A Wild Wild Winter Wonderland

I'd like to say that nothing has really happened in the last month and a half, but that would be sightly inaccurate. Isaac has found a new job and is now working as a (he says) "Cafeteria lady" for one of the dormitories here. He likes this much better than the cafe job, for many reasons, including more hours, consistent hours, and better benefits (including a University library card with which he can check out more books than I can. Lucky guy). My main news is that I've signed up for Italian classes. It's a little early to say that I'm "learning" Italian, but I am enjoying the courses and trying to pick up as much as possible.

One of the perks of Isaac's schedule is that he now has a lovely Saturday morning shift (okay, I find this more lovely than he does) that ends in the early afternoon, with enough time remaining to actually enjoy part of the Saturday itself. This was the glorious sunrise we saw last Saturday morning, as we walked to our respective "jobs."



Oh, but it gets better: After the sunrise, I spent several hours reading for my thesis, then Isaac stopped by to take me on a lovely and romantic walk a little west of town. It had recently been snowing, so all was beautiful, and (in other news) it's SPRING here, as evidenced by the snowdrops we saw in some of the less-snowy patches.




(As you may notice, we saw ducks as well).

I'm madly in love with the North Sea here. We live quite close to the sea, and frequently (i.e. whenever we're not running behind schedule) walk to town along the beach, which is a gorgeous stroll. The sea looks different every day, and watching the waves and water is one of the most peaceful and joy-inducing experiences I've ever had (and I get to enjoy it almost every day).

This morning, I walked out of our house into a bitter cold and violently strong wind (it was actually difficult to walk). I dashed back indoors for another layer (Scotland, my friends, is not the land of warm winter coats, but of many, many layers, because walking for a mile or two usually makes me too warm for my down coat). On the way back out, I grabbed my camera--for reasons that will shortly become apparent. I have never seen the waves as beautiful as they were today. I wanted to walk out on the pier, but as the waves were actually crashing over top it, and the wind was all but knocking me over (and a friend in the English department here was badly injured two years ago after falling from the same pier), I elected for sensibility.

In lieu of a tremendous views of water-soaked waves collapsing atop me with the cathedral and castle in the background, here are two views from the top of St. Rule's Tower, the highest part of the Cathedral.

View looking over the North Sea (and pier):



View of St. Andrews proper:



I left these a little larger than most blog photos I post, so they should get larger if you click upon them.

Arrivederci!