Today was my first day of class in about two months. And do you know what? I think I love Mondays. I have one two hour class where all we do is talk about Jane Austen's life and novels. And this two hour class? It starts at 1:50. Meaning I woke up at noon for a leisurely shower and breakfast of Just Right (do you remember this cereal, Logan and Mira? There are fig bits!). Then I finally got my life together and walked all the way to class. All twenty steps. Good lord, it might have even been fifty! How will I survive?
We sat in a little room called the seminar room at an oval table, and listened to our tutor introduce us to Jane Austen. She gave us a sheet with her family tree and everything. There is just so much I could tell you, even now, about Jane. She was second youngest of eight children, six boys and two girls. She was much closer to her father than her mother, and for good reason. Her mother breast fed her children, but then sent them away to live with someone else for the next few years (who would want to deal with screaming infants, after all?). Although she took them back eventually, (apart from poor George, who was in some way disabled), this did not make for great relationships. One of her siblings married her first cousin (and--fun fact--did you know that marriage between first cousins is legal in England? True story). And, another fun fact, although the BBC version of the movie is longer and considered more accurate to the story (which it is), it actually has a lot of inaccuracies. The house they live in, for example, was not built until the 1850s (I think), much after the story was to have taken place. It's also more stately than the family's house should be--Longborn in the Keira Knightley version is much more accurate, as it's on a farm and much older.
However, there was much more reverence for parents way back when, as well as much more regard for the hierarchy of the family structure. For example, there is a scene in the Kiera Knightley version when Elizabeth runs into the room and flops down on the couch, throwing herself in the front of room. She would not do this, as Jane (who is oldest) would be the first to enter the room. There was a definite order to who did what and when. It seems silly, but when we think about the sibling rivalry that goes on today, it's not too hard to believe. Also, the movies were set in different time periods. The Keira Knightley version was set in the 1790s--the costumes are much more accurate for this time period. Clothing would not have been too restrictive, as corsets were not required. As time went on, the clothes and social conventions became more restrictive and rigid. Interesting.
So, that was my first class, in a nutshell. After this class, Elizabeth and Emily and I all made the trek up to Bath University in order to get our ISIC cards, so we can get discounts on who knows what. Literally. I felt I should have one though, if just to have another form of ID when traveling throughout Europe, and it was only 9 pounds. We were also able to get our 16-25 rail cards, which will get us discounts on train/bus travel. Not very exciting, but we did get ourselves from our house to the University and back! I'm finally starting to know where we are! Although there was a slight moment of me looking stupid because apparently, there is not a single public transportation system, like the CTA, but different bus companies. So the ticket I bought in one bus did not transfer to another and the people behind me in line looked at me like I was a doofus because who doesn't know that? Americans, that's who.
But after this, I made myself dinner of tortellini with chicken and a pesto sauce (not my best, as the sauce was a dressing and meant for salad, not chicken and pasta), then went to a knitting club with Beth, one of the British students who works with ASE. She is awesome, I won't lie. It was great to just sit in a coffee shop and knit for two hours. And by knit, I mean watch other people knit and wish I knew how. But there was great hot chocolate and cookies at this place (called The Boston Tea Party, by the way. I'm not sure the British people appreciate the irony...). I tried to explain what a sorority was, found out classes are called modules, and had a bunch of discussions about the difference between British and American tv. Not to mention what happened at the end of Inception.
So that's it. We're hopefully planning our weekend London trip tomorrow. I hope you all are doing well. Night night!
PS--That wasn't the Harry Potter courtyard at the Salisbury cathedral, by the way. Which makes me feel better about my life, because I didn't know when I was there if it was. So. The place I'm thinking of is in Oxford.
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