Oxford, July 9th, 2010

It is a truth universally acknowledged that JANE AUSTEN ROCKS!!! And by that I mean Emily and I went to Chawton in Hampshire today to see the house Miss Austen lived in for several years. It has been 201 years since she moved in. We first visited the manor right down the road, where her rich brother lived. At that time, Jane and her sister and mother (along with a friend) were not doing so well financially. Such is life without men... The brother allowed them to move into a cottage for free for life on his estate. We only got to visit the library within the manor, but the collection of books there was impressive. They specialized in books written by women between 1600-1830. Also, Emily and I strolled about the grounds and saw some of the most beautiful gardens ever. We also saw a chicken. Emily almost ran straight into the electric fence that housed said chicken, because said fence was inadequately labelled. The house itself was loaded with Jane Austen goodies, such as paintings and sketches done by her sister, her original writing table, a lock of her hair? and other fun paraphernalia.

That trip took up most of the day. After dinner Emily, Ben, Rachel, James of Michigan State, and I went to get more milkshakes, because they are delicious and dinner was sub-par. We have been playing lots of Euchre (card game) with Jordan and Shelby, and might continue that trend tonight.

Ignoring chronology, let me tell you about Thursday. After the daily morning lecture, Shelby, Rachel, and I joined three of our classmates, our Shakespeare professor and his wife for coffee in the famous Blackwell's bookstore / coffee shop. There, we discussed books, football, Shakespeare, American football, possible papers, differences in British and American (and Brazilian) education, politics, anti-Semitism, and all sorts of fun groovy things. We were there for two hours, and it was a great treat. I also watched a DVD of Macbeth as performed at the Folger Shakespeare library and directed by a magician, so it had loads of cool magic in it.

So, that's the last two days. Tomorrow's plan is to visit the (free) History of Science museum down the street, tour the Botanic Gardens, eat fish & chips (or Indian food if we feel inclined), and maybe go punting (which is riding on a boat, not punting a football?) Sunday is the World Cup Final, so I will proudly be wearing my Holland jersey.