The London Review 2020 by KU English Department Abroad

“The Strangest Year Yet”

MMXX

EDITION VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Covering the Best of Study Abroad

KANSAS STUDENTS IN LONDON DURING SHOCK PANDEMIC!! ANXIOUS AMERICAN

ACADEMICIANS

AWKWARDLY ATTEMPT

TO ATTEND ANGLO

ATTRACTIONS Story on page 6

London Theatre Week Dozens of Discounted Shows Bring the Masses to London’s West End Which are Worth the Time? The KU London Review 2020 group (pictured) in one of their disastrous early attempts at social distancing.

London Continues to Boast the Greatest Museums in the World, and There’s Really Nothing You Can do About it We make a noble effort to explore every last one of them - perhaps out of a spirit of adventu enture, perhaps out of a certain desire to dodge the rainfall - and describe them in exhausting detail. Around Town, p 44

HRM Queen Elizabeth declares: “London Review 2020 is the Greatest Study Abroad Group in UK History!”

THEATRE REVIEWS, page 23

Nation celebrates University of Kansas Students, Edward Reyes tops UK ‘ S e x i e s t M a n A l i v e ’ p o l l s

High Tea? Low Tea? Coffee Instead?

We have the inside scoop on some of London’s very best culinary creations and cocktails on page 35

INSIDE THE REVIEW: Arts & Culture.......page 23 Culinary Corner.....page 35 Around Town.........page 44 Puzzles...................page 64

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Amanda Hertel, from Shawnee,

Anton Barybin is a sophomore

KS, is in her sophomore year of Chemical Engineering. She

from Lawrence, KS, majoring in Chemistry. Inspired by London’s great jazz

spent her time in quarantine try-

musicians, he devoted much of his quar-

ing to finish a lab report, but

antine period to practicing saxophone

mainly catching up on sleep and

When not working through chemistry lab

watching many hours of Netflix.

reports or searching for new home workouts, he also spent copious amounts

After graduation, she plans to attend medical school and is considering pursuing graduate education in bioengineering.

Ashley Eshnaur is a nontraditional student pursuing a degree in Political Science. During the quarantine, she started learning how to build miniatures after being inspired by Queen Mary’s Mary Dolls’ House at Windsor Castle. Additionally, Netflix played a pivotal role in keeping her cool as her house became her office, an elementary school, high school, and a university as well as being her home. She doesn’t

of time researching graduate programs offered by Oxford and Cambridge in hopes of one day returning to the UK.

Becky Phelps is a senior from Cedar Rapids double-majoring in Journalism and Theater Performance, with a minor in Creative Writing. She had an amazing time in London catching as many West End shows as possible and exploring with her friends. Since being in quarantine, she’s been crocheting and doing daily yoga over Zoom to stay sane between online classes.

mind as she is saving a chunk of money from not having the hour-long commute to campus five days a week and plans to spend that money on something frivolous like more kits to make miniatures.

Ben Grimes is a junior from Los Angeles, double-majoring in Creative Writing and Film & Media Studies, and minoring in Theatre Production. He thought he was going to read Infinite Jest during the quarantine, but it turned out he was actually going to test the limits of the Netflix servers and start adding Nutella to his smoothies. He insists that our London Review group deserves a do-over, and so is going to try and get someone besides himself to plan and execute a tenyear reunion at the Strathmore.

Caroline Hwang is a Junior studying Exercise Science and on the PreMed track. She aspires to become one of the best Pediatricians/Family Doctors someday. While in London she fell in love with the beauty and the vibe of the city. cit During quarantine she spent countless hours studying for the MCAT, started creative projects, went on night runs to see the stars and the beauty of the world (while practicing social distancing) and spent lots of time thinking about how she would like to contribute to the health- care field as a future physician.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Corey Goodburn is a senior at Zoom

Cormac Palmer is a

University, formerly known as the

sophomore majoring

University of Kansas. Corey will

in Illustration, which makes him the resi-

receive a degree in Marketing from the KU School of Business, in

dent artist and illus-

addition to receiving business honors. In his college career, caree Corey has interned at both Starlight Theatre and Kauffman Center for the

trator for this book.

Performing Arts. After graduation, he hopes to find a career in social media marketing at a performing arts company. As you can probably tell, Corey’s favorite part of London was seeing West End shows. In fact, he saw nine shows and his favorite was Six: The Musical! Daphne Lin is a graduating Senior from small-town Coffeyville, KS. She is majoring in Humanities (Peace and Conflict Studies) and intends on devoting her future to the health field. When not embarking on new adventures with Grace, Daphne spent much of her time in London exploring alleyways, perusing book shops, drinking tea, and marveling at all of the historic build-

He spends most of his time drawing, doodling while watching Youtube videos, or procrastinating on drawing. This is how he has spent his quarantine as well; overall, the pandemic has not changed his daily routine much, aside from the fact he is now at home with his family, eating better food, and communicates with friends completely through text and Instagram, instead of just most of the time. Edward is a Junior studying Chemical Engineering. During quarantine he wished to spend time pursuing hobbies such as sprucing up the garden, baking things found on Pinterest, becoming a pro-puzzler, and creating a 47-point plan for world domination. Unfortunately, he has been slaving away at a relentless, gargantuan mound of school work. He hopes to make up

ings lining the streets. During quarfor lost time as soon as the school antine, Daphne coped with her postyear finishes by re-reading The London Review nostalgia by finally Lord of the Rings and finishing a rough draft of that plan for world catching up with close friends, cooking, binge watching new Netflix shows, domination. Please enjoy a picture of Edward that showcases why he making matcha lattes, and picking up loaves of bread from 1900 Barker. won the top UK “Sexiest Man Alive” polls. She misses everyone dearly and cannot wait for our next in-person reunion! Emma Miller is from Wichita, KS and is a sophomore double-majoring in Film and English. She liked London because she likes all big cities, especially ones with steak ale pies everywhere, a public transport system, and plenty of music. After spending too much money in London, she spent quarantine writing semi-

Grace Schilling is a Junior currently from Ft. Leavenworth, KS, majoring in Community Health and minoring in Psychology. Her favorite experiences in London were the Churchill War Rooms, Brigit’s Bakery Tea Bus Tour, seeing the shows The Seagull and Waitress and

adequate poetry, semi-tolerable short exploring with Daphne and Travis. She spent quarantine editing her stories, and a fever-dream screenplay. She also ate her weight in red apples London Review Youtube video and reading through the stack of books which piles up on her nightstand. Grace plans on pursuing a Masters in and crepes. After graduation, she plans to somehow make a living as a Public Health and becoming a Physician Assistant. screenwriter and director. 3

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Joe Mirakian is a freshman studying English

Kiley Tippett is a freshman from

and History, born and raised in Olathe, KS.

O’Fallon, IL, a town nowhere near

He very much enjoyed his time in London;

Chicago. She is majoring in English/

many great sights were seen and much good

Creative Writing & Women, Gender,

company was had. It was a stellar experience all around that he will doubtlessly reflect upon fondly. fondl Then, the plague struck, sending the world spiraling into a chaotic melding of hysteria, unprecedented economic crisis, and DIY hair-

Sexuality Studies with the hopes of one day attending law school far away from the Midwest. She spent most of her quarantine watching Forensic Files, injuring herself while exercising, and missing London.

cuts. At the time of writing this, Joe continues his pre-quarantine routine of reading, playing video games, and watching movies, but if conditions continue to worse he may be forced to soup up his Honda Civic in preparation for the Mad Max-esque apocalyptic hellscape that awaits him.

Libby Brungardt is a junior studying Chemical Engineering and having a terrible time with it. She is from small-town Baldwin City Kansas (20 miles south of Lawrence) and is really excited that she finally got her first pair of light wash jeans while in London. For her quarantine, she has been focusing on crafting her little heart out, and redecorating her apartment.

Mady Edmonds, 19, is a Freshman on the Pre-Pharmacy track. While stuck at home during quarantine, she has spent most of her time bingewatching Ghost Adventures and The Great British Bake Off, as well as baking for her family and losing at iMessage games. She has also been working at a local pharmacy on the weekends.

My name is Maddie Seymour and I’m a freshman majoring in English, minoring in French. I’m 19 years old! I expected to spend my quarantine back at school, cranking out papers and biology homework. Howeve However, because of Covid19, I’ve spent a large chunk of my time binge watching It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Hawaii Five-0. While living at home again and not having in-person classes took some getting used to, as an introvert I’ve been preparing for this pandemic my whole life.

