#edinuburgh

[journeysinedinburgh-blog]

Arrival

This past Thursday I arrived in the UK. My plane was supposed to leave at 10:30 at night on Wednesday, but I don’t think it actually left until 12 or later. I was so nervous that the second the seat belt sign turned off I basically ran to the bathroom and threw up. I never really get sick on planes so this was kind of surprising and unsettling. The plane arrived an hour late, the last hour being particularly annoying, as we were just circling around, which definitely caused some nausea. After getting off the plane, I headed to customs which was a big pain. The line legitimately took an hour and 30 mins. I had my saxophone and a heavy back pack with me so it was quite difficult trying to navigate myself through the line. I was a bit nervous once I got up to the customs booth, as I knew I had to get my visa stamped. However, it all went swimmingly. I found my bag quickly after that and my boyfriend’s mom was there to greet me on the other side. 

By that time it was around 12 midday on Thursday. The drive home was roughly 1.5 hours, which left me 45 mins to shower and pack before leaving for my train to Wales. This was plenty of time (surprisingly) and I made it to my train on time. I was pretty nervous for this train ride, since there was a change in between that was only 13 mins. My first train was also running late, making my change only about 8 minutes long. I did make my 2nd train in time though, after a fast run around Birmingham New St station. My train ride to Newport was an hour and 40 mins and the scenery was extremely beautiful. However, towards the end, it was getting very hard to stay awake. I did meet some friendly people on the train, and their conversations kept me awake until my arrival. 

When I got to Newport my boyfriend was there to greet me and we went up to his accommodations. That night his housemate made us a lovely vegetarian lasagna and then we all played my favorite card game, hearts.

On Friday, my boyfriend and I went to Cardiff and Cardiff Bay. First we walked around Cardiff Bay and then proceeded to the Doctor Who Experience. The museum and experience were way better than expected. The experience was really interactive and I have to be honest, I did get a bit scared. I think I liked the museum even better since it contained loads of originals from the show, which was really cool to think about. Then we walked around the bay some more which was super pretty. We had a little picnic and then proceeded to explore Cardiff central. We walked around and then looked around some stores. After a bit, we ended up having dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which was super yummy. They ended up ‘screwing up’ our order and gave us too many fries; best mistake ever!

On Saturday, we missed our train to Birmingham so we ended up hanging around for the morning. When we got there, we had a snack and dropped our stuff off at my boyfriend’s uni house. Then we headed to town and walked around a bit and looked at some phone shops. We had dinner at Wagamamas with a bunch of his friends, which was really good. 

On Sunday, we lounged around and then took a train back to Northampton. We’ve been lounging ever since. 

It looks like it’s going to be a pretty relaxing week, which will be good before all the craziness of going up to Edinburgh. I have to pick up my BRP, figure out my bank account and get a SIM Card, but other than that I think it’s going to be pure lounging. Maybe a bit of shopping.

Good things to come.

PS: My last flatmate was located! She’s from London and doing Politics and Philosophy. Although I originally wanted 3 boys and 2 girls, I’m definitely fine, actually happy, with 4 girls and 1 guy. Should be good :)

[sportspersonalityoftheweek--blog]

SPOTW:

Blair Kinghorn

 A Shimmering Light at the End of Scotland’s Constant Tunnel?

As I begin writing this piece, it’s difficult to talk about Scottish rugby with a great deal of positivity. It pains me to say it, but Jeremy Guscott gave a pretty accurate summation of the teams recent performances – ‘Scotland continue to over-promise and under-deliver.’ However, fear not, for I have a young player to bring to your attention who is currently making ripples on the surface of the rugby community. And he is only 18! (Not to pile on the pressure too much!)

Edinburgh Academy 1st XV captain, Blair Kinghorn, is a flamboyant and tactically astute fly half who is making a name for himself throughout Edinburgh and Scottish rugby. He was introduced to the sport due to it being a school formality to play it from a young age. However, it was in fact football where he found his first sporting love. It turned out he was pretty good at that as well. Whilst playing rugby for the Edinburgh Academy, he spent a year with the Hearts football academy, yet he quickly realised his true passion lay with the ball that bounced in a less predictable manor. An unbeaten first season at Currie RFC U16’s probably contributed to his decision.

Blair told me that he was strongly supported by his coaches throughout his school career. Mark Appleston and Javier Palacios offered him the guidance he needed to excel on the school pitch, however as Blair’s talent began to shine, Edinburgh and Scotland u16’s came calling. Blair was introduced to a whole new dimension of training. “Support became much more specific when I got into the National Age Grade Program run by the SRU in my U16 season. This offered general Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition work, and skill work.”

Blair progressed at a rather rapid rate throughout his U17 season becoming a Scottish Institute of Sport supported athlete in the process. Modestly, he attributed his development to the Scottish programme which included nutritional advice and effective strength and conditioning coaching. Training and practice are obviously essential to a player’s progression in terms of physical strength and tactical awareness. But I believe there are those that possess a natural ability that one cannot teach/learn – All I am going to say is there is no doubt Blair has brilliant raw talent. I know I consistently mention this, but it really is great to hear directly from the athletes, how strong and supportive the coaching teams are within Scottish sport! Rugby is of course a team game, but Blair told me the Scotland strength and conditioning Coach Neil Crosbie, ‘tailors your program to your specific areas you need to develop in and to your specific positional needs.’ He also informed me that the coaches regularly ask for the players’ views and opinions so that the training sessions are beneficial and the right areas are targeted.

One of Blair’s key strengths is his place kicking (that year with Hearts has aided him well.) He has been lucky enough to receive one on one kicking tutorials with former Scotland captain Chris Patterson. He said Patterson, ‘was able to see small areas in my kicking technique that weren’t right and made me aware of them so we could fix them and ultimately improve my kicking and my confidence around my kicking.’ I think it’s fantastic that a player of the magnitude of Chris Patterson is willing to offer his guidance and expertise to a young, up and coming player – the results can only be positive.

Along with his accurate kicking, the Edinburgh Accies captain has the weapons (Great vision, diligent work ethic, skilful hands) in his armoury to achieve great things in the sport. He has identified turning pro and becoming an international as his main goals, as well as becoming the best player he can be – which I see as the most important. With the support he has received and will continue to receive, Kinghorn could become a household name within rugby. Watch this space!