Approx. Week 2

After another "routine" week of life here, I feel myself settling in to just that: a routine. Or, at least I feel mostly familiar with my immediate surroundings, with my schedules and daily requirements, and so on. But, along with this settled feeling, I am also beginning to notice the typical cloud of requirements, obligations, and due dates that tend to only compile as any semester (even during a vacation to Europe) progresses. Over the past few days, I've already felt conflicts between what I would like to be doing (both leisurely-laziness and personal goals and projects) and what I really "need" to be doing academically for this next week, this next semester, even for this upcoming summer and afterwards.

In spite of this growing shadow, I'm still trying to keep my time here as a sort of retreat or hermitage. Granted, I've been living the 21st century version of a hermitage, complete with blog, Skype, and iPod, but at least I've had some time for reflection and personal cultivation--the essential things, right?

We've spent a few nights this past week at Jamie and his family's house. They've been very gracious in opening up their house to a dozen marooned college students. Last Sunday, we were there to observe the American Football match known as the Super Bowl. Granted, I read an essay on early modernist poetry during much of the game and left after seeing Tom Petty's half-time performance, but it was still interesting to get a more British perspective (it on a local British channel, hosted by 1 British and 2 American commentators) on American sports, or culture in general. Then, on Friday, we were there again to watch the movie "Atonement," based on the popular English author Ian Mcewan's book of the same name. It was an interesting film, to say the least. It had the feel of a film adapted from a book, but was at the same time very visually arresting, reminding me even of the Pre-Raphaelite painting we've been looking at in class. I'm not usually one to keep up with popular culture, but between football and seeing a handful of the award-nominated films this year, I feel like I'm becoming a proper American over here in York.



| photo: Brad reacts to a crucial moment in Super Bowl XLII