Hello. I’m Emi Takeyama, a junior international student from Japan. My major is Graphic Design and I will join the London Art Seminar during this winter. The trip is only for two weeks, from January 2 through January 17.

During the seminar, we will visit famous and important places of art and history such as Tate Modern, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Kew Gardens, and Saatchi Gallery. We will also join some tours and watch a theatre show.

Of course watching art works is the biggest purpose of this class, but experiencing its culture is another very important purpose. This is the first time for me to travel Europe, so everything I see, listen, eat, smell, and feel is new in London. I already experienced studying abroad in the U.S. as Japanese, so this is a good time to compare how I feel in England and the U.S. as an international student.

In London, I will sketch landscapes in my cute travel sketchbook and take a lot of photos to remember the trip. Also I want to use those photos as materials of my art works in the future.

I will try traditional British food such as fish and chips, English breakfast, Yorkshire pudding (I heard they are delicious), Stargazy Pie, and Haggis (I heard they are awful…).

Overall, I am very excited to go to London! I will continue to post my recent conditions on this blog. Thank you for reading!