St Andrews Scotland

Two weeks ago now, we were in St Andrews Scotland (thinking of you Meg K!) where Brian was conducting some collaborations with a fellow physicist at the University. St Andrews University is the third oldest in the UK (after Oxford & Cambridge) and also famously known to us celebrity trackers as the Uni that Prince William and Kate Middleton went to and where they met! And of course, for my golf-loving family, St Andrews is where golf was basically invented, and has the oldest golf course in the world, which is still being used.

We just made a 3-day weekend out of it, which was nice to get out of Oxford for a bit. Brian went up on Thursday on the train, and I followed on Friday afternoon. St Andrews is just Northeast of Edinburgh, in the Fife Kingdom, on the ocean. It took about 7 hours on the train to get there - but that didn't feel too long with good reading material.

It's a small village town really, and has 3 main roads to explore. There is an amazing castle ruin with tunnels dug underneath from centuries ago during a attempt to storm & overthrow the monarchy; there is an amazing cathedral ruins with an enormous and elaborate (still being used) graveyard; and then currently, seven different golf courses, golf shops, members-only old boy golf societies, and men wandering about town with their golf kit (stuff).

We stayed in a nice local trendy hotel b&b and enjoyed our hot breakfast every morning. Especially since we were in Scotland, Bri was pumped about his scrambled eggs & salmon. I went for the traditional Scottish breakfast (which is pretty much the same as full English or Irish breakfast) but with the addition of a slice of Haggis. (Which if you really want to know is seasoned sheep's stomach, and I will say is pretty tasty, but only in the context of a little bite.)

Before I arrived on Friday, Brian was taken to a neighboring village for lunch - and he got to experience the best Chippy in all of the UK! There are annual awards for the Fish & Chips shop throughout the country, and this particular one had just won the award. I was a bit envious I have to admit that I missed out. He claims they were pretty good . . . but it was still just deep fried fish & chips!We enjoyed our full day Saturday wondering really - seeing all of the 3 main areas I mentioned above. I enjoyed the golf stuff and took some photos by the key St Andrews Golf spots. These pics are from the Old Course, where golf began 600 years ago. The Old Course sustains around 42,000 rounds of golf a year. 50% of tee times are by lottery, Saturdays can't be booked, and it's closed on Sunday, so we were able to walk around right on the course. There are an additional six golf courses in and around St Andrews, catering to all skills and pockets. I went into the main Clubhouse and it was pretty impressive!

Dinner was more yummy salmon at just a local restaurant, including some of the best beer we've found in the UK. There is the craft brew pub in Scotland in the Cairngorms region, and it had some tasty stuff! Was very pleasantly surprised to learn that the Scots also have a better palate for beer, than their Southern English counterparts!

Sunday was really just a travel day back home - although much less enjoyable than Friday's trip. Fewer trains run on Sunday, but everyone else is trying to head home too, so it was packed sardines for most of the way. But all in all it was a great little trip.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm awaiting for the hubby to wake up, so we can go up the street for breakfast. Latte for me and tea for Bri of course. We'll prob go to the British coffee shop chain called Costa, since they have nice cozy sofas and good chocolate croissants. Mmm! Hope you have a loving day with your fave people!

(I just realized that Blogger is set on US West Coast time, so even though it's the 14th here while I type, it doesn't say that on the entry!)

STEM in the US

Just wanted to share an article I read in Newsweek regarding science & technology in high education in the US. I guess that is what I get for being married to a physicist and working in HE for the University of Oxford. But the article hits the nail on the head from the perspective over here. Oxford & Cambridge for example, are really putting in strategic plans for more engagement with India & China.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/181392

Snow Update

Well, the snow keeps coming down. It's pretty and wet. I will admit, the walk to the office on Friday was really slushy, wet - like walking on a big slurpy. People here don't have snow shovels, nor are there any large snow blowers or snow plows to move the snow. So it just builds up and makes a huge mess. Those who venture out in their car drive very slow (which is good) but they also burn rubber a lot, not used to being on slick roads. Many of my co-workers still couldn't make it into work, since they live in outlying villages and the public transport wouldn't run from there. I think they are all enjoying "snow days" from the office. More snow to come too in the next two days. I have learned that the Brits use gritting salt, actual salt minerals from mines that looks pinkish/orange on the roads. And they go "sledging" instead of "sledding"!

