The Time Has Come!

The walrus said to talk of many things. Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax-- Of cabbages--and kings--

NO, not that.

I am finally leaving for St. Andrews today! YESSSSS! I have been waiting for over 3 months, and now it's finally here! I cannot wait to get over there and start Freshers Week, and finally feed my brain some delicious nuggets of knowledge. Yes, believe it or not, I miss school. I miss homework. I miss learning! I haven't had classes, homework, or the like since May. For me, that is a ridiculously long time. Unfortunately, I still have to wait until the end of the month for that. Luckily Fresher's Week is there to pass the time :)

Speaking of Fresher's week, it is going to be immense! The first day of Fresher's Week starts off with a Foam Party. A party with foam. I can't think of a better way to start of my uni career than a dance party in a room filled with soapy bubbles.

There's also some great football matches...not that I really know or care that much about football, it's just that the games are between some of the biggest, best and most popular teams in the United Kingdom and I feel that I need to at least participate somewhat in this aspect of British culture.

And speaking of culture, there are probably 2-3 ceilidhs going on throughout Fresher's. For those not in the know, a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is basically a Scottish dance party. It features Gaelic music and dancing, and kilts. I even have a kilt for these occasions (thanks Grandma Dorris!). Normally I am opposed to dancing, but between the ceilidhs and the foam parties and the balls (more on that in a bit), I figure I'm going to have to get over it and consider this part of the re-invention of myself.

This re-invention of myself includes a (mostly) new wardrobe, because I've worm a uniform for the past 12 years of my life and therefore have no idea how to dress myself like a normal person. Make-up, because I need to look nice (this isn't a girls' school anymore, people are going to judge me based on my appearance). And, this is the big one, being less shy and approaching/talking to people with confidence. Hopefully the two previously described factors will help make this last change successful. Although it's really all down to me on that one.

As promised, this is now where I talk about the balls that the University puts on. High schools have dances, St Andrews has balls. The Opening Ball is like their version of Homecoming. It's in early October, and I already have my ticket for it. As for a date, either the above re-inventions of myself will secure that, or it will be like high school and I will go with a bunch of (female) friends. There will be many balls throughout the year at St Andrews, so I'll have more chances to have a date.

Lastly, Fresher's will be the time when I communicate with all of you lovely people. I will be getting a new phone (an iPhone 4, I might add), so I'll need to catch up with all of you to make sure I have your correct phone numbers, and that you have my new one. I will also be on Skype, Facebook and here (Facebook is the most likely of the three, however). I am not a fan of Skype, but for the sake of cheap and easy international communication, I am resorting to using it. Keeping in mind that I almost never use Skype, bear with me as I learn how to use it as proficiently as everyone else my age.

I think that's everything for now. I'll keep this and Facebook updated once I get there and get settled in to my new life at St Andrews.

God that feels good to say.

--Rachael

PS. Not that many of you care, but I am not doing labels on my posts anymore. I can never figure out what to put in the box, and frankly, I can't be bothered.

Happy birthday

To me! It's also exactly two weeks from today that I leave for St. Andrews. Let's hope to God that that time goes by at the speed of light. I'm absolutely losing it just waiting around for school to start. Sure, I have quite a bit to do before I leave, but that still doesn't stop the madness. Almost everyone else I know is already at school, and they all completely love it. That just makes it even worse. The good news is that I have some fun things planned with the few friends that I have remaining in Pierce County, and Mum is planning on making all of my favourite foods before I leave. I have two weeks to savour everything that I know and love before I go. Though I know that I will love St Andrews / Scotland as much as  I love home.

Roommate

Okay, so this post is a little bit overdue, as usual, but...

I finally found out who my roommate is! Her name is Amanda deBerardinis, and she is from San Diego. She's studying French and International Relations, and maybe Russian. Based on this self-description:

"I'm pretty quiet, studious, friendly, nice, and pretty mellow. I like to stay up late but don't drink or smoke or do any hard-core partying. I generally keep my room pretty neat but then again, sometimes it gets a little untidy haha."


I think we'll get along just fine. It also sounds like she went to a school similar to Annie Wright; she had a plaid uniform skirt and class colours. Her class colour was yellow. I am jealous. 


We're also interested in the same societies, so I really think this is a good match. 


Luckily for me, she is a blank slate for me to work with. She knows very little about Britishy-ness, has never seen Doctor Who (or any other British TV programme, I suspect) and, bless her heart, doesn't even know what Rocky Horror is. Oh, this will be fun. 

Accommodation

Miraculously, I have been placed into St. Salvator's Hall! The, frankly, best hall on campus. They told me I wouldn't fit in, that I wasn't posh enough....well. HA! I'll show them. I can be just as English as the English. Or as Scottish as the Scottish. I don't know. Basically, just not American. I'm so excited! I wasn't expecting to end up in Sallies, but now that I have... YESSSSSSSS!!! WHOOOO! VICTORY!

This will now be the view that greets me when I come back from a long day of classes:

Ahhh. Isn't that nice?

Critically Important News! ...That is Really Overdue...

Oh my golly goodness, it's been nearly 3 months since I've been on here. Ooohhh dear. Well, anyway, in that 3 month period of time, I managed to finally go over to Scotland (and England...), and get a good look round St. Andrews. It was sunny, warm, and not windy (!), and there were daffodils everywhere, and there were little lambies...oh, it was so precious. The most important bit, however, is that I got my IB conditions waived, so I can now go to St. Andrews without freaking out about my IB exams! Result! My Eternal thanks go out to Dad, who managed to convince Mrs. Minick to re-read my application as a student coming from a non-IB school. What ever am I to do without you?

New Accommodation Form--finally!

Hi,

Long time, no see. Sorry about that. It's been crazy busy at school. And unfortunately, I think it will be like that until June. Anyway, St. Andrews has finally updated their Accommodation Form from the 2010-2011 to the 2011-2012 school year! I filled out the new form, but I'm not sure when should I turn in the form. I could send it now in an email, or I could wait until my visit in April to drop it off in person at the Admissions office. One of my ideas is that maybe I should actually get to see the residence halls before turning in the form. On the other hand though, it might be good to know which hall I've been given an offer to, and then look round that particular hall when I visit. I don't know. Ideas?

Meeting with Mrs. Minick

I had a lovely meeting with the Head (I think) of Admissions from St. Andrews, Mrs. Meg Minick. I met up with her at the Charles Wright College Fair, and I spent nearly the entire time with her, helping translate for accent-challenged Americans (her accent was totally comprehensible...Americans are just silly) and talking with her about my favourite ever discussion topic: Doctor Who. I also spent an hour and a half with her and Dad at Starbucks, where we went through nearly all of the questions I had put down on three legal sheets. It was very productive, and Mrs. Minick is such a cute Scottish lady. Oh, I can't wait to go there! She said that when I come over in April/September we'll have lunch at a really nice seafood place! YUM!