I got into Edinburgh after tromping around Europe for way too long on September 7th hoping that I had done everything I needed to before starting my program because frankly, it was a little vague. Those few days before welcome week was something of a fever dream because I was exhausted and tired of sight seeing. All I remember was that at one point before I had gotten my suitcases out of the storage unit, I went panic shopping at H&M because I was so sick of my clothes and I accidently bought the best fitting pair of jeans I have ever purchased– a good omen if there ever was one. On Saturday I picked up my visa, got my key to my apartment, moved my suitcases from the storage unit (featuring a comic sequence where I was pushing two gigantic suitcases + a massive duffle bag down the sidewalk and they kept falling over and I had to take breaks because I thought I was going insane), and then went to Ikea to buy things like sheets and forks. It was an exhausting day but then I was done which was amazing. On Sunday I went to church and met Meg who is also at the Divinity School with me and we have been buddies ever since. The ward is made up of students, whatever crop of tourists are cycling through, and the oldest Scottish people in the whole world. It makes for a fun and chaotic environment.

Monday started welcome week where we had long, informative lectures and where I met a ton of people. I also picked my classes (Lives of the Buddha in Art and Literature, Metaphysics and Morality, and Literature and Religion). On Friday of that week we had a Ceilidh which is a Scottish line dance/ folk dance party which was wild and fun. It was amazing to look back on the orientation type things that I did during law school and how much I felt like a fish out of water. I felt like I was playing a part in a play and then was horrified that for everyone else it wasn’t a play, it was real life. This welcome week felt like magic– everyone was obsessed with the same things I was obsessed with and even the boring parts of things felt bearable because the interesting parts were so amazing. This is where I am supposed to be!