User:Tatedtsen

Trinity Tedtsen

Overview

Throughout my London experience, I explored the reasoning behind the London Underground and ways to improve it, how the appearance of London has changed over the past 100 years, and the differences between gun laws in the United States and the United Kingdom. My previous humanities and arts courses have helped develop my writing skills and my knowledge of historical events in England. These courses will be quite helpful in my exploration of London.

Milestone 1

The London Underground: A timeline
Objective: How has the expansion of the population of London contributed to the expansion of the tube? How can new lines help decrease congestion? In researching these questions, I included information on the development of the Underground and theories of its expansion in the background. The deliverable focuses on potential ways to decrease congestion. It is clear from this project that the Underground cannot expand much more in the center of the city, but new boroughs could pop up due to increases in populations of communities on the outskirts of the city. My previous humanities experience involves twentieth-century American foreign relations, history of the life sciences, and a background in writing.
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Milestone 2

London: Past v. Present
Objective: How has London's appearance changed over the past 100 years?
Throughout this project, I wanted to explore what has changed about some of London's most famous structures and the surrounding areas. London is a city rich in history, my humanities focus, and I wanted to do something different with that. With that in mind, I decided to do a photography project focused on comparing London to what it looked like 100 years ago. In completing this milestone, I have discovered three main concepts. One, the buildings' physical appearances have changed very little. Two, the purpose of these structures have changed, some buildings more drastically than others. And three, technology is much more relied upon in our society today than it was 100 years ago.
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Milestone 3

US v. UK: Gun Laws
Objective: What are the differences between gun laws in the US and the UK? What are people's opinions on these differences? After completing my history capstone, I wanted to be able to answer questions about how the United States and United Kingdom gun laws differ and how public opinion in each country compares. Before I began research on this topic, I was unaware how significant the differences are when comparing the US and UK gun laws. This led me to consider public opinion on the issue. Since gun control is such a polarizing topic in the US, I was interested in exploring if the UK had a similar problem when it came to passing gun laws. To complete this project, I had to rely on knowledge from previous history classes and my experience with rhetoric in writing. It was challenging to be a devil's advocate surrounding my analysis of public opinion in both countries.
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Activity Journal

The activity journal represents an ongoing log of reflections gained through each and every project activity on the calendar.

Westminster Abbey

May 8, 2017
Today we toured Westminster Abbey as an entire group. The tour was very informative about the different people buried there and the memorials for people who are not buried there. One specific memorial I hadn't heard about before was the Unknown Warrier- read more here Memorials. This tomb was specifically interesting to me because of the politics surrounding it involving the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Victoria Cross- read more here Political Features. This trip relates to my milestone involving London tourism and the economy. Tourism as an industry brings in billions of pounds each year for Britain, Westminster Abbey is an example of how that could be possible. The crowded tombs of royals such as Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, and Mary, Queen of Scotts show how many people are still visiting London's main attractions during the so-called "Shoulder Season"- a time when school holidays are not popular, but the weather is slightly better than "Off Season."

Tower of London

May 8, 2017
Today we visited the many attractions housed at the Tower of London complex. These include the Crown Jewels, the Bloody Tower, the White Tower, torture at the Tower, the Ravens, and Yeoman Warriors. Learning about the history of London through the many traditions and practices of the people in the past was fascinating. One thing I found especially interesting was the many animal sculptures made out of wire mesh. These animals were in reference to Royal Beasts. This activity again relates to my milestone about London tourism and the economy. The tourism industry in London is not currently at peak times, but still, the Crown Jewels were crowded and there were lines for some of the towers.
We also saw Tower Bridge today, a staple of the city of London for nearly 125 years. This is quite relevant to my milestone regarding how famous buildings and structures in London have changed over time, specifically the last 100 years or so.

St. Paul's Cathedral

May 9, 2017
Today I visited St. Paul's Cathedral with several other people. We did self-guided tours using headsets to learn more about different aspects of the cathedral. When visiting the Whispering Gallery, I learned the galleries have always been a tourist attraction, dating back to the 1700s. This is especially relevant to my project on tourism in London. Clearly, occurrences of trading experiences for money have increased in number and standard, but the practice itself dates back hundreds of years at least. St. Paul's also shows how easily something can change over the course of a few hundred years. Glass blowing used to be considered a finely tuned skill, but now glass is considered a commonplace item.

