One of my other favorite classes that we take here is a class called British Cultural Studies. In this class for about two hours a week we take a trip to a specific location with our professor and then travel to other locations through out the lecture. This creates a very different environment for each lecture because they are all happening on the go, out in the world where the events that happened took place. Recently we went to a specific part of London called Barbican. There is where many residential areas are located. It was really interesting to see where many real people live in London. It was also really cool to hear the history of each location and why the architecture looks as it does. One thing I find the most interesting is that my professor tells us about the war history of each place. Like when a whole town was bombed and destroyed and how each building was rebuilt during the time period. It is really interesting to me to hear about the damage and rebuilding after war because we don’t have much of that in America. Most of London has been damaged and rebuilt at some point or another. One really interesting place in Barbican that our professor took us to was this apartment complex that was built in the 50s. At the time it was meant to be really sleek and modern but by the time that the huge complex was built, it wasn’t really current anymore. Most of the people who chose to live in the building lived there and never left. Then recently the V and A did an exhibit on modern architecture and the Barbican was showcased. Then the building became really popular with young hipsters. I found it so interesting that it took almost fifty years for the building to really take off and find its true and original purpose. As my professor put it, most people either love or hate the complex. Personally I was torn. My professor said it was meant to be a utopic type environment, which is why some people don’t like it. Personally, I did like the fountains everywhere and I thought it was pretty cool all the amenities that were available at the complex, but I wasn’t sure if I would want to live there. I guess everyone has their own taste, and even some of the Brits didn’t like the building when it was first built.

One of the coolest things about England is that most museums are free. Which is great because we have a whole class where all we do is visit museums. In this class we sketch and do research in a sketchbook. In this class we learn to find inspiration in different places. During the first class we went to the Museum of Natural History where we looked at really interesting bugs and insects. Personally I was never a fan of bugs, but I really liked this exhibit and found it very inspirational. Later that day we went next door to the V and A where we saw the costume collection, which was amazing. The next week we were privy to see the one exhibit that cost admission, The Hollywood Costume exhibit at the V and A. This exhibit was so extraordinary. It was so easy to get caught up in it. Technically the class is only 2 hours only, but we are usually allowed to stay after at the museum if we wish. This time in particular a group of my classmates and I got so into the exhibit we lost track of time and weren’t able to meet our professor when we were supposed to. It was worth it though because the exhibit was incredible. They had costumes from so many films and really displayed what a costume designer does. For me, I absolutely loved seeing what a costume designer does and I found the garments truly inspirational. The most recent museum we went to was The British Museum. The architecture is amazing; the ceiling is beautiful and rounded with gorgeous triangular glass panels. The museum itself was amazing we saw some great exhibits. There was a Living and Dying exhibit that was really interesting. It showcased life and death in all different cultures. There was one scarf knit with all the pills men and women take in their lifetime. The woman’s scarf was substantially larger than the man’s. Seeing this was shocking but really interesting. My personal favorite part of the trip was seeing the Rosetta Stone. It was just so cool to see such an important and influential part of history and the development of man, After seeing the stone class shortly ended and a friend of mine and I went up to the Egyptian exhibit. Ancient Egypt has always been one of my favorite time periods and it was so awesome to see such a big exhibit on the culture. This museum had a lot of mummies, statues and other artifacts that I loved pouring over. Visiting museums is one of my favorite things to do and I love that I have a class to do just that.