As the United 757 I was riding on banked around a large and ominous looking cloud formation on descent into Edinburgh Airport I stared intently out my window. I hoped that at any moment my eyes would pierce the lower cloud layer and catch a glimpse of what awaited below. I had never been visited Scotland before, or any part of the United Kingdom for that matter, and despite the vast amount of information available on the internet to help me prepare I was anxious. I felt prepared, or at least I had until the plane's wheels left the tarmac. Then I thought "wow, we're really doing this." Almost 7 hours after that moment I caught my first glimpse of Scotland off in the distance, verdant, hilly, and dotted with rays of sun. It was a huge relief. In the foreground ships lie at anchor in the ocean and as we dropped lower I spotted the iconic Fourth Rail Bridge. A few minutes later the plane made a smooth landing, slightly ahead of schedule, and my day went downhill from there.
All of the international flights into Edinburgh arrive about the same time in the morning meaning that the four Immigration officers on duty that morning had their work cut out for them. Unfortunately for me, my flight was the 3rd Flight from America to land that hour and I was seated in the back. This meant I would have to wait for a few hundred others to (hopefully) be admitted to the country before I could present my visa. After getting my passport stamped it was off to the baggage claim where I promptly managed to switch my carry for my checked bag, a mistake which I would only realize once I was past the point of no return. Three and a half anxiety filled hours later I was finally reunited with my carry-on and, after checking to make sure I hadn't managed to drop anything else I hauled myself out of the airport at as close to a sprint as I could manage with 100lb of baggage. The Lothian buses were simple enough to understand and took me straight to the city center where, after the chaos of the morning, I opted to try to simplify my life by avoiding a cab and instead drag my bags the final mile to my flat, a choice I would come to regret as I realized the path there was anything but flat.
When I finally got into my room, which I found surprisingly spacious, I was ready to drop. Unfortunately for me I had not opted for the bedding pack so I had to make a run to IKEA. I met a group of fellow GW students for this journey and managed to procure everything I needed for the night for much less than I anticipated (and at a far better quality than the sets the school sold.) After that some of us went to a pub for dinner but by that point I was so exhausted, having not really slept in the past 30 hours due to some unfortunate luck on the plane that I hardly remember my meal.
The next morning I woke up pretty dehydrated but somewhat optimistic. I figured it was time to make the best of things despite their rough start. My flat's residence life team had organized a hike up Arthur's Seat which promised a great view of the city and I was excited (The imposing hill had played a larger role in my thought process while selecting Edinburgh than it should have.) Before we had made it a half mile away from the meeting point it began to rain. By the time we made it to the base of the hill over half of the group had dropped out (this trip has already proved the usefulness of my rain coat 100x over.) 251 meters of elevation and a lot of rain that inexplicably seemed to have the ability to travel horizontally later we reached the top just in time for the storm to abate. As it cleared we got the wonderful view of the city that we had hoped for and, on the opposite side of Holyrood park, a double rainbow.
I spent the next few days wandering the city to familiarize myself with my surroundings. I'm the sort of person who can navigate anywhere without a map as long as I know what direction I started facing and have a rough idea of my target. Long walks helped me build up a crude mental map and feel more at home. On my third or fourth day I visited a grocery store near my flat. I regret not making an effort to do so earlier because it is unbelievable how much better you feel when you know you're capable of doing something as simple as buying groceries.
Over the rest of the first week I didn't attend an excessive number of the welcome week events but I made a point to hunt down representatives of The Student (the Uni of Edinburgh's student newspaper) and the Photography Society. I also attended a meeting of the "Global Buddies" program which is designed to bring exchange or abroad students together to make new friends and compare our abroad experiences. I think it's important to take advantage of any opportunity to meet new and possibly like minded people while establishing yourself in someplace new.
Classes have all ready started but seeing as this entry is rather long already I'll touch on those next week when I have a better feel for them. I'll also hopefully have some travel plans cemented by then. Over all, despite something of a rough start I've managed to press on past the problems and it looks like its going to be a very good semester.