From November to Now
- Natalie Penry
- 23 minutes ago
- 6 min read
So, it's been a minute! Who would've thought that doing a Masters of Creative Writing would completely occupy all your reading & writing-related time? BUT now that I've gotten back to campus and truly settled into my second semester, I've made it one of my goals to update the blog at least twice a month—don't hold me to that, though ;)
Today's post is structured as a bitesize timeline of the seven most exciting things that happened over the last few months. Hopefully, the list format will keep me from rambling too much in the recaps...I'll things wrap up with an exciting announcement at the end and some events I'm looking forward to over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!
November 14-16: An Encounter in Iceland
TL;DR: I absolutely needed to visit a new country in 2025, and my friend Elle was so obliged as to travel with me to ReykjavÃk, Iceland! We spent a very frenzied ~36 hours or so there, and I'm already itching to go back.
Highlights: A midnight grocery run to find gluten-free food, the most relaxing and refreshing morning at Sky Lagoon, and the giant Christmas cat statue.
Favorite Memory: No question, the impromptu Northern Lights tour. It had been bad Lights weather during our trip, and the tour guide put our odds at seeing the Lights ~40%. We decided to risk it anyways, and I am so incredibly glad! The Northern Lights are always spectacular, but to see them in Iceland was such a bucket list item. There's something so magical about being so remote and witnessing something undeniably bigger than yourself. You stand in absolute darkness with your head tilted toward the sky and just...take it in. The world is both the ground under your feet and something intangibly distant in the same breath.
November 21: Push the Boat Out
TL;DR: Through my program, I got the opportunity to chair an event for the poetry festival Push the Boat Out! My event Start-It-Yourself was one of the first of the festival and consisted of a panel of incredible individuals who all created their own liberal arts-based projects.
Highlights: Getting to speak with such cool people! The panel consisted of Laura Jones-Rivera, Julia Sorenson, and Jamie Pettinger, who created 404 Ink (indie publishing company), Rock the Boat (standing open mic night for poets), and EHFM (indie radio station in Edinburgh) respectively. I learned so much from them, even as the one steering the conversation ;)
Favorite Memory: Opening the conversation up to questions and getting to hear how impactful these speakers were to the audience as well. It was early on a Friday, and there was still such a sense of dedication and community. Creative Arts take a village, and it was out in full force that morning.
November 22: My 24th Birthday!
TL;DR: I turned 24! And had many mini adventures!
Highlights: Climbing Arthur's Seat to see the sunrise, ice-skating & visiting the Edinburgh Christmas Market, spending time with friends, and a polar plunge.
Favorite Memory: Blowing out my birthday candles :) Living in a dorm means extra sensitive smoke detectors, so I had to stand outside in a nook with 24 Tesco candles shoved into a mini carrot cake (24 karat magic, after all). Very silly, but very sweet. This is the second birthday I've spent overseas, and I've been equally luckily to spend both with new friends who feel like family. When it came time to close my eyes and make a wish, there was so much I had to be grateful for.
December 2: A Christmas Ceilidh
TL;DR: The Blue Tits Society (polar plunge club) held a holiday ceilidh that my friends and I danced our hearts out for! A ceilidh is a traditional social gathering/dance, kind of like the Scottish equivalent to a good ol' fashioned square dance, and we learned many, many different dances throughout the night.
Highlights: The outfits, the giggles, and the vibes! Festival dress was encouraged, and since I didn't bring any formal wear overseas with me, I made due with some holiday space buns. The callers were very patient and helpful, but there were several instances of laugh attacks during the dances on the part of our varying levels of coordination throughout my friend group. And genuinely, the atmosphere was so fun and silly the entire event. A really fun holiday celebration :)
Favorite Memory: The Flying Scotsman! One of our final dances of the evening, this number consists of everyone forming two long lines and spinning a ton. The top couple spins for what feels like forever (32 counts) before criss-cross spinning down the line, so you go to person #2 on the right->person #3 on the left->person #4 on the right->etc., and the lines have ~30 people minimum...dizzy is an understatement...and some people are spirited with their spinning, so it gets really chaotic, really quickly. Super fun, though!
December 11 - January 7: Home for the Holidays!
TL;DR: For the first time in a few years, I got to be back in Indiana over the holidays!
Highlights: Literally too many to count - visiting friends & family, having American chips & soda again, seeing musicals/movies, going to a Purdue Basketball game, baking in an actual kitchen, heading out to the lake, re-enacting childhood holiday traditions, to name a few.
Favorite Memory: This may not be my favorite, but it certainly is memorable...I unexpectedly got my wisdom teeth out a few days after Christmas. This led to about ten days of very comedic, very chaotic recovery spent almost entirely in my comfy. Who could ever forget ringing in the New Year with Rachel & Aiden while alternating ice packs and heating pads?
January 8: The Travel Day from Hell
TL;DR: A slightly traumatic, week-long travel experience to get back to Scotland.
Highlights: My original flight getting cancelled because the plane was struck by lighting while landing in O'Hare, getting automatically rebooked on a 6:00 am flight to Miami the next day & a red eye from Miami to London on the same day, managing to rebook my rebooking to a red eye from ORD to LHR on January 9, crashing at Aunt Barb's house, going to visit Grandma Barb the next day, accidentally getting stabbed while opening Grandma Barb's laundry detergent, rushing to Urgent Care and getting two stitches in my hand four hours before I headed to the airport (again), realizing my checked bag got sent to Miami & crashing out in a Culvers, doing wound care (stitches & wisdom teeth!) in the London Heathrow bathroom, watching my bag's airtag bounce around London Heathrow for two days, calling the British Airways helpline for several hours a day until they confirmed what I already knew (they were under the impression my bag was still in Miami, despite having the aforementioned airtag link), wearing the most wacky outfits until all my clothes finally arrived, and hugging my suitcase in the middle of the street when it finally showed up in Edinburgh...on January 13 (I left Indiana on January 8 🥰).
Favorite Memory: umm....well....definitely spending some extra time with my aunt and grandmother, with a special thank you to Aunt Barb for watching silly movies with me and calming me down in the Culvers. Couldn't have done it without you :)
February 5-8: A Weekend in Denmark
TL;DR: My friend Julianne & I had a wintry weekend in Copenhagen! It was the city's snowiest weekend in years, and we had a lot of fun trekking through the elements and curling up in coffee shops.
Highlights: Danish pastries and coffee shops, the best pasta I've had in absolute ages, and a home goods labyrinth.
Favorite Memory: Walking around The King's Garden on Friday morning! The snow was still actively coming down, and the park honestly looked more like a postcard. The snowmen and the geese also served as some very nostalgic reminders of winters back home 😊
And there you have it! A very brief, very chaotic recap of the last few months. As I mentioned, I'm really going to try and be more consistent with writing—I already have the next post drafted and everything!
Time is absolutely zooming by here on campus, and I can't wait to share some of the more exciting adventures with you all. One of which is....I'm running a marathon in May!
I'm so happy to share that I'll be running to support the Scottish Huntington's Association in the Edinburgh Marathon on May 24. As you may know, my family has a personal connection with Huntington's Disease, so getting the chance to fundraise for them carries extra meaning for me. I'm not just running for myself or my grandfather, but for all the patients & loved ones whose lives are impacted by HD. If you'd like to support me in this endeavor, you can visit my fundraising page here.
As always, thanks for reading! That's all for now :)