I am Ross Fitzpatrick. I’ve spent my time in quarantine enduring a quarter-life crisis, including an attempt at giving myself a haircut, searching the Internet for hours finding the perfect Zoom virtual background, and coping with the strange feeling of missing classes.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Sadie Williams is a freshman from

Sadra is a college senior born

Augusta, KS and is studying Economics,

and raised in Lawrence,

English, and Spanish. She loved London

majoring in Behavioral Neuro-

because it was equal parts, in the words

science. He spent his time in

of the wise Megan Thee Stallion, sassy,

London sampling all the fish and chips he could and enjoying his first tastes of various drinks. Afterwards, he spent

boujee, and ratchet (yeah). Sadie spent her two-long-weeks of quarantine by perfecting the art of sleeping more than sixteen hours a day and by begging her little siblings to bring her food because she wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allowed upstairs (pro tip: if you have to depend on a 14 and 16 year old for sustenance, be emotionally prepared to not eat until 3:00 PM). In the future, Sadie hopes to do something involving law, but sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only 19 so give her space to breathe, Mom. Sophia is a Senior studying Political Science and Global and International Studies. In the Fall she will attend law school, as long as the world does not end before then. While in London she enjoyed soaking up as much history as possible and satisfying her aaffection for the Tudor era. During quarantine she has put her mind to the test by completing

his quarantine finishing up his senior year of university, watching various movies and TV shows, and trying to learn how to use this new-fangled device called Twitch. Tajia Fairbank is a senior from Garden City, Kansas majoring in Creative Writing. She thought quarantine would be a haze of mindless boredom and binging Netflix. However, what she really did was hard-core side-eye the people in charge of her quarancha tine in Student Housing and binge Buzzfeed Unsolved.

seven 1000-piece puzzles so far.

Travis Andregg, a Lawrence native, unconventional senior majoring in Industrial Design and English Creative Writing who really wanted to join a study abroad program. London was an incredible experience for me that was filled with multiple hours spent perusing some of the best art museums in the world, drinking beers at random bars that just looked cool, attending plays at different theaters, and exploring the streets and sights with my classmates all while uncovering the little surprises that London unveiled for me. But then there was the convoluted experience of a global virus outbreak that threatened human life as we know it that required a 14-day solitary home quarantined. This part was not as fun as the London part.

Mary Klayder has taught at KU for 175 years. She loves teaching and especially loves taking students abroad!

Rock Chalk

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London in the Time of Coronavirus by Ben Grimes

tour from Kensington to Buckingham, saw London from 38 stories up in the Sky Garden, cried through Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, learned the importance of punctuality when taking high tea on a double-decker, got lost in history while wandering Oxford, visited myriad markets and food vendors, meandered through gardens and palaces, and saw more musicals than Sondheim could shake a stick at. Through it all, we discovered each other and cemented our friendships.

LONDON On March 6th, 2020, we departed Kansas City for our much-anticipated week-long London study abroad trip. For all involved, this trip was the pearl of our Spring semester, and the excitement was palpable. The weeks leading up the trip were filled with research, planning, and anticipation. Our class meetings always featured a spread of snacks and drinks, lots of energetic chatter, and another step down the path of transforming a classroom of strangers into a cluster of friends. By the time we arrived in London, incredibly detailed lists of all the fantastic things we wanted to experience had been made. We started snatching up tickets for West End shows, bus tours, historical sites, museums, and high-rise viewing areas like the world was ending. Little did we know… A few months earlier, over the winter holiday, we had started to become aware of something that experts were referring to as the “novel coronavirus,” a sickness that was spreading in Wuhan, China and surrounding areas. According to all initial reports, there was no reason to think that it was likely to spread outside of that area. But around the time that classes resumed, the first U.S. case of the novel coronavirus was reported in Washington state. The individual had just returned from Wuhan, and they recovered fairly quickly. A few days later, a second case was reported in Chicago; again, someone who had just traveled from Wuhan, but it seemed to be contained. From there, however, confirmed cases continued to trickle in. As this was happening, the virus began to make its presence known in the Middle East, with Europe soon to follow. The week before our trip, things had grown a little more tense. We were still excited, but questions of what this coronavirus meant for our trip, for us, for our loved ones, for the world at large soon became the unavoidable elephant in the room. Our beloved professor Mary Klayder was in constant communication with the powers that be at KU, who assured her and us that the situation was being closely monitored and we should proceed as planned. We set our worries aside as best we o we went. could, and off London was everything we’d hoped for and more. It felt as if whatever we encountered was imbued with history and charm. The food was phenomenal, the museums overwhelming. In just the first few days we enjoyed the most amazing unsliced pizza, had the strangest walking

On the morning of March 12th, we awoke to the news that the United States had announced a thirty-day ban on all travel from Europe. For a few hours, we didn’t know if we were about to be stranded in London for a month, or if the UK was even included, or if US citizens were exempt… It was morning for us, but the middle of the night back home, so there were few details available. Soon, it became clear that things should be okay for us. The ban didn’t go into effect until that Monday, and we were scheduled to fly home on Sunda Sunday. It was further clarified that the UK was excluded, then shortly thereafter it was announced that US citizens were not subject to the travel ban. Despite the relief brought by that new information, things were not looking good. While we were in London, the number of cases in the US had exploded from 175 to around 4,000, with 75 people having already succumbed to the disease now being called COVID-19. We got word that Italy was under total quarantine with the disease spreading like wildfire there, and that France had started the process of shutting down many public spaces. The travel restrictions had spared us from being trapped, but we could still feel the walls closing in. With three days left on our trip, and things changing so rapidly, we all began to wonder what the world would look like by the time we left for home. The spell London had cast on us was largely broken, replaced by the dreadful unknown of a global pandemic. Despite the unavoidable pall that now hung over us, we determined to continue to make the most of our time. The words “social distancing” had yet to be conceived, so we went for pints at the Stanhope Arms across from the Gloucester Road Station, frequented the TKTS booth in Leicester Square so we could squeeze in a few more West End shows on the cheap, and took our time enjoying the museums that surrounded our hotel. We kept those last few days full, perhaps more to pass the time and distract ourselves from the lingering fear in the backs of our minds than anything, but they were wonderful days, nonetheless. In the evenings, we’d gather in the common room of the Strathmore Hotel for drinks and stories of our days’ adventures. We’d joke about all the funny things we’d have to say about the experience of being students in London during a pandemic, and then play unthinkably bawdy rounds of ‘Two Truths, One Lie” as the night wore on. Come morning, we were left with the reality of what was going on in the world outside our little bubble. Thankfully, we were all there for each other, making our worries more tolerable and filling our time with the wonders of one of the greatest cities on Earth. Sunday came, as it does, and we boarded the coach to the airport. Splitting up our little group to head off to our various flights was hard to do. We’d all been surviving this massive event together, but now we had to go back home to reality and face whatever was going to come next. COVID-19 was just getting started, and, because we were returning from outside the US, we had to go into two weeks of isolated quarantine. Going from an unforgettable week abroad with your friends to two weeks of total isolation with your parents ents’ Netflix account is a shock to the system. It left all of us wondering if it wouldn’t have been better if we’d just been stranded in the UK after all. Things were scary, sure. The streets were empty, and the world was changing in ways we couldn’t fully grasp… but in London we’d had each other, and, such as it is, pandemics are so much more tolerable with friends.

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JOURNEY TO FIND THE DOUBLE-HEADEDby Sophia SERPENT Dominguez-Heithoff Studying indigenous Mexican arts and culture has always been important to me as my father has done his blood lineology and found that he has no European blood. As a Mexican immigrant this can really only mean one thing, that his ancestors were indigenous Mexicans. Now I was traveling to the UK, and was determined to view this double headed serpent inside one of the world’s largest receivers of stolen goods, the British Museum.

When planning my trip to London, there was one place I absolutely had to visit, the British Museum. Just months before I embarked to London, I was in the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico with my father, exploring Mayan ruins. We were in the jungle for about a month and we witnessed some of the most beautiful archaeological structures and artifacts I have ever seen. On our journey home we stopped in Mexico City, the city where the Aztecs lived. Inside the Museum of Anthropology research catalogue I saw one of the most beautiful turquoise double headed serpent carvings. I was immediately captivated, and I searched everywhere in the Museum of Anthropology to find it but it was nowhere to be found.

When I entered the British museum I made a beeline toward the Mexican gallery and was immediately in awe. Right in the middle of the gallery was the piece that I traveled across the Atlantic ocean to view, the double-headed serpent in all its glory. This artifact told the story of a culture erased by the Spanish conquistadors. By witnessing this artifact I was able to hear a muzzled culture speak. We cannot change history, but we can learn from it. The British Museum opens its doors to millions of visitors a year and if even one person leaves with a renewed sense of inclusivity and tolerance towards diverse cultures and identities then these artifacts are continuing to speak their truth.

