Graffiti Art

I have to tell you I am very excited about this blog post. I have been off getting lost and I have found some amazing things during my journeys. While Kensington and the surrounding areas are very nice, clean, and respectable they lack a sort of edge. The buildings while ‘artsy’ are very reserved and you don’t get in to the nitty and gritty of London’s working class. I am staying in one of the wealthiest areas of London and therefore I felt that my experience thus far had been a bit sheltered. This is why I decided to go wander the infamous and poverty stricken east end of London. Having read about this place and its crime and poverty I wanted to see the fire that drove the working class to persevere and make a life for themselves. I needed to see the beautiful result that only comes from a life full of struggles and adversity; oh boy did I find what I was looking for! As I emerged from the tube in to the east end I immediately noticed the trash and filth that could be seen scattered throughout the area. The streets and shops were visibly not as kept up and you could see many a local trying to hustle anyone they could. However, even though I come from a middle-upper class household I am no stranger to places like this. Back home and in my travels I have often frequented these places because they are where you find the inspiring stories and the true heart of a city. As I walked I began to notice graffiti all over the sides of buildings, alleys and various walls all around this borough. This was not the typical gang graffiti that one might see back home in Seattle or L.A. but was instead a mass of beautiful images portraying what people held dear to them. The level of artistic expression in this place was unreal. Due to the level of cultural fusion/borrowing there were beautiful and original interpretations of many characters from movies and games that I grew up loving. On one wall I saw an original portrayal of Buzz Lightyear standing next to a very thuggish looking Woody. Further down the wall there was a beautiful image of the old man from up holding some balloons with letters on them spelling out the word “LOVE”. My God was this place amazing! There was everything from political messages to video game characters from Warcraft and Mortal Combat. Nowhere else in London do you find this level of beauty in the street art. Back in Kensington everything is kept very clean and orderly meaning that any graffiti is usually removed if anyone even dares to do it in the first place. These ‘savages’ that I had read so much about in books written by the west enders had instantaneously transformed in to beautiful poets and artists before my very eyes. This was by far one of my favorite areas that I have been to for sightseeing and I would strongly recommend visiting this area to anyone who finds themselves in London. However, one must remember the level of crime in this area because the beauty of this artwork can make you forget about all of this very easily. Having said this, I will definitely be going back to see what else I can find.

Would you like a spot of tea?

Hello loyal readers, today I have a grand story to tell. The story is about my first ever afternoon tea experience in London! Now we all know the typical British stereotype about afternoon tea, but few of us have actually experienced afternoon tea since we do not practice this tradition in the United Sates. This afternoon tea tradition is very deeply ingrained in the British culture and has been in practice since the early 19^th century! After going I can see why. Afternoon tea is a great way to take a break and wind down halfway through a long work day. It serves not only to relax a person but also as a means to socialize and show off one’s class. In the old days, one could tell a lot about somebody’s class by how they drank their tea. If the person put their milk in their cup first and then the tea, it typically meant that the person was of lower class. If a person was of high class they would put their tea in first, followed by their milk. This was because for those that could not afford nice china if they were to put the tea in first, the cheap cups would split in half from the heat and spill their tea everywhere! Therefore, they would put the milk in first so that it would cool the tea down as it was poured in to the cup so that the cup would not split. This was a way that the wealthy could show off because only they were able to afford quality china that could handle the heat of the tea first without the milk to cool it. Now back to my experience. For our trip we went to the Cadogan Hotel which is an extremely nice and fancy establishment. We had our own private room and the dress code was formal. This was fun because it meant that we all got to dress up. We sat down and ordered from the extensive list of teas that were divided up into two sub groups; Partridges Teas and Chelsea Flower Teas. I ordered the Chelsea Flower Blend which smelt and tasted of hints of apple and mango. The tea was delicious but I was bummed out by the fact that you do not add milk to this type of tea. This was really just trivial but I wanted to act like a proper high class Londoner and put my milk in second. While we drank our loose leaf tea we snacked on Chelsea buns and homemade scones with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry vanilla jam. Once we had eaten and drank our fill we reluctantly parted ways with the establishment and went out on the town. This was a great experience and I can say I will definitely be partaking in this tradition again.

Hyde Park Adventures!

