Rob Kendall is here at Wieden + Kennedy London on secondment from the Portland office. It’s his first time in the UK. Here’s his report on how he’s finding it.

I’ve been living and working in London for almost a month now. This is my first experience living outside the US so everything feels new and exciting.

I am continually blown away by the history of this city. I keep reminding myself that there were people drinking in pubs here 150 years before my home state of Oregon was even on a map. It’s incredible.

The London office feels oddly familiar to the Portland office. It’s smaller than Wieden Portland but feels equally busy. Everyone here has been incredibly helpful and they are always telling me about cool museums or the best curry restaurants to eat at. It’s comforting going someplace halfway around the world and feeling connected to the place. I have been working on Pizza Hut, Nike Basketball, Arla foods and a little bit of Honda. Things are going really well.

The other morning my train from Highbury to work was delayed and when it finally arrived it was packed – body to body. I somehow managed to find a place to stand. Some lady’s nose was on my shoulder and she was sneezing.

But, for some odd reason the novelty of being on a packed train and the constant rush and noise of the city hasn’t worn off.  There is something very enjoyable about it all.

I’ve done a lot in one month’s time.  I’ve been to Notting Hill and Portobello Road. Seen the insanity of Oxford Circus. Witnessed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Went to an authentic Sunday roast.  Even managed to take a short day trip to Paris.  Europe always felt so distant when I lived in Portland and now everything is less than hour away.

I still have an endless list of things I want to do and I have a few questions still not answered: Where are all the Chimney Sweeps and magic sidewalk chalk drawings? Why haven’t I had fish and chips yet? And, why the hell haven’t I seen Kate Moss and Gwyneth Paltrow???

This report from Our Own Correspondent, Beanie, Currently on secondment from Wieden + Kennedy London to the Mothership in Portland.

So far I have spent my time working on EA Games, and Target. (Target is a chain of stores that’s a mixture of Woolworths, Ikea, and BHS. Basically it’s a posh Wallmart). We’ve had a big presentation on each so far. One in San Francisco for EA, and the other in Minneapolis for Target. Both meetings seemed to go really well. EA bought some work, and apparently the Target client used the phrase ‘Home Run!’ with great frequency in their meeting.

(American for ‘I quite like that’).

2 big things have happened in the Wieden & Kennedy Portland calendar since I¹ve been here:

I arrived just in time for ‘March Madness’, when everyone congregates in the atrium at various points during the day to watch one of the college basketball playoffs on 2 giant screens. More people bet on this than any other sporting event in the US, and this year there were more big upsets than usual, hence the name ‘March Madness’.

I¹ve also been lucky enough to be here for Founders’ Day. This company has been around for 24 years now, and certainly knows how to celebrate its birthday. This year’s theme was starting anew, so everyone helped NYC artists Faile paint a giant mural, and then repaint over it and then, you guessed it, paint it all again. The Roots played an epic set live the same evening, which was an unexpected surprise for everyone.

Other than that, the differences are quite blurry. Things are busy, people are friendly, and everyone¹s working really hard here. In fact, it’s a lot like the London office in that respect, but with more people, more dogs, less tea, and no marmite.