Edinburgh, Scotland

Oh my goodness people...getting internet access has been REALLY HARD. I finally found a wee internet cafe that is LOADED with different computers about 2 blocks from our house, but it's hidden in hole in the wall. I think I'll be here often. Unlike the US, there is NOT free wifi anywhere. But there is a Starbucks near our apartment that has T-Mobile hotspot, I'm going to add the service to my account. Forget it - it's worth it.

Edinburgh is LOVELY. Today it is rainy & cold and I can't seem to get warm. But it's lovely. Our apartment is very nice and living with Ben & Haley is thus far wonderful. They are such a cool couple. We're all settled in and have even bought some groceries. School is about a mile & a half from our apartment, so it's a haul up South Bridge, down East Preston, and up Dalkeith to get to class. Ben walks like he's being pursued. So I'm getting a workout. We've been here such a short time, that I don't feel like I've quite got the "feel" for the place yet, but I'm certain that I will. We're less than 1 block off of High Street - which puts us really close to the castle. This weekend we don't have class on Friday & I'm thinking I'm going to take a train up to the highlands and stay for a few days. I think I'd like it alot. I just want the chance to go wander around a bit. We're really close to the Waverly train station as well. The school part is a bit dull right now. The reading is a lot of history of the UK and most of it is "on x date and on y day...blah blah". Oh well...I'll muddle through.

And, in other news, I got an email from Professor Erstling & WIPO wanted to know if I could come & intern just for the month of January!!! I emailed the school & they may be willing to allow me to start classes late, they've done it in the past. How awesome would THAT be!!??? I'd still be back to walk & such, but I would get the opportunity to intern at WIPO!!! I of course said yes!!! We'll see what works out, but it would seem that the odds are GOOD!

OK - my 30 minutes of this computer is nearly up. Miss you all & best wishes!

Dublin Airport

Location: C Concourse of the Dublin, Ireland Airport, Internet Kiosk. Cost - 1 Euro for 10 minutes.

I'm trying very hard to be a rational individual, but I'm sleep deprived & it's so hard. I feel like all the people at the Dublin airport are just RUDE. That can't possibly be the case...I must be delusional. They searched my entire carry on & then had to have a conference about it. Uh...I'm not carrying anything remarkable. I don't think that they knew what a laptop lock cable looked like!!! I'm trying not to be annoyed, but what can you do. The security was still WAY easier than the United States - at least I didn't have to STRIP. I think once I've arrived in Edinburgh, have a good long sleep, perhaps some dinner, I'll be fine. I'm not a terribly rational person when I am this tired.

I received a very nice, cordial email from my Crim Law prof. Apparently there is likely no mistake - I am truly just totally stupid. **Sigh** What am I supposed to do? As I was saying to Mathea, your entire self worth is tied to your grades in law school. When you think you're getting an A and it comes out SO much worse, it's crushing. I really should let go of that now - there is no WAY that I'm going to rocket to the top 10% in 2 semesters. I should accept that I suck at this type of exam (thank you INTJ personality) and focus on what I can control from HERE. I'm trying to look FORWARD and not BACK.

It's going on 3 am in NY - 2 am in Minnesota. No wonder my body is all ACK!!! I'll adjust...I miss my family already. Don't know why. I miss my bed in MN and my shower there with all my goodies - yummy lotions and hair goo...

I'm going to see if the wee medicine place has any vitamins. Perhaps a B Complex will help me.

On my way!!

I love airport WiFi!!! It's the bomb. Sorry, but I think it is WORTH $7.95 for me to log on & update all you lovely, lovely people. I'm on my way. I'm sitting on the floor of JFK Terminal 4 charging my IPod & checking my email. Mom & Dad dropped me off about an hour ago. I am one of those people that LIKES getting to the airport early. At work it seemed like everyone wanted to wait until the very last minute, but I like to not sweat it. I like to go to the bathroom, make sure I've got everything in order, and chill at the gate for awhile. This little ritual of mine has saved me more than once! For example, sudden gate changes, forgetting something, no time for food but the airport has that. You get the picture. I was a wee bit ill on the way here, so it turned out that it was a very good thing I was here early.

