painful. especially since my hips and knees have been hurting. so other than that, it was good. i really liked it. and we all had a pint after - nice to be in a group out for an evening.

23 friday
went to campus, downloaded and read journal articles. walked through the research park in lieu of going to the gym

24 saturday
went for a walk through town with brittany. through the scotch mist. the misty weather was pretty neat. we went down princes street and to the mall (yay poundland where i purchased a lock for the gym) and back through town. went in the newly re-opened portrait gallery. such a beautiful building and neat exhibits. and we had milkshakes.
we were supposed to go out for burgers but that plan got cancelled so we got a meal deal from sainsbury's and watched the woman in black movie. it was a nice chill evening.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/scotch-mist.html

25 sunday
went with brittany to cramond to explore cramond island. were on the bus with a spanish tour group - luckily we got on the bus and got out in front of them to walk to the island. walked all over the island and had a nice explore in the beautiful scottish spring weather that appeared for the day. then i skated up and down the promenade for 8 km while brittany read. we chose to come back into town to eat - had a burger and pint meal deal at the wetherspoons. and chilled out for most of the afternoon.
photos: http://blogographannex.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/cramond.html

26 monday
went to pottery. went to oscars- another long near pointless meeting. met jason for a pint who was in town for the weekend. it was nice to see him and catch up. actually felt like i had friends for a day. was still beautiful spring weather which also helped the mood.

27 tuesday
didn't go to campus - attack of the cold and sleep issues and my knee still hurts. read journal articles at home instead.
went to work. made butterflies with markers (which they don't call markers and get mad when i do) and water on coffee filters.

28 wednesday
read more journal articles and went to work.
got addicted to the draw something game. so much fun.

29 thursday
read more journal articles and went to work.

30 friday
went to campus, downloaded some more journal articles (i'm yak shaving .... still... eek) and tried to be productive. but only really managed to download some data and have two participants come in. went to the gym.

31 saturday
went to the post office to mail a cd that someone bought on amazon. i want people to buy the other stuff i have on there.
updated my files and organized some stuff on the computer. seems like i'm organizing but again not moving forward. but now i'm attempting to get somewhere. ugh.

have spent the week waiting on a new letter from curtin. which hasn't come. adrian had told me that he was given more paperwork earlier this week and had dealt with it but i'm still waiting. which is an issue. and keeps making me feel worse. and more stressed. and more at a standstill. a poor standstill.