Stuff I Wish I Was Told Part 2

Here's a list of things I wish I was told now that I've finished my academic semester in Edinburgh. I'll have the same warning as before: If you are a UT Chemical Engineering Student going to Edinburgh, this the post for you! Otherwise, I would ignore it.

-For many disconnected reasons the best place to live is close to George Square. If you are getting a flat, get one at George Square for the most bang for your buck. Things just work out if you live in that area.

-You can get away with only 40 credit hours if you are only here for one semester. If you are here longer though, you still need 60 credits.

-Holland House in Pollack Halls has a Microlab for easy printing/computer needs.

-You can get an anytime access card for a £2 deposit which you will get back when you return the card.

-The Holland House Video Library is not free, and makes you return movies after one day.

-If you answer a call from your room landline, it's free for you.

-The University is not Chrome friendly. If you find yourself having difficulties logging in online it might be because you are using chrome. I hope you like Firefox!

Sundays
Here's how my experience with Sundays here went down.

Step 1) Go to Edinburgh, complain how 90% of shops are closed on Sunday. How ridiculous! Huff Puff... in the states we would never stand for this.

Step 2) Go to another smaller Scottish city on Sunday, notice that 100% of the places are closed on Sunday. What do I even do now?

Step 3) Go back to Edinburgh, and be extremely grateful only 90% of the shops are closed on Sunday.

Packing for a EuroTrip
1) Things to note

Easyjet only allows you to carry one item of hand luggage without charging you extra. Ryanair only allows you to bring 22 lbs worth of hand luggage without charging you extra. Be careful to meet these requirements for your packing!

2) Regular stuff to Bring

-thin jacket
-rain jacket
-underwear
-socks
-pants
-t-shirt
-tooth brush
-nail clippers
-retainer
-phone
-phone charger
-camera!
-laptop (UT's registration period is during spring break, you don't want to get caught without a schedule)
-laptop charger
-laptop case
-USB connectors
-batteries

3) Special Stuff to bring
-European plug converter
-Entertainment (laptop, or music)
-Maps
-hotel reservations
-airplane tickets
-Eurorail passes
-passports
-Eurorail reservations
-in fact, any reservations

-cash
-credit cards
-emergency numbers
- phone numbers of hotels
-study materials
-medicines

-Blackwells and Till's bookshops will buy back textbooks. Many stores will only take textbooks as a free donation.

-Bring twice as many socks versus other sets of clothes. For example, if you bring seven pairs of pants you want fourteen pairs of socks. This is because there's a lot of walking in Edinburgh. When I come back from classes to my room, I take off my socks. When I want to leave again that day it feels good to put on a new pair.

-The University Chaplaincy Center is attached to the Modern Student Union. The University Chaplaincy Center is a nice quiet place, and has a free microwave.

-Renting a car can be as low as 30 pounds a day. If you split this between several people it can be a pretty sweet way to have a car for a day. This is especially useful if you're visiting another city.

-Bus fare is 1.20 pounds. Bus to Airport fare is 3.50 pounds one way, 6 pounds round trip. This does not apply to intercity buses.

-In terms of transport pricewise, it usually goes taxi>train>bus. I'm not sure where rented car fits in, since it is charged by day not distance (at least if you rent from Enterprise).

-It really is better to go to Scotland during the Spring. Having this massive spring break is just wonderful. Also, you get to take finals instead of papers and exams written specifically for abroad students at the end of winter.

The Sir Walter Scott Memorial was supposed to be free to climb

Above: Not free

It actually costs three pounds. You could get a better view free from Carlton Hill.

-Scotland does have a leap forward/fall back. For some reason it is not the same day as it is in the US.

-Always have your student card! There's deals for students everywhere.

-For maximum enjoyment, get yourself out there. Being in your room in Scotland is a lot like being in your room back at home. So enjoy Scotland by getting outside!

The Isle of Skye and the Eilean Donan Castle

This week during UT's spring break, Brett (a super-senior like Sara) came all the way over to Scotland to visit the Isle of Skye. Or as I kept calling it, Skye island or Skyeland. Anyways, I just think a land called Skye is pretty sweet.