Natural History Museum

May 10, 2017
In short, I loved the Natural History Museum. Until very recently, I always thought I hated history. This museum is one more example of why I don't. History doesn't just mean memorizing dates and names, it's so much more than that. One particular exhibit I enjoyed was about natural disasters. The exhibit explained how and why events like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis occur, but it also shows dates of very significant occurrences of these events. Reading about the science and the history of natural disasters makes the experience so much more enriching.
Relating this experience to my milestones is a bit more indirect. It could, of course, relate to my project regarding tourism. However, when you think "London", the Natural History Museum is not the first thing to pop into your head. In fact, it's probably not second, third, or even in the top ten. Yet, this museum was still full of people today. This was due to the people who live in the city. The museum was full of children out with their parents, or school trips from grades as young as kindergarten all the way through high school. This is something to consider, London is just like other cities. The people who live here don't regard the tourists as a reason not to carry on with their day to day activities.

National Gallery

May 11, 2017
I have never loved looking at art. I'm not good at it. I can't see an artwork and automatically understand what each color is meant to represent or how a group of elephants symbolizes something other than a group of elephants. This being said, I didn't expect to enjoy The National Gallery, and I didn't. Granted, that is a bit of a lie considering I didn't hate all of it. I like seeing how art is made more than just looking at the finished product, so I enjoyed the bits where I could see sketches or concepts of the work. I also enjoyed seeing Van Gogh's Sunflowers. This work was a focus in Vincent and the Doctor, an episode of Doctor Who. This episode has always been one of my favorites, so seeing the real artwork was actually pretty amazing.

The British Museum

May 12, 2017
The British Museum is huge. The sections are split up by civilization and time period. My favorite part was the areas about Greek and Roman culture. A lot of mainstream media focuses on the Greek and Roman gods and goddess, so I have always found it fascinating to learn more about the actual culture. I was extremely excited to see the Athens and Parthenos sections of the Greek and Roman area because Athena is my favorite goddess.
The area about Ancient Egypt was also very exciting to look at. I personally loved the scenes depicting Amenhotep III's lion hunts. The carvings were very detailed and exorbitant.

Evensong

May 14, 2017
I attended Evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland. This particular ceremony was in memoriam of V. Griffin, the Dean of the Cathedral from 1968 to 1991. At the ceremony, I saw the President of Ireland! He was there to pay his respects and honor the memory of Dean Griffin. The music was sung by the cathedral choir- boy's and men's voices. Programs were passed out before the ceremony started allowing you to follow along with the music. It was breathtaking to hear such beautiful music. The ceremony lasted just over an hour and a half, and a majority of that time was songs or psalms sung by the choir. The experience was truly one of a kind.

Museum of London

May 15, 2017
The Museum of London has been one of my favorite museums. I found something I wanted to look at in each of the many exhibits. I love how the museum showcased so much history in such an organized and flawless manner. My favorite part was the exhibit on life in the late 1900s. I really loved this part because it was stuff I've heard about from my parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. really love all the stories they tell me, so it was really cool to learn some context into life during that time, even if it was life in London.
I also really loved the exhibit titled Making a Moment. This exhibit was about designing and constructing the centerpiece for the 2012 Olympic games. The torch was made up of so many moving parts and each one had to work perfectly. As an engineer, hearing about all the effort and energy that went into simply designing, let alone constructing, this artwork was incredible.

Tate Britain

May 17, 2017
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I dislike looking at art. "Art", however, is a very broad subject, with many different subcategories. Modern art happens to be my least favorite type of art. I'm not very good with looking at a very avant-garde sculpture and understanding the meaning behind it. I am a logical-mathematical thinker, meaning I like for things to look like what they are. All of that being said, you are safe to assume I did not enjoy the entirety of Tate Britain.
I did not like the neon light sculpture, "Blue", the many different modern day photos, sculptures, and paintings, or the less modern paintings that are not clearly defined. I did enjoy looking at a majority of JMW Turner's artworks. My favorite were his War and Peace. These two paintings were displayed side by side, and exemplify two very different moods by the colors of their scenes. War is comprised of mainly warm colors- oranges and reds, where Peace is comprised of mostly cool-toned blues and grays.

