Three words, dear readers: Jane. Austen. Dancers.
Even though this comes chronologically last, I'm just too excited not to talk about it right now. I went to my first meeting of the Jane Austen Dancers tonight. And yes, it is exactly what it sounds like-- it's a society of mostly 50+ ers dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of the dances of the Regency Era; ie, those danced by the heroes and heroines of Jane Austen's novels. It's a pretty odd collection of people; mostly women, every one there must have been over 50 (with the exception of the eight of us from the programme), with three men-- one who looks like he really doesn't want to be there, but is actually pretty good; one who kind of shuffles through many of the bouncy steps, but is an adorable little older gentleman, and one who is very good and sports mutton chops and a ponytail, and who I think is the guy who stands outside of the Jane Austen Center every day in full Regency costume. But the dancing is so fun-- it's like a combo of folk, square, and ballroom dancing, but with lots of complicated rules about partners and stuff (which we don't follow-- no one there is looking for a Mr. Darcy...at least not in that venue). It's also a workout like you wouldn't believe-- it's two hours of constant dancing, much of which involves a lot of jumping and skipping about-- I was disgusting by the end (and then I had to walk home up the hill of doom back to my house-- I nearly collapsed on my way to the shower). And boy do I have a better appreciation for the poor women of the 18th and 19th centuries who had to do these dances all night at balls, wearing corsets and petticoats and heavy gowns!
By the way, just to make something totally amazing even better-- they have a tea break at 9 o'clock. It's so English. I love it. I can't wait to go back! Sadly, they are performing in the Jane Austen Festival, which takes place in Bath for the entire week that we are in Oxford, which is terribly sad... but we got to see them practice, so we know what they're doing, anyway. But yes, definitely making this a regular thing.
Other than that, I don't have a terrible amount of news to report. Clay and I made potato soup last night (though it was by some miracle that it actually turned out well-- we weren't working with a recipe, and just decided to throw lots of random things into it... but it's really quite tasty.
Also, we were supposed to have a sort of "sport night" this afternoon... but Ali and I showed up an hour early, so we tossed a frisbee around and generally had fun rolling around in the grass of the park in front of the Royal Crescent (which is really such a grand place, you can't help but feel like whatever you're doing is awesome), but then we had to leave by the time the other three people showed up so that we could go dancing. I'm not to upset though-- they were very athletic Brits, who planned to play rubgy and football, and we were much less athletic, and just wanted to play frisbee... so it worked out for the best.
Well. I'm exhausted. It's time for bed. I'm afraid I won't have much to write about until after I arrive in Oxford (and after Yom Kippur!), and we won't have internet until Monday... so don't hold your breath waiting for the next post. But I'll have lots of lovely things to tell you then, so I hope that will make up for it!
'Til next time-- adieu! *curtsy*
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