Kay-what? Ceilidh. (Kay-lee)

It's been a while since I've updated. The reason is that I am currently in an essay-writing frenzy, trying to set myself up to thoroughly relax during my last few days here. You see, I am not sitting my exams in January and thus have to write an extra set of essays before I leave. Which makes my pre-departure a bit frantic. I did a decent job at spacing my workload throughout the

semester, but there is only so much you can do when you are gone every weekend. Since my last post, I've written two essays and have two to go. The hope is that I'll finish before I return to Aberdeen for my final weekend in Scotland. Do-able? Maybe.

So. On to the more exciting news. First, me and a few American friends felt the urge to share with this nation the delicious indulgence of a proper Thanksgiving meal. Many of our British friends just thought it was a roast dinner. The more informed vaguely knew that it had something to do with Native Americans. Well... We went all out. About fifteen of us got together and made a dinner of two turkeys, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, a cheese and vegetable platter appetiser, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce(though not much of a tradition in my family), and even pumpkin pie. I told the Brits that I would continue to celebrate Guy Fawkes day if they would insist on celebrating Thanksgiving.

This past Wednesday was IFSA's final activity: a Christmas Ceilidh in the Balmoral Hotel.

The Balmoral is arguably the nicest hotel in Edinburgh. I kid you not, we were only able to have the Ceilidh there because of the economic downturn.

When we arrived, we were directed to the reception room in which we received a glass of warm, spiced cider or orange juice depending on our preference. After mingling in this area for a few short minutes, we were notified that dinner was ready. Oh, and did I mention? I managed to dress appropriately for this traditional Scottish event:

Walking into another elabourately furnished dining hall, we sat down at candle-lit, white tablecloth place settings. A bit of a change from the hall cafeteria. Not to mention the view. We could see a glimpse of the Castle, the North Bridge, the ferris wheel and Christmas decorations... basically the best view in Edinburgh.

After one of the greatest meals I have had in Scotland, we joined a live band for a lively evening of dancing. They instructed us how to do several different steps and I'd like to think that I did pretty well for myself(with the exception of the first dance: this one that happened to get photographed).

It was a horribly fast-paced, counter-intuitive, crowded hubjumble of a dance. After that, though, it turned out to be one of the favourite evenings of my study abroad experience.

Wish me luck on my studies! I'd hate to be working on my last week here.