The week with Mom & Dad went by FAST. As promised, here are PICTURES. It is so strange to be back there. Yesterday I met my mom's friend Sherry. She did my tarot cards. I am not always a huge believer in the tarot and stuff like that, but this rang true. In fact, it was SUCH a positive reading, that I sincerely hope that it IS true. It promises that things are going to go VERY well. My outcome card was the Page of Pentacles - which was good.

It might be awhile before I resolve the Crim Law grade. I am still a bit freaked out, but am going on the certainty that something must have gone wrong. I tried doing the math every which way to see if there was some way that could have happened and I'm wondering if my SecureExam didn't print 1/2 my exam!!! We'll see. Professor Funk should be able to explain it. But I'm so OCD, I can't help but worry. I have to try to leave this worry here. I can't DO anything about it right now. Nothing but wait and be patient.

I called all my friends again, I miss them already! Leah was trying to get Pooh to "meow" for me. He complied - somewhat. I really miss my bed. I miss knowing where everything IS. But it will be cool because soon I will know where OTHER cool things are. Like the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the University of Edinburgh. How cool is THAT. It sees so weird. Like...am I really going? What is it going to feel like to BE there. I've been reading the book "The Art of Travel" and it serves as inspiration and a reminder - wherever you go, you take you with you.

Well - I depart NYC at 5:40 pm EST and arrive in Dublin at 5:10 GMT. Then at 1:20 I'm off to Edinburgh, arriving at 2:20. So weird.

Au revoir mes amis ! Vous tout allez avec moi à mon coeur !

Tragic!

OK - something is wrong with my Crim Law grade. I got an A on the midterm, and I got a C+ in the class. THAT can't be right. There must be something wrong - I'm thinking something must have screwed up with the SecureExam software or something. I bawled, then realized there must be something awry. That is, like, statistically impossible with this prof. I emailed her all in a panic...we'll see.

Tomorrow we leave for NYC for me to catch my flight to Edinburgh. I've had fun - been busy - since I've been here. It's so strange to be home. Today Mom & I visited with a friend of hers who did a tarot reading for me and it was VERY positive about this year. It was sort of freaky. I don't know how much I agree with things like that, but there is something about it that felt right. If nothing else, it inspires me. I'm ready to go. Always nervous, a lot to do. I'm still in the process of striking out into the world and going on this grand adventure. It's unnerving. I'm still trying to process. I talked to Leah tonight & it feels like we're so close, but we're about to be really far away. I'm really sad that I'm not going to see her & my other friends for a long, long time. I know though that I needed to do this for me.

For those of you that are anxiously awaiting pictures - I have them. I just need to get to a WiFi hotspot with my laptop. I'm in OWEGO people - they don't seem to DO WiFi.

Home again...

It is so weird being back home. This town has really slid downhill since we were kids. I feel like I'm in West Virginia or something. Today we went to Lowes to get some paint to do the cupboards (my parents are in a big home renovation phase...blows my mind) and there were literally some people in a Cadillac yelling obscenities out the window at some woman screaming obscenities back. It involved things like telling her she was a "f*&king dirtbag" who should "be living in Montrose" (whatever THAT means). It was like a 3 ring circus. The cops showed up & everything. I was astounded. That aside, I have quite the busy schedule this week that includes:

Monday: shopping & lunch with RMV; dinner with Mom & Jean Ross
Tuesday: Dinner with the McFadden's (family I used to babysit for - the girls are growing up so FAST...I feel old)
Wednesday: Trip to Seneca Falls with Mom & Dad, winery tour, dinner with Aunt Patti & Uncle Ralph in Syracuse
Thursday: Dinner with the Engelhards
Friday: Bonfire with S'mores (we used to do this right before school started each year, Dad thought it would be cool to do it again)
Saturday: Um...leave for Edinburgh

Crazy how the week has filled up already. It blows my mind!! Before I know it, I'll be on my way to Europe. I'm really looking forward to it. Although today we had lunch at Friendly's and I was a bit appalled at the conditions of the bathroom - and had to remind myself that I might be visiting a LOT of appalling bathrooms this year. We'll see.