Snow in the UK - lame!

You may have heard in the news yesterday, that the UK grounded to a halt based on the most snow it's received in like 18 years. Well I think it all depends on where you live in the UK. It was pretty much a joke here in Oxford. There wasn't even an inch of snow on the ground, the roads were clear (just wet - like when it rains!) and it was the big pretty fluffy snow anyway. However, all schools were cancelled, 1 out of 5 workers didn't make it to work, and we continued to have full power outages while at work during the afternoon. Wow! I think an article on CNN said it would cost the UK government like 5 million GBP from just one day of snow! London stopped ALL of it's public transport - all city buses, the entire underground and pretty much all flights in/out Heathrow airport. I know London got more snow that we did in Oxford, but their snow is all melted already. At least I give the Brits credit, they know they are pretty lame when it comes to dealing with "crazy" weather! Weather here is typically pretty darn predictable. . . . grey and rainy.

January Update

As my post below says, we are keeping it real during January, and not doing much besides work, gym, chillin' and popping into the Dew Drop Inn for our Sunday pint (which is just about upon us again. . . )!

I'm settling into my new position at the business school, pretty easily actually. And very much taking advantage of an extra benefit while working there- 30 minute coffee break in the Common Room with free lattes! I'm not one to take a full lunch break (I still go American style with eating at my desk) but by god I'm going to be downstairs for the free lattes every morning! Oh yeah, and I'm enjoying the actual work too. . . :)

Brian has spent this past week home with a bad cold - but prior to, he's been figuring out tons of paperwork to extend our UK Visas and get visas for Singapore. We might possibly both have to go to Singapore in March to get him all squared away. He'll be working for the University there, but stationed in Oxford. I am very excited about the prospect of spending my bday on the equator in a bathing suit!!

We did watch the inauguration at Brian's office, along with many of his international colleagues. I walked over around 4:30 (left work early) to his lab, and saw that they had set up a laptop to project the BBC video onto a large screen for all to watch. It was all set up like a movie screening with snacks and seats! There were 4 Americans out of about 20 in the room - so pretty cool to experience such an amazing historical American event, with an international audience. There were colleagues from: Ireland, UK, Germany, Canada, Israel, Scotland, China and the Netherlands. They were all really into watching/hearing all about it. Pretty cool!

We're heading to Scotland next weekend, for a short trip. We'll go just north of Edinburgh, to St Andrews, the birthplace of golf. Brian is meeting with some collaborators there, so I'm tagging along, since most of the trip will be paid for. And it's just a good excuse to get out of town for a weekend. So stay tuned for photos . . . .

Not much else to report from the Oxford front here - other than to say you might want to think about coming to visit. The pound is the lowest to the dollar it's been in years (boo for us) - so it might be the cheapest ever time for you to visit the UK. And while watching the BBC at the gym this afternoon, they announced that Oxford is the most unaffordable city in the UK - yippee more for us! Makes sense, since it's London property prices, but not London salaries. . . I do look forward to living back in the US - even a small cozy house will feel like a castle after living in these old school, tiny broom closets for outrageous prices! (Well I'm not being quite fair, as we've made out fine enough with a fairly spacious flat for you to come visit. . . )

Off to the pub!

Holiday Recap

We have been enjoying a much needed "normal" month of January. This consists of going to work, going to the gym and spending the weekends being lazy at our flat. You would think that would mean I would take the time to update the blog, but I've been enjoying leaving it alone for awhile!

I'm not going to type up the entire schedule from our trip, but it was our typical Midwest tour, living out of a suitcase. And it was darn cold this time too! We def don't miss that at all!! But of course, we had a wonderful time being with family and friends, and I know I would have had a hard time if we had stayed in Oxford. So I am so thankful we were able to be home!

Hanging with Cousin Patty and the Doyle fam - meeting Olivia for the first time
Bro Rick and Sis-in-law Rick and Kate, and their baby Abigail's baptism in 'Kato
Entire Moen clan
Colvin clan
Guys on Xmas morning
Kelly discovering Guitar Hero for the first time - awesome!
Bri feeding Abigail up in Two Harbors - good practice!
Abs feeding herself . . .!
Jamming with the Wright cousins
New Year Celebrating with Nelly Bear and Amanda