White Knuckles

Today I've been in a good mood. I started that day off with the "Big Fun Run" around the perimeter of Holyrood Park with Linus. I then had brunch with my Dad and Linus. (Rebecka is in Victoria and Meghan is in Toronto for a wedding and reading break.) Then I went to meet up with Tallis at her hostel and we went to "Frankenstein's" for a Sunday afternoon half-pint. Then Nick and I skyped and then I met up with Linus and Tallis for dinner with my Dad at Yocoko, a cheap and delicious noodle bar. It some how miraculously did not rain this weekend.

Earlier this week we went to the "Specials" concert in Glasgow. So much fun hanging with Linus and Rebecka skanking the night away. My Canadian drivers license was almost taken away when I tried to buy a Magners cider it seriously went through several people before it was approved. I had never been to a concert that starts off with a bunch of people booing a photo of Thatcher; too funny. I loved the short, middle-age Scottish men skanking. Unfortunately because of their height I did experience a few elbow jabs to the boobs. Ouch!

Tomorrow morning me, Dad, and Linus are off to York. We'll stay there and then travel to Oxford and then on to Bath. I GET TO GO HERE: most amazing spa EVER. We should be home Thursday evening. Sunday I have a photoshoot.

It's too bad I'm in Europe for Halloween because it isn't really celebrated much at all here. :( I'll be thinking of all y'all at home with jealousy. I may even have to stay away from facebook for a couple of days after.

                   I see this view every day and it still doesn't cease to amaze me. It is so beautiful here.

Wear a Cozy Blue Sweater and Just Remeber: You have my Love to Keep you Warm

I miss everybody, but this week I've really been feeling the love from home. I've had so many people say so many kind words to me and it really makes a difference, no matter how small the gesture. Thank you friends and family.

Hehehe just for fun ---> must love dogs

Keep Calm and Have a Cup of Tea

Today Dad and I went to Eteaket http://www.eteaket.co.uk/. It was great! We had a traditional Scottish tea time with sandwiches, ginger-bread (basically banana bread made with ginger), mini-treats, and of course tea. I had a herbal tea blend of peppermint, chamomile, strawberry, lavender, and rose. Dad and I got to talking about potentially opening a similar sort of tea place in Victoria (because we both seem to be drawn to business). So many people would enjoy a lovely tea time without paying an arm and leg at the Empress. Would any of you be interested?

          Dad and I both find this picture super amusing because he looks like an excited little boy.

                     This photo is mainly to show just how small the mini-treats really were.



Otherwise today I went to H&M with my Dad where he got some new jeans and we went to British Home Stores to get new towels. No gym today as I went 3 days in a row prior.

Unfortunately, we're in a routine now which is making it so that we bicker and laze about and have no motivation. I can't stand it. Today I felt like a ghost in the house. Nobody would talk to me as I filtered in and out of the rooms. The sad part is, I didn't even really feel like engaging in conversation. My brain is experiencing so much turmoil. Just like the Clash I am continuously asking myself "Should I stay or should I go?" My self-esteem and confidence are slowly plummeting. I am too old to model. To quote another song that seems totally relevant, "They only want you when you're 17, when you're 21 you're no fun. They take a polaroid and let you go, see if they'll let you know." Yeah...I'm 21. Boo. Past my modeling prime already. I just feel so angry at myself and also so depressed. Fuck. I hate this. I don't even think Victoria will fix what I'm feeling.

Sorry for the sob sorry. My blog has become my agony Aunt because I feel that I have so few people to talk to that actually want to listen.

Must not end on a depressing note! I determine the quality of my own life and by goodness I am going to try to have an amazing day tomorrow doing all the things I love. :) Living right downtown in a very safe and exciting city is great. :)

stereotypes.

                             Frozen Haggis. A hefty ball of it too. I like how it says "Versatile".

Haggis and Veggie Haggis. Not unusual for a menu. In fact, it's more or less expected! The other options on the menu are pretty traditional too. The menu was pretty glossy so it was hard to get a good photo. I like how when food is vegetarian it is denoted with a (v). Useful! When scanning menus in North America I'll think "Ohh that sounds delicious," until I encounter the flesh part; here I merely scan for the (v) and then make my decision. Unfortunately, it is way harder to be a vegetarian here, less options.

 Bagpipes. Luckily I don't mind the sound at all, in fact it's kind of pleasant because all the people that play on the streets actually know how to play. I hear bagpipes daily, no joke!

I uploaded this photo to facebook, but basically it just shows a full kilt attire. I see a few a day. In fact, the little boy that lives above us wears a kilt as part of his school uniform. Whether a child attends private or public school they wear a uniform.