I asked a research assistant where I could find it and she said “England.” The look of befuddlement I gave her made her laugh audibly. What on earth was the most gorgeous Meso-American artifact I had ever seen doing in London? Just my luck as I knew that I would be in London in only a couple of months. Upon further research I learned that this double headed serpent wasn’t just any ordinary artifact, rather it is one of the most significant intact artifacts depicting the Spanish colonization of the Aztec empire. When conquistador Hernan Cortes came to the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, it has been dictated that the Aztec leader Moctezuma II presented Cortes with gifts including a “serpent wand inlaid with turquoise.” Researchers suggest it very well likely could be this exact artifact. I was hooked. 7

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The Sunflower Lanyard Scheme A Modern Concept in an Ancient City A commentary on invisible disability access in London by Ashley Eshnaur

My entire life as an adult has been enveloped by disability access in just about every meaning of the phrase. I used to work as a home aide for adults with intellectual disabilities and a nursing home cook for the elderly who could not cook for themselves any longer. I went to school and became a sign language interpreter and, not only do I utilize that skillset working as professional staff at KU, I create, edit, and consult in the creation of accessible print materials at the University. I have friends and family who have a wide range of disabilities that require accommodation on some level or another. On top of all of that, I’m Autistic and Hard-of-Hearing myself. This is my experience with disability access in London and how the Sunflower Lanyard Scheme helped to create good memories. For a bit of background, equitable access for individuals with visible and invisible disabilities in the United States is difficult and, even with the Americans with Disabilities Act coming into law in 1990, people still struggle. America is always, as we are taught, the best and at the forefront of every good thing that comes along. Without going into a pages-long diatribe, I can assure you it is not the best at accessibility, especially for invisible disabilities. London holds a bit of a different story. di London has blown me away. First, public access for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing folks is above and beyond anything in the US. Television captions are seemingly always accurate, utilize different colors for different speakers and many shows are interpreted into British Sign Language (BSL). Many museums and attractions have built in BSL (and sometimes ASL!) tours or have an interpreter on staff. Additionally, there are described television shows and movies for people with vision issues as well as tactile tours in many museums and attractions. Let’s be real, though. If you are an autistic person, London can be a bit of a nightmare. It’s loud, it’s crowded and while I love the couple of British friends I have made, it is hard to get anyone you don’t know well to actually say what they mean. However, there are many places that understand this and they strive to make their environments as manageable as possible. One highlight for me was the The British Museum. On their website, they have a sensory map that addresses everything I could possibly want to know before I go. This map was a floor by floor guide that denoted typically crowded areas, noisy places, temperature changes, lighting, areas with strong smells, etc. Other places (such as Parliament), have step by step guides with pictures and/or video on how to navigate entrance to their establishment.

Programming featuring both captions and sign language services on ITV3

Prior to this trip I had thought about the times I’d been to London before and some struggles that I’ve had: getting confused during times of sensory overload, having a staff person ignore me for asking a question they’ve heard a million times, and queueing. Believe me when I say that this can result in me just leaving a place without asking for any sort of assistance because who wants to say, ”I cannot handle this very normal situation,” to anyone? So, when I found out about the Sunflower Lanyard Scheme on Twitter a few weeks before this trip to London, I was curious. The Sunflower Lanyard Scheme (scheme meaning program, not nefarious activity) can be found in London and other parts of the UK. It provides a green lanyard decorated with bright sunflowers to individuals with invisible disabilities. This discreetly allows staff from major airports and transport services, as well as certain attractions and businesses, to recognize that an individual has some type of invisible disability and may require a bit more patience or assistance. The staff will not hunt you down and force you to go about things in a certain way, but will be ready to provide help if needed. I got in touch with Heathrow Airport and they sent one such lanyard to my home in Kansas so I would have it upon arrival. As I made my way through Heathrow with my lanyard on, I was not really expecting it to make a difference. I was too busy dreading the immigration queue as it usually takes a while, it’s crowded and hot, I tend to get flustered talking to immigration officers or I drop my passport...or any number of equally embarrassing things. As I started at the end of the queue, a staff member asked how I was doing. I told them I’m fine and they let me go about my business. The queue was slow and I was getting hot. I peeled off my hoodie and was trying to put it in my backpack but I dropped my passport. I picked it up and struggled with my backpack further. A man behind me told me to move up in the line, as there was a twenty foot gap to the person in front of me. I did so, but dropped my hoodie in the process and had to pick that up. Lather, rinse, repeat. Another staff person walked by, noticed me struggling and he said the best words I have ever heard: “Come with me, love.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

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SUNFLOWER L A N YA R D SCHEME

From Tumblr to London Memoir of an Internet Friendship

cont’d from p. 8

I first met my friend Izzie around 7 to 8 years ago through the social media platform of Tumblr. We had similar fandom interests and ended up following each other. It’s so long ago now that I don’t remember who made the first approach to talk, but it was probably me. Izzie lived in the UK and, as a 15 year-old, that was part of her cool factor. Between trading opinions on TV shows and Marvel movies, sharing our own poetry to each other, and talking in short bursts around the 7 hour time difference, Izzie and I grew very close. Soon enough we stopped using Tumblr’s messaging system and became friends on Facebook and Snapchat. When the opportunity came to come on this study abroad and possibly meet her while also leaving the country for the first time in my life, I knew I had to take it (and cross my fingers that we would be able to meet). In the beginning, I knew that this trip would be a good experience for me to get out of my comfort zone, regardless of whether we could possibly meet (but it did factor into my decision to apply for this study abroad). Actually being able to meet Izzie, though? That was a life changer.

I followed him to the side of the queue and he asked, “Would you like a bit of a shortcut? I know queueing is rough after a long flight.” I nodded and followed him over to an immigration officer on the other side of the room, jumping a queue of hundreds of people. “This nice lady would like to get her visit to the UK started,” he told the officer. I was asked how long I would be staying, she checked my passport and sent me on through...but I didn’t know where to go. I’d never gone through this way. I stood there looking around, as I typically do when I’m trying to figure out what I am supposed to do next, and a member of staff took notice, caught my eye and told me “You’ll head that way,” and pointed in the direction I needed to go. At baggage I couldn’t find my bags, I asked a staff member to help, and he did so, without complaint. Bam. Magic. I got through immigration and baggage in less than 20 minutes. As my stay in London progressed, by using this lanyard, I could get the help I needed without having to 1. explain myself or 2. be subjected to judgment. It was a dream. That’s not to say I had zero struggles when trying to get help (I’ll save my story about the snobby woman in Camden Market for another day), but it was quite refreshing to know when I return, this simple lanyard can make a world of difference.

by Taija Fairbank

In London, Izzie and I met up on a Thursday at about 1:15 in the afternoon. I met her at Victoria Station as she was coming from Manchester to meet me. We planned on seeing Hamilton together and that was the extent of our planning. Everything else was spur of the moment “let’s go see this” “let’s go do that” “can we go inside this bookstore real quick?” decisions. Sometimes when you meet up with Internet friends there’s an awkward air lingering in your conversations because you’re nervous or you click better online when you can choose how to interact. Thankfully, that didn’t happen with Izzie and me. We went to a McDonald’s close by the station for lunch, wandered around the area for a little bit, and went into a bookstore before we saw the matinee showing of Hamilton. After seeing Hamilton, we made our way to a Costa Coffee inside of Victoria Station and sat down to talk. Meeting Izzie in London was an experience I will never forget. Tumblr may have brought us together in the beginning, but it was our connection that allowed us to stay friends so long through so much distance. After all, it’s not often that someone can say they’ve been friends with a person online for 7 years. Adults would be horrified that you even had a friend outside of someone you see in person every day

A Sunflower Lanyard

Pictured: Taija and Izzie in varying degrees of excitement about seeing Hamilton.

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Thank You by Daphne Lin

OPEN LETTER O N A TAT T O O by Ross Fitzpatrick

A pair of engineering students. A group of natural social butterflies. A few non-traditionals, some of whom with kids back at home. Freshmen finding themselves. Seniors... continuing to do so. I suppose self-discovery never really stops. A prospective lawyer, an aspiring doctor, an artist in the making. Interests that span horizons, with each individual more unique and incredible than they know and will ever realize. At KU, one typically finds their friends either from room potlucks, sharing the same high school, small groups in common classes, college bars, or student clubs. But in all reality, even places specifically created for the purpose of social integration and meeting new people are difficult to do so outside a certain bubble. Social groups like student organizations are based on a mutuality, whether that be a shared culture, interest in Greek life, community service, career paths, or even simply being friends with an involved student club board member. All in all, some social circles are built on the foundation of empowering a mutual trait; and other groups are built on our differences and bringing those unique traits together. Our London Review group was undoubtedly the latter. We were a mismatch of unique individuals brought together under special circumstances either by chance or by fate -- whatever the dreamers believe -- who otherwise may not have found ourselves all together in any other setting. Some of my favorite memories of our trip were of the very same people I had traveled from Kansas with; from all the times I walked into the Grange Strathmore common room and felt that bubble of excitement to see everyone after a long day, to watching some people loosen up and momentously let themselves go. A new country with new people, after all, calls for new experiences. One of my favorite aspects of our group was the fact that every single person brought something to the table. An abundance of fun facts. A wisecrack sense of humor. Unorthodox life stories and experiences. Toy cars for wholesome entertainment. Surprisingly groovy dance moves. Stale dough balls from Pizza Express (that were, mind you, completely unexpected in the moment). An entire database of what was seemingly every musical, ever. Multiple forms of immense artistic creativity and talent. Warm comfort amid stressful times. Constant acts of kindness, and countless stories to tell. Thank you, Spring 2020 London Review. Mary, everyone, everything. I truly, truly could not have spent the last of my undergraduate years with any better memories with any better people. Although I’m immensely happy to add another book such as ours to my shelf, it makes me even more so knowing that our trip together and its memories will live forevermore within these pages. All my love.

