Cliques in Swing Dancing

For a change from all the walking posts, this one is about swing dancing and the swing dancing communities.

After five months in Edinburgh in which I went to most swing dancing events and classes that were available, joined all the Edinburgh swing dance Facebook groups, added many, many fellow dancers as fb friends, went for after-dance drinks, brought cake, and joined as many socials as possible, the hard work is finally paying off and people here are getting used to my face and warming up to my presence. Many know my name and some even pronounce it correctly, they seem genuinely interested in what I am doing - beyond British politeness and small talk - and I even get invited to birthday parties.

Pentlands Again

Today, I assessed a couple of friends' walking abilities in the Pentlands. They passed, because they did everything right. No complains when I lost my way and we got really close to the military shooting area with the red flags up, they didn't walk faster than me, they brought plenty of food and first aid stuff and shared it, and they were happy to go to a pub afterwards. I'm not asking too much of my walking company, or am I?

Glencorse Reservoir

Me Doing Stand-Up Comedy (For Real)

Hmm, Blogger doesn't let me upload my video, so until it does you can find proof of the start (and end) of my stand-up comedy career in my dropbox: *click*

Another First

I don't really know how to tell this story in the best way so I just tell you how it is. I did stand-up comedy tonight. As in I was the person on stage in The Stand (*link*), a comedy club, and people paid money to see and listen to me. I was filmed and if I don't look fat in it I'll post the video here once I get it.

Here's a preview: It was a Bright Club night (*link*), academics talking about their science and being funny at the same time - and I must have been funny, people laughed!

Bucket List

A bucket list is the best kind of to-do list as it lists the fun things you want to do in your life. I don't have an actual list, but there are some things I've always wanted to do, and if I was to start writing them down I would probably add more items every week. One of the newer items would be to learn how to play the violin. My flatmate owns one, and she and Kat were witnesses to my first trial, and what can I say: I'm a natural!

But one thing that has been on my bucket list for a few years now is to join a choir because I love choral music and I'd like to train my voice - the next karaoke night won't be long. So today I did and I loved it!

Canal Grande

This year, the end of Edinburgh's festival season coincided with the end of summer. Suddenly, I'm wearing gloves and hats again! And that is why I'm pretty sure that the guy who fell into the canal today didn't enjoy it as much as I did in summer (*link*). Unfortunately, it took me too long to make the connection - between a dripping cyclist wringing out his clothes and the big puddle of water at pretty much the same position where I fell in - to express my schadenfreude.

Cards

Alex brought them over today. Alex is my DPD guy, and the printers that I ordered the cards from had given me up-to-date information about where my parcel was at any time, and eventually, that Alex would call between 1.08 and 2.13 pm today which he did. Just to make sure, I asked him if his name was Alex and he confirmed and wasn't freaked out, hehe.

They are 350 gsm (grams per square meter), which was the cheapest option, and feel thicker than most business cards I have been given by other people. If you like them, comment away, if you hate them, shush!

Microadventures

Not sure if I have shared this here before, but I'm feeling adventurous :) I found some inspiration here: *link*.

Entitled

I had a really nice chat with the technical director of the small engineering company that sadly didn't hire me (*link*), and he confirmed what I already knew but needed to be told again: Most jobs are not advertised. Which means I need to get out there, network, apply speculatively, etc. He also thought it a good idea to have business cards, and as designing a business card seems something worthwhile to do (although it is just concealed procrastination really) I set out and did so. But I came across one question (and then some more) regarding my title and hope to hear some opinions from my dear readers.

Feeling Poetic

The one poem that I had to learn by heart in school and still remember in its entirety is this:

Der Logarithmus
von A zur Basis B
ist die Zahl,
mit der man B
potenzieren muss,
um A zu erhalten.

(The logarithm
of a number A
to base B
is the exponent
to which B
must be raised
to produce A.)

