First week in Liverpool

Moved into the below address on Sunday evening. Registered for the MSc program Monday afternoon, and had intro talks on Tuesday. Our group is massive, and the staff is a little overwhelmed with our number (25). They figured roughly 20% of those who accept never bother to show, but this year it was 100%. We met the profs and ackwardly met each other over a lunch provided. It was quite humerous to watch... all these little circles of 3-4 people in a large square room, with the only way to successfully penetrate being a direct assualt or lurking about on the fringe until someone adjusted accordingly. Some Uni natives lead us on a brief campus tour (libraries, sports center etc) then to one of the many campus pubs. This was when we really got to know one an other. Well, that turned into a pub crawl, and I ended up walking home with some new mates around 4:30am. It was great. Never have I been surrounded by so many like-minded individuals... everyone loves evolution and human behaviour. I got more of a buzz of the atmosphere than the beer.

Fantastic.

Doing my first MSc related readings in the library today, and heading to Leeds to vist Annie for the weekend.

ah yes... I added some new pictures from the spring and summer. Follow the link on the right.

got a house

Here's the new address:

101 Belgrave Road
Aigburth
Liverpool
L17 7AQ

Moving in late tonight, MSc registration is tomorrow followed by a meet and greet.

Moving to England

it just hit me.

Don't have a place to move into as of yet, but I have had some success in contacting people with vacant rooms in the past few days. Plan to head down to Liverpool on later this week for a few days and do some viewing (tried remotely but no one has pictures). Have to admit, it's pretty exciting, moving into a house in a foreign land. Not necessarily as thrilling as a bothy in the middle of nowhere lacking all basic comforts, but exciting in it's own right.

Let's talk Bulgaria. What a country. Annie and I had a week in Sunny Beach Resort, just outside of Bourgas. It's an 8km stretch of the most scenic beach I've been too. We had seven days of sun, with temperatures never dipping below the high 20's. The Black Sea was like bath water, but with waves :) We went into 'historic' Nessebar for a day (Messembria in ancient times), which is the oldest settlement in Europe. It was fantastic. Narrow cobble stone streets and fig trees providing shade in the courtyards. Felt like we were in another time. Wednesday night we witnessed some Bulgarian entertainment at the famous Khan's Tent in the surrounding hills. Dinner and a show, you can't go wrong. Met another couple from Newcastle and went out afterwards with them around the resort. They showed us 'their side' after we took them to a cocktail bar on 'our side' called Mexico's, which featured 2 for 1 cocktails with names like 'leg opener', 'no knickers', 'wet pussy' and so forth. What a bar. They even remembered Annie and I from a few nights back and handed us some free shots.

All in all, one hell of a trip... but be warned, the Bulgarian language and its Slavic origin is a mouthful for those primarily speaking English. I prefer languages whose basic utterances like please and thanks are one syllable. Well... please was ok being molya, but blagodarya for thanks? It's well worth the effort to speak Bulgarian as it results in smiles and the occasional laugh from the locals.

On a personal note, not being around Annie has taken some getting used to. It'll be quite a switch from spending every waking hour with someone for the better part of 9 months to only seeing them every few weeks. We're confident things will work, and looking for a joint visit home to Canada during the Christmas break.

cheers

left a piece of me in the highlands

Well... that's it. My time on Rum has finished for now. We had the mother of all leaving ceilidhs on Friday and I got to my bed sometime around half five. Vaguely remember drinking Jack Daniels out of a shoe, sucking some out of a sock (Lois had spilt her drink) and wrestling with Annie. Come Monday things were a little more sombre, and we had a tearful goodbye with Sandy and Fliss before catching the boat. I left a huge piece of my heart on Rum, and promised to go back and reclaim it in the future.

So... where am I now? Well, physically I'm in Edinburgh packing for a trip to Newcastle (meet and greet with Annie's friends and family) and a week in Bulgaria. Mentally, I'm sound as a pound. I can't wait for our holiday, it one thing I've actually earned.

Ah yes... I've finally been published. Twice actually. Once in the Royal Society of London and again on the New Scientist website. Feels nice. If anyone wants a proper .pdf I can email it to you ;)