The first weeks
Im getting into the big city life. London has given me an opportunity to be exposed to something much bigger and culturally different then what I had in Minneapolis. Living in Hackney is drastically bigger and more diverse version of uptown in Minneapolis. Its the area of the city where all the artists hang out, where the nightlife is and an over all great place to be. Every since my arrival to london I have kept busy by walking to see the sights in london and taking part in many of the festivals that are going on. The festivals the city plays host to attract many people from in and outside the city, bringing in big name acts and artists. The 2009 London design festival just wrapped up and now a film festival has just begun. There are also many expos and shows held at the arenas around town. I plan on checking out the cycle show next weekend which is taking place in Earl Court. There is always something to see and do, just need to know about it.
The people I have meet so far have come from all areas of the world and different backgrounds. Starting with my flat mates two from the UK, one from china, one from brazil, one from korea and Finland. Its crazy the diversity here. I have had the great opportunity to meet many new people, discuss random bits about art and design, go see gallery spaces, and just explore london with new people. All this is just the beginning of my London experience. I have classes to get into and projects to work on.
The weeks before classes has given me the time to get familiar with the city and how to be apart if it. I can now successfully take the tube from one side of london and transfer lines to get to oxford street and shop. Side note and perk to being a student in the UK and Europe, you can apply for a NUS card which most shops, restaurants and clothing stores offer a discount. This makes being a student in London even better.
The life for most Londoners seems rather casual, most people have the time to talk or meet with friends for a quick drink after work and on sundays spend the day with friends in the local green spaces having a picnic and listening to live music. When it comes to the work week, its all business, people are walking the streets always on a mission to get somewhere. You have to watch out when your caught up in walking because cars will not stop for you at cross walks, most of the time this being taxis which almost run you down. Dangerous world.
This week is freshers week. Its a week thats set up and ran by the Student Union. The week was created to get new students an opportunity to get into the routine of college life and get questions answered. The week has events and lectures ranging from screen printing, tours of the city, graphic design lectures and different meet and greets. I have singed up for a few things and attended a lecture today about protecting your online image. It was mostly information I had previously picked up in my marketing and pr class back at MCAD. We talked about the importance of on online presences and some students got help setting up a blog. I obviously have a blog so I gave some advice to the others. The second lecture I went to gave me a whole mess of information about the Student Union and how it came about. The rest of the weeks happenings should be good as well.
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