Week 3: Great People & Doing Spontaneous Things With Great People

It's crazy to think 3 weeks have nearly gone by, WHEREDIDTHETIMEGOAHHHHHH.

This past week, I traveled to St. Andrews on an International Student Centre trip. A lovely coastal town right on the beach, St. Andrews is the home of golf, a castle, and yes the love story of Will & Kate. We had a lovely time wandering round the whole town (it's small and fairytale-like). Memorable moments include searching for a famous bridge, only to arrive and find a really tiny one in the middle of a (busy!) golf course...then running through the said busy(!) golf course trying to avoid getting hit by (multiple) golf balls... then running through the sandy beach a la "Chariots of Fire." It was brilliant.

Sunday was another great day of worship, connecting with the church community, and eating yummy food at someone's house! So thankful for the people in Edinburgh.

Tuesday, I ate lunch at "Patisserie Valerie" with a friend, whom I had met rather funnily - waiting in line at the Visiting Student Office. It's funny how God orchestrates new friendships :). That night, one of my flatmates (thanks, Marta!) took me out round town and then we spontaneously decided to hunt for a deep-fried Mars Bar...the hunt was successful. So gooey, so delicious, so many calories (but I tell myself I walk so much in Edinburgh, so all those calories burn off immediately...right?...right?...).

look of approval

Wednesday I spontaneously (notice a theme here...) hiked another part of the Salisbury Crags (thanks, Kirsty!), and walked round a beautiful swan lake (literally, a lake of swans). For dinner, Chan-Mi, a wonderful sister in Christ who lives on my floor, cooked a delicious meal of Korean food for us (thank you!)...then we ate Haagen-Dazs strawberry cheesecake ice cream (thanks, Becca!) in the dead cold of January, because it's strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Wednesday night was also "Scottish movie night" at my flat. My flatmates and I watched "Friends" first (not Scottish, but nonetheless a great TV show), then segued to "Sunshine on Leith." GO WATCH IT it's absolutely brilliant, just think of Mamma Mia with ABBA songs except it's Sunshine on Leith with all Proclaimers' songs.

the lovely Liv serenading us in the kitchen flat

Thursday night, my 3rd ceilidh since landing in Scotland. (I must confess I still don't know my St. Bernard's Waltz from Strip the Willow...)

Friday was amazing, 1) because no class 2) tea with a friend at this cute place called "AnTEAques" (#britishpuns)

violet jam, where have you been all my life

3) someone cooked a delicious/masarap Filipino dinner (thanks, Jansenn!)

tinola in Edinburgh = happy stomach

 and 4) spontaneous bus ride(s) to watch a Rugby match for the first time ever. I may not be the biggest sports fan ever (except when it comes to the Cincinnati Reds, Federer, & Manny Pacquiao), but watching Rugby was something I wanted to do while in Scotland. (Shout-out to my flatmate Amy for helping me retrieve something from my room before leaving for the match!)
Before trekking to Murrayfield Stadium, there were two sweet Scottish granddads who directed us which bus stop to take, and which stop to get off...thank you God for orchestrating that as well, because we would have been so late to the game if we didn't know where to go haha.

cheerin' on the hometown team

(btw I know I'm forgetting tons of people so thank you to those people I forgot!)
Giving thanks to a lot of people, this week and in the future.
Signing off til next time,
#John15:12-15