I don’t think my transition back to the United States will be that difficult, but I won’t know until it happens. I am missing my family an friends and seeing them again will be nice. I have made some friends from UC during my stay here, but it isn’t quite the same as lifelong friends and family. If I ever want to hang out with any of the UC students that accompanied me on the trip, they won’t be too hard to get in contact with. I also miss the general space between human beings that the Midwest has. London is a very crowded city. The commute on the tube during rush hour is very unpleasant. Everyone gets crammed into the minimal space the subway offers and there isn’t much room to move. I find it stressful. Also the weather in London, while not as bad as people claim, still leaves a bit to be desired. I am generally a warm weather person anyways, so that doesn’t help.
I will miss the atmosphere of London. It’s such a diverse place and there is so much to do. I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of the London experience in the three months I have been here and that isn’t for lack of trying. There are still events I would like to go to, a WRC event or the Goodwood Festival of Speed come to mind, that I missed out on due to travel logistics or simply being in the UK at the wrong time of the year. Also there are plenty of other European destinations I would like to visit that I didn’t have time for. I was unable to visit Germany or Italy for example. Once one is in Europe, travel to other European countries is cheap and easy. Generally, the people of London have been very kind and polite. This English kind of politeness is dissimilar to America’s demeanor and I will also lament its absence. I like my employers and co-op a lot. This co-op has probably been my most enjoyable and that will make transitioning back to UC for my last semester tough. Generally the transfer between the relative freedom of co-op and the burdensome nature of a DAAP semester is hard, but this time I have plenty of work to do for my capstone project. I am not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to graduating. I will be a long and trying process, but I will prevail in the end. ParisMy time in Paris was mostly spent sight seeing and eating. Paris, more than any city I have visited, was lousy with beautiful and iconic architecture and monuments. I visited the Eiffel Tower, walked through the Parisian catacombs, admired the architecture of the Notre Dam cathedral, and stared at fine art in the Louvre Museum. Seeing the Mona Lisa was cool, but a bit underwhelming. It’s rather small in the flesh, especially compared to the larger than life Biblical depictions filling the walls adjacent to the panting. The food in Paris was very good, if not a little light for my American tastes. I was determined to try the escargot and it wasn’t gross like some people expect. The snails had a consistency and texture of overcooked shrimp but they were very well seasoned and tasted great. I also fancied some French onion soup, croissants, and other typical staples. The service staff in the French restaurants were amiable and patient when my roommate and I tried to butcher our way through their language, unlike most of the other Parisians we encountered. I had not experienced that kind of pretentiousness and malcontent this side of a modern art gallery. CopenhagenAlthough I booked the trip on a whim, Copenhagen was a fine time. I feel like there wasn’t as much to do as other places I have visited but we prevailed anyways. The coolest land mark was the Rosenborg Castle, a well preserved remanent of the Feudal era. The grandiose decor and the level of detail in each piece were truly awe inspiring. We also checked out the colorful neighborhood of Nyhavn on the waters. Nyhavn also had many lovely Christmas markets. I thoroughly enjoyed the Danish cuisine. Their meals were hearty and delicious. The Danes also know their way around a pastry very well. I would visit Copenhagen again, but with warmer weather and a bit more time to explore. BudapestBudapest was probably my favorite city European city other than London. It was kind of like Paris, but the people were way nicer and the architecture and views were arguably better. Because the Hungarians were under Communist control for about 40 years, there are still brutalist structures in existence. This gives the city an Eastern European flavor. Budapest is also a very affordable city to visit. A pint cost the equivalent to 2 USD.
There are plenty of sights to see in the city. A river divides the Buda and Pest parts of the city and taking a boat tour offers picturesque views. In the more central part of the city, the impressive St. Stephen’s Basilica can be found. While we were there, a large pop-op Christmas market was sharing the square with the church. At some point in Hungary’s history, the country was occupied by the Turks. As a result, Turkish bath culture was introduced to the region. A few of the original baths from that time period still remain, and being able to swim in one of the most beautiful pools is well worth the $12 admission. Budapest is an underrated city and should be on everyone’s European travel list. Lacaze is a bespoke furniture manufacturer that specializes in high end clientele. Their furniture is handcrafted by highly skilled craftsmen, ensuring that every design is expertly produced with meticulous attention to details. Alongside employing traditional methods, they can also use state of the art CNC manufacturing.
