Saturday

The semester is quickly coming to an end. I'm rather excited because, frankly, I'm kind of sick of school. I just have two more papers to write and a small reading quiz next week. Aside from that, I'm trying to milk London for all I can before I leave.

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in the UK, which is a day when the banks close, so everything closes. At the beginning of the semester, a woman explained this holiday to us as "a really pointless holiday, like Labor Day." I know that the idea of Labor Day has been largely forgotten, but there actually was, at one point, a meaning to Labor Day. Not sure if she knows that.

But the bank holiday is a three-day weekend when people go out of town or use the extra day off as a reason to get absolutely trashed on Sunday night. I didn't do anything special for the holiday weekend, and I felt like I should have. But on the actual bank holiday, the weather was beautiful and I found out about this special Banksy exhibit going on in a tunnel, featured with other graffiti hot-shots. Kristen and I decided to take a break from studying to head over there. We couldn't find it at first, but stumbled upon a little fair or something, where you could buy food and wine by the glass and ice cream. We got ice cream.

Then we found the Banksy thing, with a mass of people waiting in front of it. A man with a megaphone, wearing a construction-worker-meets-police ensemble, let us know that it would be a 45-minute to an hour wait. His bright yellow vest said "Polite" instead of "Police", which was meant to take the mick out of the fact that the police generally aren't very polite. Kristen and I decided to wait, though we hate queues. We ended up playing mind games (where you list things in category, the next answer starting with the last letter of the previous one). I'm never very good at those, so the first few games (countries and movies) ended very quickly. Then we picked bands as a category, and the game never ended. It lasted us until we got into the exhibit.

And boy, was it worth the wait. I was wearing a new summer hat I just purchased on Saturday, which made me feel so classy and quaint, and Kristen and I were admiring and photographing everything we saw. It was such a fantastic exhibit. I have no words. I'll show photos when Kristen gives them to me. (I know I said that about France, but I mean it this time.)

Just that little art excursion made the holiday seem valuable. It was such a lovely day!

Today I went to another art exhibit, for class this time. We met a group of students from Amsterdam for the trip. It was a photography exhibit and there were some really amazing pieces by Colombian artists.

I think that's the best part of London, at least for me. I have been feeling a bit cynical about London life, probably because I realize that it's not for me. The nightlife I have encountered here is incestuous and nothing special, the music scene is fine but better in LA and NY, and the city is too clean. (I guess I like my cities dirty.) But the art scene makes me so happy to be here. I have been to all of the major institutions (Tate Modern, Tate Britain, British Library, etc.) and I have ventured to smaller, unknown galleries. I have seen both White Cube galleries and some that I would never have known to exist were it not for my classes. My Reporting the Arts class went on a little tour of Vyner Street in East London, where the galleries are endless. I also found this amazing sign on Vyner:
















I love it!

Kristen and I made a list of things we need to do before we leave London. It includes a few tourist spots that we have yet to see, and also some bars and nightclubs -- old haunts -- that we haven't been to in a while.

I feel like I will get nostalgic for London once I'm gone, but I don't really feel like I belong here. London and I just didn't click, like I did with New York. I think that's a good thing, though. Now I know that my affection for New York wasn't sparked by just an awed "Ooh, this is new!" feeling. My affection for New York is real. And though I like London and I appreciate it for being London and I don't regret coming here in the least, I miss New York like hell. I can't wait to go back! (And, perhaps for the first time in my life, I feel nostalgic for Los Angeles, too.)

But first: Helsinki! The days are dwindling and my excitement is rising. Jaba and I will be in Helsinki in less than two weeks' time. While everyone else in the London program is going home, I feel like I'm doing more. I'm continuing my European adventure. I'm going somewhere where I don't know anybody (but family).

New city, new experiences!