rain?

so today is the first full day of rain. before this, i've only experienced the occassional sprinkling, which never really lasted very long. but today is the first day i've woken up to rain with no foreseeable end in sight. obviously, it's far from the last time this will happen, but rather the first of maaaaany. good thing i bought a badass red tartan umbrella.

well, freshers week is just about over, and maybe i sound lame, but thank god. i am far too old/lame for this. so last week on uhh saturday all the freshers moved in (and let me tell you, these british girls are far too sassy, and are even all dressed up just for breakfast!!). that would make this my THIRD year of living with freshmen. i'm not entirely pleased with this, for reasons that i am.... a third year. did i mention that in scotland, high schools are 3 years, so that makes some of these freshers... 17. a few are even 16. what is this?!?! i mean, luckily i'm young, and only 19 (unlike everyone else from pomona who is 20/21), but still... the age/mental difference is very apparent. it's just kind of awkward, because i definitely lack the freshmen mentality, as well as the urge to go out and party/drink every night, which the freshers here are VERY good at. actually, it seems like every uni student is good at it. when i was reading descriptions for all the societies and sports clubs, and all of them we work on on the court AND PARTY HARDER OFF AHHHH!!!! or if they're a society, they're all sponsored by some pub and get mad drinks. it is crazy.

anyways, i'm still debating whether i should join the badminton club, bcz they all look really hardcore, plus it costs money, which i'm highly against. but i signed up for a lot of societies, so hopefully i'll stick with at least a few of them. i went to the women of the world (basically, like the women's union) meeting, which is cool. i hope to continue with that. i also signed up for a lot of like, environmental and political societies. haha and i signed up for the japanese society!! but it makes me nervous because i think about 80% of them are white. meaning, not japanese. so that's weird. i also signed up for the socialist club (???). uhhh, i don't want to talk about it. i kind of want to join the chocolate society or wine society, but both of them cost money, so i'm still debating that. but ya, uni offers SO many more societies than pomona, it is sad. so it's really awesome having the opportunity to choose from hundreds of societies, but at the same time, the fair was mad overwhelming.

tomorrow i go to glasgow for the afternoon, which i'm excited about. i heard it's so much more badass than edi. how excellent. and on tuesday i'm going to the rugby world cup, bcz it's in edinburgh (scotland v. romania! wheee!!). also, nerd alert, i'm very excited for classes to start on tuesday. there is just nothing to do during the day, which is one of the reasons i've been going to the gym everyday. the other reason is that the gym here is AWESOME!!!!! every machine has its own tv. have i mentioned this before? i dont care. i'll say it again. i love the gym here. and pomona paid for our passes, which is excellent.

so i regret not opting to live in a flat, for reasons mentioned earlier: freshers. i have actually not been able to sleep through the night since they moved in. assholes are SO FREAKING LOUD. they come back from wherever at like, 5am, and just chill in the hall and talk really loudly and whatnot, RIGHT OUTSIDE MY DOOR. seriously, tuesday night 5am, freaking boys in the room next to me, put on BEACH BOYS of all things, and i can just hear like 7 of them singing loudly that surfing song. really? really?? so they continued to party for like an hour longer, until someone finally yelled at them. really doesn't help the walls are paper thin here. if it weren't for the single, it's possible i would start cutting all of them. i mean, there are some very excellent creatures here, and i like a lot of the people, i just kind of want to be around people my age. so, like i said, i'm really excited for classes. and hopefully once this week is over, everyone will calm down. and i dont want to sound like i hate it or anything, because i still love it here a lot and am having fun. i just kinda wish i didn't live in a freshmen dorm. but seriously i have found all the delicious cheap food places, and that is great, bcz oooh, dorm food here makes frank dining hall look like gourmet delishness. ok, next time, hopefully i'll be rambling about how awesome my classes are/awesome the things i'm doing this week are. wheee!!

holla, scotland

reasons why scotland is bomb

1. really, really beautiful
2. amazing architecture
3. i am in LOVE with every single accent here
4. delicious cheap panini sandwhiches (like, 2 quid)
5. (mostly) excellent pomona people
6. so far pretty excellent weather, as in hasn't really rained, i've seen the sun a few times, and i only need a light jacket
7. pubs are delightful
8. really cool vintage shops (haha, i finally got a coat)
9. amazing places to see
10. just being in europe, and knowing i can go anywhere

reasons scotland is lame

1. mad expensive: everything costs the same, but pounds are uh, TWICE a dollar. what the hell, american economy. stop ruining my life.
2. knowing that this weather is considered really great, and it's only going to get worse
3. that awkward little thing called 'anti-americanism'
4. right now there are only weird french teens and grownups for conferences at uni, so thats kind of awk
5. classes technically don't start until sept 14, but we started class today because pomona thinks that we wont be challenged enough, or whatever.
   
6. the fact that i didn't get internet until TODAY. as in one week after i got here basically.
7. random stuff is really expensive, like hangars and water.
8. after my first choice for my sociology course got canceled, i get here and they cancel my second choice. so i'm kind of screwed right now, but hopefully the director will sort it out tomorrow.
9. water pressure in general is awful
10. my mattress is lumpy?

ok well i wanted to give a list of ten for pros and cons, but in all honesty there are far more pros and they totally outweigh the cons. like, yesterday, we went to leith walked around anstruther and ate at this super famous/delicious fish and chips place, and then walked this hike up the coast to crail, which is so beautiful. well all of it was so beautiful. and people are so friendly and just start talking to you everywhere you go. then we went to st. andrews which i'm definitely going back to because we only got an hour and my camera died and it's just so incredibly beautiful there. i did get some good pictures of the cathedral and castle ruins though.

other than that, it's just been a lot of walking around edinburgh and trying to get acclimated to the city and how to get places, and buying everything i didn't bring, which was everything. i think i'm done with essentials now though, i just need to get some more warm clothing, but i have some time before that's necessary. i think some of us are going to try to go to amsterdam before classes start, which would be so tight. and we're talking about oktoberfest, and when's best to go. basically, everything here is just so much more beautiful, but then you pay for it with prices, so i guess it evens out? something random: so mercedes benzes are everywhere, but they're like, the dumpster truck, the taxi, the shuttle, etc. it's hilarious. i've seen only a few 'nice' benzes. i've only seen one american car (ford), but a ton of hondas, acuras, vw, jags, etc. edi had its own version of 4th of july last night, where they have an orchestra and set off fireworks at the castle, and everyone in the country comes out for it as it marks the end of the festival. it was funny, because they had an 'american' theme for the music this year, and one of the announcers was like, oh, i hope that american music goes well with fireworks. back to you dingo dave. haha, i LOVE scottish people. also, i was at this pub/club a couple nights ago called frankensteins, and it is amazing. first of all, on mondays and wednesdays its a rocky horror theme, but also, they only play like, early 90s music, so i heard a lot of like, hanson, backstreet boys, etc. i was obviously really pleased. ok, to end it, scotland has SUUCH tight history, and it's amazing being in a place with buildings from like, the 16th century and whatnot, and i think i want to stay here forever, or move back.

cheers!! and i love you all and i miss everyone very much and life was hard without internet but yes i have it now so plz skype me (just search kristin.fukushima@pomona.edu), im me (fookaroo8), or email me at above address. love!!!