on holiday!

Hey there. I have no excuse for going so long without making a good post, since I've been on vacation for the last couple weeks. The best I can say is that I have been enthralled in several good novels since the semester ended, and that, between a series of nasty colds has drawn my attention elsewhere for a time. Hoping everyone has had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas eve gorging ourselves on Indian food, egg nog and all sorts of sweets with our friend Sean. Christmas day, we went over to our friend Hope's house and had a very nice dinner with some other American and British friends. Ryan and I purchased new cell phones for Christmas gifts to each other. They are Motorola Razrs with all kinds of bells and whistles. I like the slim design and have been enjoying being able to send Ryan text messages all the time. They are tri-band phones so that we can use them in the US when we get back. For those of you who might want to call me or send a text, my new cell phone number is 01144 795 058 3158 (dialing from the US). Ryan's number is 01144 795 058 4699.

Overall, the holiday was very quiet and restful for the both of us. For Hogmany (New Years) we will be attending a street festival and likely several other parties. We have heard that the fireworks will be a sight to see. We will take pictures (don't worry, we will also be posting pictures from our Christmas dinner when we get them) of everything to share. Ryan will be continuing to work for Betfred, as the Recycling job he was hoping to get fell though. Still, there seem to be very good prospects for promotion and he will be able to transfer to London (we hope) this next fall, which will make things easier then at least. For my part, I have decided to start doing some tutoring on the side to earn a little extra dough. Come summer we are hoping to do some camping in the Scottish highlands, a rock climbing trip is already in the works (with some Scottish friends) once the weather dries out and warms up a bit.

Winter in Edinburgh is a lot like Oregon, about the same temperature and moist. Christmas eve was almost magical, as this thick fog descended onto the city and wrapped itself around all the buildings. The castle and all the church steeples were entirely concealed by the mist and everything had a glow to it. I was very glad to spend the evening indoors munching goodies by candlelight! (We sadly didn't have a fire in the wood stove after all, because the door leaks and needs repair. So after hauling home a 23 pound sack of wood and kindling by myself over a mile!! it has ended up unused in a nice stack. At least I got a good workout!) The heavy winds we were having for a while seem to have died down a bit, and except for fog, it has been pretty dry the last week. Good weather for running, too bad I have been sick, which has caused my asthma to flare up and put a real dent in my training schedule. Oh well, at least I haven't had a migraine in ages thanks to my strict (however miserable) adherence to my no cheese, no chocolate, no tomato and no meat diet... I have to stay staying away from the cheese is the hardest for me, especially with all the fine vintages available over here. I have to confess I do take a good sniff now and then but not being to have even a bite feels like torture. Life could be a whole lot worse though so I try not to think to much about my austere diet these days.

Well then, after such a long rant I suppose I should be ending this post. Hopefully I will have more exciting news to share next time!
love Alletta

Change, change, change...

SO, just as I am getting all settled in and comfortable in Scotland I have had a major realization. After some very deep talks with my supervisor and professors here in Edinburgh I have come to realize that it simply does not make sense to stay in Edinburgh next year. I have really enjoyed my coursework here but by the end of the year I will have exhausted most of what Edinburgh has to offer which interests me and will not necessarily get that much out of another degree at this university... So after a brief crisis I have accepted this and come to realize that really the place for me next year is going to be the London School of Economics and Politics, which offers a really fantastic multi-disciplinary degree in human rights. LSE is a world class institution and many of the folks I would be working with there are at the top of their field. Just reading all the course descriptions for this degree has got me really excited about this opportunity. Moreover, living in central London will afford me the chance to do an internship with a major human rights NGO, possibly even Anti-slavery International, whose work directly relates to my research interests. Ok then, so those of you that wait until next year to come visit us will be seeing us in London instead of Scotland. Oh well, we are going to make the most of our year in Edinburgh and after all, London will be a fantastic and dynamic place to live, if it is a bit more expensive!!

to learn more about LSE and the degree I will be doing next year, click on these links:
About LSE
About Human Rights masters degree

The future and other things...