                                       ...the illustration on the box was too funny. However, I wonder why the guy doesn't have red hair.


So basically I uploaded these photos to show that Scotland is actually pretty much how we think of it in Canada. The stereotypes are true, which I wouldn't expect because a lot of the stereotypes about Canadians are not true (probably because our country is so vast geographically and culturally).
I should have uploaded a photo of Irn Bru. Irn Bru (no typo, but it is pronounced "Iron Brew") is Scotland's leading soft-drink. Scotland may be the only country in the world where Coca Cola is not the number one soft drink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irn-Bru

Now all about me. (haha) we hosted a "Canadian Thanksgiving," Meghan invited her peers from the university. This resulted in a Thanksgiving dinner with an Austrian, German, Turk, Greek, Indian, Brazilian, 2 Scots, American, and 5 Canadians. Wow. Being a vegetarian family we had no turkey and instead made a veggie pot-pie, chili, stew, stuffing, and ratatouillie. We had plenty of alcohol and bread with numerous spreads. I made an apple-walnut crumble and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. In a truly non-traditional fashion, the Thanksgiving party ended at midnight when the 2 Scots decided they were going to call taxis and usher everybody off to the club which was open until 3am on a Sunday night.

There are NO pumpkins in Edinburgh! Nothing canned or real. This is the first October of my life where I have not seen a pumpkin. I also wish I could have a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte :( I don't even go to Starbucks here because the service is so shit. I instead go to Costa where soy milk is FREE! That is awesome. I didn't choose to be sensitive to dairy and I certainly feel it's unfair that I usually pay a premium to avoid an upset stomach. Not at Costa.

The rest of October involves a photoshoot, visit from Meghan's cousin, potential trip to the North, the Specials concert in Glasgow, and 5km run Linus and I are doing in Holyrood Park.

pure quality.

We had nice weather! It lasted a mere 3 days, but I am very thankful! 20-25 degrees for 3 days!! I was able to walk around in a t-shirt or vest (tank top; I'm trying to pick up local words and slang). Today, although I haven't been outside yet I can see that the world has returned to its usual shade of chilly Scotland-grey.

This past week I have had a photoshoot, interview, casting call, and visited camera obscura. The photoshoot and interview landed on the same day; Tuesday. On Tuesday I took the bus by myself to West Lothian where I shot with a photog and his assistant who were both my age. Yay! It was great to hang-out with some polite, funny Scots for the day and chat about similarities and differences in our cultures. However, the bus ride out to West Lothian took 45mins and the bus ride home took 1.5hrs! (Rush hour). Then, as soon as I got home, I had to shovel food, write a cover letter, and print off my photo for my Lush interview. My interview involved 50 or so people split into 6 groups, rotating thru 6 stations. The interview lasted 2hrs and was actually a lot of fun because I got to hang-out and chat with some lovely ladies in my group who also happened to be in my age-range. I didn't end up getting the job (which I was a little bit surprised about because I have an excellent C.V. for my age and I displayed a lot of product knowledge, however...I have one fatal flaw...I am not a Scot). The interview involved some weird questions about ones' favourite Christmas memory and favourite Christmas smells, and all and all a lot of talk about Christmas. In some ways this country is a little backwards. In a Canadian interview for a large corporation one would never be asked about Christmas they would be asked about the holidays. Political correctness all the way. Also in a backward-fashion, I was not allowed to bring my grande caramel macciato on the bus. Apparently I might "spill on myself"...um ok? That is never a problem in North America and the woman sharing jam cookies with her toddler-son on the bus is far more likely to make a mess than me and my morning coffee.

Casting call went really well, but I haven't heard anything back yet so I am a little worried I didn't book that either. The casting call went so well I was sure I'd booked it. It was for an in-store fashion show and the owner of the shop is a really sweet women who hand-picked me off the Model Team's website. My self-esteem is feeling totally shot because if I didn't book the casting then I have suffered two failures in a week which is really unusual for me. I am only good at a small handful of things. Two of those things in the petite handful happen to be job interviews and modeling. Ouch.

Lastly, Camera Obscura was ridiculously fun. Definitely one of the best, if not the best tourist attraction I've visited. Me, Linus, and Becks spent about two hours laughing our butts off and enjoying a museum full of optical illusions. If anybody comes to visit me in Scotland whether that be before Jan or during the summer we are definitely going back to Camera Obscura. For less money than a movie I was definitely way more entertained. http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/

Well time for Linus and I to pack up and head to Pure Gym. It's kind of funny, it takes us almost longer to get to and from the gym than the amount of time we actually spend there. It's quite the walk!