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.

My Complete Contributions

• Westminster Abbey
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge