Status report

One week in. This city is amazing. I might even use the word 'perfect,' except that I have been repeatedly warned by natives and other expats alike about the long, cold, dark, wet winter that looms just around the bend. They keep predicting rain, but so far the rain has not come; it seems we chose the right week to make our first. I suspect that this winter, of which I hear so much, could prove to be Edinburgh's lone fault.



I have been in the office throughout this past week, except for 1 day which I took off. The newly constructed, window-lined building is excellent, as is its location at the border between the neighborhoods of New Town and Leith, and as are my friendly and jovial new coworkers. From my desk on the third floor (the second floor by British reckoning) I can look up cobblestoned Gayfield Place; the uphill street opens my view through the Georgian buildings toward Calton Hill in the distance. In the mornings, tendrils of steam drift from vents into the chill air, children make their way to St. Mary's Primary School (across the street), and seagulls meander past my window. By mid-morning the sun slants through, so I must lower the blinds; after a few hours, the glare has passed and they can be opened again.