Well here I am, starting off my first blog post for the Study Abroad program in London. I am really excited to be here and allow for people to see what I have and will be doing over the course of the 10 Days. The day started off with arriving at Logan Airport around 7:30pm on June 3rd. The flight didn’t board until 10pm, which allowed for myself to become comfortable with knowing I wouldn’t have to rush through security and get to my flight. After boarding the flight, I was able to find my seat and recognize my surroundings. When looking at the TV on the back of the seat that was in front of me, I was able to figure out that I could not just watch some movies that were provided by British Airways, but I could also watch some episodes of TV shows that I enjoy, as well as retro games I could play such as Tetris and Pac-Man. Not allowing for the opportunity to slip, I tried my best to use all of the technology that was in front of me to enjoy the long flight that was ahead of me. My time on the flight included watching Beauty and the Beast (2017), catching up on the TV show Big Bang Theory, and trying to understand how to use the controller provided to play the retro video games.

After the almost 7-hour flight, it was now morning and my day has just now begun. After getting off the plane it was time to go to the UK boarder patrol. When arriving at the UK boarder patrol (coming off from a short tram ride) it was time to wait in line to get to the front. Well, this line wasn’t very friendly and we had to wait a while to get to the front. After weaving through the stanchions, we were finally able to get to the front. After this, the true exploration was about to begin. After everyone grabbed their luggage we went on to find the drivers who were supposed to drive us to the hotel we would be staying at. When Ingrid was able to locate the two drivers, we were finally on our way to see how the streets of London really looked with our own eyes. When getting on the road, it was crazy to experience how different people in the UK drive. With having the driver seat on the side where the passenger seat would be on a US vehicle to driving on the opposite side of the road, it was great to finally see how it all worked after only seeing it from movies or TV shows. The driver of the van that I was in was very professional and was able to take us on our own little tour of London while we were driving to the hotel. Even though he didn’t have to do this, I greatly appreciate it and believe it added a little bit to the trip as I was able to see so many wonderful things before we even got to the hotel!

After arriving to the hotel, we all signed into our rooms and my roommate and I started to unpack our luggage and become familiar with the room. When my unpacking was complete I was able to lay down and take a quick nap before the group dinner that was taking place at The Dickens Inn. After taking the short walk to The Dickens Inn, we were able to look at all of the fascinating typography that the restaurant had inside.  After eating a fantastic meal and having a group meeting, we all walked back to the hotel where we were able to see more examples of typography that we could use for our projects. This allowed us to take many pictures when walking back to the hotel. This is where the first day of my London experience would come to an end and I would be let free to do what I want before the next day would begin.  When looking at how my first day in London went, I would say it went great! Even though I have stayed up for 26 hours from the start of yesterday, I would say that the whole travel from Logan Airport to London and my first full day here has gone by fast. I’m just hoping that the rest of the trip doesn’t follow suit. I would rate the first day a 10/10.

Wayfinding system elements, City of London.

Hardly a block’s walk from our hotel, a weathered stone church perches on the corner of a busy street. It’s directly across from both a towering hotel spire and a series of tourist shops. This neighborly anachronism seems par for the course in London so far; ancient stone walls cuddle up against the shady glass knees of shimmering skyscrapers, selfie-taking smartphone wielders line up for photo shoots in old-timey red telephone-booths-turned-WiFi-hubs, and, here and there, a chimeric fusion of “modern prefab” and “so old as to be mouldering” residential homes settle together in their stone, brick, concrete, and clay, sometimes with an entirely different century spelled in stonework across either edge of a single doorframe.