For our “Londoner’s on Holiday in City Parks” assignment Steven and I went to Hyde Park. To start things off let me say that Hyde Park is HUGE. You could get lost in this park for hours; it is pretty much the real life Jumanji in the sense that if you did get lost nobody would ever find you. Parks in London are very different from the parks back home. People take great pride in place when it comes to their parks. Everything is very clean and all of the monuments and landscape are well taken care of and maintained. People are not destructive and do not vandalize their property because everyone loves to go and spend time at these parks when the weather allows for it. This is where family comes in to play. The parks are absolutely overrun by families on these sunny days. Everywhere you look there are children of all ages at the park with friends and usually family. However, since we are in the posh Kensington area, most of the couples are the classic mold of one male and one female. I have seen plenty of gay couples in other boroughs but it seems that this area and the immediate surrounding areas are lacking in this demographic. You also see a ton of children with their nanny since a lot of parents work in this area. This makes since because it is a very expensive area to live in. While almost the entire park is safe I must warn families not to go near the big tree that is hollowed out in the middle creating almost a hut of some sorts. While the structure is very impressive there is evidence that couples engage in “extra curricular activities” and there was a spotting of a hobo nested up inside of the higher parts of the inner tree. I would recommend finding this tree but just beware of what you may find once there! Next I will be writing about my afternoon tea experience so stay tuned my friends!

Westminster Abbey was truly something out of a movie. Nowhere in the United States do we have anything that I could compare to it to accurately represent what it was like walking through this ancient structure. The whole place is like one giant piece of art and the level of artistic expression represented even in the walls alone was enough to stop one dead in their tracks in awe of its beauty. Every picture has a story behind it and you can imagine the incredible amount of blood and tears that went in to the craftsmanship of this place. It seemed as though everything we looked at was made out of gold or some precious gem or stone that was handpicked and imported from some foreign land. This also goes to show how much power the church had at this time in London's history. Many of England's kings and queens are buried here as long as any important figures from the church or general history. It was considered a great honor to be buried in this holy place. You can see everyone from the Unknown Warrior to Bloody Mary. As you walk around you don't realize that there are numerous tombs and people buried beneath your feet. A person will often times be standing in one spot only to look down and see the inscription of a grave that they are standing on. The power of the church can also be seen by the immense wealth that I mentioned earlier. I mean really, what church back home can boast this kind of sickening wealth!? I know that I personally thought it was cool when my church got a new sound system; I would have lost it for even one of Westminster Abbey's Waterford crystal chandeliers that were a gift from the Guinness family for the Abbey's 900th anniversary in 1965. This trip was a definite treat and I cannot wait to continue our exploration of this grand city!

Kensington is definitely the stereotypical image of what an outsider thinks of when they imagine London and the English. Everyone is wealthy and everybody has nice things. You will not see anything but nice cars parked in front of buildings and it is very evident that the people here have a very strong sense of pride in place and want to show off their social status. After the 10^th Ferrari drives past you in 5 minutes you really start to gain an awareness of how privileged people from this area are. Everyone that you see that actually lives here is dressed in expensive clothes and carries themselves with a sense of entitlement and an intense pride in the fact that this is their home. The area seems to be very Caucasian although you do see some very wealthy looking foreigners staying in hotels near our home at the Courtsfield Gardens. Every apartment complex has its own private garden and people seem to not think much of it because they are so used to it. There are many shops everywhere and all of the prices are outrageous compared to back home and in more rural parts of the city. When I make my commute out to Bexley/Sidcup area things are very different. Food and goods at stores are significantly cheaper out here and property is cheaper meaning that you get a larger space for your money although it is not as nice. Also, in Kensington they mark any house or place that any celebrity has lived with a plaque. They are extremely proud of their upper class social status and love to boast about people such as David Beckham residing here in his 30 million pound home. This is a very nice place but it is very overpriced. Many homes are vacant because people can’t afford to live in them. Having said this, I would still love to live here although I fear I will never be able to afford it. 

Hello everyone, I am so excited to start this epic journey of mine! I will be blogging over the next 6 weeks about my adventures in London, England. I will be taking two classes and will be working at a part time internship during my stay here through an Arizona State University program. I will be visiting many historic sites and prestigious establishments with my classmates and instructor such as Oxford and Buckingham Palace as well as anywhere else that I would like to go during my free time. These experiences will be the meat of my blog’s bones so I am very ecstatic to share my adventures with you all!  I am so excited to get started with this program because I am obsessed with the traditions of other cultures and am excited to finally experience European culture. Currently, I have only done job shadows in Tokyo, Japan so I am very interested to see how much Asian and European culture differs, especially when it comes to daily life and traditions. I will attempt to completely immerse myself in the traditions of the London natives and will always keep the most open of minds when it comes to trying new things. My philosophy for this trip is that I will try anything new at least once. Hopefully, this means that these blogs should be very entertaining for you all because I cannot wait to embark on this adventure with you all in a few days! Until then, cheers!