The Truth is...

The truth is... I really have been meaning to write... yet i have not.

Some ideas which I have not seen through:
1) "Even the Dogs are British" - this would have been a whimsical rant about how it seems that the delightful dogs are keeping to themselves and their person with all social etiquite, in the same air as their person. This has been sad as I love to pet dogs. And I'm used to being allowed to pet other's dogs because I moved from the most dog-friendly city in the world: Vancouver.
2) "Kisses from Melville" - the 90 year old man at my church named Melville tells me he likes it when i wear my hair down and gives me a kiss on the cheek. This man has been in the church choir for 80 years; that's right, since he was 10 years old. The fact that he knew my name made me feel apart of the community.

[... I'm sure there were others, I just can't think of them now.]

And even others I could think of on the spot, like...
2) "Oh! How I love Bacon!" - a desciption of the best bacon in the world, namely, that which can be purchased at a particlar stale at the farmer's market.
3) "Flatball around the World!" - discussing the Ultimate Frisbee club I'm in (a club, i have discovered is very, VERY different from the casual intermuras of UBC) and where we've gone (Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh)
4) "Best Valentine's EVER!" - on receiving Valentine gifts from kids whom i babysit
5) "Celebrate Increasing Light" - a short meditation on Epiphany and a description of my first ever Art's Night (I hosted about 10-12 artist in an evening of poetry, short stories, and music accompanied with wine and fruit and cheese)

I could probably say something about the new year, but it seems a bit late for that. We're almost in March, after all.

Mostly, I am learning the layers of settling....
I know where I live. I don't get lost when going somewhere. I even know a few short cuts! I know the neighbors upstairs and I'm getting to know families at the church I attend. I've decorated my flat and my room and don't feel like moving things around anymore. Melville kisses my cheek at church, my 4-year-old neighbor shouts "It's Amy!" on the street and we wave to each other. And it's nice.
But I still have trouble with the bank system in the UK, and the assessment system at St. Andrews. I am still settling into friendships. I'm about to begina new job, which will be more "new" to which I will need to adjust... and learn from which to learn quickly. And my love is scattered with the family and dear friends who are all over the world.

I have been here 6 months now. I anticipate being here for two and a half more years. I have much more settling to do.