A sign embedded in the wall of our structure proclaims it “the oldest church in the City of London,” founded by the Abbey of Barking in the late seventh century. Curious, we took a walk inside, and found ourselves treated to a charming—if slightly creepy—tour through the church’s history. Beneath the floors of All Hallows lies a thematically appropriate combination of preserved and renovated artifacts and architecture. Beginning at a selection of second-century Roman artifacts and brickwork, and meandering our way forward through the centuries to a contemporary crypt, the church sweetly charmed us into asking for more. Sure, it was just a little bit unsettling to stare down approximately eighty not-so-distantly-deceased urns, indexed in a colorful binder by surname and year of death. Maybe I didn’t dare step inside the tiny, underground chapel near the end lest some otherworldly power snatch my breath. Superstition aside, before that point came a smorgasbord of fascinating historic items and documents. Here’s a couple interesting bits:

Cheeky cards made from postings on the walls of Talbot House.

Cast of a tombstone from Doodman’s Fields, 1787. “In memory of Flavius Agricola, soldier of the Sixth Legion. ‘The Victorious’. He lived 42 years, 10 days. Albua Faustina set this up to her incomparable husband.”

The whole place is full to the brim with neat peeks into history like these. But my personal favorite was this guy:

You’re looking at a full miniature diorama of London as it stood in the second century or so, a Roman port named Londinium. This doubled as a slice of humble pie for yours truly. Last week, my friend and I saw King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (in theaters), because my name is Arthur and we’re always down for swords movies. They kept referring to the setting as Londinium. (The movie, as delightfully terrible as we’d hoped it’d be, did not disappoint in either swords or people-named-Arthur quantity, but I wouldn’t purchase another ticket. The film’s treatment of women was, unfortunately, as dated as the city’s name, and left a sour taste in both our mouths.)

At the movie we rolled our eyes at one another, with not a smear of respect for history, and ignorantly assumed the name of London had been changed in service to some science-fiction aesthetic. It totally wasn’t. It was historically accurate. Sometimes, you just don’t know nothin’ about famous legendary figures, even when the two of you’s has got the same name. Sometimes, you learn!

I learned.

Visiting this church for a casual stroll down the halls of ancient history was definitely the highlight of my first day in London and a great way to kick off the week. I can already tell that the relationship between old and new civilization is sure to be a fascinating element to all of our adventures here. That’s pretty much how design evolves in the first place, after all. It also makes me curious to dig deeper into ancient histories back home. It’s fascinating to explore a place where you can touch something that was made by fellow humans millennia ago, and learn about those humans through record. Walking around this city is sort of like thumbing through that record and getting a glimpse of influences from ancient all the way to contemporary. We’ve already taken so many pictures of good typography, both in the crypt of All Hallows and in our brief time out and about. I was positively schooled by history today, and we haven’t even started our itinerary yet. Can’t imagine what lies in store starting tomorrow. It’s gonna be an enriching study abroad.

Weary travelers leaving the airport.

This morning we landed at Heathrow airport after a long 6 hour flight. After we made it through customs and baggage claim, we were picked up by our ride to bring us to our hotel.  Since we had to cut across London, our driver made sure to pass by and point out the many iconic sites throughout London.  Our driver showed us sites such as the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The London Eye, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Westminster, Harrods, the Tower of London and many more.  It was so cool to see how full of iconic sites the city was.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Big Ben

After the group checked into our hotel rooms we had an awesome “family” dinner at The Dickens Inn and checked out some of the cool typography they had on display.

The Dickens Inn Grill Menu

Fish & Chips Sign at The Dickens Inn

“We Recommend” sign at The Dickens Inn

Police guard a street entrance to London Bridge earlier today while crowds and TV crews filled the pavement.

I have been in the UK for a few days now. I started in Bagshot to visit my cousin and her family, then spent a day in Edinburgh. When I woke up this morning, my phone nearly buzzed right off the table. Somehow, I knew instantly that there had been another attack. Thankfully I was in Scotland, an 8 hour car ride from the scene of the crime.

I do not know what will happen in the days to come. All the tension from the elections has gotten people fired up and anxious… anything could happen, anywhere, at any time.

But I love travelling and London is one of my favorite cities. So for now, I’m going to enjoy this historic, beautiful, magnificent city and absorb every ounce of knowledge that I can. I will be brave, I will stay safe, and I will be happy. Right here, in this very spot.