Of all the souvenirs I expected to take back home with me, a tattoo was near the bottom of the list. And most of the people I’ve seen since I got back (which has been decidedly few – don’t worry I’m distancing), have had something to say about the hawk on the back of my right leg. My Dad, as a joke, asked me if I was joining the Navy. My Mom, I think reassuring herself as much as me, has told me about 30 times how much she loves it. But the one thing everybody’s asked, “why’d ya do it?” So here’s an open letter to everyone wondering.

Dear concerned citizens, Mostly just because I wanted to. When in London, right? (Because thank God this wasn’t The Rome Review). I haven’t done anything permanent in a while, and this felt like a good way to get that out of my system. For the “why get a tattoo?” that’s about as far as my thinking went. As for the “why get what you got?” well, that’s a little more thought out, I guess – but mostly retrospectively, because I knew that question would come next. For one, hawks are pretty rad animals. To demonstrate that point, I googled “best hawk facts.” Did you know they can reach a top speed of 150 mph? Or that their eyesight is eight times better than ours? Or that they pair for life? But secondly, not to get too English major-y, there’s something spiritual about a hawk. Their perspective. That they see the world in a whole different way than we ever could. High up. A free bird. I think that’s important, especially now. To keep things in perspective. To take the time we have, quarantined, isolated, if you’re anything like me, a little lonely – and think. The first time I left my house, to take a now-ritual lap around the neighborhood, I stopped in my front yard, to watch a hawk perch in a tree across the street. It sat there for a minute, and then took off, wings stretched wide. I felt the bumpy outline on my calf, and started walking. So even if I haven’t convinced you of a good reason, a satisfying answer to “why’d ya do it?” it doesn’t really matter. The universe already gave me a thumbs up.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

Emma Miller presents:

Wo w, L o o k At This! While wandering on my own in London, I came across this street musician playing a flaming tuba while sitting on an old stereo. Unfortunately, this man was not taking questions so I could not ask him the many I had for him. But Wow, Look At This! A man playing a flaming tuba in front of a mural of Shakespeare in London. That’s pretty cool.

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

London Queer Scene by Kiley Tippett

Being gay has always been a significant part of my identity, something that no matter what, it always sneaks into my brain like a constant reminder. A reminder that I’m not the same as everyone else, and I never will be. For longer than I’d like to admit, that fact really bothered me. It bothered me so much that I hid it from others, and for a time, I hid it from myself as well. Pretended it wasn’t there, that it didn’t exist. That being gay was just the Bigfoot of my existence. Growing up in a town that valued uniformity; a town filled with white picket fences and nuclear families. It was a town I didn’t feel like I belonged in. I thought college would save me, that it would give me a safe place to grow and evolve, to more or less figure my shit out. And it did. Little ole’ Lawrence, Kansas; a blue haven in the middle of a flaming red landscape. But what I didn’t know was that Lawrence, and more specifically KU, was going to give me an even greater gift, the gift of knowing that you don’t have to stay in one place your entire life. I hadn’t planned on doing study abroad so early in my college career, but I got an email one day from Dr. Klayder about a spring break trip to London that immediately caught my eye. London was a city I had always dreamed of going to, so naturally I applied. I didn’t even ask my family, I just hoped they would be on board, and thank God they were. Because looking back at those eight short days in that incredible city, I would’ve been an absolute idiot not to go. I knew I was going to love London, having been to Chicago, New York, and Paris, I quickly found out that I loved big cities. I think it’s the idea of blending in and being completely invisible that made me love them so much. Each city has something new to offer, and you can experience it without anyone getting in your way. And London was di really no different. While exploring the city, I noticed something I never saw in Lawrence, or my hometown, or really any other city I had visited: complete authenticity. Everyone I saw on the Tube or walking down the street never seemed to be holding anything back, especially the fellow queer folk I witnessed along the way. I loved that I didn’t have to venture out to one of the gay bars in SOHO just to see LGBTQ people living and being unapologetically themselves. First it was the two women on the Tube holding hands; one was reading a book, the other sitting with earbuds in, nodding along to whatever melody was playing into her ears. At first glance, they didn’t really look like a couple until I noticed their hands laced together in silence, completely unashamed. Next was the family I saw at Kensington Gardens. It was two dads with their toddler, and the cutest golden doodle puppy enjoying the once in a blue moon sunny day. The toddler laughed and ran after the ducks, the dads holding hands and smiling to each other. It was a sight I would never see back home, but refreshing nonetheless. And lastly, was the couple at the theatre. We had gone to see & Juliet, and there were two women seated in front of me who looked like the happiest couple on the planet. The show was running behind and we had just been informed that they would be doing a “concert” version instead of the original show, but the couple wasn’t even paying attention. They were whispering to each other and laughing. No one bothered them. Clearly, they were content and happy, and for some reason, so was I.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

London: A Family History by Grace Schilling

London Travel Journals, 28 years apart

I have always heard the stories of my mother spending two weeks in England with my great-grandfather, who I affectionately called Papa Farm. I’m not sure who initiated it, but my great-grandfather Harold Eckmann lived in a house on a plot of land used for farming trees, so he was called Papa Farm. My Papa Farm took my mom to England and my Uncle chose to road trip around as many European countries as he could in his two weeks. My mom has always been supportive of studying abroad, in part I believe, because of her own experiences and my family’s love of traveling. My mom was in London in July of 1992, she was supposed to go the summer prior, but they decided to push it due to the Gulf War. I knew she had been to Oxford and didn’t love it. She thought it just looked like a big college campus. I agreed with her after seeing everything. I had to pay to go into Christ Church College. Everything in Christ Church College, such as libraries and lecture rooms, is closed to the public. She sat for English tea in a hotel which she tells me was very casual. They sat in “big comfy chairs side by side with an end table between us”. I know she went to some West End theaters, but before the trip she couldn’t tell me exactly which ones anymore. She also told me her favorite part of her trip was to The Tower of London. Sadly, no pictures exist of their trip because they were ruined in my Nana’s basement.

I miss my Papa’s Farm tremendously since he passed away when I was in high school. In a way, this trip brought him back to me a little. I was walking the European city where he spent time with my mom 28 years later. I loved getting texts from my mom she had been in the same places on her trip. For example, I was able to see Waitress, with THE Sara Bareilles, at the Adelphi theater. After I sent my mom the “quintessential red telephone booth” she told me she had been to the same theater with my Papa Farm! This was a location I didn’t know they had been too! It was a spur of the moment ticket purchase from the TKTS booth after hearing how great it was from all our other classmates. The TKTS booth is near the West End and sells cheap tickets to theater shows the day of or the day prior to sit in what I call the nose bleeds. This was such a nice way to buy tickets and see shows and really helped me to cut down on costs. I’ve always heard the story of how bad my mom wanted to see Madame Tussaud’s. While my mom was inside, my Papa Farm bought himself a bag of cherries and sat outside eating them. I also know about the day my mom wore her hair in a ponytail, so he used it that day to turn her head and pull her in the right directions. While no one pulled my hair on this trip, I did visit Madame Tussaud’s. Though some people would say it is a “Must Do” I think I’d have chosen to sit outside and eat fruit too. It was crowded and there was a weird ride my mom says she doesn’t remember them having. The moment I felt most connected with my Papa Farm and most thankful for this travel experience was when I was able to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral. I climbed the stairs to the top by myself. The stairs made it a daunting experience because of how steep they are and not seeing other visi tors for minutes at a time. On the day I visited it had been cloudy and gloomy all morning. When I emerged from the steps at the highest point the sun was shining the most beautiful beams over the city. My face felt warm from the sun and the views were almost my favorite of the entire trip. I could have felt warm from the cardio of the stair climb. I choose to think it was a bit of my Papa Farm with me as I dared to adventure by myself. While he never got to see me start college and travel the world, I know he’d have been so proud.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Learning to Appreciate Spontaneity and Independence by Caroline Hwang

Singapore, Summer 2019 Summer of 2019, I traveled to Singapore for an internship. During the eight weeks I was there, I never once planned out a day ahead-this is not how I usually live my life. However, it allowed me to truly experience being spontaneous and “living in the moment” as I explored Singapore with my friends. New York, January 2020 In January 2020, I visited my cousin in New York for a week as my winter break trip. Before arriving, I thought that my cousin would be able to accompany me through most of my time there. However, after I got to New York, my cousin informed me that she had to work and would only be able to accompany me on the weekends. I was What does the word “spontaneity” mean for you? What about shocked; but soon, I learned to enjoy exploring New York on my “independence”? own.