So I've got an interview today for a job in recycling. Its with the University of Edinburgh, and basically identical to my job back at U of O. I am in a good position for this interview because I've got nothing to loose. I already have a job (I'm a cashier at a bookie, Betfred) which I really like. Its easy and I get along well with my co-workers. Plus I am very qualified for this job. After all I've got nearly four years experience in doing almost the same job, plus a really nice letter of recommendation from the U of O's Recycling Program Manager, Karyn Kaplyn. (Thanks Karyn).

The more I think about it, the more I can see myself making a career out of this. I think that this could be my little niche in the world. That one thing that I actually care deeply about and would be willing to devote 40 hours per a week to. The last two years I have been looking for my species being, if you will. I have gone through many different possibilities, and most of then didn't pan out, or at least the more i thought about it the less it appealed to me.

Early, in my time at University I was so in love with that lifestyle that I thought I would stay forever and become a academic. Well, after about three years of university education I realized that I had enough of education and wanted to get out into the real world.

So now, after graduation and marriage, here I am in the real world. Living in Scotland, I feel that I am actually very excited about having a career in waste management.


Okay well, got to go,
Wish me luck.


Ryan

some more pictures

I must admit that I am way too much of an invalid right now to get out and take pictures of all the lovely stuff going on in town for Christmas, and so I am posting these fantastic pictures online. They must have been taken in the last few days, because some of this stuff just got put up. And I must say, they are very accurate. The top picture is of the German Christmas Market on Princes Street. The second one is of the holiday festival thingy going on down in the Princes Street Gardens. Haven't been down there yet but I understand there are reindeer and an ice rink. THe last one is a few from Calton HIll over the skyline at night (of course). It looks kind og like there is a halo around the Sr. Walter Scott Monument with the Farris Wheel all lit up, doesn't it? Too bad it isn't a religious monument!
love
alletta

Finally I'm on vacation

After several miserable weeks of hunching over my computer (ok it wasn't that bad) I am finally done (almost!) with my first semester of graduate school. Just one more paper to officially turn in and I am off for almost a month! Now that Ryan is working just about full time, I am now looking for something to occupy my time. For starters, I made a dash down to London to attend a party hosted by the CEO of Gucci for U of O alums. Most of the attendees were Brits who had done study abroads in Eugene, though there were quite a few Americans present, including the familiar faces of several U of O boosters as well President Frohnmayer and a few administrators I got to knew fairly well during my time at Oregon. Though the event was clearly aimed at getting financial support for the university, it was overall rather cordial, with lots of drinks and hors d'oeuvres to go around. The evening ended with a special shopping trip to Gucci's London boutique, which was opened specially for us and included a ten percent off discount. Unfortunately, even with the discount it was all WAY past my budget! Still, we had a fun time sitting aroung and gawking for all it was worth.

Upon returning from London I have been woefully struck down by a miserable case of the flu, probably worst I've had in years, since I was living in France, actually. I've already had two colds in the three months I've been here too! Oh well, this sort of thing is normal when you move to a new country. All the germs are new, and it can't really be avoided no matter how hard you try. I have noticed however, that likely due to my running, my asthma has not flared up at all with either of these last two infections, which is a REAL improvement. There is nothing worse than having a secondary problem like that interfering with your recovery. Just to think, all I needed all these years was some proper, regular exercise!!

Through Ryan's job we have finally had the opportunity to meet some real Scottish People lately. ( I know it sounds weird, but up till now we had not managed to make any Scottish friends, because most everybody at the University is from somewhere else!). The benefit of this is that we now know people living in Glasgow, and so if we can, we hope to make a trip this next weekend to visit and see the city. Now that I have some real quality interactions to judge from, I must say that Scots are truly very very nice and genuine people. Sure they can get surly when they're drunk, but their hearts are always warm. I must say that having gone back and forth a bit from the south to up here in the north, I am pretty much partial to Scotland, and I definitely felt like I was on my way home when on the train from London I heard a lovely chorus of soft Scottish accents after several days straight of clipped London style. As much as I love Oregon, I can already tell Scotland is working its way into my heart.

Alright then, I hope everyone is having a wonderful December.
Cheers
Alletta