Being a victim of London

As some of you might have understood from my earlier blog posts, I finished my Bachelor this summer.

But fear not, for I am back, with new and venturous experiences as a postgraduate student (MA student). This semester I will be blogging from London, because I have chosen to expand my horizon and study a semester abroad at Kingston University London.

This is one of the many pros of being a MA student; you get to go on Erasmus exchange, and see how another school and other students treat such a subject as design. So far I haven't had much experience with how the design projects actually work here since we haven't really started school yet, which feels a little weird and a little awesome as my fellow class mates have started their semester nearly a month ago back in Denmark. Still, it has not all been a parade of good food and sleeping in. Somehow it seems that London has not been all to glad to see me.

 So far I have cut my leg on glass, risked￡2400 not knowing if I would actually get a house or be scammed. I have been attacked by chairs, parfume spraying spaniards and home made lasagnas. I have slept on pull-out couches and in motel dormitorys. I have been sick with drippy nose and fever, had my bed infected with bed bugs, and I have been amissed by the Kingston enrollment system.

But now, it seems that most of my troubles have passed.

My status at the time of writing is:

• I'm an enrolled student at Kingston University. It did take some doing, but I have my student ID now and I should be starting my first project on Monday. In this project I will be designing a collection for either: The Gap, Old Navy or Banana Republic, competing for a fully paid internship (keep your fingers crossed for me!).
• I'm sitting on a couch in my six bedroom house, that I share (so far) with three other exchange students: Cæcilie Dyrup (fashion student from Design School Kolding), Megan Doyle (Fashion Journalist student from Curtin University in Perth, Australia), and Beinta á Steig (architect student from Kunstakademiets Arkitektskole, Copenhagen). And I have to say, I have never been too happy about having room mates, but these girls make me wonder if three months will go by too fast.

And I tell you; getting a house when you are only here for three months is not easy. In the UK you have to provide a british based guarantor who is wiling to sell their own soul to pay your rent if you don't. Or pay up to 12 months rent up front to the landlord. These payments have to be done long before even you get to sign a lease, so until your money is "safe" in their hands, you just have to trust that they won't run and hide with your money in hand. Most landlords won't even consider you as a tenant before you give them the most intimate details of your life and everyone you know, in writing, and they will in most situations not give you a lease shorter than for 12 months. But now we have a house. We just need to get Wifi, which turns out, is almost as dificult a ride.

But please don't misunderstand, I have experienced wonderful things as well: 

I have had amazing cake (more than once). I have eaten at several encredible restaurants. I have met some of my teachers at Kingston Uni - and they are beyond cool. I have met some fantastic people so far (counting the roomates and others). I have laughed so much I almost choked on lasagna. I have bought beautiful jeans, purses and vitage bags, and I have had the pleasure of doing this in one of the most wonderfull cities in the world... so who can complain?!

So I must say that London's attemt so scare me off has not been a succes thus far. I will say, staying at home at Design School Kolding for this semester would have been the easy way out, but I acctually can't wait to fight off whatever is next on London's list of attacks.

Talk to you soon, hopefully ;)