I never truly appreciated the idea of either spontaneity or independence… until this year, during the London Review. As a child, I was extremely attached to my parents. My mother never had to worry about losing me because I would always “hold onto the edge of her skirt tightly with my tiny, little hands.” The five-year-old me would never have known that sixteen years later, I would grow up to become a very different person-- a much more independent and spontaneous individual. Now, I will take you on an adventure to see how I learned to love being spontaneous and independent! Taiwan, August 2014 It all started the year I graduated from elementary school. That year, I told my mom I wanted to attend a boarding school for middle school-- and I did. I was away from family for 90% of the time, and that was my first experience of living independently. Although it wasn’t true independence, I actually enjoyed most of the boarding school experience. Kansas traveling to Taiwan, Summer 2018 High school was when I started flying on my own to visit friends in Taiwan. Although it was a bit scary at first, I soon found joy in my newly gained ability to step out of my comfort zone and make new friends with random people around the world.

London, March 2020 Spring break 2020, in London, I learned to truly appreciate spontaneity and independence. During the awesome London Review trip, Some of our days were structured and had plans scheduled for us. However, we also had many days with the freedom to create our own schedules. Being the organizer I am during the school year, I felt the temptation to create a structured schedule for each of our free days. However, I decided to try adventuring without making any plans at all - which turned out to be the best. Although I felt a little lost without any structure in my days, doing so allowed me to go with the flow and explore with everyone else. I was always either laughing or chatting excitedly when exploring with fellow London Reviewers. Part of me though, was longing for a day of walking on my own and following just my heart. So one afternoon, I set off for the London Bridge, and walked around the area on my own. No schedule, no friends, just me, myself, and I, walking aimlessly in London, to explore the unknown. Although I started feeling lonely after a few hours, I tried to embrace the loneliness. At the end of the day, I knew that I had developed a deeper appreciation for spontaneity and independence -- which I believe was one of the best “souve nirs” I brought back from London.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

WITHOUT A PADDLE GETTING LOST IN THE URBAN JUNGLE by Edward Reyes

“I’m excited to actually get lost for once.” Those were some of the first words I uttered at our London Review orientation break-out session last Winter. For most of my adult life I have been a whiz when it came to reading and using maps. One of my favorite parts of going to Disney World or state parks is navigating my way around; I enjoy the challenge of understanding where I am in the world and how to get to where I want to go. Honestly, I blame video games. Years of looking at video game maps and trying to understand how to get to areas of interest or secret areas or to the next level have attuned my brain to reading maps and creating a sense of bearing, to the point that I can find myself in a map and know the direction I’m facing almost instantly.

London presented me with a unique challenge: navigating a *ahem* “intricately designed” city with the caveat of no internet access. That’s right, I had no Google maps to conveniently point me in the direction of whatever I was looking for, no ability to search for a location’s address or even a de scription of where a building might be. All I had was a pre-downloaded map of London that could access my phone’s location data to tell me approximately where I was. I travelled the way I imagine Lewis and Clark did while exploring the American west: by following brightly colored street signs, tube maps, and a pre-installed map on their phone.

complete opposite direction of our destination. Though, as all things inevitable do, everything turned out fine when we caught the bus at the last possible moment.

For me, this was an exotic and exhilarating journey. Getting lost often means wandering randomly and finding amazing things most people never see when they tread the well-worn path. By getting lost, I managed to find myself in quaint little shops, old mom & pop style cafes, local libraries, old mews, quiet neighborhoods, and random parks. Exploring the quieter roads of our neighborhood of Kensington and Chelsea, I was able to see modern housing styles and gorgeous public gardens. Oxford was an especially great city to get lost in. Tajia and I meandered down backroads and alleyways throughout the day, finding a modern art museum through a construction tunnel in the middle of a block of buildings. We even found some great riverside benches to watch the ducks swim past. While exploring Oxford on my own that night, I found some small bookstores and got to see some of the coolest modern houses juxtaposed against the traditional British town houses similar to the Dursley household from Harry Potter. I loved the experiences I had that one can only find when one is aimlessly lost, a situation I don’t often find myself in. However, I did encounter several serious navigation pitfalls throughout the week. Libby and I were late to the Tea Bus one day because we did not fully understand where we were and where we had to go. To exacerbate the situation, we originally boarded the wrong tube line, thus taking us in the

The second major “where the heck am I going” moment occurred the night we got back from Oxford. I intended to meet Anton at Ronnie Scott’s for a late-night jazz show. The only problem was I had absolutely no clue where the bus from Oxford was depositing me, only had the faintest of clues as to where Ronnie Scott’s was located, and no Wi-Fi to help. My single clue was a text message from Anton indicating the closest Tube stop. I quickly found the closest Tube stop after disembarking the bus, plotted a course to Piccadilly Circus, and boarded the tube. Once arriving, at Piccadilly Circus, I wandered the square, even asking a security guard at a nearby shopping center where it might be. After much stumbling and map scouring, I finally found the club on my map and soon after met Anton there. While stressful and anxiety-inducing at the time, I enjoyed these challenges. By getting lost, I’ve gotten to explore so much more than I realized even existed, and through the journey of finding my way back, I am always reminded that even when we do get lost, we can still get to where we’re going.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

A Toast to Passed Time by Sadie Williams Call me delusional, you wouldn’t be the first, but I always thought I was unique. I really believed that I was fully emotionally ready to move to college and leave my four-square-mile town behind; you can probably see where this is going. Two weeks into that first semester, I wanted nothing more than to go back home. I chose to go on the London Review for really one reason: I just needed something to get me through to next semester, to make me excited about being at KU. When I received my ac ceptance notice in October - for the first time since I moved to Lawrence that August - I was actually excited about college again. When I told my parents that I had applied and been acceptred when I came home for winter break (...sorry mom),my parents pointed out yet another sign that I was doing what I was supposed to be: precisely nine spring breaks before, I went on my first trip to London. The summer before I went into fourth grade, my cousins moved to London. Naturally, my parents decided it was the perfect time to introduce us to the world outside the United States. Our trip only lasted one week, but it has always stayed with me as one of the defining experiences of my life. I remember my feet hurting so bad I was certain amputation would feel like a relief; I remember only accepting chocolate cake and a Diet Coke from Café Nero’s as nutrients because I really only liked desert and pop; but most of all, I remember looking at every statue, every building, and every tube station with the utmost wonder. To me, London has always been magical -- where rich history met an even richer present, where my mom patiently waited at every street corner to make sure I wasn’t left behind, where I found out exactly how important seeing the world was to me. That first trip allowed me to see this second-chance spring break in London with clarity. I knew to ignore any pain in my feet (no matter how large the inevitable blisters grew), as nearly every sight in London is well worth it. I understood that eating the rainbow of cuisines the city offers is as integral to understanding London as going to Buckingham Palace. And, I recognized the statues and museums that filled me with curiosity nine years ago -- that fill me with nostalgia now. Of course, in reverence of times long since passed, I went to Café Nero’s, bought a piece of chocolate cake and a Diet Coke, took a seat, and cheers’d the little girl who will forever be filled with wonder in my memory.

Love is in O’Hare by Corey Goodburn

A fleeting moment waiting at the gate A match made by the gods, was this fate?