Where in the world is Law Geek!!???

So, I emailed it to most of the people who might read my blog - however, for the edification of the browsing, this is my itinerary:

May 27th - June 16th: Edinburgh, Scotland
June 16t - July 7th: London, England
July 7th - July 11th: Paris, France
July 12th - July 16th: Stuttgart, Germany
July 17th - July 18th: Zurich, Switzerland (Uncle Mick is meeting me here!!!)
July 19th - July 21st: Montreux Jazz Fest in Montreux, Switzerland
July 22nd - July 26th: Florence, Italy
July 26th - July 30th: Rome, Italy
July 30th: Pisa, Italy
July 31st: Mick goes back to Zurich & I head to Frankfurt, Germany
August 1: Flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Sydney, Australia
August 3 - August 23rd: Sydney, Australia
August 24th - August 25th: Berlin, Germany
August 26th - December 23rd: Vienna, Austria & clerking for the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
December 23rd: Return flight to Newark, NJ

Wow! That was a mouthful. Lends itself to the whole "cool but scary" vibe. I'm excited to see my parents. I'll be there for a week. Dad isn't in the collar from his accident anymore, so I'm excited to see him up & around like he used to be (or close enough). They have QUITE the list of things for us to get done. As long as I get to hit Seneca Falls, the wineries, and get to Friendly's for a sundae, I'm good. Incidentally, Mom was working at a Friendly's when she & Dad met! Funny trivia. But it reminds me of my childhood to go have a sundae there. Man, that seems like SO long ago.

Whhhhaaaa!!! Homesick already!

So...if I wasn't homesick yet...now I am. Leah is so sweet. I've been a bit sad about leaving - today she gave me a card and a charm for my charm bracelet that I'm putting together to document my year. It's a HOUSE!!! I cried and cried. I'm so lucky to have a friend like her.


She included a card that said:
"You view every day
as a learning adventure
with brand-new ideas to explore,
You know that
the worthwhile achievements
you make will eventually lead you
to more...
You live your own life
in the manner you've chosen,
refusing to settle for less...
So shape your own destiny,
build your own world...
You're certain to be a success."

She signed it:
You will be missed.
Remember that you always have a home to come back to.
Love, Matt & Leah :P

Whhhhhhhhhaaaa!!! I'm so excited to go, but I'm sad to be leaving the safety and comfort of home. This really is my home. I'm going to miss them!

How Bizarre

So, Carl Moy (for whom I worked as a research assistant) decided that he was going to go teach in Berlin next year (or he'd like to) and that I should work at WIPO & audit his class. Which sounds DARN cool - but how to make that happen? Well, he advised that I email Jay Erstling and see if he has any ideas about WIPO. It took me a long time to get his email address, but when I did he emailed me back right away. He wants to start some type of internship relationship with William Mitchell & WIPO. He allowed me to send him my CV & when I would be available - he's going to pass it along. I would never expect anything - but the response was really positive. Who knows - maybe I'll be in Berlin next spring. I would love to do something like that...between interning at UNICTRAL and that...it would be amazing. Just the chance alone is amazing, never mind how cool it would look on my resume and all the stuff I would learn.

Tonight some friends & I are having dinner at Maggiano's. I'm slowly realizing that I'm not going to see them after tonight. It's a little sad. I'm excited to go, but on occasion I worry about leaving the safety of what I know. Leaving my bed, my friends, my school, the city that I'm familiar with. And then I try to remember all the possible COOL things that I am going to see and the people I will (hopefully) meet, and it's good.

Let's do the time warp again!!!

There is something so weird about what it is I am proposing to do. I saw Kelly & Laurie from work for lunch and when I said good-bye, I realized it was likely the last time I would see either of them for a long time. And that is true for a lot of people that I've spent a chunk of time with over the past few years. Leah, Mathea, Sara...all my friends. The people that make my daily routine what it is. Instead, I'm stepping off into a time warp. As in "Warp Speed 9, Mr. Zulu." Life is going to go on while I'm gone. Leah & Matt will have the baby, people will go to school, class and work. I'll be out THERE somewhere. I'll come back, and things will still be here, more or less the same as when I left it. So weird!

