Ray's One-Month Reflections

So now that it has been just over two months since I left behind the home I’ve known for 28 years and I write as though people have been waiting with bated breath to continue the long abandoned thread of a story. I am going to try to encapsulate the plethora of feelings and insights I have on this new home, Edinburgh, into a few (read: too many) meager words.

In short, I love it here in Scotland. There are but three US states that I have spent enough time in to truly say how I feel towards the prospect of living in them, and no place outside of America I could previously say the same, but while I love North Carolina with all my heart and while Wisconsin has always promised a fairly nice existence were I to ever live there, Edinburgh has proven to provide an instant kinship with me, even if its peoples and some of this country’s inner workings have not.

I’m not really sure where to begin. Things have flitted in and out of my mind since I set foot in this place and Sarah and I discuss certain aspects of life here at length. She finds many of my observations droll and wishes I kept better track of them, but my fondness for writing journal-style or observationally have never exceeded the bounds of criticism or internet foruming. This country is beautiful, this city is beautiful and if nothing else it is one of the few places Sarah has dragged me to that doesn’t reek of some foul and mysterious stench (I’m looking at you Limerick and Savannah). Our flat is small and those that made it livable seemed to only barely do so as something new seems to break every week. But I find the place incredibly cozy and its location is, as far as I am concerned, nothing short of divine. The small garden the building boasts is right down our hallway and it has become a favorite haunting ground of mine, listening to books, smoking my pipe, almost taking right up where I left off from my weeks of limbo staying at my mother’s house before the move, when my previous computer was on its last legs and most of my worldly possessions were in storage. There I had taken up to sitting in my mother’s front yard, often with her, taking in books and puffing away and remembering how much I do enjoy the outdoors, which I think must run in the family. Though that time staying in my parents’ house for the first time in years was odd and an often frustrating downtime as I waited to start up what I hoped would be a fresh life and blank slate in a new locale, those hours spent in the shade during our drought-causing days or in the chill, wee hours of the night were wonderful and it was nice to pick that habit up directly upon my move here.

The weather here is often unforgiving, but I love it nonetheless. Chill air almost non-stop, brutal winds that would shame the so-called Windy City of Chicago, and the next “misting” or “sprinkle” is rarely more than a day away, though I’ve yet to see anything I’d call a heavy rain.

Getting around is easy enough. I’m learning the bus routes, and if we’re traveling more than a few city blocks or are on a schedule, they can get us just about anywhere without much fuss, though there are hours of the day where its less than pleasant to try to squeeze into packed transports with rowdy drunkards. And while I’m still getting used to the walking, walking, and more walking one is subject to here, it IS nice to be able to get to so many places on foot, be it for shopping, dining, or to catch a movie.

And oh yes, moviegoing is indeed a treat here. There are at least four theaters quite nearby, one of which is a pleasant enough art house with a damn good café, but my favorite is the multiplex which is just a five or so minute walk from our flat. Some of Sarah’s more snobby peers frown upon the place just because it’s not foofy enough for them, but the fact is this place has a great selection of movies, blockbuster and non, and we pay 12 pounds a month and can see as many movies we want any time we want, no restrictions. That is freaking awesome! Perhaps that will re-spark our criticism once things settle down a bit. I for one am feeling quite out of the loop and am actually in the process of pirating a hojillion movies, something I normally despise, but I’ve been so disconnected this entire year preparing for this move, that movies have not been a priority.

A couple other observations I’ve made about cinema here: First, I find it amazing that a theater as massive and luxurious as the Cineworld down the street from us could afford to have a program like the Unlimited Card. Apparently, either through advertising and concessions revenue, government funding, or just really busy weekends theaters in the UK seem to be able to survive and thrive with ease while theaters in the US struggle to stay afloat.

Secondly, and this was a most interesting revelation for me, is the selection of movies abroad. Leaving the states, I thought getting to watch movies from the US would be difficult or greatly delayed and I expected to find theaters dedicating only a portion of their screens to such films in lieu of what I figured must be a greater output of British and foreign films in general. Instead, while yes I have seen a couple UK films being run here and there are a selection of indie and foreign films available from time to time, theaters here still run 90% Hollywood releases. This discovery has really illuminated just HOW notable Hollywood is as the movie-making capital of the world. I suppose that is something I, as an American film enthusiast, took for granted living at home.

Sarah’s school is pretty alright, but I’ve not much to say about it. I’m not too keen on most of her colleagues, nor is she, but some seem like there’s potential there for more involved comradery if things play out well. Most of the students are full of themselves and are just a few years away from the douchery I witnessed at the conference Sarah attended in Ireland, where it was merely a bunch of academics trying to be witty and practicing one-upsmanship towards each other with their vast insipid knowledge of their field. It’s hard to find people that strike that nice balance between cultural and academic vacuousness and interminable intellectual circlejerking. But going back to movies, the one thing I love about campus (aside from a park I enjoy sitting in like my garden) is the fact that we can reserve screening rooms at just about anytime and have folks gather for little movie parties. This is especially nice because, as cozy as the flat is, we’re never going to be able to have get-togethers here. We’ve already had one marginally successful trio of days during Halloween for screenings and I hope to introduce all of these poor sheltered souls to Mystery Science Theater 3000 sooner or later (sooner rather than later). I brought a good thirty episodes with me, and shipping be damned, if it becomes a success, I will not hesitate to get more sent from Wisconsin.

