My flat!!

I would tell you where I live but who knows what undesirables are reading this. My flat building is on the northeast side of Edinburgh. There aren't a lot shops and restaurants around but Tesco (Edinburgh's HEB) is 2 blocks down the road.

I love my blue door, reminds me of the TARDIS. It's a fair-sized 4 bedroom flat with a kitchen/lounge room. Three of the bedrooms are on the left side and my room, the bathroom and kitchen are on the right.
















The kitchen came equipped with a dorm fridge on steroids. It's a tiny fridge on top and freezer on the bottom. Neither hold enough food for 4 people. The most ridiculous appliance is the washer/dryer combo! Luckily, there's a hidden dishwasher so my lazy butt doesn't have to do any washing.


The building has a garden in the back for line-drying and chilling. Unfortunately, it's on the 3rd and final floor. Making my room and the bathroom extremely cold.









My lovely room!! Yes, I love zebra stripes that much. It's the smallest of the four because the water heater closet is in the corner. The view out my window isn't much to look at, just the street and a gas station. And, I'm stuck with noise from the street and kitchen.


SQUIRREL!!

It's the weather vane on the neighboring flat. Pretty nifty.

Getting in the Groove

Well, it's been a week and a half. I'm starting to get in the swing of things despite the randomness of the schedule. Here's a typical day: I get up at 7:30, board the bus at 8:10 and arrive at school around 8:40. Bus 8!! It stops 2 blocks from the flat and Summerhall. Lecture usually runs from 9 to 10:50 with a small break. Practicals/tutorials are in the afternoon, usually no more than 3 times a week. It's a pretty light schedule considering this is vet school.

Foodwise, it's been mostly sandwiches and pasta which is getting boring. i ate all of snacks from the plane ride over...no more beef jerky and peppered baked lays. I need to organize the fridgie thing to fit in ready-made meals (yes, I am lazy). Restaurant choices are limited as well, the nearest Mexican food being a 15 minute walk away. Meat is a prized commodity as it keeps me full and happy. Carbs, not so much. Although, Tesco makes the BEST pancakes!!! They are specifically "American Style" with slightly sweet taste. Eventually, I will learn how to cook. Steaks and cajun chicken strips are on the menu next week!

Because I'm in private accommodations, bills have to get paid SO no heat yet. My room sits on the top corner of the building and gets down to 59 F...lots of socks and layers to bed. Also, the cold doesn't make getting up any fun. I would turn it on but nobody has told me how to use the radiator.

I haven't had a lot of free time yet. Most of it is taken up shopping from school stuff, food and flat stuff. Of course, when I'm supposed to be studying, I indulge in some Psych watching.

Sleepy time now!

A beautiful day!!

Today was gorgeous. A little cloudy in the morning but it cleared up to a nice sunny but chilly. My kind of weather! I know it won't last for long. In winter, the temperature drops to 2 Celsius. That's a mere 35 Fahrenheit for you American folks.

A wonderful lady named Erin provided much needed information on the UK Pet Passport Scheme. I sent an e-mail to Cunard Cruises, DEFRA (the UK's USDA) and Research Pet & Bird. No replies yet but fingers crossed, everything gets answered and goes smoothly.

Several people walked Arthur's Seat while I planned on studying. Instead, I had a most wonderful lunch with classmates. Talked dogs, birds and future flatmates at the amazing Miller's Sandwich Bar!! Got free Scottish Bars which are like pralines without the pecans and coconut. Scotland is big on bread stuffed with deliciousness to-go. Paninis, baguettes, toasties or rolls--you name it they have it down pat.

If tomorrow is anything like today, I will be at Meadows Park on the swing set!!

Day 7 on the island

No, really, I'm on an island...

It's been a bit of a whirlwind of a week. Moving to a different continent, starting a new lifestyle...phew, it's exhausting.

But another official step to becoming a UKer...I'm officially a UK banker!! Managed to walk there by ALL myself. Free check book and no overdraft fees!



Since my roommates have been studying like crazy, I caught up to their 20+ hours, racking up an amazing 5 hours! It extremely hard to study lesson plans that I've learned 4 times before. Sigh, the downside of working beside youngins.

Fun times on the Island

As for Wednesday, easy school day ever!! I had a Director of Studies meeting. A DoS acts as my liaison/counselor/confidant. I really enjoyed her chat with my group and seems like she wants to help. It helped that I could sleep in and it only took half an hour. I spent the rest of the day shopping with the flatmates. You gotta love Doctor Who!! Half the store was dedicated to one of the best shows ever!

