Day 1

After two and a half weeks of being on a pseudo vacation in London, I have finally started school. I have to say, despite the craziness of a lot of it, it was very exciting. I feel like I have been waiting since my senior year in college/my whole life to do this and am so happy that I finally am! It is a big group of students (45-50 or so) and they are from all over the world: from Europe (England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and France) to eastern Europe (Poland and Russia) to Asia (Japan, China, Korea) to the Americas (Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and the US).

We got our schedule for the entire year, which is erratic, to say the least, but full of time for art making and travel.
For example, here is our schedule for the first month:

Don't understand what any of it means?! Don't worry, me either. I'm 60% kidding because they have filled us in on some of it, but the other 40% is still a mystery.

The first two weeks are "Inductions" into the various resources that they have. The British are very big on "Health and Safety" and we all have to be schooled in the procedures. Should be a blast but at least it is only an hour or so a day so I can set up my studio. Speaking of studios, the space is interesting (by interesting I mean small) and we, the students, are meeting tomorrow to try and figure out how to best assign spaces and meet peoples needs without much help from the administration. Yipes!

Just in case you forgot what Chelsea looks like...

Londoners, They're just like US.

1. They run into people they know on the Tube.
2. Crazy people preach on the street.
3. They go to yoga classes. And arrive late.
4. They talk about transportation (though not as much as us).
5. They rush through the tube stations, almost knocking people over.
   
6. They drink Starbucks.

Not so much like US:

1. They don't complain all of the time.
2. Taxi Drivers are friendly and don't talk on their cell phones.
3. They are slower in general. Actually, everything here is slower.
   
4. Tipping is rare at bars, added at restaurants (usually) at 12%, and only for good service in taxis.
5. They take buses over the tube when possible.
6. They buy things is small packages and not at Costco (not that there is anything wrong with Costco. Has anyone seen the last episode of Modern Family? You should watch it). On that note, everything here is smaller. It is Europe, after all.
   

I'm sure I will keep adding to this one!

Feels like Home/ Red Hook or Wembley?

What is better than drawer organizers, Swedish meatballs, and friends on a Friday night? Not much.














My new friend, Lee (on the right), took Mags (Cornell friend), Liza (on the left) and Glen (more new friends), and me to...IKEA! As most of you know Ikea is one of my favorite places and now I like it even more because it totally felt like I could have been with Christie and Tim in Red Hook. It is laid out the same, has the same products, and is just as fabulous. Being in a place where literally everything is brand new, from the people to the gluten free pasta brands, it was really nice to be somewhere familiar. Thanks, Ikea.

I was trying to get some "colorful" items to brighten my room (you know it is hard for me) but my main goal was organizing.
Notice green boxes and a new lamp. The old one was black and horrible and made a irritating buzzing noise. The frame needs a picture, obviously.



New rug and pillow. I'm leaving out the pictures of my organized closet and top draw. You're welcome.

Well, how can I forget you, girl? When there is always something there to remind me...

I have noticed that everyone here reminds me of someone. In some cases it is justified, some not even close. We were discussing how maybe we notice it more because we are searching for the familiar in an unfamiliar setting. I am not using the royal "we," I was actually talking about it with Shauna.
Shauna looks and talks a bit like Liz Greenbaum (Jason's call on the looks).
Mike reminds me of Levin sometimes- which might just be the Canadian accent sounding similar to Minnesota. How he says "Oooooohhhh."
Rebecka, a friend from Cornell, looks a little bit like Heidi from the nose down (which means not including the nose), and which also means I stare at her awkwardly sometimes.

Speaking of things being familiar, coming to London from New York I kept thinking, it's another big city and they speak English so how different will it be? The answer is VERY. I think that because I was downplaying the cultural adjustment it has been surprising me. The look, feel, and people are all very different. The architecture, for example. Things here are actually old. Oh and they drink. A lot. Like, way more than we do.

This one goes out to the Tapeworm (and Lizzie).

I really haven't eaten anything to write home about yet. Pun intended. The first week I had very little appetite (though it is coming back) and I have not gone out of my way to find restaurants (YET).

A couple things of note, however, were:

• Some very good thai food on Hoxton Square, right near me and a cute venue with lots of outdoor seating that was heated.
• A surprisingly delicious caesar salad at the pub down the street. Fresh grilled chicken, big shavings of parmesan cheese.
• Very cheap chips for late night. As I said, not okay.

One major thing is that they don't seem to have a lot of the brands I am used to at the major supermarkets. There is a whole foods apparently, so I am going to try there. I haven't seen rice crackers (blasphemy!! [shut up Jason, in advance]) or rice pasta. There is a "free from" food line at Sainsbury's that has GF pasta but it is corn based. That line has a wide variety of GF breads too- even pita!

Like I said, a culinary snooze so far, but I will set up to bat soon. I am cooking my (by my, I mean Emril's) linguini with cream, peas, and prosciutto for the group tomorrow night.

Cast of Characters

So far I have spent most of my time here with Tore, Mike, and Shauna.

Tore is from Norway and I wish there was a sound insert on here so I can pronounce his name in Norwegian. We call him "Tori" (as in Spelling). Tore is at the London College of Fashion doing a BA in Fashion PR.
My favorite Tore quote is in reference to a story of some kid smelling a drunk girls hair on the Tube through the window that divides the trains: "I somehow missed the smelling of the hair."
Meet Tore:

And these are his shoes!

Mike is from Newfoundland, Canada and is here doing an MA in Fine Art (like me) but at a different school called Central St. Martins (CSM).
Meet Mike:
It is hard to pick a favorite quote from Mike because he is hilarious. I warned him not to get offended if I laugh at everything he says and that I am just a really good audience. But really, he is so funny and hardly means to be. Sort of like Gerber! In the best way possible.
Some favorites:
"My camera does have a zoom. There is just sand in it."
"My mom doesn't chew food. My dad has given her the Heimlich 6 times this year. We won't let Mom eat meat if Dad isn't around." (Okay this is not funny but Tore and I cried laughing. His imitation of her is also worth discussing).
Something to the effect of "This is the longest I have gone without gravy." Apparently cheese and gravy on fries is big in Newfoundland. The other night we got fries on the way home at 1 am. Not okay. I told them never to let that happen again...I really am back in college...oh boy.

Shauna is another Canadian who is here doing a foundation course in Fashion Design- she is a reformed science major and starting over.

Back to School

Chelsea!


I am officially enrolled in the MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. I don't start the course until the 13th of October, so it was nice to be there today and see the school and remind myself that I am actually here to do something other than socialize, drink wine, walk around, and buy things for my flat.

The buildings were a military hospital and are arranged around the square. There is a gallery space that I believe was added on.



The neighborhood is pretty quiet. It is literally next door to the Tate Britain and right on the River Thames. I took a bus from school to Oxford Circus and it was my best bus ride yet- past Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the National Gallery. My bus obsession continues...(after I swore off buses this morning whilst stuck in traffic for an hour). If you ask Mike or Tore, all I talk about is the bus and Marks and Spencer (M&S). I miss Bed, Bath and Beyond and Home Depot but M&S is helping me get over it.