Brianna Horton and her hatred for British currency

Thursday; end of the first week of classes. Tomorrow we take our first field trip to Edinburgh Scotland. We had a lecture tonight from one of our teachers about Scotland and its history. We also learned just why the British hate the French – his feminine French accent made the lecture quite entertaining. His name is David. He eats lunch with us Tuesdays and Thursdays. He’s very smart and very funny, I like his classes a lot. Tuesday he had us write down ten words that came to mind when we thought about Britain. My first word was ‘moist,’ which he read aloud today in class. Ample laughter- great success.

Let see, this week, what happened this week… a couple of things:

First off, BBC finally wrapped shooting today, so we should be able to take some nice pictures of the castle without getting into too much trouble. I’ll post them this weekend. We got to watch the filming of a battle scene today from the gun turret of the castle, which would have been pretty nifty, if it weren't for the colossal wind that never seems to give up in this country. It was a scene from Joan of Arch, so technically, where we were watching from what would have been a French castle. I couldn't help but look down from the high wall and think “…your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elder berries!”

I did take a picture, but only because Lisa, one of the professors was standing next to me, and she took like four. She thought my Monty Python joke was funny, so I went for it…

Last night, my feet were very sore from wandering about town. The landscape is so beautiful in this place. I've mentioned the little shops before, but the sheer beauty of this place will take your breath away. Even tonight in the driving rain, walking to the playhouse to hand in my volunteer hours availability form, I marveled at how quaint this little town is. My rain jacket works very well, by the way- glad I spent the extra $40.

Speaking of money, quick rant about British pounds: they’re ridiculous. They make absolutely no sense. Okay, in American money the dime is a bit out of place, but other than that, cents descend in value the smaller they get. Not so with pounds: 1 pence is small, 2 pence is big, five pence is small, 10 pence is big, and so on… even the notes aren't the same size! And how egotistical must the queen of England be, putting her face on ALL of them? I man, Charles Darwin on the back, Queen Elizabeth on the front? seriously, your only claim to fame is your ancestors. I can’t tell you how dumb I feel paying for a beer- I mean… fruits and vegetables, when I have to rummage for the correct change for twenty minutes. I hate it. The messed up Harry Potter money made more sense!

DUUUUUUUUUMB!!

I could spend my stupid money tomorrow at The Elephant House. Its going to be one of my stops (in my free time, not scheduled) in Edinburgh- the cafe in which J.K. Rowling wrote some of the Harry Potter series. They say she got the idea for the entire series there. I’m excited. I’m also a nerd. I’ll be sure to write all about how awesome it was, stay tuned in for more of my opinions on things that don’t matter that I only comment on to make others jealous. Next week we make a slight change in programming: we delve into my obsessive hatred for Nicholas Sparks; don’t miss out- it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.