Love is in O’Hare Love is in the Air

Two hearts connect for a short embrace The experience will never be erased

Love is in O’Hare Love is in the Air

Not to mention he was a pilot He said, “let’s fly somewhere” and I was smile lit

Love is in O’Hare Love is in the Air

My heart was not ready to depart But the experience ahead was enough to part

Love is in O’Hare Love is in the Air

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

On Being Directionally Challenged in a City of Nine Million Joe Mirakian

As a person who routinely has to rely on Google Maps to drive to places in the minute metro area of the city he has lived in his entire life and couldn’t tell you which cardinal direction his house of fourteen years faces if you held a gun to his head, it’s safe to say I was a little apprehensive about the idea of traversing the busy streets of London alone. I’d been to London before for a couple days with my family, but I tend to tune out the process of getting from point A to point B to another when I don’t have to deal with the dread of taking a wrong turn. Heck, I nearly got myself turned around in O’Hare the day we left. The first couple days, I made sure to tag along with a group no matter where I went. I had downloaded a fully functional Google map of London on my phone, but I still had this nagging fear that when I needed it most technology would fail me. There was also the question of the Tube. I haven’t relied too much on public transportation in my life—the most I use the KU busing system for is hopping one block from Wescoe to Fraser—so I was at first very intimidated by the winding subway maps. I couldn’t make sense of them, and of course there was no prayer of cell service underground. Best to stick with people who knew where they were going. On the day we touched down in London, I was magnetically attached to as many people as I could manage (and I would like to add that we had a great time wandering around the city). The second day, however, I dropped my paranoid attitude quite quickly. After the tour of South Kensington and a trip to the British Museum, I split off from the group to go back to the hotel. I’m not about to pretend this was a great, character-defining moment because I still had a complete electronic map of the city and (supposedly) access to cell service, but it still surprises me how quickly I was willing to trust myself in this regard. I was very nervous as I awkwardly attempted to not be looking at a map while walking along a busy street. I even—after about five minutes of puzzling over the subway map—managed to navigate the Tube back to the hotel. Sidenote: I don’t know how to organically work this into the article but on that autonomous Tube ride I witnessed a spontaneous trumpet duet and it was glorious. Okay, back to grandstanding about doing something any functional adult is expected to do on a daily basis. Just getting from the British Museum to the Strathmore Hotel is not, in the grand scheme of things, all that impressive even by the low standards I’ve set for myself. Despite this I think it really was a turning point for me on this trip. After I showed myself that I was capable of getting places on my own, I became much more confident about solo trips. Admittedly, the next day I did stick with a group, but when we went to Oxford the day after that I spent almost the whole afternoon wandering from bookstore to bookstore, all by myself. Over the following days, I probably spent just as much time by myself as I did with the group. For every tour of the British legal system was an hour-long trip to the LEGO Store, Harrod’s, or the London County Hall to watch a play. By the end of the trip it was no longer a stretch for me to venture off on my own in this still-strange city. I ended up figuring out the Tube and I think in doing so I figured a little out about myself. This really isn’t about me learning to travel on my own (okay, it literally is but let me be a humanities major here). This is about me learning to trust myself and take on responsibility. There are many ways college has pushed me to do both of those things, but studying abroad in London had one of the most tangible impacts on my confidence.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Rby Libby u nBrungardt ning Late “A 20 minute walk.” Google tells you after looking up your next destination. You need to be there at noon to meet up with your friends to go on a tour you all have been waiting for. “That’s not too bad,” You think to yourself as you walk down the rows of paintings, “If I leave from here at 11:20, that should give us some good wiggle room.” You were wrong. You were very wrong. Slowly meandering the labyrinth of the art museum, you can feel the anxiety welling up as the clock draws closer to 11:20. You have always been anxious about being late. Perhaps it was time to go. 11:10 isn’t that much earlier. You make your way to the front of the museum, only having gone through of it. You wait for your friend, and you two are on your way to your next destination. First mistake. The tube station you wanted to go on is closed for maintenance. No big deal, right? There’s one just a block down, it’s not that much further. You go down to the next station. Second mistake. This station doesn’t have a direct route to the station you need to go to. Okay. So take two tubes instead. That’s ok. That’ll be fine. Nothing bad will happen. “You’re going to be late,” your mind wanders to the worst. “You won’t make it.”

map.” your friend assures you. “YOU GUYS WON’T MAKE IT. THIS IS A WASTE OF YOUR TIME. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO IT” You shake harder as the thoughts of your failure swell and fester in your mind like a sore. You get off at the next station and run to the map and see - to your heart’s dismay - you now have to take 3 tubes to get to your desired station. Assured of your failure, you get on the next tube anyway. Fourth mistake. After riding the 3 consecutive tubes, sprinting from one to the next, you find yourself at the desired station. 11:55. You have 5 minutes to figure out where you need to go. You run out of the station to get service, and your friends tell you where they are… but you can’t find them anywhere. “WHERE ARE THEY?!” you shout at yourself. You plug in their location to google maps, and it tells you they’re a quarter mile away. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO??” you hiss at yourself. The feeling of dread inside your head stinks like rotten meat, and you feel yourself panicking. “I think we got off at the wrong place.” you tell your friend.

Third mistake. You go to get on the first tube stop. It’s a few minutes away. “A few minutes late.” Forget it. You’ll be okay. You get on and start going. You’re anxious. You feel the dred, and you can’t stop bouncing your leg. Your friend tells you that you’ll be fine. “What do they know?”. The next stop is read out and your heart stops. “IT’S GOING THE WRONG WAY”. “It’s going the wrong way” you say out loud. “What are we going to do!?” “We’ll just get off at the next stop and look at the

As you and your friend are walking along, you stay on the phone with your other friend who did make it there on time. They say that their bus is moving down some street whose name you didn’t quite catch. It doesn’t matter anyway. “I was right. You couldn’t do it.” Sixth mistake. You’re about to cross the street to go back to the tube station. Waiting on the street to clear, you look around. “HEY!” your friend hits you as they shout to get your attention, “THAT’S THEM!!” They’re pointing across the road at a bus moving down the road, full of your friends. Your heart races with excitement, but why? “The bus isn’t going to stop to let you on. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“We’ll get there,” your friend assures you “Just stay calm and call someone so we can figure out where they are”

Seventh mistake.

You don’t have anyone’s number. You just message them on group me.

The bus stops. It’s at a red light. You and your friend look excitedly at each other, and dart across the road to meet the side of the bus. You ask the bus driver if you can still get on.

Brush it off. It’ll be okay. “Wrong.”

minutes ago. The dread explodes into complete heartbreak. You missed it. This opportunity is gone. This is something you will never get to do because you couldn’t get there on time.

It’s 11:59 and you and your friend start sprinting in the direction google maps tells you to go. You can barely breathe - either from the anxiety or from the running, you can't really tell anymore. Everyone looks at you like you’re the biggest idiot they’ve ever seen. “You guys are idiots. You’ll never make it.” The constricting feeling of anxiety slowly begins to sag and weigh on you with a load of disenchantment. You won't make it. You ask your friends to call you on your phone so you can find them quicker. As you get nearer to the location, one of your waiting friends calls you.

He says no. Entirely crushed, you wave goodbye to your friends. You hope they at least have fun. One more glance at the bus driver before you part, but he looks over his shoulder…. When he returns your gaze, he waves you and your friend on! He tells you to get on the bus quickly!

Fifth mistake.

You and your friend climb on the back of the bus, and go sit with the rest of your pals, elated at your luck.

They tell you that the bus has already left. You and your friend stop running, but continue in the direction of where you were supposed to have been 15

“See? I told you everything would work out” your friend boasts. For once, they were right. Everything did work out.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

The Runaway Phone by Maddie Seymour I’ll admit me and my phone have a love/hate relationship. Between dropping it 12 times a day and constantly having minor bouts of paranoia when I convince myself I’ve lost it; the relationship is nothing if not a rocky one. However, the result of our complicated relationship existing in London was all out chaos: a near death experience, a frenzied panic, and a very long tube ride. All of that, and it happened over the course of just ten days. It all started on Sunday, the day after I arrived in London. I had a tenuous situation going with my phone stuffed in my unsecure rain jacket pocket. The traffic was crazy, and in a rush I sprinted across the road, following my friends. It wasn’t until I reached the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road that I realized the “thunk” I’d heard was my phone falling from my pocket and splat onto the pavement. I saw it lying there, the white case a stark contrast to the asphalt, and I thought “Oh shit!” At first, I was going to ditch it, a little box of technology with all my contacts, photos, and progress on the game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery wasn’t worth my life, right? But then I decided I had time (whether I actually did is another question) and ran out into the street, grabbed it, and ran back as horrified Londoners yelled “Oh my God!” with their British accents. Five seconds later a barrage of cars drove over where my phone and I had just been. It was a close call, to say the least, but it was not the last traumatic event of the trip involving my phone. The next day, I somehow managed to forget my phone in the seat while getting off the tube. Of course, I realized this as soon as the doors closed, and the train zipped away. My phone was taking a solo ride on the metro, and while my instinct was to panic, I felt more depressed instead. Me and my phone just couldn’t catch a break, could we? Luckily, the first thing I did was tell my mom, and despite being a whole ocean away, she was able to work her magic. By the end of the day, my phone had been found at the Sudbury Hill metro station. The next night, my cousin Ross and I took two trains and a 30-minute taxi ride to make it to the station before it closed. I signed a form, and the next thing I knew, my phone was right by my side again. For the rest of the trip, my phone and I had no more major incidents, but there were still multiple times I dropped and/or thought I lost it all over again. While I’m glad I found my phone and recovered everything that would’ve been lost without it, the whole experience made me realize I need to take a look at my life, and decide if I want to be so dependent on a little piece of technology. technolog

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

A L L O N M Y LONESOME by

Kiley

Tippett

It was the second to last day when I decided to venture out on my own; something I wish I would’ve done much sooner because oddly enough, my socially anxious self felt not one ounce of anxiety doing so. I rode the Tube all on my own, reading a book I had just bought at the London Review bookstore, and hopping off at the St. Paul’s stop. I enjoyed a leisurely walk past the grand St. Paul’s Cathedral and across the Millennium bridge over the River Thames, stopping to snap photos of Tower Bridge off in the distance, but never once using my phone for directions. I felt proud, and like a true Londoner, when I reached my destination- Tate Modern. I explored the museum for over two hours, spending most of my time in the newly opened Andy Warhol exhibit. I grabbed a coffee from the museum café and took a seat by the fountain, read my book and people watched. After a while, I ventured back outside and took a seat on a bench and enjoyed the view of the river in front of me as a man played the violin a few feet away. I’ve never had such a good time on my own before. In the past, I thought that I always needed a friend to join me in order to actually have fun, but I discovered that couldn’t be farther from the truth. And in all honesty, I wanted nothing more than to continue the rest of the day alone, maybe go to a show and dinner. Just me. I live 15 minutes outside of St. Louis, and even then, I don’t think I would ever feel comfortable going to the city alone and spending the day, yet in London I felt like I had lived there my whole life. And as cliché as that sounds, I felt like I truly belonged there.

