Becoming Jane

I am still very content in Oxford. I'm not sure if I've yet explained how wonderful crumpets are. They are like English muffins, only the holes go right through to the top, so you don't have to split them. What you do is use a ton of butter (hi, Mom, and Paula Deen) to soak through the top of a toasted crumpet, and what you then do to make it better is to add a ton of jam. I eat two or three crumpets in this style everyday, but I'm still convinced I'm getting skinnier.

Biking is still fun. I feel like I have a little British guardian angel somewhere because it has yet to rain while I've been on my bike. One day, it was clear on my way to the dining hall for lunch, it rained for the 20 minutes they allow us to eat lunch, and then it was clear for my ride home. I have gotten a lot more confident in my not-falling-over skills, riding with regular traffic when the bike lanes end instead of nerdishly taking the crosswalks and driving as far as the movie theatre (in one direction) or my favorite movie store (in the other). Everything I possibly need is accessible.

Tuesday in particular was a really good day. I gave my presentation in Dr. Eberle's class and even chimed in during discussion. A lot! I figured it was time to just get over my nerves, and ever since I've really participating and even talking with Dr. Eberle after class. And everyone is so nice and encouraging that it's just like talking with friends anyway! I sat in the library industriously for most of that day (because, if I haven't proven it yet, I am almost always working), and even there it's fun just taking a minute or two to talk with friends. I worry that some of us are getting to know each other too well--at one point we all watched Kao leave a note on his computer, telling his roommate David not to mess with his paper or else he'd eat his brain, and then David came in and tried to mess with the computer like we all expected! It probably looks like a bland story as I've told it here, but it was funny to us and we all had to stop working for several minutes to keep laughing.

Wednesday, my not-too-free day off, I coerced Julianna, David, and Lindsey to go with me to the Odeon on George Street to see the movie Atonement. I had been wanting to see something so bad, so I'm glad they put me out of my misery. First of all, I have to say the movie theatres here are too cute. We had to stand in line for a lot longer than we should have, but we amused ourselves by looking at the concession stand and seeing "warmed popcorn" listed (like we really wanted cold popcorn! Thanks a lot, England!). Even with the student discount tickets were 6 pounds (like $12!), but the Brits do this neat thing where you have to pick a particular seat to sit in, so you can sit where you like with your friends without having to get there ridiculously early and save seats. It was a few extra pence for the "premier" seats, which were this posh suade things with cupholders, but even our seats in one of the back rows were great. They showed a lot of previews (that one with George Clooney looks great!), and before the film rolled they had a notice that it had been approved by the film board in Great Britain. So official.

Please don't get mad at me as I gush about this amazing film. I hadn't realized that it doesn't come out in the U.S. for another three months, so I definitely feel about as rock star for having seen it already as I did about anything at Cannes. It makes sense that it came out here first, where the book Atonement was a huge bestseller, so that the film will make enough profits to be able to get to the few art theatres that will proudly show it in places like Midtown and W Hancock Avenue. BUT on a less businesslike note, the film might be one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. At first I worried it would be pretentious, but I had to let the typewriter-soundtrack-music go and focus on the rich shots and characters. It's hard to describe except by saying that it felt so big, like it completely absorbed what it was like to live during that time and in that family. Keira Knightley and James McAvoy indeed act with ugly stick notably absent, and the way the film shows each of them living their lives and thinking of the other felt as close to getting inside a character's mind as is possible on screen. And that 4.5 minute shot of the beach at Dunkirk...! Be prepared for some awkward laughs, and a lot of grief, but I think most people will enjoy the film as I did, as something so different from what you usually go to the theatre to see.

I'm about to hit the hay (or, rather, my bunk bed) early so that I'll have a long, productive day ahead of me tomorrow to polish up my one written essay and write my other completely mind-blowing idea for Dr. Eberle's class. It all, as well as two books and several long poems, needs to get done, because on Sunday I'm pretty sure we will finally go to London! More pictures to follow if I ever see anything picture-worthy (because everything here is picturesque, I need to be even more choosy), but always love from across the pond,

Lauren