Victoria and Albert Museum

May 18, 2017
The Victoria and Albert Museum is home to many different types of "art". I particularly enjoyed the section showcasing the craftsmanship of iron, silver, gold, and other metal workers. The ironwork gates, signs, and decor were all so fanciful, but simplistic in color, a trait I found endearing. The gold and silver were so extravagant, even on the smallest of scales. Snuffboxes were very common in the silver and gold exhibit, showcasing gemstones as well as the shining metals on very small canvasses. My favorite exhibit, however, was the jewelry exhibit. This showcases jewelry of many different eras and styles, from tiaras designed to look like bulls to sword hilts covered in diamonds to beautifully ornate rings. It was fascinating to see the evolution of style through the jewels people wore during specific time periods.

Tate Modern

May 19, 2017
Today I went to Tate Modern, a modern art museum. Although I had very little fun in the museum, the many other activities we did were incredible. After we left the museum, we went to Borough Market for lunch. After that, we went back to walk over Millennium Bridge, but first stayed and watched people blow bubbles in front of St. Paul's. It felt incredible to actually feel like a part of life in London. Being able to walk around the city and follow the street signs back to the apartments was amazing. So, although I still hate looking at modern art, the museum did lead to incredible things.

Imperial War Museum

May 22, 2017
I really enjoyed the Imperial War Museum. My favorite exhibits were the photo gallery titled Syria: A Conflict Explored and Secret War. These exhibits don't relate directly to my milestones, but they are very interesting topics to me. I have always loved history museums because I have always been interested in learning about history. Getting to the museum was a feat in and of itself. My group member Chris thought the museum was by the Churchill War Rooms, a museum he had previously visited. So, we followed Chris to the wrong museum, even though I knew the museum was somewhere else. Chris usually knows what he's talking about direction wise, so I figured it was just another way to get there. We ended up walking to the museum from Westminster Abbey.
My time inside the museum was very well spent. It was cool to read about the different weapons, tanks, and tools used by the different powers during WWII. I particularly enjoyed the short films they showed throughout the museum. I felt they added a sense of realism to the museum, which could have felt a bit fake with all the models present. The films really peak your interest and keep you fascinated.

Horniman Museum and Gardens

May 23, 2017
My goal for my trip to the Horniman Museum was to find and photograph all 12 sundials. This goal was curbed by the fact one of the sundials is in the library and the library is only open on the first Sunday of each month. Aside from that, the trip was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed the Natural History exhibit and walking around the gardens. Although it took a long time to get here in comparison to other activities we've done, I still believe it was worth it to experience a different type of museum. Although other museums have had field trips, they still felt very touristy. The Horniman Museum seemed to be full of field trips or family outings. It felt like we were a real part of London culture at this museum, as opposed to just another tourist.

Hampton Court Palace

May 24, 2017
Today I went to Hampton Court Palace. It was fascinating to learn about Henry VIII and William and Mary. I didn't know King William III was so against traditional requirements of Kings and Queens. He seemed to hate all of the responsibilities he had regarding interacting with the public. My favorite part of the palace was the tour of Henry VIII/s kitchens. The workers in the kitchen had to cook for 600 people, without really being noticed by any of them. It was fascinating to learn about Henry VIII's diet, which was 60-70% meat, to show off his extreme wealth. I also enjoyed how during the construction, they safety wall had information about each of the royals who have lived in the palace and how they changed/redecorated the palace while they lived there. Henry VIII redecorated for each of his six wives, which feels a bit excessive to me.

Museum of London Docklands

May 25, 2017
Today I went to the Museum of London Docklands. This museum is all about London's history of trade and import/export of goods. I didn't think I was going to enjoy this museum, simply because it sounded like a boring history class, but it was wonderful. The museum was set up so you start on the third floor and loop your way down toward the present. Each section of the exhibits was set up to peak your interest and make you more excited about being there. I can definitely see the appeal of the museum to children as many of the exhibits had areas for children to learn more in ways that would interest them, such as the sailor's area which was a hallway set up to look and feel as though you are out on the docks.

London Science Museum

June 1, 2017
I have been excited for this museum since the day I read it was one of the assigned activities at the beginning of May, and I have to admit, I was a bit let down. All the science museums I have been to in the past have been extremely interactive, and not just for little kids. The London Science Museum had multiple exhibits I enjoyed reading about, but the experience wasn't what I had pictured in my mind. I guess I was hoping the visit would be more nostalgic than it turned out to be.
My favorite part of the museum was the space exhibit. My favorite museum I have ever been to is the National Air and Space Museum in DC, this exhibit reminded me of that. I truly enjoyed reading about the different rocket engines, the first woman in space, and the different trips to the moon. I also enjoyed the energy exhibit, simply because it reminded me of the interactiveness of most other science museums. The different activities inspired more thought than they would've had they been set up in the traditional something-to-look-at-and-something-to-read manner.

