My time here in Ormskirk has been flying by. The other day in class we watched Jane Eyre, the version with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Having never read the book or seen any other version, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the story was predictable. I can see why so many versions of the story have been done, it's a timeless story that people of all generations can relate to.

We continued our education on the Brontë family and their time period by visiting the Brontë parsonage in Haworth. It was interesting to see the town and how similar it has stayed over the years. The pictures of it back during the time of the Brontës and from today are nearly identical. The house itself was very nice, with many original artifacts that belonged to the Brontës. I hadn't known anything about them before going, so everything was new to me. I was just fascinated by the fact that everyone in that family was so talented. The father was a writer, Charlotte, Emily and Anne could all write and draw and their brother, Branwell, was a poet and an excellent artist.

I hadn't known that the girls used pseudonyms to originally publish their writing, but it makes sense. Back then it wasn't considered normal for a woman to be an author, and I was struck by the girls' determination to get their work out there. I suppose that kind of attitude came from the fact that they were raised by their father, who encouraged them to read all kinds of things that other girls in those days weren't allowed to be exposed to.

My favorite part of the entire day was going up the hill by the parsonage with Jocelyn and Ashley. I don't think we made it to the actual moors that were made so famous by the literature of the Brontë sisters, but the view from our little outcrop of rocks was absolutely breathtaking. It was a gorgeous day and to sit there by that pond and look out over the fields and little towns with the warm breeze blowing was one of my favorite things I've done on this trip so far. The three of us even decided that between us, Ashley was Charlotte, Jocelyn was Anne and I was Emily. All in all, a great, Brontë-filled day.

The last two days have been more relaxing, since it's been so nice out and we've all been hanging around outside. I'm so glad we've made friends with the students in our hall. We all get along so well and it's great to be able to hang out and talk with them. The other day we all had a water fight and then walked around the Edge Hill Campus completely soaked, laughing our heads off and having a great time. And today, Jocelyn and I went to town and got some candy for our friends back home. Going to the grocery store is fun because it's cool to see all the different brands here, especially the candy! We walked around the park for a bit then went back to campus and brought a blanket to the football pitches and laid in the sun and watched everyone play for a while. Then we went back to Openshaw and hung out with the others that were outside. We talked with the girls about the differences between American and English girls--most notably the hair and clothes--and stores and shopping in America. A lot of them want to do a summer program called Camp America, where they go to summer camps in America to be counselors. They just have to pay for their plane tickets, and housing and meals are taken care of for them in the states, and they get a few weeks at the end of the summer camp to travel wherever they want. I guess it's one of the only ways many of them can get to go to America for a length of time, since they don't really have study abroad programs here like we do in America. We are so lucky to be able to have the option to travel to so many different places through our schools, and I've never appreciated it more until now.

Tomorrow we're going to the Lake District, which I'm really excited about. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and being an Environmental Earth Science major, I'm particularly interested in the geology of the area. I'm already aware of it being the result of glaciation, but it will be great, and beautiful, to see it in person.