1916 Ford Model T

Yesterday our neighbor stopped by in the afternoon. He's a sweet older guy that has lived in the house across the street since 1948. Amazing. But his wife of 52 years died in March of stomach cancer. He is so sad - he seems to be slipping downhill a bit since she died. But he is such a nice guy. We had him over for dinner and afterwards he insisted on taking us for a cruise around the neighborhood in his mint restored 1916 Ford Model T!!! We had so much fun. After...he took some pictures for us:



We had so much fun. It was a beautiful night to be out tooling around. And it is so funny to see people when you're in a car like that - you see a lot of cars from the 1950s on up - the occasional 1920s & 30s - but so rarely a car this pretty!!! I was really excited, actually.

I leave for New York on SATURDAY! It's coming up so quickly. It's insane! Before I know it I'll be leaving the country. I've been trying to focus on getting back in shape. Saturday I walked with Leah all around St. Paul, then I walked 7 miles that night, 3 miles Sunday morning with Julie & her daughters, then I did 8 miles this morning & got a yucky sunburn on my forehead as my reward. There are some other pictures that were taken this weekend - of preggers Leah & I. I found out where I gained all my weight!!! In my BUTT!!! It was fabulous. But I'm getting excited, not long now. Mom & Dad have all sorts of plans for me - but we're going to do the strawberry picking (which I wanted to do) and one night we're going to have spiedies for dinner (which I'm certain is going to make Michele ravenously envious!!! Hee hee!!) and we're doing the wine tours around Seneca Lake. It will be good to see my parents. Last time I saw dad he was still in his collar from his accident and it was so sad. Now he's out and back to puttering. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

My preparations continue...

So, my preparations for my departure continue. It's remarkable that it's nearly here. One more week & I'll be leaving for New York. I shipped my backpack to my parents in NY today - I decided I was concerned about them losing my pack as on my flight to NY is on 2 separate airlines w/ 2 layovers because it's a one way flight. I figured it was worth the $30 shipping on Fed Ex.

I've decided that I'm going Stuttgart, Germany once I leave Paris. I was going to do some hiking in France, and I've been thinking about that for a long time, but I think that I want to get out of France before Bastille Day. I am thinking that the Black Forest and doing some hiking sounds like a good time. My rail pass covers the area & it's not that far from Zurich. I can go hang out in Germany for a bit, then go to Zurich. I think I'm going to add another day to my time in Paris. I don't think 3 days is going to be enough for me in Paris. This is what I LOVE about what I'm doing - I can totally change my plans at any given moment.

So, my profit sharing check is on it's way. I have the other checks that I was supposed to get, everything is coming together. I'm actually enjoying being unemployed right now. My savings gives me an artificial sense of security somewhat, but I also know that I have to believe that I'm going to be OK from here forward. This is going to be one amazing year.

I'm relieved to be done with my finals. I have a few weeks now to just chill & relax before I start my Edinburgh classes. But to take classes without working, no matter WHERE I am in the world, will be so relaxing. I'm looking forward to immersing myself in academia to a certain extent.

Law student OCD

OK!!! I'm at Panera Bread - all my stuff is out & I'm ready to go. I have my coffee, I've had a good breakfast, my Crim Pro final was supposed to be emailed to me TWO MINUTES AGO!!! OMG. I am so irritated.

Silly Law Student...drink less coffee & chill out more.

On the bright side - my profit sharing check is going to be about $5000 more than I thought it was going to be & Scudder mailed it to my HOUSE yesterday. So...it should be here by today or tomorrow. Which is AWESOME.

Life, the universe, and everything.

