Sunday 6/5

`We finally made it! After months of anticipation and daydreams of what London would be like, I hopped off the plane at LAX. Wait that’s not how it goes, I hopped off the plane at London Heathrow and made my way to the tube with my two fellow classmates, Mel and Justin, and a lot of luggage. And I mean a lot. The walk to the flat was definitely difficult but was truthfully the only part of the trip where I wasn’t smiling. The best weeks of my life were just ahead of me! 

Monday 6/6

I definitely expected to fall in love with London, but not to the extent that I actually did. I fell head over heels in love with the gorgeous green city instantly. And I fell hard. Me and my roommate, Leah, settled right in and assimilated very easily. After just 24 hours of being abroad I felt a noticeable shift in my mood. I instantly noticed how everyone looked presentable all of the time. The only time you spotted someone in sweats was if they were walking back from the gym. Beyond their appearance, they proved to be even greater on the inside. Everyone we met, from the sweet man that worked at the 24 hour grocer under our building, to the Angel Station Tube employees, were always incredibly kind-hearted and helpful. 

As an individual that is very into fashion and putting together outfits, people watching became my favorite activity. I felt overwhelmed with every muse that walked passed me and was biting at the bit to put together the most over-the-top, funky outfits every morning when I opened my eyes. If you know me you know I have to dress up in order to have a productive day! And London was the perfect runway for that.

Tuesday 6/7 

On Tuesday of our first week, we met with Wendy Scott, an exceptional writer with amazing energy! She helped kick start our creative juices early in the trip. I felt like I could listen to her talk forever, her way with words was very captivating and gave her a lot of credibility. She assigned us a writing piece to work on throughout the trip that had to do with nature. Considering I enjoy creative writing but don’t do it often, I was looking forward to it. I ended up writing a poem that I was pretty proud of called “Spinning, Twirling, Jumping”.

Spinning, Twirling, Jumping

Two children dance in the street

Warm raindrops hit their closed eyelids and trickle down to their feet.

The air, thick with the petrichor of the rain filled evening, compiling on the pavement.

The only worry lingering in the back of their heads being when mom will call them in for dinner.

But that worry dissipates as fast as it comes and they stay settled in their happy state.

Spinning twirling jumping, and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Their golden hair, now dark and wet, sticks to the sides of their faces like pieces of prosciutto on wax paper.

Their saturated clothes cling to their little bodies, not even a degree of separation between them, producing a feeling that most would categorize as unpleasant.

A tight hug from Mother Nature is what they would see.

There it is!

The secret to happiness, as simple as it could be…

Two little girls, spinning, twirling and jumping, in the raindrops that make up their own sea.

It may just be their coul de sac, but with closed eyelids it’s so much more.

The beauty of childhood where every path leads with an open door.

They have the key to happiness, but remember, so did we.

Now I seek it in self help books, and forget that it used to live inside of me.

Somewhere along the lines it got lost, I miss being able to dance so carefree.

With every January that comes and a candle is added to the cake, I sail farther away from the innocent girl I used to be.

I mourn and grieve over my young naivity.

I sail through the vicious, unapologetic waters of time.

Droplets of water still hitting my closed eyelids, except this time around it’s a bit different.

The water is more acidic, and the bliss I once felt is now replaced with fear.

Mother natures warm hug that once surrounded me doesn’t feel as sweet, when you know that the reason it felt warm in the first place was caused in part by the industry of meat.

Like a come to from a bad dream, I open my eyes and gasp, except this isn’t just a nightmare and that’s hard for me to grasp.

That my brothers will grow up in a world, where clean air is not a promise.

And neither are the slopes during winter where we ski.

Because the temperatures are rising, and so is the anger inside of me.

Let’s not get too cynical, they say we must have hope.

And that’s my point in preaching, but please don’t compare me to the pope.

Because we need to trust that science, our dear and honest friend, is whispering in our ear and giving us a warning, before it’s too late and we meet the end.

Wednesday 6/8

On Wednesday morning we met with Deborah Taffler from Pentagram and received some exceptional advice on strategy. In the afternoon, two former UDVC students, Steven Kelly and Ross Baynham, spoke to us about their individual endeavors.

After we wrapped up with presentations for the day, Leah, Elena, colette and I headed to the Damien Hirst exhibit titled “Natural History” at the Gigosian. I have been a HUGE fan of his for years and can confidently say he’s in the running for first place for my favorite artist, so going to see this exhibit was a pretty big deal for me. The influx of installations that filled the bright, dream-like gallery impressed me beyond belief. To me, “art” is not just restricted to the common boundaries that many believe it resides between. Dance is art, falling in love is art, food that makes you smile when you taste it, is art. In my head, art looks like a big and strong tree stump, with millions of branches coming off of it and flourishing with life. One of those branches is dedicated to physiology, something so unbelievably intricate, that to me, is just proof of a higher power. Many people, including one of the classmates I was with, were very upset at the fact that these animals’ bodies were tampered with for the viewing pleasure of others. As Colette so eloquently put it in her essay, “I was exchanging words with some friends about what we had seen that day in the gallery whilst we cooked our dinners. By the expression on their faces I could tell they were offended by my infatuation with Hirst’s work. They believed using animals for art is inhumane, which I found ironic as they cooked their pork sausages. Some consume meat with their mouths, I consume it with my eyes.”

