“Death 2 Disco” is projected across the walls of the little hole in the wall club in Notting Hill, London. If you were to walk past this club you might not even notice it, we almost didn’t. Outside there is literally only a door with a man standing outside it, no sign soliciting patrons; it is purely a place you have to know. Once inside there are still no signs stating the name of the club, except a small plaque by the door that says, “Notting Hill Arts Club.” One side of the entrance door is a bar with couches and chairs, decorated with music posters and cool art on the walls. The other side there is a small stage and room to dance. Since we didn’t know anyone there, we began to talk to some of the locals. Turns out the boys we had been talking to were the band playing later this evening. The band’s name was The Wildes, which I later realized must be a reference to Oscar Wilde. When I asked them to describe their music they said they were very surf-y, which was interesting because they were from a seaside town in England. When I think of surf-y music in America, I think of Jack Johnson or very mellow stuff. When the guys got on stage, I have to say; I didn’t find them very mellow at all. They were definitely alternative, which they described as well, but I had to wonder if music genres were a little different across the pond.
As I was talking to them I asked them about some of the differences between American and British culture. At one point I asked if they had “hipsters” in Britain. In America hipsters are a stereotype of people who usually take themselves very serious and like alternative music, and basically anything that isn’t popular. When the band member answered my question he said, “Do we have hipsters? Look at where you are!” It seemed to me that in England “hipsters” don’t really take themselves as seriously as the ones in America do. They could really make fun of themselves. They seemed to be dressing and liking the things they do simply because it’s what they liked, not because it was what was hip, unlike some in America. Not to say there are people who genuinely love the obscure in America, but there are those who seem to be in it for the trend. It was interesting that the club was filled so late at night when it was only a Wednesday. It seems that British youth go out more during the weekdays than in America.

Arriving in London, It really just feels like another city, but everything is much nicer than you could ever imagine. Maybe it is because we live in such an affluent area, but everything looks finer. I just loved how beautiful every building, stone, and streetlamp was. I literally have a camera full of streetlamps because not only are they all gorgeous, but also they are each different and lovely in their own way. My favorite streetlamp so far is this series of green street lamps in Kensington Square. I liked that they were different than the rest of London, but they still matched the area they were in. One of my favorite things about this city is how well designed the details are. All the traffic lights are painted black, and it seems all the details of the city are black too. Which in my personal opinion is such a nice touch. It just makes the whole city look lovelier. It feels nice to be in a city that matches.
At first arrival there isn’t much culture shock… everything just feels a bitt backwards. The first time you get into a car and the driver starts driving, you can just tell that things feel a bit odd. For me the biggest shock was getting in the right side of the car and having the driver sit in front of me! In my jetlagged state I completely had forgotten the cars are different too! At first the city’s lack of street signs took me for a shook. I had no clue where too look when navigating. In London, instead of street names on posts, they are on the sides of buildings. Sometimes the tops, bottoms, middle, really all over and it can still be hard to figure out what street you are on. Thankfully people are nice when you ask for directions, but there are more foreigners than Londoners in the city, so some are not of much use. Once you get used to it, the street signs are actually quite pretty, just sometimes in inconvenient spots. The area in which we live has loads of streets named after royals and it seems every street has a “Queen” something on it.
So far compared to the other cities I’ve been to, none have as much style as London has, just as a city. Even the Tube is gorgeous. For being the first underground transportation system they really got it right. It is brilliantly shaped and is aesthetically appealing, especially compared to the SEPTA in Philadelphia.