Weirdest thing ever. My whole "job" right now is to think. This is what it is like to be "just" a student. My job is to ponder the larger meaning of criminal law in the world. It's so weird. I'm so unaccustomed to really having the time to think. It's been a luxury for me. Typically if I have any down time, I'm so exhausted that thinking is beyond me. I really just want to empty my brain. But I'm catching up on my sleep & now I'm starting to relish the opportunity to just think about life, the universe, and everything. I am not so exhausted from the insane routine of work & school that I don't have time or energy to think about what I'm doing. Normally when I would take a couple of days to study during finals, I would be cramming material from an entire semester into 2 or 3 days of studying. Not such a good plan. No time to ponder. Now I have a ton of pondering time.

Leah & I entered into a long, erudite discussion on women and the law last night. It was fun. It eventually regressed back to me quizzing her on "do you know what you're doing?" Meaning - does she fully understand and consider WHAT she is giving up in order to raise kids at home, such as opportunity costs and decreased income. It would seem that she has considered it. So many homemakers are in total denial about their choices. They don't realize that when you leave the workforce, you forgo a lot of opportunity for income and career development. People in business ask what you've been doing for the past 15 to 18 years and when you say "raising my kids" they check you off the list. Not that I think that this is RIGHT - because it is the female dilemma. What to do because there really isn't a perfect option. No one wants to say it out loud because it might upset all the stay at home moms - but it needs to be said. It is not to judge their choice, but to assure that the realities are thrown out there and that they are well considered and accepted. It is just fine if that is your choice, but don't get torqued when you aren't as marketable in the job market. Don't get angry with ME for taking "your" opportunity if I've been in the workforce. You will never catch up. It's awful, but it's true. I really grilled her on "what about Matt?" I worry about her. I told her that I reserve the right to worry about her because she will always know then that someone cares enough to worry.

Laid back - straight cold chillin'

For those of you that are considering the possibility of quitting your job right before your law school finals, please bear this in mind. It is terribly difficult to maintain a degree of discipline when you don't have to go to work each day. It seems like it would be reeeeeeeallly cool to do stuff like go to the movies in the middle of the day (if there was a movie that I was interested in seeing) or sitting at Starbucks reading the NY Times all morning. Studying? Bah! Studying is for suckers. But really...I need to get my family law final done so that I don't need to think about it while I'm studying for my Crim Pro final.

Leah & I were discussing how cool this year is going to be for me. I have to keep reminding myself that the year is really just beginning for me. There is just all this anticipation. It's that I've been planning this for SO long, and now it's coming up. It's very nearly here. Amazing.

Yesterday went well. I'm remarkably relaxed. It's extremely uncharacteristic of me.

OMG...I'm unemployed.

Wow. So what do the unemployed DO? Today's agenda is:

* Make cinnamon rolls for Leah & I for Breakfast
* Take Leah to work
* Walk
* Shower
* Meet Mathea for lunch & studying crim law
* Pick Leah up from work
* Work on Family law final.

Whew! What a stressful day! I might end up having to go to bed early to recover from the stress of it all. Yesterday went fine. I went in, did my last expense reports, faxed the stuff to the profit sharing lady in LA, got my last check & then my team took me out for lunch. I managed NOT to cry. For all that it was time for me to go - I'm really going to miss Janet, Lee and Kelly. They were my wee little work family for a LONG time. Perhaps before I go, I'll have to rope Kelly into going to Noodles one last time with me...for old times sake.

It's surreal to know that this is the beginning of my trip - after a fashion. Now that I'm done with work - everything else is just a series of events until I go. I'm sure finals will assure me that this goes VERY quickly - at least up until the 11th. Then I just have one week to pack, prepare, all that good stuff...then I'm off to NY & off to Edinburgh. Oh...it would seem that while in NY, Dad has a project for me. We're going to refinish the deck. Fun, eh?

OK - incidentally - Michele sent me a link to the Lost Girls - which not only inspires me to travel more, but also to work on my writing about my travels. What am I doing, where am I going, what do I see when I get there, who will I meet? A lot of unanswered questions. Through linking and linking and linking I found how to save money like a Buddha - which makes me think that before I go, I'm going to have a garage sale. Why not? Sell off some of this stuff before I go! Get rid of it! Set myself free!!!! I'm fairly certain I have about 45 VHS tapes I'll NEVER watch again, but someone might pay me a buck for each of them. You never know.