After the Gigosian, we enjoyed some ciders at The Narrow Boat pub, which quickly became our go-to spot. We started chatting with a couple, both of whom were tattoo artists, and played with their dog, Noodle. I quickly learned that…

 1) Weiner dogs are the most popular dog in London (I mean seriously, every other person walking down the street had one! They seemed to be the hottest new accesory!)  

2)Londoners are very friendly and always down to have a chat. I feel like being from the U.S. I’m so accustomed to thinking I’m intruding on other people’s time, but the many conversations I had had with strangers up to this point didn’t make me feel this way. They always seemed to be just as invested in the conversation and meeting new people as I was. And if you know me, two of my favorite things are talking and meeting new people. 

We ended our night by joining the rest of the group at Blues Kitchen in Shoreditch. Known for their Wednesday night live jazz, Blues became another go-to for us and was as vital to our hump-day routine as brushing our teeth in the morning.

Thursday 6/9

On Thursday, we met with Andrew Shoben, professor of Public Art and founder of Greyworld, an arts collective that specializes in playful public art. He mentioned how if the title of an art piece isn’t simple, it reflects the absence of something in your work. I don’t necessarily agree with that statement, but nonetheless found it to be a very interesting point of view. 

That afternoon, we hopped on the tube to Oxford Circus and visited the Photographer’s gallery that was having an exhibit on record covers entitled “For The Record: Photography & The Art of the Album Cover”. I’ve always been a big Andy Warhol fan, so I was excited to see his work included in the exhibit along with a bunch of new colorful and inviting covers that I had never seen before.

Friday 6/10

TGIF! I say that not because I wanted the week to be over, but because it was finally the day we would be visiting the Tate Modern. I’d learned about the Tate in many of my classes and was beyond excited to visit it in person. I made sure to put together a 10/10 outfit, which Bill called “festive”, so I’ll take that as a win. It consisted of a lot of different shades of pink and a splash of red, one of my favorite color combinations. Before we walked in, Bill hit us with the classic “We’re making memories!”. And wow, we definitely were. I can confidently say, the day I had ahead of me was one of the best in my entire life and hands down the best day of the entire trip for me. Colette, Leah and I started off by getting a drink at the top floor bar. High in the sky, we looked out at the city from a new point of view as we chatted and sipped our drinks. I remember feeling an immense amount of gratitude in that moment, the glass of wine I had just polished off only adding to my already sentimental state. We made our way down to the exhibit and all popped in head phones as we walked from room to room. Adding music to the mix when you walk through a museum is seriously a game changer, it made me feel like I was in my own world and made the experience so much more special.

We followed our Tate experience with a trip to Borough market, where the three of us enjoyed some authentic curry dishes. I met a smiley redhead named Ben, who was carrying a sign that read “I hope you never fit in”. His contagious happiness overflowed into me and made an already special day, extra special. 

Saturday 6/11

We spent our day on Saturday at Notting Hill market, where we weaved through a sea of stands selling everything from vintage toys, to oysters. I had the most amazing bowl of Cacio e Pepe for lunch and chatted with our waiter in Italian about what brought me to London and the usual questions that followed when people found out our group was from the U.S. Where in the U.S. are you from? What do you study? What’s visual communications? Just to name a few…

Saturday night was definitely one for the books. Leah, Colette and I started off at the Narrow Boat Pub playing board games, where we met a couple (or so we thought) and their little puppy (yes, it was a wiener dog of course) named Hector! Leah’s love for wiener dogs got us talking to them and we were pretty surprised when they said we could bring Hector back to our table and “babysit” him. They ended up telling us that this was actually their first date, so they would be more than happy to leave the dog at our table to get some alone time. We were in heaven! With a puppy in my lap and a cider in my hand, I was smiling ear to ear. Then, as if the day couldn’t get any better, the couple sent us champagne to our table as a thank you for watching the dog. Considering their generosity, we weren’t surprised when they invited us to get drinks at the next bar they were headed to. We couldn’t believe how the night was unraveling and we walked back to the flats at the end of the night eager to tell the rest of our “London Fam” about the crazy night we had had. 

Sunday 6/12

After a fun Saturday night, the three of us decided it was time to do some work and have a productive day, so we headed to Mare Street Market, where we plunked down to do our work and had one too many coffees. Later that day we went to the canal to read, another pass time that became pretty integral to our routine. Like I mentioned, London people watching is top-tier, where else would you see a man dressed to the nines walking a dog with a pearl necklace (yes, i know, a pearl necklace)? We ended the night with a bottle of wine and some hair bleach. I had been wanting to do something adventurous with my hair since being in London, and bleached money pieces seemed like the right choice. I must say I was pretty impressed with Hannah's dyeing skills. If her artistic career ever fails she definitely has a backup in being a hairstylist. I ended the first week with new hair and a full heart.