Edinburgh: The Arrival

I feel as though for the past few months I haven’t once stopped to appreciate the reality of the situation. Since applying to the University of Edinburgh at the end of April – being rather late already – I never truly envisioned myself here, in what is a positively spectacular city. And I have only yet seen the smallest portion of it. It has been a constant run around to get here. Reference letters, visas, packing, working, saving… I haven’t slept in a few months, and it certainly isn’t going to change just yet, as I start to adjust to the time difference here. Travelling is always exhausting and at this point, I just need some sleep. A nap. And a shower. I smell like airplane.

Air Canada Rouge leaves something to be desired. Flying since the start of July 2013, Rouge is supposed to be the hip, new moneymaker for the larger Air Canada monster company. Advertising renovated aircrafts, young, energetic staff, and a new entertainment system based off an on-board wi-fi set up, I had high expectations. They also offer direct flights to Edinburgh from Toronto at a fairly reasonable price. That in itself is hard to come by, with most flights requiring a layover and airport change in London. The first thing that I noticed when I boarded the plane was how little the interior had actually changed. It was filthy, too. Crumbs and debris littered up along the walls (I had a window seat; I got to stare at it all the entire time), the bathrooms stank horribly, the attendants were polite, but overdone, and there was still garbage in the seat pocket in front of me. I suppose the only positive physical change is the new paint job on the outside. And the new on-board wi-fi system? Terrible idea. I downloaded the app for this thing when it was free during their first month of flight, before it bumped up to 5$ starting August. Not only do you pay quite a bit for a ticket, but if you want in-flight entertainment you had better have your credit card on you and a PC or mac product with a full charge. With Rouge, all of the little entertainment systems in the seats are now gone. In the end, it didn’t matter that I had planned ahead and saved $5. Nothing was connecting well (or at all), save for the iPads that you can rent for $10. I didn’t really bother after I discovered that my laptop wouldn’t fully connect. I popped a melatonin instead, and by the time dinner was over, I was pretty out of it. Sleeping on a plane is hard, but when exhausted physically and emotionally you find a way. I really should have gotten one of those neck pillows though, for what was one of the worst flights I've ever been on.

Good morning, though my body registers this as 02.30. Now I'm just confused.

I don’t mind overnight flights. I’ve never done one, but I like landing at the start of a new day. I can’t really sleep much during the day, so as long as I rely on the daylight to trick my mind into adjusting to the time zone, I should be fine after tonight. We flew into the sunrise after about 5 hours in the air, so it was like I had had a full night’s sleep. After flying over icy water, which virtually glowed from the warm light of the sun and threw out brilliant rainbows,  we were suddenly looking over patchwork farm land. When I was younger, we had a play carpet that looked like a little city, with roads and a rail track. That is what I was reminded of as I watched the little cars drive up to their barns or along the freeway to the city; I wish that I knew where all of my little toy cars disappeared to.  The fields were impressively green and gold, and so perfectly shaped. I wish that I had taken some photos – which I would have, had they not asked us to put away all of our electronics.

I happened to be sitting next to another young Canadian girl on the way over. Having lived in Toronto for the past while, she is moving to Edinburgh for a one year Masters at the same Uni, though in a different program. I’ll see her around. We shared a cab into the city, which saved us each quite a bit, and we were able to act as allies in trying to understand our cabbie! I've had a taste of the accent long before I came here in my Skype dates with the Uni, but this was my first time having absolutely no idea what was going on. In my defence, I was pretty tired, but it was almost like an entirely different language. I do remember when he found out that we were from the Toronto area, that he pulled out this phrase that made me laugh, just mainly because I had no idea what he was trying to say. Something about Tonto and Toronto… something something something “Toronto Tonto”. Ha-ha. I can’t find it online, and I fear that if I ask anyone else here if they know the phrase, that they will think I'm insane.

I was happy to get to my digs in the city, but was feeling ferociously homesick; no doubt exacerbated by my extreme exhaustion. The pilot got us in by 08.00 (40 min earlier than intended), and I was settled in to my temporary living space by 10.00. But there is no rest for the wicked. I held on with the intention of getting over my jet-lag post haste. The castle can be seen just around the corner, so I found a bench and looked up at it for a while. I stared at a castle for a good hour, and it still didn't resonate with me that I am on the other side of the pond! A damn castle is outside my door, and I could have cared less. I've been meeting more internationals than locals, so that hasn't entirely helped either. Quite a few Canadians passing through, though. And A LOT of  Germans. I can’t remember the last time I spoke as much German. Finally laying down for a bit at 15.00, all I remember is starting to fall asleep, and then suddenly it was 17.00. Most know that I am a very light sleeper, and so staying out for 2 hours straight is a huge deal.

Not bad for the camera on my phone.

I sent out a lot of emails yesterday, and received just as many in return. A slew of wonderful comments all over Facebook and a Skype date with my beloved Jamie in the evening, too, all contributed to helping me feel a little better about this move. So much change can leave someone feeling lonesome, not for being without you love and support from overseas still, but from being so physically far removed. There is an overwhelming learning curve here. Mentally, you become convinced that it should be easy to handle the culture shock, because everyone speaks English. Not the case at all. I found the move to Germany easier because I knew very well just by the language difference that it would be challenging.

When all is said-and-done, I do miss home already. I may have started missing it before I had even left. Guelph has been a comfort and a constant, and being away from that is difficult. Because I never stopped to realize just what I was working up to – coming to the University of Edinburgh to take part in an amazing program – the emotions surrounding this move have been heavy. I was unprepared. Sleep offers great solace, and once school starts and I get into a proper sleep and feeding schedule, I’ll start to find what there is to love about this city. It is beautiful, I’ll give it that.