I'm Here!

Hi Everyone! I made it to Edinburgh successfully. The plane ride was long and I didn't get much sleep (thanks to the guy that sat next to me on the plane), but I got to the Amsterdam airport without much trouble. There, I made friends with an ex-University of Edinburgh immunization PhD student, Katie. She told me some great places to go (Edinburgh Leisure for indoor rock climbing, Student Union to find housing, etc.). Also, someone heard me asking about guitar shops and recommended one for me (Guitar Guitar) to find my axe for the trip. I was originally thinking about getting a cheap new 6-string but now I'm thinking that a used 12-string might be more fun. Anyway, it turns out that Katie lived just down the street from where I'm staying, so we shared a cab - it was good because I had someone to follow out of the airport and she new the best ways to get around all of the construction - apparently Edinburgh is installing a new Tram for public transportation. She made the trip much easier.

My biggest concern now is finding housing. I'm currently in a nice Bed & Breakfast, the Strathallan Guest House (44 Minto St.) that is less-than a mile from my workplace (Appleton Tower), but it's expensive and I can't get internet in my room. Thus, I'm looking for "permanent" housing elsewhere. I have an appointment on Saturday to view a flat that is right on the same block, but for now, that's my only lead - all my other contacts have stopped responding for some reason... maybe they saw my picture and they're afraid of how devilishly handsome I am ;-) jk.

My other concern is getting my bank account setup. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is the parent company to Citizens Bank. There's an RBS on my block, but they had never heard of the International Account that I'd filled out - so they're sending it to their head office, something that could take up-to 10 days. The problem is that I'm almost impossible for people in the UK to contact since all my contact numbers are for the USA. I inquired about some other accounts that I could open faster (on location), but I need a "permanent" UK address (and proof) before they'll allow me to sign up for such an account. So it looks like I'm stuck paying some exorbitant ATM fees for now until I can resolve these issues. I'm open to any ideas. Until my next post...

One last thing - I really miss you all!!