The Wallace Collection

June 2, 2017
Can you imagine collecting so much stuff over your lifetime you could fill a museum? That seems like a problem to me. The Wallace Collection is just that. It's actually pretty remarkable how many different types of art are in the museum, ranging from traditional paintings to snuffboxes and armor to daggers. My favorite part were the armories, simply because it was something I hadn't really seen much of in the many other museums we have visited. It was interesting to learn about the different styles of armor, something I hadn't really considered before. I was very impressed with the decoration of each room. The wallpaper and the chandeliers were incredibly ornate and every once in a while left me completely stunned. My favorite was the two-toned teal fleur-de-lis pattern.
Although I dislike looking at art, I really enjoyed The Wallace Collection because of the way it was set up. Each room has a title indicative of what it was used for prior to the building becoming a museum. I really felt like I was walking through history when touring the many rooms. It was fascinating to see how first hand how people lived back then.

Romeo and Juliet

June 6, 2017
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theater (2017) was not an overall enjoyable experience for me. First, I really hate clowns, and all of the actors were wearing clown makeup. It made for especially creepy scenes that otherwise would not have been creepy. Second, it was pouring during the first act and the Globe Theater does not have a roof. I could have overlooked this had I been enjoying the first act of the production. The scenes where Romeo and Juliet attend parties, or where the two families are fighting, were like club scenes in present day movies. Very loud, bass heavy music was playing, strobe lights were going, and the characters were pretending to beat each other with foam bats. I had been excited to see this play because I had never actually seen the entire production all the way through, I had only seen scenes from movies in school. This did not live p to my expectations.
Since the play was a modern interpretation with the original script, I didn't feel as though everything flowed as well as it could have. For example, when Romeo goes to the apothecary to buy poison, the apothecary hands him a gun. Now, I understand the metaphor here, but I am a very literal person and the gun is not poison. The really strange part was when Juliet woke up to find Romeo. She still said the line about him not leaving her any poison, despite the fact they were not holding a vial of poison. All of that being said, I did enjoy the second act more simply because the acting and staging of the majority of it felt more like what I was expecting- despite everyone still being in clown makeup. I respect the company for putting on such a different type of show, and I am glad I attended it, but it isn't something I would want to do again.

Stonehenge

June 6, 2017
It was really cool to see Stonehenge. I would very much like to know, in detail, why it was built, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. The tour guide was really nice, and it was exciting how he tried to relate things back to engineering for us. It's weird to think about how there is this rock structure, built 5,000 years ago, that attracts thousands of tourists but nobody really knows that much about it. I also enjoyed the city of Bath. It was interesting to learn about the history of the baths and how difficult it had been for people to make the baths safe to bathe in. Lacock was especially fun for me because I am a huge Harry Potter fan.

Matilda the Musical

June 7, 2017
This was the first musical I can remember seeing on a professional level, despite my long-running love for musicals. I had previously listened to the soundtrack of the musical and fallen in love, so when the opportunity arose to see the show I jumped at it. I'm glad to report that I absolutely loved every minute of it. It was truly incredible to experience something so well put together where everyone who is a part of the production truly cares if you enjoy it. After seeing the show, I found out I will be seeing "Waitress" on Broadway later this summer, and after having such a wonderful experience here in London I am more excited than ever. I am especially glad I chose to see "Matilda" over some of the other musicals I was considering because shortly after my visit I learned it is no longer showing on Broadway!

Windsor Castle

June 12, 2017
At Windsor Castle we saw the State Apartments, Queen Mary's Dolls' House, and the changing of the guard. The inside of the castle was truly magnificent, but I have to admit I felt a bit odd touring a building where people are currently living. My favorite part of the castle was the decorations made out of weaponry. The intricate designs were beautiful and gave all of the swords a purpose other than being an out of use weapon. I also enjoyed looking at the hand-decorated china displayed within the state apartments. Ever since I was little, my family and I would have tea parties using my grandmother's china. I felt like I was reliving this when I was looking at the many floral patterns on tea cups and dishes at the castle.