Tatedtsen

Trinity Tedtsen

Overview

Throughout my London experience, I will explore how everyday life in London is impacted from England's best inventions, how the appearance of London has changed over the past 100 years and the relationship between tourism and the economy in the city of London. 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 have major events affected that expansion?

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Milestone 2

London: Past v. Present
Objective: How has London's appearance changed over the past 100 years?

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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Milestone 3

London Tourism and the Economy
Objective: How has London's tourism industry developed over time and what effects has it had on the economy?

Below the objective statement, Insert a one or two paragraph summary of your findings from having reached this milestone. If this milestone, for you, represents a humanities and arts capstone, please indicate so. Edit the link below to link to your milestone page.
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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.

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.

My Complete Contributions

• Westminster Abbey
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• Natural History Museum
• British Museum
• The National Gallery
• Museum of London
• Tate Britain
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• Tate Modern
• Imperial War Museum
• Horniman Museum