I have been having a mostly good experience here at Lacaze. It's a smaller company, with only 5 people working in the showroom/design space, so it has been a tighter knit workplace dynamic than the corporate places I have worked at in the past. All of the employees are very sociable and are great people. The company is located in the Design Center, which is extremely posh as the British would say. It's the place in London for high end furniture; all of the interior designers working for wealthy clients shop for furniture in the Design Center. This lends itself to a bit of a snooty atmosphere, but it’s not unwarranted. When I am asked to go to the workshop, the atmosphere is a more boisterous and lively because of the workers and not having the need to impress the clients. The workplace culture is friendly and welcoming overall. As far as the work goes, my main tasks include creating dimensioned orthographics for client furniture orders and developing their Spring furniture collection. I have almost full autonomy over the design process and creating the orthographic drawings has been a great way to learn about furniture proportions. The position can be a bit stressful at times because I am handling their graphic design material at the same time. Also working with the clients can be tedious at times because they don't always know what they want. But that comes with working with clients in any industry. Overall it's a great position and I have gained plenty of design experience. The Britain is a very condensed countryvand as a result there are plenty of great places to visit. Here are a few places I have visited so far. BrightonBrighton is an intimate city on the southern coast of England. The waterfront view is breathtaking and there are plenty of interesting small shops more towards the city center. The pier area, while cool, reminded me a lot of the tourist trap shenanigans of the Jersey Shore or OBX in North Carolina. GrenwichCIEE held a free tour of Greenwich, where the Meridian Line is located, for any students in London. We took the Thames Clipper up the river in order to get to Greenwich and that was an experience in itself. Views of iconic landmarks could be seen from the perspective of the water. The town was abundant with historical architecture and lovely green spaces. Cool Places in LondonLast weekend I was able to visit Sky Garden, which is the top floor of a large glass building overlooking the Thames River. The views were incredible and the atrium inside was also pretty neat. I was also fortunate enough to see a proper Premier League football match at Arsenal Stadium as well as one of the London NFL games in the Twickenham rugby stadium. Finally, one of my favorite places thus far is the Junk Yard Golf Club. It's a series of 4 indoor mini golf courses made entirely of recycled material. The lighting, music, and two bars create a party-like atmosphere. Furthermore, if you go on a Monday or Tuesday, you can get half priced tickets if your are a student.
The most notable part of London culture is the sheer amount of different cultures located within the city. Never have I been in a place where I could not distinguish what language was being spoken. I read somewhere more than 250 different languages where spoken in London and that is an insane amount. A great consequence of having so many cultures in one place is the diversity of delicious food. The best Indian food I’ve had was at the Borough market. Although I have been told that proper English cuisine is dreadful, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. I’ve had a few Sunday roasts thus far and they have yet to disappoint. In terms of people I have met, most have been very amiable and polite. Although I think I have only met one person who was actually from London. Also, the holidays and traditions are obviously different here. People don’t celebrate Halloween with the same fervor as back in the States but the 5th of November celebrations rival the spectacle of the 4th of July. It was great to see all of the fireworks throughout the city.
Equipped with a valid US passport, UK visa, plane tickets from our northern neighbor’s finest airline, and two carry-ons that probably didn’t meet Air Canada’s size requirements, I was as ready as I would ever be to make the journey across the pond. The first leg of the flight was on the airplane equivalent of that one school bus the district neglected to upgrade since the Regan administration. After a short layover in Toronto, I transferred to a much nicer vessel for the longer part of the trip. I was advised by friends and family experienced in international travel to try to get as much sleep on the plane as possible. I found obtaining sleep difficult because of the stellar selection of movies on the in-flight entertainment system as well as being contorted in the coach seating.
By the time I landed at the Gatwick airport, my brain was marginally functional due to lack of sleep and major jet lag. I mustered enough brainpower to figure out where I needed to go for customs and baggage claim. The wait time in the customs line was similar to that of an amusement park on a busy day, but the excitement at the end of the line was a different kind of thrill. The amiable customs officer only asked me two questions and I was sent on my way. Stepping outside the airport in order to catch a ride with an Uber, the weather was of stereotypical drab variety. The Uber ride to the Chapter building where I am staying was uneventful. The building is like the Daniels dorm at UC, but way nicer. The living spaces are cramped compared to anything west of New York City, but they are livable. I wasn’t fazed by the though of having a roommate because I have lived with an eclectic bunch of strong personalities throughout college. My roommate is a good dude, head and shoulders above some of the people I have lived with in the past. I wasn’t that nervous of about the cultural differences between us Yanks and the Londoners. I had consumed enough British media through the BBC and NPR to have a decent idea of what the culture was like. I obviously am not an expert; so I was still caught off guard by some the terminology differences. I had was very confused when a server asked me if I wanted to have take away rather than carry out. Also, some of the stronger, more regional accents can be hard to understand at first. I am not a fan of how the restaurants don’t split checks. I thought the time I lived in the east coast was the last time I would have to deal with that inconvenience. Overall it’s been a fairly smooth transition, but I am sure I will run into more cultural differences with the more locals I meet. |
Author: Chris StarkI'm a senior industrial design student interning abroad for my second to last semester! Archives
December 2017
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