Safe Arrival in Edinburgh!

Although we rose at the brutal hour of 4:30am to put our suitcases on the lorry, and although we were then required to be in the hotel lobby "ready to go at any moment" at 7:25, we did not board our train until 8:55, for a 9:00 departure. I had warned the kids that it was going to ba a "hurry up and wait" sort of day, and they rose to the occasion with patience and incredible good humor. Instead of riding with all the other schools on the chartered train, we were placed on a regular commuter train along with 3 other schools. Although some of us were sad not to be on a very slow train filled with teenagers scream-singing show tunes, we rallied, and were rewarded with a swift, quiet, and beautiful ride up the country side past beautiful little towns, fields of sheep, and sea side vistas. We arrived in Edinburgh feeling happy and refreshed at 1:30 pm.

The main AHSTF train arrived at 8:30pm, setting a 21-year record for the slowest ever AHSTF train ride.

We were exhaled into the center of Edinburgh only moments after I was swept into an accidental comedy routiene: John from AHSTF told me that we were to meet a "guy named Anne." I searched my brain for possible Celtic spellings of this mysterious male name "An." Out loud I asked "I'm sorry, named...?" "You. are. meeting. a. guy. called. Anne. when you get off the train" he repeated, irritated at my obtuseness. In his defense, he was on the front line of organizing the troop movement of 650 teenagers across country borders in face of bureacratic and logistic nightmares. In my defense, I'm a little deaf.

Anne turned out to be a female Guide who kept calling herself Mrs. Dubtfire and talking too quietly to be heard. It didn't matter. Edinburgh is a magical city, and the kids were hooked within the first 3 minutes of our tour.

For her part, Anne was beside herself with joy at our group. "You are cheerful rays of sunshine!" she cooed. Later, she said to me "I was dreading this tour because the American children never talk and I knew I'd run out of things to say. But your children are such lambs! They are smiling and asking me so many interesting questions! They are lovely, just lovely."

If we've learned nothing else, it's that eye contact, smiling, and engaging guides with a question or two automatially wins us rave reviews. The kids are mystifed by the overwhelmingly positive response they are getting for rudimentary communication skillls, but they are happy doing something that is second nature helps them defy the UK stereotype of American teenagers as sullen and disengaged.

Our gang just went about their normal business, and later helped to load suitcases off the pavement and into the dorms. The initial reviews from the kids are that the dorm rooms are "Amazing!" "So, So Nice!" and "Beautiful!" The food offers "a huge variety!" "so much fun stuff to try" and "pretty good food." Their unending buoyancy is a blessing!

Nathaniel and Kathleen near St. Leonard's.

Mads and Maddy on the train are all smiles, even while the trian is shaking and I'm complaining about my mirrorless camera's fear of low-light conditions.

That's neither Lenin's nor Colt's extremely heavy trunk. It's full of stage props, and they stepped up as did the whole group when it was time to move our lot of heavy suitcases into the dorms.