Where it's at

Each time a person asks me, "so what do you do?" I want to say something like "wow, that's a great question!  I do a lot of things.  I go to carnivals, I eat venison, I listen to records, I mountain bike, I pronounce the word root beer different than you, I shave my head just for fun." Most people don't really want to hear what you do, they want to make small talk, so instead I tell them my job, where I live, what sports teams I follow...etc.  There is a time and place for that, but this is not it.  Instead, I'm going to invite you into my life and you can choose to accept or decline, approve or disapprove, mock or well, probably mock.  Either way, I still prefer this to small talk.

So where does one begin a blog?  Maybe it's better to ask, why does one begin a blog?  I'm not the "stream of consciousness" type of writer, nor do I regularly reveal my inner-self openly online, so this is a somewhat of a stretch for me.  Two reasons:  I'm moving and I'm sponsored.  Starting in September of this year, I'll be in Scotland studying Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.  I'm sure you've all heard of the Rotary International, but you may not have heard of the Ambassadorial Scholarship through the Rotary Foundation.  It's somewhat similar to a Fulbright Scholarship only it's privately funded, international and muuuuuch larger than Fulbright.  Sounds pretty cool right.  Well it definitely is an amazing program and my local district has decided to sponsor me to study in Edinburgh!  So I'm hoping to be able to share with family, friends and my sponsor Rotarians about my time in Scotland and beyond.

Feel free to follow along as I not only spend the year galavanting around Scotland but in my adventures throughout the rest of Europe!  I'll be taking a month and a half before school starts to travel Italy and Germany and hope to make a few weekend trips during my year abroad.