Turning your current job into a job you like

I experienced a crisis of faith the other day after receiving another rejection for a job. For a period which fortunately only lasted half a day I became insecure and doubtful about my approach to finding a job I love in a place I love. Which was moving to that place without knowing anyone there, and then socialising, networking, volunteering, and applying for jobs like crazy. But you'll be glad to hear that I'm now back to being happily deluded optimistic.

Manifesto

Some people (*link*) put this together and I liked it. So much common sense.

You bet

I feel like I should put it in writing and make it official that Kat and I have a bet going on. She recently deactivated her facebook account and I challenged her that she will miss it so much and will be back to using it in less than a year.

So, if Kat reactivates her facebook account before August 2014 she will have to buy me a bottle of Scotch whisky. If she doesn't the whisky will be on me.

And here's some support for anyone else who is inspired: How to Quit Facebook (*link*). Among other advice they mention Cold Turkey (*link*), an app which lets you (temporarily) block websites and programs - useful for people like me with no self-restraint who have to write job applications instead of checking facebook all the time.

Loch Ossian

I really am making the best of my current situation - living in Scotland with plenty of time on my hands. Somehow, I had persuaded Katharina to come visit me again and for some reason she kept extending the duration of her planned stay, so that I didn't know anymore how to fill the time with Edinburgh sightseeing and day trips and therefore suggested a trip to the highlands instead. She arrived on a Saturday and, after six hours on trains already, was willing to go on two more right away to travel via Glasgow to Corrour. In Glasgow, after less than three hours in the country, Kat already had had her IrnBru, pink Guinness, and Haggis, while we were catching up with Paul in a pub. We then set off to the highlands on a grand three hour train ride along firths and lochs, passing a few towns we had walked through on the West Highland Way two years ago (*link*), reminiscing. 

On our arrival in Corrour it was dark and the prospect of the one-mile-long walk to the hostel daunting, but the path turned out to be an easily visible dirt road, and the only one around, as Corrour, which consists of a rail station building and a restaurant, is only accessible by train. We didn't get lost, and after a few bends we saw the illuminated window of our hostel.

Old

So I put cornflour in my hair to see if I can use it instead of dry shampoo. I'm not so sure about the result, it seems to be working alright, but I got a pretty good impression of what I'll look like when I'm old and grey :)

(I'll look youthful and wise.)

Pentlands in August

After the massive birthday dinner my flatmate made for me and friends with mackerel in rhubarb-ginger-sauce, tatties, runner beans, roasted courgettes and orange-courgette cake I put all these calories to good use the following day by doing another half-day trip to the Pentlands. Scotland in August is tinted purple with blooming heather everywhere. The weather was a warm, light drizzle with intermittent dry spells and one or two heavier showers - fine Scottish walking conditions.

Fringing

This week is a sociable one. Having won free tickets for a book festival event, on Monday I went with a friend to a reading by a Chinese author who wrote a novel about Chinese women experiencing the one-child-policy (click here for The Dark Road by Jian Ma reviews). I didn't know a whole lot about the topic and what I know now is very gruesome and brutal, and I won't get into details, but it was a good event, and I liked the vibe of a book festival. The crowd wasn't that different from the Jazz&Blues Festival crowd - less hipsters and more seniors than expected - but the whole thing happened on Charlotte Square, a nice little green park in the city where I sat down at a tree in the sun to read a book since I was early.

One-Day-One-Job Challenge Update

After all the travel and birthday excitement I got a little bit behind on the job challenge front. But since I started the challenge I have already had plenty of feedback. One rejection, one note that I missed the application deadline (oopsi), one invitation to an interview, and one email by my flatmate's friend who might help me get a job at SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency).

Also, it's August, and no one in Edinburgh in their right mind actually works in August. It's festival season after all, and in that spirit, I'm gonna go out tonight to enjoy a pint and some free performances.

One-Day-One-Job Challenge - Day 3

On day three of my job hunting challenge I applied for the position as

Affordable Warmth Advisor

Glen Affric Walk

I set out to walk through Glen Affric, the finest of all Scotland's glens, and while the walk was truly fine it was also truly wet. So finally, you get the whole picture about Scotland: sometimes it does rain here!

Click here for the map.