Apparently Brett has family lineage that connects him to the Eilean Donan Castle in the highlands. So our adventure was set - upwards and onwards to the highlands! It began like all great trips, with the standard train ride.

Above: Left=Sara, Right=Brett, Bottom=Giggly.

After a relatively long train trip, we ended up in Stirling. We were still a ways off, but from here there was very little public transport could do to get us where we needed to be. To make it there we needed a car. It was quite eventful since it was the first time I've been in a car since Texas. It also was the first time Brett ever had to drive on the left side which added a layer of excitement. He was very professional and managed to drive us without even a fender-bender.

Above: Whoah, look where that steering wheel is!

As we drove to Skye I could see the seasons pass by.

Above: Driving in Spring.

Above: Driving in Winter.

I believe that we honestly spent 20 hours of our two day adventure in the car. But  it was the most beautiful road trip I've ever been on. Miles and miles of empty unspoilt lochs, mountains, and sky. We took a lot of scenic shots, and I tried to cut out as much as I could.

We also took many stops for pictures, but the stops never lasted long. It was so cold! Remember, at the time we were 57 degrees latitude, higher than Moscow (55 degrees)!

Above: Cold Photo-op.

There were mountains everywhere. Must have been some serious tectonic business going down here for the last eons or so.

Above: This is about as ugly as the highlands gets.

Eventually our awestruck brains realized that our bodies were hungry. So we found a Paddy's Pub in a little town to get some grub. Brett got the classic with a fish n' chips.

Above: Classic.

Sara and I tried for something a bit adventurous. We both ordered the venison (deer) burger with melted brie and haggis. Here's a burger that won't be in the states anytime soon!

Above: A venison, haggis, and brie opportunity.

The venison burger was a bit tough, like venison always is. Overall a very filling sandwich though. Had a nice salad and fries as well.

Eventually we kept driving, getting colder and colder the higher we went. The misty mountains (LOTR anyone?) become really mysterious. We couldn't see the top, which made them look even higher than they already were.

Above: Where's my sled?

Eventually we started going lower in altitude and escaped the snow. Just in time for the castle too!

Above: So open, makes Linlithgow feel confined.

Above: Earth, Wind, Water & Bryan.

And then we found Brett family's castle, the Eilean Donan Castle.

Above: Eilean Donan Castle.

If you think you've seen it before, you probably have. It's a pretty famous castle, and has been shown in a lot of movies, like Highlander.

Above: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE (Eilean Donan Castle)!

Sean Connery's also been there, which gives it insta-cool status.

We arrived ten minutes before the last tour. We weren't allowed take any pictures according to our dressed-up Scottish guide. Brett, Sara and I were the only english-speaking tourists, so we were essentially given a private tour.

Above: Stylish Stone Structure.

At some point in the middle I noticed this hugemongous sword at a fireplace. I asked if I could pick it up, and I think the guide was bored enough to let me. He even let us take photos!

Above: Brett saw a good opportunity and got in on the action.

Above: You call that a sword? THIS is a sword.

After that I realized that the guide was really lax and didn't really care if we took pictures. Unfortunately we already went through most of the short tour before I could snap away. Here's a picture of Sara in the castle's kitchen.

Above: One of these statues looks real.... I think it's the waiter.

After our tour we quickly circumnavigated the castle. I found the foundations of a house.

Above: What happened to my house?

Sara posed behind a old-timey cannon.

Above: Don't piss off Sara.

Eventually we had to go, there was a whole island to explore.

Above: Bye bye Eilean Donan Castle.

We looked around for a hostel in several places before finding one for 16 pounds per night in Portree, the closest thing the Isle of Skye has to a large city. We decide to sleep there. I thought the hostel colors were especially funky, but this might just be regular hostel practice. I'll be able to tell you more about hostel's after my Eurotrip.

Above: Funky Colors.

The place was a bit dodgy (the first rooms we booked didn't unlock) but eventually we get a private double and another single. Another weird thing, the rooms we slept in didn't lock. You better believe I slept with my belongings that night.

Above: Sara and Brett's room.

Sara and Brett got the double bunk bed room. I went to a room with one other guy in a large 6-bed room. I feel sorry for the other guy though, I dropped my phone and went looking for it at 4:30 am. We all also got up to go at 5:30 am. Sorry roommate!

