Graduation Blog

Wow it's been long since I have sat down to write anything on this blog, but the wait is at an end.
It was my graduation yesterday, December 3rd, 2008 on a Wednesday of all days of the week to have it on, and it was at 11 o'clock AM as well. Which meant that I had to wake up EXTREMELY early or 7 o'clock. I'm a lady ... I don't do mornings. But the weirdest thing was that I managed to wake up all by myself at 6:30. I was not happy! so I stubbornly stayed in bed until 7. Then I finally dragged myself out of my nice cosy bed onto the not so warm floor and got dressed and ready in my graduation outfit as soon as I could and phoned for a taxi well before eight o'clock. I had to be at registration at 8:40 and I had stressed with the girls of not being late. I was hopeful that I would be there about twenty minutes early. But now, no such luck, in fact a big let down. I waited for the taxi for 50 MINUTES before in state of panick I started hurridly walking into Uni. Usually that would not have been such a problem, I had my good shoes on and was meaning to change once I got to Uni but this morning was SPECIAL. My bit of Glasgow was completely covered in ice (fljúgandi hálka) and I could see the cars skating about outside and the people falling about trying 'ingeniously' to walk to Uni in these conditions wearing sneakers and jeans. But I basically skated up to Uni in record time, flying on the ice past people with limbs flailing about them all around me. There was nothing else to do. I finally made it about 10 - 15 minutes later than I would have wished but I made it and my toesies were quite frozen at this point. I still had stuff to do. I needed to register and get tickets for my guests for the ceremony, I also needed to pick up my robe and hood. When that was finished I had to find my way on my frozen toesies to Catriona's office to warm up a bit before going to meet my guests and getting them to where they were supposed to go.
I found Catriona and Sandra already in the office and both of them were rather worried that I was so late and were quite shocked that the taxi had never come to pick me up at all. I was sooo lucky to have worn my leg brace this morning because I had been thinking of not putting it on right away. We changed into our robes and got ready to go over to the main building and met up with Catriona's folks shortly, the Sandra's peeps joined us as well and finally my parents showed up as well. I showed them where the elevator was and how to get to the Bute Hall where the ceremony took place. I then had to run to Randolph Hall at the back of Bute Hall (and of course I had to go back down to go across the university and go back up, no cutting straight across there) Then waited for the girls to join me because I had completely lost sight of them in the crowd. We had to wait a bit before the started calling us into our seats in the correct order, we were quite early on so it was nice. The funniest bit though was when they called me to my seat. Elin Ingeborg ELFSdottir is as close as I can get to pronounciation.
However the Hall itself was bloody freezing and didn't help my wee toeses at all to get warm, in fact it just got worse. I really wished I was wearing my Icelandic National Costume because at least it has a woolen skirt and a shawl, brrrr, it was soooooo cold even the Icelandic Viking was complaining. (Although I have been complaining about the cold in Scotland for six years, they just don't seem to understand that we are used to cold OUTSIDE not INSIDE!!!) The ceremony took an hour and a half to finish and since we were quite early receiving our degrees we had to entertain ourselves by giggling over the various strange names that were called out.
When the ceremony was finally over we had to do the 'graduation walk' around the east quadrangle before stopping outside in the frost. We were greeted by Robbie O'Maolalaigh the head of the Celtic department who came to congratualte us, and later we ran into Dauvit Broun our course convenour. I sent my mom and dad into the photography room to wait for me because I needed to go pick up my things from Catriona's office but when we got there there was no one there to let us in. So I went back to mom and dad and we decided on a graduation photo pack and while I was waiting in the queue Catriona came running with all my belongings and bags because the secretary had come back and Catriona and her parents needed to leave as early as possible. So mom and dad guarded my things while I stood proud and a bit silly looking while they snapped some photos of me. Then finally I was able to change shoes ... ah HEAVEN.
We took a taxi home to my place so I could show them around my new room with my many many windows! And when we had sufficiently recovered and warmed up a bit we went back to mom and dad's hotel room. I ran out to Burger King for some lunch and this was just before three o'clock in the afternoon now. We watched some news on the television and I phoned TGI Friday's to book us a table for tonight, got a table for four people at 7:30 no problem. While I was on the phone mom decided not to take any chances, like this morning. The weather forcast was predicting more snow and ice and because it had taken so long or not at all for a taxi to come to me early in the morning it would be best if I stayed in town with them so that I didn't have to worry about going home in bad conditions or getting into Uni tomorrow morning, because I had a meeting with my tutor. So we booked a room for me at the hotel, and I got a lovely room on the next floor with a double bed and it was just perfect. So I had to go back home and pack my wee suitcase before going back to the hotel. I managed to chat a bit with Catriona online before going back and told her I had booked the table so she would be able to find us and I told her that I had borrowed her name and booked the table under the name Eileen Gray and that she had apparently adopted me for the time being. She told me she would adopt me anytime anyway ... that made me happy! I phoned for a taxi and it took half an hour to show!!! So good call from mom about having me stay the night at theirs because it is much easier for me to get from there to Uni than from my actual residence. It still took me twenty mintues to get from mine to theirs because the traffic was horrific but I did finally arrive and I managed to rest a bit before we went out again and now for the actual Graduation dinner.
Shortly after we arrived at Fridays and got a table Catriona appeared. We ordered some lovely food and while we were waiting I gave Catriona her graduation present and I got one too!!! She is so lovely. I loved my present, it was so thoughful and wonderful and I got the best book EVER. 'The Perfect hostess' and it is so much fun. I am going to place quotes on here most likely, they are the best ever.
When we had finished dinner and desert and were just chatting away I looked out the window and none other than Anne and George were outside there, and I just started pointing and hmmmhmmm-ing like crazy because I couldn't come a word out of my mouth. She noticed my absurd behaviour and came in to say hello they had to run because their train was leaving in ten minutes from Central Station. They were just back from Edinburgh where Anne was graduating as well. I managed to give her her Graduation present and Christmas present before she left. I will have mine too look forward to when I get back. We had planned to see Sandra later in the evening and after we had finised our sizeable meal we went over to Waxy O'Connor's and waited for her to show up. Mom and dad went back to the hotel though, so Catriona and I got us some beverages and enjoyed a chat while waiting for Sandra to show up. They only showed up then when we were about to leave, but thankfully I managed to give her the Graduation present before they left and so did we.
Catriona then phoned me when she had reached home which made me feel so much better because you never know when you are riding on the bus in Glasgow what you are going to get, but thankfully it was a smooth ride. I was already tucked in my bed at the hotel in the wonderful double bed. Mom and dad were as tired as I was and understood very well that I just wanted to crawl into bed, they wanted to do the same. So I had said goodbye earlier and gone to my room. It was very nice and cosy and I started reading my book 'The perfect hostess' so that I was able to tell Catriona again that I absolutely love it. I managed to watch a few minutes of Top Gear and then I was completely dead to the world. It was very fine day indeed but totally exhausting as well.