As I explore, I will constantly hear Professor Mad-Eye Moody’s voice in the back of my head: “Constant vigilance!”

(Me holding Arthur’s Cat a few hours before driving to the airport)

Today, I officially embarked on the UMass Lowell Design Study Abroad trip to London. Not only is this my first time ever going to London, but it’s also the first time I’ve left the country. My family has flown out of the country many times, but I’ve always been bound to various responsibilities such as school, watching the dog, or lacking sufficient funds. With that said, I knew I had to seize this opportunity and finally break the bubble that I’ve had for the past 20 years. I knew this trip would not only be an enjoyable experience, but broaden my understanding of different cultures.
Every step of the process was not only new, but a huge learning experience. Being a pseudo-adult I was responsible for getting myself on this trip, not my parents. With that said, I learned a new level of independence in regards to filling out paperwork, saving enough money, and flying without family. As months of preparation past by, it was time to embark on this new journey.
In the past I have flown with my family many times, but this was the first without them. I thought this was going to be a way more difficult process but I was able to get to my gate in a quick and efficient manner. As I waited for everyone to arrive (I arrived at the airport first), my anticipation and excitement only heightened.The higher the plane rose, the heavier my eyes became. Still I couldn’t sleep because of my growing curiosity of what I’d expect in this new and different location.
We finally landed, the jet lag really kicked in. Because I’ve never left the country, I wasn’t use to being in an intensely different time-zone with more than a two hour difference. Being a design student however, I was no stranger to a lack of sleep. After trekking through customs and taking a cab I was finally in London. After months of prep I was finally embarking on my journey that I’ve been looking forward to. Even though, I’ve only been in London a brief time, the city is truly magnificent and grand  and I can’t wait to see what it can offer me in these next 10 days.

I’m not exactly a stranger to flights of the domestic variety; as a highly antisocial person, most of my most compelling, deep, and trusted friendships are with people who live halfway or more across the country, and with family that has moved to warmer, wetter pastures in the soggy south of Georgia, I make infrequent trips to see both.

Flying outside the country, however, is another matter. This trip to London is my first time ever leaving the United States, and while thus far traveling internationally has been a vastly different experience from traveling domestically – for one, a vast array of entertainment was provided for free as part of the flight, as well as a blanket and pillow, a three course dinner, and coffee (so much coffee, of which I regrettably drank none with the foolish idea that I would actually sleep on a flying metal death trap several thousand feet in the air) – the most stunning, mind-boggling, and truly upsetting difference has been the fact I can’t hear out of my left ear.

Despite the usual routine of obsessive gum-chewing in flight, and consuming a meal, the pressure change has clogged my left ear to the point of near absolute deafness – which is a bummer, when you’re trying to pay attention to and take direction from professors and many accented strangers. Thus far, all attempts to remove the clog and normal pressure inside my skull have resulted in failure – no amount of no blowing, mouth-gaping, yawning or hiccuping has proven effective in clearing out my ears.

Given that jet lag, or perhaps the fact that I’ve been awake for near 20 hours at this point, is ravaging both my mind and my body, I’m going to end todays post with a haphazard – I mean, carefully selected – regurgitation of the photos I took while traveling from Heathrow Airport to our hotel, the Apex of London.

After all of the chaos that has been going on, we have finally arrived and settled into our hotel. The driver on the way here was extremely friendly and said he loves to visit America. We were all treated to coffee and had some time to sight see before our first meal as a group. 

We had dinner at a restaurant called The Dickens Inn where some students enjoyed fish and chips. Overall I look forward to our adventures here in London and the memories we are about to make!

Follow our students’ journey as they explore the world of design through the lens of London this June. Students will build on lessons in wayfinding, typography and travel collateral by venturing to the National Gallery, V & A Museum, the Natural History Museum, Madame Tussauds, and the British Museum and the Design Museum.