We drove in the morning to try and catch the sunrise. Unfortunately it was too cloudy, but we got some good shots of beautiful places all over the isle.

Above: Some famous waterfall.

Above: The jagged edge of Skye.

We make it a bit early to our 10:30 tour at the Talisker distillery. I've never been at a distillery before (probably because I can't enjoy the freebies). But we were all chemical engineers, and it was really neat seeing all the machinery and chemical engineering sections in the distillery.

Above: Ethanol Plant. I mean Distillery.

There was a waiting room with some interesting Skye history. I particularly liked the story of the frightened run-away cross-dressing prince Charles.

Above: The very attractive Betty Burke.

Again photography was forebade. But unlike the Eilean Donan Castle tour, here it was enforced. The biggest thing I secretly learned from the tour is that despite it being Skye beer, a big part of the final product is dependent on American wood. All the caskets where the beer is stored for years and gets its color from is all american imported wood. Also it is fermented in large (american) wooded fermenters. To be fair though, the water is from Skye, and the grain is from Scotland.

Above: Lots-o-Ethanol.

After the tour we had to go back and returned to the car. The trip back from Skye was a lot faster, probably because I has that whole comfy back seat to myself. Zzzzz (snort)zzzzzz....

There were some curiosities that you wouldn't find driving around in Texas.

Above: Just sheep walking on the road.

Besides beer and pretty pictures, sheep products are the major export of Skye.

Above: Mufasa, the Majestic Sheep Version.

I really enjoyed all the different animal crossing signs there were. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of them. The cows there were a bit shaggier and even nicer than their US counterparts!

Above: Red Highland Cow.

This cow was just the friendliest. He took poses and wasn't even remotely scary.

Above: He really stuck his neck out for us.

The main thing Skye lacked was a sense of danger. It lulls you in with its pristine landscapes and beautiful horizons, but inside a car I got sleepy. Still pumped from GoApe, I tried to fit in excitement where I could. I got my chance at the dock of Skye.

Above: So while Brett was taking this picture of Sara....

Above: Bryan was up to no good.

Hey, I've got to practice my high-beam balancing. and it really sealed the trip was a wonderful experience. If you want to experience lush, cold, mountainous beauty, look no further than the Scottish highlands.

Unfortunately this was Brett's only week here, and he spent the second half visiting family. So this is the only post I'll have with him. We had a great time, and played some card games before he left. Which reminds me, I really enjoy a new game I learned called Up the River; Down the River. It's like a pseudo-spades game that is quick and can be played with any number of players. Great game. Ask me how to play some time.

The Last Week of Classes and Jordan's Videos

This week is my last week of classes! After Friday I have 45 days to wait until my first final. To celebrate, I've posted videos from most of my semester's adventures.

Let me start off by saying all of these videos were made 100% by Jordan Stewart, Queen of FlipVideo. I've simply posted all the video files that she sent to me.

That said, here are the videos posted chronologically. First we have the first trip to Saint Andrews from January. This was the first trip Jordan, Sara and I took together after we first met at the Céilidh. We went the 22nd of January, over two months ago. How time flies, yadda yadda yadda.

I was not there for this next one . Sara and Jordan made a video of their own experience in Linlithgow. I went to Linlithgow separately after them, but it looks like they had a great time like I did. Around 1:47 you can see the world's best lasertag arena.

Jordan also worked on this Lion King-esque video of our climb up Arthur's Seat. You can get a better sense of our height from the video.

Finally Jordan sent me a little snippet of me struggling working admirably on a Go Ape metal ring challenge.

Now it's time to prepare for my Eurotrip with Caiqian. Coming up, Paris, Lucerne, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, and El Camino del Rey!

GoApe!

So the day after wearing out my brain at the Camera Obscura and the World of Illusions, I decided to wear out my body at GoApe! According to the brochure, GoApe! is a "high-wire forest adventure."

Above: GoPlatforms!

It was perfect for me, since it crossed off not one, but two things off my bucket list. First it had zip-lines, which I've always wanted to ride on. Second, it was a forested skill-based challenge, which qualified as an obstacle course. Enough about me though, time for the pictures.

