In the States we call them elevators, and they seem to work just fine; you press the button, and it comes to your floor and takes you to another floor. This is done relatively quickly, usually. Not so, here.
I press the button, and the lift stays where it is. I timed it once, and it took 3 minutes for it to even close its doors and start moving. Other times, I push the button, and it bypasses me. For example, if I'm on the 6th floor, the lift will go all the way up to the 8th floor, and then, several minutes later, come down to me. Now, I know what you're thinking: maybe someone rode it up, or called it to the top. I thought this too. Not so! The lift here makes a beeping noise when someone or something is in the doorway, which is audible up to four floors away. I heard no beeping whilst waiting on the 6th floor, which would indicate someone leaving, and it was empty when it finally came to me. It is without a doubt the most maddening piece of semi-modern technology that I have ever encountered.
Anyway, the Christmas season is in full swing here. Down along Princes St., the touristy shopping area, they have an outdoor German Christmas Market every year, with carnival rides and an ice skating rink. I think they're still in the process of setting it all up, but here are some pictures:
This is from a plaza in front of the National Gallery of Scotland (I think that's what it is). You can see the ferris wheel in front of Scott Monument. It started raining on me shortly after this.
This shot was taken from just outside of New College, and features an wesome shot of the ferris wheel, and a picture that could have shown up in the awesome sky post from last week.
This one could have been up last week, too, if it had been taken at that point. This is the road leading from New College down the Mound to Princes St.; it's closed off right now, because the city is building a tram system, and they're doing construction down at the end of the road. Makes for a lovely walk. And the trees along the side, as you can see, now sport lights, and are beautiful to look at.Here's an interesting news bit:
So who knows, maybe I'll have to have one of these cards some day. Britain is kind of crazy, it seems. Fortunately, my Student Visa is good for three years (the length of my academic program), and I don't have to reapply for it. And I don't have a spouse, so good for me!
Was kind of a slow day...I got Nota Bene working again, so that was nice, it was like reconnecting with an old friend. It makes my life so much easier, and has awesome Greek, Hebrew, and Cyrilic fonts, complete with accents and vowel marks (for Hebrew), and I've added Coptic to it.
Tonight I'll be going to my local for Theology on Tap, where Father Bruno (a Dominican priest) is giving a lecture on Islam. Hopefully that'll be nice. At the very least, I can be with people getting rounded, right? Which brings me to vocab:
local - This can be used just as it is in the States: "Is that movie showing locally?"; "Is that a local custom?"; etc. However, what if I were to say to you "I was out at my local watching football"? Sounds nonsensical, right? Not here! In this case "local" means the pub which is either: A) closest to my flat; or, B) most frequented by me. Usually it's both. My local is just 'round the corner, and is called The Southsider. It's quite nice.
rounded - Okay, I don't know if this is actual British/Scottish slang, or something I just made up, but it means "drunk." Not just buzzed, but proper drunk. "We got rounded last night." But, like I said, I might have made it up.
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