Dear London Town

I went with some friends from my course to have dim sum for the Chinese New Year. London has a large Chinese population and a fun Chinatown area.

Here Keith teaches how to use Chop Sticks!

Project 1: Wowie!!

Wednesday 14^th January – Wednesday 21^st January

Introduction

This project requires you to make something extraordinary happen.

Brief

You will be divided into teams that deliberately bring together differences in background, mode of attendance and skill. Each team will be required to define its own interpretation of ‘Something extraordinary’ and how to make it happen and who to. You will report back and work together to analyse what you made happen on Monday afternoon and Wednesday evening according to attendance requirements (F/T Monday and Wednesday, and P/T Wednesday evening only) but you will need to find mutually convenient slots during the project to meet and work together.

Presentation

All groups will present their outcomes from this project on the evening of Wednesday 21^st of January. Presentations should last a maximum of 10 minutes to be followed by about 10 minutes of feedback, in the form of constructive criticism. We expect all of you (during the evening) to contribute to the critique. Effective feedback is facilitated by a supportive response that offers opinion rather than questions. Feedback is undermined by defensive responses. The point of presentation is to make your rationale and strategy clear. If your presentation was not fully understood by your audience this is something to learn from. Assuming that your audience is dumb simply delays the potential to learn.

Criteria

The project will be assessed against the following criterion:

• Your ability to utilize and apply your imagination
• The quality and range of your research
• Your ability to respect and utilize each other’s skills and opinions
• Your ability to manage, delegate, share, take responsibility, plan and deliver
• The clarity of your presentation
• The level of risk taking you display in your presentation
• Your ability to move beyond the predictable
• Your ability to manage the gatekeepers that need to be persuaded to unlock the gate to collaboration and risk
• Your ability to work constructively as a group
• Your ability to communicate effectively and persuasively to all who are involved in all aspects of this project from permission to approval
• Your ability to sum up what you have learnt

RESULT:

We went toTrafalgar Square with a bowl of pennies asking people to make a wish and throw it in the fountain. But we got kicked out of TS due to the money exchange – even though we were giving it, not asking for it. So we left and went to St James park and stood on the bridge asking for people to interact with us. Success.

See slide show:

Conclusion: Wishes are many times based on social needs – expressing the condition of the times. They also fall under three types of categories: need, want, desire. These types of wishes are very different.

Think about what you wish for – is it some you need (food, water, shelter – basic needs for survival); want (love, happiness – a feeling/emotion); or desire (lust, money, power). Now find a fountain, get a penny and make a wish.

One might have thought “MASH” (my building’s nickname) was crying wolf with the absurd amount of fire alarms on Friday. How many, you ask?

Six. Yes, six.

As I returned home on Friday (1/16) evening around 830, I could see that everyone was lingering outside the building while the alarm could be heard sounding inside. About ten minutes of waiting and we were told it was ok to return. About 30 minutes later, just as I was leaving to meet some people at London Bridge, it went off again.

This continued a few more times up till 12:40am when I thought it would quiet down for the night, since people might be going to sleep. But no, another alarm went off at 4:30am and continued to sound till 4:56 am. I had tried to ignore the sound at first, but after 15 minutes of alarm, I finally decided something must be going on.

No.

We just have incredibly sensitive alarms that can be set off by heat (in our kitchen’s case – 10 people and a dish cooking w/ fan on), steam (the sensor is just outside the bathroom door), and smoke (kitchen/cigarette).

It was incredibly annoying and added to my list of reasons to not like this place. I just try to keep in mind that this is a great location and a lot of people wanted in to this house.

Sigh.

Suck it up, Kate.

I have completed my first week at Central Saint Martins and will be off today testing a new project with some of my team members.

First, to describe CSM: This building is insane. The people are eccentric. It is highly international. The way I get to class is worthy of a video at some point because it’s just…. impossible. I’m sure there has to be a shorter way. But it’s in an attached building where you have to walk up and down stairs in the main building to the bridge and up an elevator (or walk 10 flights!) to get there. We definitely have to build in extra time for the elevator – as there is only one large one and usually a huge line for it. Ridiculous!

Second, my classmates in the full time course by stats:
35 total full time students
28 female
7 male
20 countries represented
– largest contingents from Hong Kong and South Korea
– there are only 2 Americans, a girl from NY and me.
28 is my guess at average age

Currently, we are working on our first project, which divided us into teams by a process of drawing a colored marble. We are working with the part timers in the course, which makes meeting times a little more difficult since they have full time jobs. However, it’s great to have working people in the mix because they are used to having to collaborate, rather than students who have worked on more individual tasks and cannot see past personal agenda.

The first project is to “make something extraordinary happen.” GO…

What?!

So after some discussion, we have finally come to a plan we have all agreed upon and are headed to Trafalgar Square this afternoon to see what happens. In short, we are handing out 1p (penny) to anyone who wants to make a wish in the fountain. While there is nothing actually extraordinary in it for us, we can act as the facilitators for others. We will document it and see what comes back. We cannot predict the response or by our actions how that will affect others to join in, but the idea is to maintain an openness so that we can receive whatever comes back and hopefully magnify that into a positive thing for all involved.

Do I sound like an art student yet?

Well, to be truthful, this was my idea. It came from listening to others and bringing in a sense of whimsy. I say that an extraordinary event cannot happen if you seek to find it. It happens only when you’re in the right place and at the right time and are open to the possibilities.