Above: Climb up, it's time for an adventure!

GoApe is made of five separate courses. Each course becomes steadily harder (and higher). They all begin with a ladder from the ground to the tree platforms. Between tree platforms were unique challenging bridges which needed to be walked, skipped, jumped, or crawled across. Each course then ended with a zip-line to the next course.

Above: No hands!

We took turns on who went first. The first person got to experience the challenge first, but didn't get any good pictures of themselves taken. The second person position was unique since the first and last person took pictures, like below.

Above: Jordan's rope-walking from multiple angles.

There was one part where there was a wooden tube we had to go through. It was by far the worst challenge. First off, no sense of height or thrill. Second, it was a killer on the knees. I went into that tube feeling young and spry and still came out bruised and with hurt knees.

Above: Wooden Tube-o-Pain.

Sara's smile is hiding the incredible pain of being in the tube.

Some of the challenges were easier to go quickly across, kinda like riding a bike. He who hesitates is quickly cognizant of how high off the ground he is. I'm pretty sure that's how the saying goes.

Above: Run, that tree's about to explode!

Other obstacles had to be taken slowly. These are the ones where I usually struggled with the most.

Above: My feet barely fit in those tiny rings.

Sara and Jordan did the best with crossings. I did the best with things that involved running and jumping.

Above: Jordan's feet fit in just fine.

But the whole time we had a great time going from challenge to challenge. Also, there were many series of ladders. Here you see a ladder going from one platform to a higher one.

Above: Tadaa!

So apparently I can be a little theatrical while I was going from challenge to challenge. So much so that Sara and some Indian boy said I actually shook the foundations of some of the trees on the Tarzan challenge below.

Above: Tree-Shaker

Unlike the others, I did a running jump of the platform, instead of gently sitting and sliding off the edge. When the Tarzan rope finally went taut I shook the tree so much Sara and some Indian boy were thrown off-balance. Apparently no one else shook the trees. I think they just didn't weigh enough people like I do. I weigh lots of people.

Above: A Green-Coated Ape

Course 5 (the final course) was pretty high up, and it took many ladders to get to the zip-line.

Above: Climbing ladder to the final zip-line.

Fortunately I was first to go on the last zip-line, and I was excited!

Above: Later, I'm outta here.

The line was so long I spun around several times on the way down. When I finally hit the net at the end I was backwards, so I dragged my butt for quite a few feet. No rug burn though, thanks to my super-jacket. Eventually Jordan and Sara made it down too, and we posed in front of the statue before leaving.

Above: Bryan (literally) Trying to Go Ape.

PieMaker's Part 2

Afterwards we were starving, so Sara and I decided to introduce Jordan to PieMaker's. After we got our food, the business owner came in and noticed us. He then offered us free food again! This time he made Scottish pancakes, which are more like french crepes than American Pancakes. Imagine a thick crepe without the little internal bubbles of an American pancake. It was covered in some nice brown sugar though, so that was pretty sweet. I wouldn't order it, but it tasted pretty good for free food.

Mathematica 8

While I worked as an assistant researcher in the chemical engineering department I convinced the University of Texas to give me free access to Mathematica as an employee. Funnily enough, the Mathematica people still send Mathematica seminars to "Professor Cropper" since I applied as a faculty (whoops). Unfortunately my license expired December 14th. Fortunately though I've got Mathematica 8 again, so now it's time for more plotting fun.

Mathematica is a wonderful math program that allows me to do stuff like this:

Above: A little (2x^2+y^2+z^2-1)^3-x^2*z^3/10-y^2*z^3=0 for my little Caiqian

I'm in a pretty good mood now. Except for one thing...

Blogger's Being a Hassle

So apparently I loaded up too many images to blogger and used up all my storage space. Fortunately Dad has chipped in $5/year to give me another 20 gig of uploading. One weird side effect though is that blogger only lets me upload pictures one at a time. I used to be able to upload any amount I wanted. By reverting to the old blogger system I managed to get google to upload five pictures at a time, which is significantly better. So you might notice that the number of pictures per post will be less than usual. We'll see how this goes.