The roommates invited me along to an American-themed party at Pollock halls (the University residences). It was lots of walking but interesting to see what the islands thought of our primitive ways. Yay, beer pong! Went to a club/pub place called Bongo, a little different than I'm used to. Lots of techno music.

You gotta love IKEA!! I did some serious adventuring Thursday. Even bought a day pass for the bus. I figured out that you can either have a helpful or evil bus driver. Mine today was very helpful, even told me when to get off for IKEA. I'm pretty excited about my Daim candies to munch on while studying!

Of course, I noticed Google Maps kindly showed a Pets To Home nearby. And everyone knows "pet store + Kaitlyn= happy". I nearly got killed on the walk through the parking lot. I have yet to learn to look the right way for traffic. But, I made it in one piece. Pets To Home is the UK's version of PetsMart except it's better! They have raw food freezers down one aisle and no prong, choke or shock collars down the other! Woohoo! At least some countries know how do treat their animals right.

On Friday, to top off a fantastic couple of days, I got to pick up my loan check!! Nice chunk of change there! Carrying it around made me suspicious of people near my backpack. It rained on the way to my first graded practical. I ended up spending 3 hours soaking wet in the lab.

On the plus side, the girls and I had a wonderful Girls' night. Some great Chinese take-out and a movie makes a nice end to the week.

The first few days

I arrived at the flat and was greeted my slightly crazy flatmates, Sami and Elizabeth. I wanted to avoid jetlag since I had to start university (NOT school, here school means elementary, middle and high school not degree-seeking) on Monday. Fit in a little shopping and wandering all the while slowly fading. It didn't help that I went from 80 to 35 degrees and 6 hours ahead. Thankfully, I managed to stay up until 8 before passing out.

Monday was nice and easy. Chris, the fourth and final flatmate, was kind enough to get me where I needed to be. I meet the wonderful ladies at the VTO and was handed my notes and given a brief lowdown on everything. After the two lectures, I stuck near campus as to avoid getting lost. It was a little awkward having to follow people like a lost puppy. Thankfully, Sami helped me track down my matriculation card. Not an easy task! Went to 3 different places, each telling me it was at the other. It ended up being at the Main Library which is next to a gorgeous park! I ran into that day's practical instructor, Mr Pettigrew. He introduced himself and answered all my questions during the practical.

Unfortunately, Tuesday didn't turn out so well. I attempted, key word here, to ride the bus by myself. It failed...I managed to find where to get on but couldn't tell where to get out. I was going to get off the second time around but I would've walked into class late and that's just awkward. And, I didn't exactly know where the school is. I headed back to the flat which thankfully has a giant Yoga sign that can't be missed. The afternoon had a nice turn around though. I had a "practical" which is the same as a lab. Half the class headed to the university's Langhill Dairy Farm and Easter Bush sheep center. I loved it! Just learned the basics about sheep and dairy operations. The picture is of the wonderful protective booties.


For the most part, the timetable (aka schedule) is fairly light. One to two lectures in the morning and practicals or tutorials up to 3 days a week. Leaves lots of time for studying and wandering about the city.

Starting Off

Across the pond, a degree in veterinary medicine is considered an undergraduate degree. Certified veterinarians don't even have the title of "Dr". One main reason I'll practice over in the states. After all that work, I want to be Dr Kaitlyn Heideman (nice ring to it).

There are two main programs at the University's veterinary school: Graduate Entry Program and 5 year program. First, the GEP is for students with appropriate undergrad degrees. It takes four years and has an accelerated first year where they cram 2 into 1. They created for American students since that is the norm in the states. However, I'm just 10 hours shy of my BS in Biomedical Science at A&M so they wouldn't let me in. It's a little frustrating because it would've of saved me a year of time and a whole lot of money. Not to mention, my 3 years at A&M were somewhat null-and-void. Finally, the 5 year program is the normal veterinary course over in the UK. That's what Sami, Elizabeth and myself are in. I am in the same course as UK students just graduated from secondary(or high) school. This means a lot of review in order for everyone to be on the same level. However, the extra year allows for a slower pace and more time to learn the hard stuff.

In the end, I will end up with a BVM&S, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Science. The program is AVMA-certified so I don't have to take a foreign equivalency test to practice in the states!