I told a story to my group that emphasized my point:

I once bought a lunch and sat by myself to eat it. An older gentleman bought his lunch and looked around at the empty seats and then walked to my table and asked if he could sit with me.

What followed was an amazing conversation between strangers of different ages and personal experiences.

I dont often approach strangers. But what if I did? What if I sat down, said hello, and shared a sandwich with a bum on the street? What if instead of putting in my earphones on the bus, I spoke with the person next to me?

So being extraordinary means to remove the norm and be willing to be in the moment. I have these little events that happen daily that I think are special – maybe it’ s only to me because the feeling that one gets is a personal response.

When’s the last time something extraordinary happened to you?

Dear London Town,

My favorite time of the day with you is at night on the bus driving over Waterloo Bridge. II look across at the skyline I so fell in love with many years ago. Your government buildings, your cathedrals and your theatres light the sky and pepper the riverbank.

Why are you so beautiful at night, London Town? Why do I feel like you know I’m looking at you? You flirt back – catching my attention and baiting me to love you more! Silly, Town, you know I love you. I told you so. Are you still unsure?

Each night, when I cross the bridge, I will blow a kiss to you. Maybe one day you will kiss me back.

xx

Today is the first day I actually felt the rain on my skin. Usually, London Town, I can see your streets and cobblestones moist with precipitation, but nothing in the air.

I left without my umbrella this morning. Your weather forecast suggested that I have a cover overhead, but I laughed at it and thought to myself that the predictions hadnt been accurate lately. Why would today be different?

As though it was biting its thumb at me, the sky above, full of gray, thick clouds, decided to wring themselves out onto my head as I walked through the streets of Holborn.

I am not sad that it rained today, London Town. No, you were just being you.

xx

Where:  Candy Cakes @ Covent Garden

With: Kalam

Why: Trendy. Fun. It’s a mini cake!

Verdict: The ‘candy’ part of Candy Cakes has to mean the way the icing is set up like a hard shell topping. I ordered a lemon & poppy seed, while K had a chocolate cupcake. My cake was a bit dry, but not annoyingly so. I did not really enjoy the topping. Unlike a frosted/iced top as I am used to, this was hard and flaked off in clumps when stabbing with a fork.

My lemon-colored topping had no lemon essence. It was merely a candy colored coating – and therefore, it lives up to its name.

I also tried K’s chocolate cake. While delightfully chocolate flavored, it also was a bit dry.

Aesthetically, the sherbet green walls were both fun and obnoxious after a while. But I would definitely stop in with a friend at another time to try it again.

Anyone up for cake?

Tuttle* is the London version of the Kansas City Social Media Club. They meet every Friday morning just down from Buckingham Palace at the ICA Cafe.

Yesterday, nearly 70 people were in attendance according to the list! Check out the pic on the blog link and see yours truly in the background. For more photos of the event, click here.

I met lots of fascinating and well-connected folks and had an enjoyable time (once I got past the whole not knowing anyone and feeling like the friendless loser who crashed the party).

I decided that it was definitely an anything goes kind of day and that I should just say yes to any opportunity coming my way.

As I sat in the corner, speaking with a few people and updating my Twitter status indicating a rumbly in my tumbly, a lunch invitation was issued.

Hurrah! Food! New people. Ping Pong!

So I ended up joining James Whatley, Utku Can Akyuz, Jonathan MacDonald, Vikki Chowney, Bastian Lehmann, Renate Nyborg, Alfie Dennen, Kalam Ali, and  Dominic Travers for some dim sum. Most of these people are involved with a project called Every Single One of Us; and I hope to learn more about them at their upcoming session.

J-Mac was kind enough (hehe) to make a video of lunch, where I’m stuffing my face (in my defense, I hadnt had brekkie!), and uploaded it to YouTube for the world to see.

After the delightful lunch comes part II to Tuttle Gluttony, as I go shopping with Dominic.

*Apparently, this group has named Harry Tuttle their hero.

I met up with Woody today. Woody is a former Pembroke Hill-er, now a senior in college, who is doing some research here on urgent care. He is comparing the US and UK responses in urban and rural cities.

Since today is Woody’s 23rd birthday, I told him he must get out and come to town and we’d go do something.

We met up at Waterloo and walked along South Bank and past the London Eye and down to Westminster Bridge, where we crossed by the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and over past Westminster Abbey.

As it was his birthday, I asked him what he wanted to do. Naturally, he wanted a pint.

We walked down a ways to a pub I was familiar with and sat down with our pints and chatted.

The pub was pretty interesting in the fact that its location meant it was a regular stopping place for the various government figures. There was even a bell in place to signal votes and when they needed to return to work!

After the pub, we walked along the bank toward the Jubilee footbridge, where we parted so he could catch a tube back north and I walked the bridge home and took a short video of the view. Seen through the fog are Big Ben, the London Eye, the Thames, the Jubilee Bridge and trains from Waterloo.

I continued my walk home and enjoyed people watching and checking out the various bars and restaurants that were filled along the way.

My neighborhood is lovely.

I realize that you are trying to get warmer outside, but you really are taking your time!

On Monday there was snow on the ground. On Tuesday, you cheeky thing, you teased me with bright blue skies and a shining sun; but your wind blew so bitterly cold that it made my ears hurt!

Today, the sky was gray and filled with clouds. This weather makes me want to stay in and huddle by the radiator with a hot cup of tea.

It’s just too cold for us to see each other right now.

xx