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It’s raining again as I pick back up from where I left off. I’ve got to learn to look outside before preparing to go out. The last three times I’ve donned my gray trench coat it’s been virtually black by the time I get back home from rainwater. Anyways…

On the subject of dining: I don’t have a great deal of empirical evidence comparatively when considering just what all is out there in this big city, but as Sarah and I have tried to learn to eat inexpensively for the sake of budget. I will say that accomplishing that has been remarkably easy here with quite satisfactory results from a culinary standpoint. One of the first things you’ll notice about Edinburgh if you cruise around town is that a small bakery/deli called Gregg’s is veritably the McDonald’s of Scotland-- there is one on nearly every corner and one could certainly call it a fast food joint, though only in principle and not so much as what we would normally think of as an establishment with that “fast food” nomenclature. Gregg’s is a walk-in/walk-out business dealing in fresh made sweet and savory pastries (the savory ones including such delightful morsels as quiches, pizza baguettes, cheese and onion pasties, sausage rolls, and a local item they call a bridie which is simply a triangular pastry stuffed with minced beef) as well as hoagies featuring stellar cuts of steak and chicken and not your standard thin sliced deli meat. The best part about Gregg’s is that, aside from the hoagies that are usually a pound and some change, everything there is under a pound and more than a few items under 50 pence. Two can easily have a filling lunch there for under three quid (which, by the by, is just slang for a pound and I’m going to start using it, because saying pounds all the time gets old quick. I would liken it to the term “buck”.)

Aside from Gregg’s there is a nice eatery, Teviot Row House, which is really just part of the student Union on campus, but they have two or three unique specials there every day for two or three pounds and you get plenty for your expense. We just dropped by there today as a matter of fact and Sarah found it amusing that I somehow always choose the vegetarian option when we go there. I have not done it intentionally, but mushroom stroganoff and rice pilaf stuffed peppers certainly appealed to me at the time.

There are numerous fancier places as well, though we avoid them most of the time for the sake of conserving our funds, but we’ve not been disappointed when we’ve splurged, as with an Italian joint in Morningside called Papilio’s which was as authentic as it gets and just a joy to spend time in. I would not be surprised if that became a regular special occasion stop for us.

And then of course there are the infamous kebab grills. You can’t swing a dead cat around without finding one of these places that litter the streets like Chinese and Mexican restaurants back home. I am intrigued that a Turkish food item is so popular here, but the fondness is not ill-founded as the one right down the street from us (and that delivers when we just want to have a night in) is pretty awesome.

Not every diner is roses, as some places serve nothing but fake, frozen, microwaveable food (I swear one time my mashed potatoes came in a perfect mould of a frozen food tray), but overall it’s easy to eat well and cheap around here, even if you stay at home as groceries in general are all reasonably priced.

And beyond that, not every thing about living here in toto is roses. Americans are not viewed favorably by many Europeans, though I am more than certain there are plenty that aren’t so dull witted as to judge every American by its stereotypes and high profile citizens. We just haven’t encountered much of that bunch. Customer service here is an absolute joke. Well, I take that back. In person, everyone that has come to our flat for some reason or another has been cordial and done their job quickly and efficiently. But phone customer service, for instance, is something that apparently never evolved into being on this side of the pond.

To be sure, phone customer service in the US is nothing grand nowadays and I’ve railed against it many times in recent years, but I attribute that in great part to fucking foreigners, if I’m being perfectly frank. Here, they just don’t seem to care one whit. That state of mind is represented in no finer fashion than in our letting agency, the sorriest collection of human detritus ever to converge into one spot and claim to be offering service of some sort. Make no mistake, Sarah and I are under no illusion that this flat is a great deal as we’ve browsed around checking prices of similar rentals, but the sad sacks that manage our property think that just because they’ve slashed one or two hundred quid from our rent they don’t have to do their goddamn jobs and it’s gotten to be over-the-top absurd. We can’t really say too much about our landlord herself, as we’ve never been given the chance to have any contact with her, so it’s more than possible she has no idea how indifferent the agency she is using is to her renters, but I say in truth, did I not like this place so much and loathe the prospect of moving doubly so, we’d be aggressively hunting a new place to call home right now.

Another sore spot being here is that I miss Archie terribly, though that will hopefully be rectified in the spring. There are so many dogs around this town and every time I see one I just want to pet it. I think Archie will be happy here, but I worry about his behavior compared to most of these dogs that have lived in the city all their life. So many of them go for walks with their owners without leashes and have pretty free reign and are generally well behaved. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to do that with Archie, though I sincerely hope we can. At least I have witnessed a few other pups that had to be kept on a short tether because of their excitability and poor doggie manners. But regardless, I can’t wait to let him explore all the parks and such that cater to dogs around here. It’ll be great.

Anyways, I’m not sure what else to ramble on about. I could discuss how infuriating electronics are here where everything is sold without cables and where the plug outlets all have voltage double that in the states, causing great problems for us. I could discuss how weird television is organized here or how great it is to be in a place that relishes Christmas as much as I. And I could certainly say a lot about some of the places Sarah has taken me: an overnight ghost vigil beneath the city in underground vaults that was entertaining even for a cautious skeptic like me, a religious experience at the amazing Roslin Chapel where I marveled at the work men were capable of achieving only to realize the countryside around us there was somehow even more stunning serving as a bit of a testimony to God’s handiwork, a kickass castle that brought out the geek in me as I expounded to Sarah just how amazingly defensible and strategically placed it was surrounded on three sides by brutal rolling hills and on another by cliffs hovering over a rocky and whirlpool riddled coastline, and a quaint little seaside village that would be great to holiday in and where Sarah and I visited our first teahouse.

However, words seem trite at this point-- at least when pondered on for so long in this manner. It’s a place to be experienced, and I hope we can get some people over here to share in person our new home.