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D o Yo u K n o w t h e Ta t t o o M a n W h o Wo r k s o n D r u r y L a n e ? by Ashley Eshnaur

Housed in the Bodleian Library in the city of Oxford, UK is a manuscript circa 1820 with the following rhyme that all British children, and I daresay most American children, learn in the first few years of their lives.: Do you know the muffin man? The muffin man, the muffin man. Do you know the muffin man Who lives in Drury Lane? Those words have altered ever so slightly in the two centuries since, replacing “in” with “on”, but it is nevertheless ingrained in the minds of people young and old. I say it every time I have found myself on Drury Lane in London to see a tattooist by the name of Elmo Teale. In March 2018 I was on a short-term study abroad with the University of Kansas and I decided, while in London, I would check out a tattoo shop that housed several incredibly talented artists, Black Garden Tattoo on Drury Lane. I wanted a permanent souvenir to commemorate my trip. I had seen the type of work these artists were putting out and I was impressed, the amount of talent Black Garden had under one roof was nothing I’d seen back home. I already had in mind what I wanted, a raven’s head, and was open to any artist interpreting that into their own style. As luck would have it, I was given an appointment later in the week with Elmo Teale, an artist whose work I followed on Instagram and enjoyed very much. Originally from Sheffield, Elmo generally works in a traditional style with bold colors and strong lines in the form of sparrows, anchors, lady heads, etc. as well as anything else his creativity can conjure, and puts out eye-pleasing pieces again and again. The raven he’d made for me turned out to be quite pretty and it was the happiestI had been with a tattoo experience (I’ve had a couple of bad experiences elsewhere, but this is not the place for those). The hospitality and kindness of the other artists and staff was top notch and not something you often experience in the States. Several months later, I had started planning a trip back to the UK with one of my dearest friends. Of course, that meant getting in touch with Elmo as I was hoping he could add another tattoo to my collection. Fast forward to Spring Break 2019 and I

was walking down Drury Lane just hours after landing at Heathrow Airport. This time, Elmo would be tattooing a lady head with butterfly wings onto my arm. Again, it was an incredibly relaxed environment and hospitality was top notch. Again, we had a delightful conversation about everything from current events to historical tidbits. The result: another beautiful tattoo by a friendly, humble, and skilled artist. “Gorgeous,” “clever,” and “captivating” are words often used in the compliments I receive. Needless to say, when I realized the London Review was going to allow us many opportunities for leisure, I had to go back for a third time. The agenda for my March 12th appointment involved two tattoos: a compass and a gap filler to be determined. This time was different...the Tube stations were a bit empty, the Tube cars not as crowded and there was not a soul that I could see on Drury Lane. The night before, the World Health Organization had declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic. While I was still greeted warmly by staff, and a big hug from my favorite artist, it felt a bit somber. Elmo made us coffee and shared his Maltesers Buttons with me. While he worked, the virus invaded a large part of our session-long conversation in the form of political comparison, how our people at home are faring, and our worries for our livelihoods. I returned to the hotel that afternoon with my beautiful new compass and a bit of wheat Elmo freehanded for me (I am from Kansas after all)...I also had the sinking feeling that I was likely one of the last few clients he would see before business died off completely or the UK would close non-essential businesses. Black Garden Tattoo shut their doors on March 18th, and at the time of this writing nearly a month later, have not reopened. In the meantime, Elmo along with the other artists, have been busy drawing, painting, and selling their art and other merchandise online in an effort to keep a bit of money coming in. As with all arts-related industries, no work equals no income. Whenever you are able, please support your artists in times of crisis, they’re trying to make it just as much as the rest of us. Here’s hoping the world is able to heal in the next phases of this very surreal time. Be sure to check out Elmo Teale and Black Garden Tattoo on Instagram: @elmoteale

@blackgardentattoo

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

SPECIAL SURPRISE IN LONDON! by Caroline Hwang

Unlike the majority, I have never been too crazy about following the trends of celebrities. However, running into a celebrity by chance is an exciting encounter no doubt. Somehow, our very first day in London, two friends and I encountered a celebrity! This story goes like this,,, Arriving at the hotel after our long plane flights, I was exhausted and still had a few assignments from school to finish up. “But I am in London!” I thought to myself, urging for my logical side of my mind to step down so my “live in the moment” me could take charge instead. Soon enough, after Sophia, my lovely roommate, offered me to go on a walk to the Kensington Gardens and Palace with her and Daphne, my logical side gave in and my fun side spoke up. “Yes, I’ll come!” I responded to Sophia moments before she left. When we arrived around the Palace area, the sun was setting. The scenery was gorgeous. Bright yellow flowers in front of a beautiful castle, with the red, orange, yellow, and pink sky in the background. People were taking pictures, and we did too. I smiled deeply, trying to absorb in the beauty of the view around me and all of my happy feelings, so I could savor it forever. But soon, I was pulled back into reality, realizing I could never forever live in any moment, except in a photograph. We walked towards the entrance of the castle, which turned out to be the gift shop, and were informed that the castle would be closing soon, but we were free to check out the giftshop. After we witnessed the high aesthetic of the items in the giftshop, we started heading home -- little did we know that there was a surprise waiting for us just steps away. Before leaving the area, I requested a picture in front of the castle gates since we couldn’t get in. After happily smiling for a picture, we walked away from the gate, and towards the way home. Then, as

we were passing the car entrance into the palace, a black Range Rover drove by. Sophia saw the car and immediately said, “Is that Kate Middleton?!” I responded within a millisecond, “No way, are you sure?” For some reason, I was convinced in the back of my mind that there was no way we could’ve ran into a Royal family member already. It was our first day in London! But in fact, it was possible. Within a few seconds of our conversation, a mother standing a few feet away from us told her son, “Look, that’s Kate Middleton,” (in a British accent, of course). Hearing this, we all screamed and I tried to take a video. I missed the right moment, so I only got a video of her car driving through the gates. However, Sophia, as she had already predicted that the car was Kate Middleton’s, got a picture of her car with the windows rolled down. And from Sophia’s picture, Kate Middleton’s brown hair was visible. Even though the glimpse of seeing Kate Middleton was truly only a few seconds, the impact of it was much larger. I don’t know how often people in London run into Royal Family members or how often people in California run into celebrities. However, I do know one thing: The chances of us, 3 students from KU, seeing Kate Middleton on our first day in London, without actually trying hard, is pretty lucky. On our walk back to the hotel, I kept thinking about everything that had happened to me on the first day being in London. Excited, surprised, inspired; three words that sum up my first day in London. Firstly, excited about seeing Kate Middleton and excited for our week in England. Secondly, surprised that it was possible to run into a Royal Family member within 24 hours of arriving in London. And thirdly, inspired by our encounter to become like Kate Middleton-someone that contributes to the world positively and brings joy into others' lives.

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HEATHROW HARDSHIPS! by Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff

I considered myself a very experienced traveler -- or so I thought… I opted to fly alone, rather than take the group flight as I have traveled outside of the country by myself a number of times, but never alone across the pond. My experience on Air Canada was great considering all of the anxiety of flying in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, everything was falling into place very smoothly until I got to London-Heathrow and every possible unfortunate event that could happen… happened. I remember the feeling of deplaning my flight from Toronto to London. I was finally able to stretch my legs, and I had made it safely into the UK. My journey had felt complete, when in fact it had only begun. It all started when I made my way to the automated passport clearance, where a machine scans your document and gives you the green light to proceed, but my light kept glowing bright red. The automated voice of the machine boistered, “ SEEK ASSISTANCE”. And the amount of travelers who stared at me was enough for me to want to go swim all the way back to the United States. I was told to go to the immigration agent where I waited until he barked at me to proceed forward. He checked my passport and questioned the amount of stamps that I have received in the past five years, and I suddenly became anxious as I realized I was being interrogated, alone, in a foreign country. I answered that my family loved to travel, and reassured myself that that was com pletely legal, and I had nothing to be fearful of. But he continued to berate me with questions. “Why are you here?” he probed, and I told him I was studying abroad for a class through my home University. He gave me a look of dumbfoundment, “Oh well Miss you are going to need a visa!” A VISA?! What? I was becoming more bewildered by the second. I knew two things about visas. 1. They are hard to get. 2. They take a long time. Just my luck, I was here in the UK, and by the time I

was allowed access in, my study abroad program would be concluded! Can you tell I am a bit neurotic? I got passed over to the Visa Operative, and his first words to me were “Kansas! Like the SuperBowl champs?” And I immediately knew everything was going to be okay, because sports are the universal language, and I would get this officer to like me if it was the last thing I did. So I bantered with him about why Americans call football football and Brits call soccer football, and before I knew it I had a 6 month study visa in the UK. Walking away from immigration I couldn't stop thinking, “Jeez I am privileged. That should have been a long extended process right? Did that immigration officer really call me a lass.” I was definitely in the UK. As I was walking on to the tube to go meet a fellow London Reviewer, Daphne, I thought to myself “Wow, all those poor people having to carry those giant suitcases through the tube.” MY SUITCASE! I had been so flustered because of my little immigration issue, that I had walked straight through baggage claim and customs and forgotten my suitcase. I ran off the tube, and back into Heathrow, looking at me one would have thought I had forgotten my newborn baby on the plane. After waiting for what felt like hours, I was escorted back through security via the service entrance and got to see the underground inner workings of Heathrow, and boy was it eye opening. When I arrived back at baggage claim I saw my suitcase standing all alone. I have never been more thankful that the British don’t just mind the gap, but also mind their own business.

