On the school side of things, I had my first tests. We have been studying the forelimb in Anatomy and finished it a short time ago, so last Friday we had two tests. In the morning we had a 2 hour written exam which was an experience in itself. The test was much easier than I expected with one essay (Give an account of the structures involved in the shoulder joint of the dog and indicate which structures produce and restrict movement) and 20 short answer questions, but the place and procedure was the different part. The exam was given in a huge hall on the main campus which is absolutely gorgeous. It must be three stories tall with pillars and gold relief work. Also different was the style of testing. In Hillsdale the exams were rather small and casual, while here I had to have my student ID card on my desk at all times, sign a form certifying that it was really me taking the test, and use really complicated essay books with folding sticky flaps and rules (do not write on the left of the margin, use the yellow book for short answers and the blue for the essay, etc.) Who wants to try to figure out the essay books when you are focused on a test!

In the afternoon I had a laboratory practical out at the vet school in the anatomy lab, which I think went really well. It covered bones (species ID, their many bumps and fossa, joints, muscle attachment, and radiographs), muscles (ID, innervations, and actions), blood supply, and nerves of dogs, cats, horses, pigs, sheep, and cows - just try to tell the distal phalanx of a cow and pig apart!! Because there were more students than stations, some of the stations had books of animal/veterinary cartoon and such rather than questions. A welcome break for the brain.

All my other term exams will be held the week before I come home for Christmas. The exams are a bit more stressful than at Hillsdale because there are finals only, with no other tests, papers, quizzes, or homework to help with the grade. Biochem and Physiology should be OK, and I have heard that animal husbandry is pretty easy, but I'm not quite sure how to study for it. These term exams don't really count for much anyway - only 7% of our year grade. Almost everything rests on the First Year Exams in June.

Speaking of animal husbandry, let me give you a word of advise - NEVER visit a pig farm. We had a tour of a 300 sow farm near Edinburgh, which definitely left its mark on me - a very strong mark which I could smell all the way home. Even after stripping off my coveralls and wellies I could still smell myself the whole bus ride and walk home. I immediately put all the clothes I had worn into the wash and took a shower, but I had to wash my hair three times before the smell was gone. Thankfully I had warning from those who had gone the week before so I did not wear my leather gloves or my wool sweaters. Several people had to toss their wool stuff because they could not get the smell out.

A quick day in the life of this vet student - I had two classes at the main Uni this morning which were Anatomy (hind limb) and Biomolecular (protein targeting). After a quick stop at the magazine shop to get the Scottish Farmer and a stop at Safeway for yoghurt, I walked back home through the botanic gardens and had lunch at my flat. Since I had a couple hours before the next class I worked on new photos for my webpage and read the news online. At 13:30 I walked up to the vet school for a couple of hours of poultry animal husbandry, which actually got out early! Then it was back to my flat for dinner and this e-mail message.

Last Sunday I broke with tradition and had dinner after church. Isn't that normal you ask? Well, the joke at church was that people kept asking me over for dinner after the service, and something always happened so that I didn't get to eat. It was becoming quite amusing. However, last Sunday I did manage to get invited for dinner and actually eat so hopefully this will form a new tradition. I also got a quick lesson in fencing as the father and son are both very good fencers. I also got information on a local club which I will hopefully visit tomorrow. I think it would be a really fun sport to get into and the clubs provide the equipment so the costs are minimal. I will be sure and let you know when I win the world fencing championships.

Other extra curricular activities in the past couple of weeks have included riding lessons with the riding club, viewing films in the international film festival, listening to the World Rugby Championship final game with England vs. Australia (awesome game - England ROCKS), attending clinical club and zoology society meetings, trying Guinness beer, putting together a bed frame, and shopping at local outdoor markets.

A note of interest, if you would like to see a webcam of George Square in Glasgow's City Center try www.glasgow.gov.uk . Its kinda pretty with all the Christmas lights and a huge outdoor ice skating rink.

One final story - I was riding the Orange (Glasgow's subway) downtown and heard several guys talking with one telling of his experience in the US. "When I was in New York I got on the tube one night and realized I was the only white person on it. I took off my watch and rings and stuck them in my pocket." It sounded like this was a pretty traumatic experience for the poor guy. Then he started trying to imitate the inner city accent and I almost started laughing. Imagine a Scottish accent on top of "yo brother," etc. Also, last time I checked New York didn't have a "tube," they have a subway : ) All in all, it had me chuckling for quite a while.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

God bless,
Rebecca