Once upon a time…

Photo credit (and of all other following photographs in this post): Allexandra Queen

   Once upon a time in a small city… No. Did I say small? Believe me. It’s everything but small. Shall I start again?

London. Oh, London! So beautiful and inspiring. The city that never sleeps. Or at least the next one. City in which you can get lost or you can find.. yourself. I have been in London couple of times before I managed to start living here. And every time it was totally different. New faces, new cultures and whole new horizons. I might not be Dora the explorer, but if you stay with me in my blog you are going to be my ‘+1’ wherever I go in this huge urban jungle. So.. are you in?

I am Allexandra and I am 23-years-old. Or, as I like to say- 23-years-young. I graduated studying my bachelors in Public Relations in Sofia University- 4 years full of fun and a lot of exams. As I started studying abroad in London for my masters degree I found out that there will be no exams, but for sure there is going to be a lot more fun! Currently I am studying Music and the Creative Economy. Seems quite complicated is it? Well, I am not going to lie- it is. But also it is music, producing of popular music, marketing of pop music, marketing without pop music and a lot, lot of design thinking. Not only that everything related to music and arts in general is business, but business itself has a lot to do not only with money and numbers, but with creativity and lots of thinking as a designer.

Have you seen one of those american movies in which people in college are so organised and the tables are always full of Starbucks and brain storming? Yes, it is exactly like that. But without all the drama and the pink on Wednesdays. During the induction week we get to know each other and it turned out that I have colleagues from all over the globe- Asia, Afrika, USA, UK, India, Brazil, Mexico and all around Europe! I was so excited because I am really curious about meeting new cultures and finding out new traditions (I told you I was going to be like Dora the explorer…) and new words in other languages!

Please distract from my ugly handwriting.. because it is Twitter time! Join me now: alexisstwitt 

One of the most exciting parts was all of the practical work we have to do. It is not all about the theory, this time we have to take the theory and everything we learn and turn it into an actual project! The fact that we are actually living in the real life and doing real things as a real masters has really got us excited about this course.

In class you can find us doing a lot of things- from updating our Tweeter and Facebook (related to university, of course), to creating our own websites, doing workshops and even pretend that we are blind. Yes, I am not kidding. One of the classes was more than fun, were we had to figure out how are blind people thinking. Doing this has helped very much when it comes to actually being at the place of a real user and see through their perspective.

One of the first classes included a trip to the heart of London when we visited Victoria & Albert museum. As a part of the London Design Festival 2016 we really felt the spirit of one of the world most biggest capitals of art and business. We get to see extreme amount of curious gadgets and paintings, sculptures, etc. that really got us thinking. We took a lot of pictures and even when we were lost.. we were like a team– finding our way out together!

Even when you look up, the ceiling was art itself.

After the V&A it was time for a walk to the pub.

-Is it far away?- someone asked.
-No, we will walk.
After Janja said that, we convinced ourselves that the distance should not be that far.. Well, do you remember how this post started? Exactly. We walked all around the river Themes until we reached to the other side. We had a good 45 minutes of walking… At least the views were worth it! We spend a lot of time taking snaps for our Snapchat histories and taking group selfies together. Even now I can proudly say they have officially coronated me as ‘The Queen of Selfies’!

From left to right: Stephi, Halyn, Jorge, Fernanda, Janja and me. Seems like sometimes London tube can be fun when you have great friends!

After we left the museum we had that strange feeling (at least I had it)- where everything you see you consider kind of art. For examples we were walking towards the underground tunnel and I have noticed that the shape of the windows there were amazing! I can not describe it, but I can say that for sure after I visit art gallery I start seeing the little details in everything around me. Which sometimes can be inspiring!

‘Even in the outside there  are some masterpieces! Open your eyes!’

Add me on Snapchat: allexandraq

The busy London streets were filled with our laughter. Everybody were either telling a story or listening to other people’s jokes.

And there it was! Before we even figure out where we were, we saw the pub. Small, cozy and very art place. The first thing that you notice when you get in would be… Teletubbies! No joke!

We drank red wine, we ate and we laughed. A lot, lot! We also met another MACE students from previous years. It was a night, we will never forget! But hands down, there are many others to come! So cheers to the wonderful people I met and for some of them who are going to remain lifetime friends and hope that we will get to spend a lot more time together not only working on our projects, but also working on our friendships!

I am so happy and thankful that I met you all! Please, remain so positive and wonderful! And good luck to everyone!

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This was only the first post of many others to come! Please follow my page for more of my London activities! Feel very welcome to be my guests, reading my blogs!

Next week to come would be a blog post about the Frieze Art Fest London ’16! So stay tuned!

xx’
Allex