Oh my goodness! It's been so cold here...make it stop. It's snowing in my flat, not really, but I did come home from school the other day and check to see if there was snow at the foot of my bed.

Broken toe is healed. YaWoo! Hit the gym and am back running again. Still can't do the lunges, who knew a pinky toe was so vital to balance. Oh, a broken toe in the snow isn't the best, but I do think that the constant icing on my foot due to the freezing cold has helped with the expedited healing.

What's new?

• Had a final on Wednesday for Public Policy.
• St. Paddy's Day was a bore. I've never been so close to Ireland on the 17th and home before the day was over. Complete Snooze Fest! There was simply nothing Irish about the day.
• Monday I'm meeting with the CEO of www.visitscotland.com. I'm interviewing him for a paper I'm working on and to discuss possible work placement scenarios for my disseration.
• Two finals next week, going away party Friday night.
• Before I head off I'm supposed to meet the former First Minister, Henry McLeish. (It's the Tony Blair of Scotland) Purpose again is for dissertation topics and work placement options.
• Leave for Paris on Sunday, March 26.

It's been crazy how time has flown by. I'm looking forward to Paris, but don't know what exactly to expect.

Cheers, Laura

NICK NICK NICK

We're not that studious. This is a very good representation of one of my classmates. (He should have been at the party.) Yes, you slowly regress to adolescence the longer you're in the program.

Two friends, Leslie and Aleece, travelled from Redondo Beach and toured the British Isles in the month of February. They spent four days with me and lived in my shanty. They grew accustomed to the spitting shower, freezing bedroom and clothes drying methods of the 21st century Scotland.

Here we're pictured at the Glenvinchie Distillery just outside of Edinburgh. After our share of samples, we got behind the bar to serve....whiskey neat.

This evening started out as a girls night with a trip to see "Memoirs of a Geisha." After a Chinese feast, we made a few calls to the classmates and met up at Conan Doyle, my Sunday afternoon tv favorite...Sherlock Holmes. After closing, we remained in my neck of the wood, New Town and headed down to the Basement, Phoenix Bar and then the last stop of PIVO.

Represented here is Spain, England, India, Scotland, Texas, Maine, Mexico, Iceland, Missouri and the two Dutchies on the end.

Burn's Supper, a traditional Scottish celebration, was celebrated at the end of January. Here is a picture of the haggis being piped in by a lonely piper. The event took place in the Playfair Library on the University's campus. A good time was had by all, songs, poetry reading, lively toasts to the lads and lassies and an official toast from the Program Director.

For those of you stateside, a good parallel of the event would be if we put the Turkey on a platter and escorted it in with a tin whistle or harmonica...and please, everybody best be standing.

This is Edinburgh, my residence since September 2005. These are the city streets that I walk each day to and fro to school. Sadly, I will be leaving at the end of March with about 20 other students in the International Business program.

Trip to the Highlands


In January, I went to the Highlands with 30 of my classmates for a weekend retreat. The weekend was filled with outdoor events, team building exercises and of course a few pints in the pub. We took a 4 hour hike to the top a mountain and by the time we reached the peak the fog had rolled in. The following day, a few of us took up kayaking in Loch Tay and toured around the Loch mastering our paddle skills. It was great to see the physical endurance of my colleagues in contrast to the intellectual side that is often tested.