First Days in Cambridge

Kevin and I arrived 24 October via train from London. We settled into Wolfson College for three nights. Then we moved down to 28 Grantchester Road for our house-sitting adventure.

We have had marvelous days. The weather has been perfect--the first few days very balmy. The weather pundits were calling the season Hotumn over here because October was unseasonably warm. The shops are full of warm scarves and coats and winter woolies--the trend this season seems to be fake fur (reminding me of Helen's graduation from CalArts where all the grad costumes were made of fake fur made by a costume designer and friend of Helen's).

All this nostalgia stuff that I write may be quite boring for most but this blog is primarily a memory piece of my and Kevin's lives together. We are losing our memory gradually so this is a way to put it down. We can return and relive things again. This blog is really handy as we can always go back to look up things we have forgotten.

We are retooling now for UK:

Look to the right, but walk on the left. Except where there are bicycle lanes--then hang on for dear life as the cyclists are young and vigorous and often rogue!

The first floor is the second

Use military time

Radio Four instead of PBS

Order aubergine instead of egg plant; courgettes instead of zucchini; swede instead of rutabaga;
cowglue instead of rubber cement; and the list goes on and on and on. It is a different language!

 I once asked our American friend Dan Hardy who taught theology in Durham and Cambridge but lived in Boston how he remembered which speak to use. He said he came and went so much that switching from American English to British English just became automatic with him. Kevin and I have to stop and figure it out for awhile.

It is lovely to be here. It is lovely to walk the old streets and vennels and through the college gardens. It is interesting to see the changes as there is always new construction, making us wonder what was there before. And it is especially lovely bumping into old friends and acquaintances whose names we try to remember.

We walk into town on most days (about 9 km return)  to do errands. Kevin's first errand was to check out John's schedule for a time when he can go to formal dinner. I bought him a black belt at John Lewis. We had to go to Rymans to get a folder for Kevin's papers and I bought a cheap yoga mat at a sports shop going out of business.

I had a yoga class with a wonderful teacher, Margaret Schofield. I had met her in 2016 but had trouble knowing where to find her. I now know where to find her on Tuesdays. She is in her 80's, articulate, and a superb teacher. She has long white hair tied back, wears black, and red boots!

 The class is small and we do a lot of partner work which I don't always like. But Margaret makes it fun and it connects everyone. I had a darling young Chinese woman, Yen Yen, as my partner. She smiled and thanked me often! Rosemary from New Zealand also partnered with us at times.

We had a banking query at Lloyds that went on and on and on and I had to do a banking transfer from my teachers credit union in Columbia which also went on and on and on via email and phone calls. But we are all set up with pounds in the right places now and plastic we can use.

I love the new polymer pound notes, especially the ten pound. Jane Austen edged out Charles Darwin--what a coup! The shiny Cathedral in the right is Winchester where Austen is buried. The woman reading is Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice with Austen's 12- sided writing table as background. The quotation about reading is also from P & P but is somewhat ironical as it is said by Mrs. Bingley who hated to read! The house is Godmersham Park, owned by Austen's brother! The photo is based on one in the Portrait Gallery but has been airbrushed to make Austen look prettier. The note is shimmery and turns rainbow colors when light bounces off it.

2017 is the 200th anniversary of her death so there are Austen events all over. We went to an excellent illustrated lecture about Austen's last unfinished novel Sandition, her connection with Cambridge, and a suitor from Emmanuel. Dr. Anne Toner  illustrated with interesting slides, including the ms for Sandition written in Austen's hand and sewn together in three little books. She showed three of Austen's letters which are in Cambridge. In one written in 1806, she describes in great detail the city of Bath. In another, she writes about the publication of Emma. And in the last, she writes to her publisher John Murray and mentions a positive review of Emma that Sir Walter Scott wrote as well as the fact that the Prince Regent had liked it. These letters are on display at the University Library so I look forward to seeing them.

We went to Etsu for lunch. A young waiter or manager approached Kevin  and complemented the red Polish hat he wears. We answered with our meager Polish and had a nice conversation. We love meeting Polish people here and practicing our Polish! He brought us two lovely deserts--mine was lemon with double cream; Kevin's chocolate with double cream!

The Wolfson College Student Musicians performed--the Jazz piece by Franz Nowak was the best!

Really behind in writing this blog as I am working on pieces about our walk in Whitby but that is because we are so busy soaking up our favorite things in this beloved city.