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The Calm Before the Storm

by Sadie Williams

It was a normal day for us. Although all of us were very aware of COVID-19 and taking as many extra precautions as we could, we all made a conscious effort to make our time in London as normal as possible. We saw all the shows we wanted to, went to every interesting museum, and used the tube whenever it was convenient. We had to pretend not to be scared. Our efforts were not in vain, and most of the time it proved easy to forget about the reality of the world; but, as with all things, a few seconds have the power to change everything. Wednesday, March 11, President Trump announced a travel ban on European countries. My cousin called me first and told me the news; it was nearly 2 in the morning in London. I had to end our call in less than 30 seconds to answer my Grandma who was nearly incomprehensible through her tears while she was asking me if I was okay and if I was going to be able come home. My dad called me just as I calmed my Grandma into light sobs, and he told me the ban, at least for now, exempted the United Kingdom. For the first time in nearly an hour, I took a breath. Even though we were safe for the time being, my father told me to start looking into earlier flights and to keep an eye on more press releases regarding European travel. After seeing the news roll in and talking to my father for hours, two things became very clear: the world was undeniably and fundamentally changing, and I was over 4,000 miles away from home. At around four in the morning, I forced myself to take a melatonin and try to go to sleep. I didn’t. The next day, many of the sponsors on our trip announced that they had changed their flights from Sunday to Friday morning, less than 24 hours from that moment, in order to go back to the university and help “a temporary online transition.” Representatives from KU started to reach out to us about our plans when we returned to the United States, and ensured that we knew of the two-week quarantine that was waiting on us upon arrival. The fear that was surrounding us compounded with every rapidfire update until it became impossible to ignore: COVID-19 was no longer able to be pushed to the back of our minds. In many ways, it was more present than we were those final days in London. The fabric of our country and the world had changed in a single night. This threat, this pandemic, was at our doorstep with over nineteen known cases from the very same neighborhood in London where we were staying. I just wanted to go home. We made it back into the U.S. a day before the UK travel ban went into effect and we were all screened at the Chicago Airport for symptoms of the virus. The United Kingdom was not deemed a high-risk area, so they didn’t take our temperatures, at least. The “temporary” change of courses turned out to be permanent, as we all know now. Shopping and movie theatres and all other forms of “nonessential” distractions quickly followed as the next luxury of our society to be banned. For the sake of social distancing and beating the virus, it was expected to retreat into one’s home and stay there, if only to buy groceries once every two weeks. Yes, each of us made it home. Yes, we all quarantined for 2-weeks. But then, we were released into a new world when we hadn’t even known to say goodbye to the old one. One where a cough results in panic and where saying “I was in London over Spring Break” instills more fear than curiosity.

Trying to Find a Time and Place to Make Art in London

by Cormac Palmer

I am an artist, I guess you could say. I generally prefer the term illustrator, since “artist” conjures up too many images in my mind at least of bananas taped to walls and forks stacked on chairs to symbolize American problems with immigration (both are real things, look them up). But regardless, drawing and to a lesser extent painting are what I do with my productive time. So when I came to London for this trip, I obviously brought along lots of pencils, pens, and watercolor paints, figuring that I would, or should, be drawing constantly. I would be proven wrong. It started off strong; on the first day of our trip, we took a tour around the city, and I was sketching sights as I went. My drawings themselves were simple, messy, and extremely rough, creating interesting pages more than good drawings. But it was fun, and got across my first impressions. I would repeat this a couple days later on our class trip to Oxford, and on the day before we left, I would do some quick and frankly sub-standard watercolor paintings at St. Dunstan in the Fields. But, other than these instances, I found it very hard to make time to draw or make pictures. There were always friends to hang out with, new places to walk to, or other things I had to do with my hands. And, honestly, sometimes I just didn’t feel like it (artists, me especially, generally have a problem with not making new art with literally every breath we take). Even when it was just me wandering museums alone, it always felt like it wasn’t worth it to bring out my sketchbook and just draw something, especially when I could just take pictures of things that caught my eye. Which I did, a lot. And in order to make up for my lack of on-site drawing, I’ll be pulling from that library of photos to make the illustrations for this very book.

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Just Buy the Ticket by Grace Schilling vinced me for the price and to see an actress like Emilia Clark, it would absolutely be worth it. I bought the tickets that evening when I got back to my hotel room. It was $40 USD. A $40 ticket to see Emilia Clarke’s West End debut! I couldn’t believe it! I spent the whole week telling everyone in the class I was going just in case anyone wanted to come but no one was showing any interest.

“Jamie Lloyd Company presents Emilia Clarke in the great Chekhov masterpiece, The Seagull.” I have loved Emilia Clarke since I first saw her as Louisa Clark in the movie Me Before You. She may be more easily recognized as Daenerys Tagaryen, Mother of Dragons on the hit show Game of Thrones. As a product of Generation Y, I follow Emilia Clark on Instagram to see what projects she is working on. This means in December of 2019 I saw she was going to star in The Seagull in the West End. I didn’t look into the dates of the show until I was sitting in Pizza Express with the class trying to plan things to do. After everyone left, I sat with Mary finishing my dessert tea and told her about my interest. I was nervous to see a play I knew nothing about. I was embarrassed to confess the fact to Mary, but she con-

Finall it was the day of the show. It startFinally, ed with my first SoulCycle class in Notting Hill, touring Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum. I was bubbling with excitement. Travis decided at some point he would buy a ticket as well. They only had standing room at the time he was looking online, but he still bought a ticket. When we got to the theater near the Embankment Tube station, we took some time to appreciate the views this spot in the city had to offer at night. After we showed our tickets, we had to hike the stairs to the very tip-top where my seat and the standing room was. While the seats and standing room was “affordable” the drinks were not. They were good though. To our luck not everyone showed up and Travis was able to snag a seat for the second half. The Wednesday night we went was the first night the show was open. I was hoping someone would break character or

stumble through words, but I was pleasantly surprised. No one messed up and not only was Emilia Clarke phenomenal, but the whole cast was so talented and moving. Emilia Clarke sounds just as she did in Me Before You. I will not spoil the play but shockingly Travis and I walked out laughing with huge smiles we were so overwhelmed with joy and shock at how amazing and talented the cast was. Sadly, due to the coronavirus the cast was not exiting the stage door and hanging around to greet guests, we were not able to see Clarke to get autographs. To the next visitors to London… BUY THE TICKET. Do not miss an opportunity to see your favorite actress, or favorite play, or something by someone you may have, maybe, heard of. The West End is filled with amazing, affordable (in the nose bleeds), high-quality shows. I am so ecstatic still I saw the show and I will tell this story to whoever cares to listen after the pandemic stay at home orders end.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Tom Stoppard’s

Leopoldstadt reviewed by Joe Mirakian

If Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was love at first sight for me when it comes to the works of Tom Stoppard, Leopoldstadt is the second meeting that affirms that it wasn’t a mirage. Leopoldstadt is every bit as brilliant as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, with beautiful characters, engaging dialogue, and a heartfelt story with echoes of both the common history of the Holocaust and Stoppard’s own personal narrative. This production brings laughter and tears and all around I cannot recommend it enough. What may be Stoppard’s final play is possibly his most personal, as it parallels his family history, a history he only learned of fully when he was nearly sixty. Tom Stoppard was born Tomas Straussler to Martha and Dr. Eugen Straussler, both full-blooded Jews, in 1937 in the modern-day Czech Republic. He and his parents fled the Nazis to Singapore in 1939. When the Japanese navy threatened Singapore in 1942, his family fled to Australia. The boat that he and his mother and brother took ended up in Mumbai, India. Dr. Straussler’s boat was sunk by the Japanese. In 1945 Tomas’ mother married British army major Kenneth Stoppard, and Tomas Straussler became Tom Stoppard. This narrative is not the same narrative of the play, but it still resonates throughout. Most of the cast of Leopoldstadt is not meant to directly mirror Stoppard’s real-life family, but much of the play is a personal expression of Stoppard coming to grips with his Jewish heritage and tragic past. The character of Leo is a direct representation of Stoppard, and though he is only in the very end of the production the character is still a fascinating display of introspection in a playwright not known for biographical works. All of this talk of Stoppard should not draw away from the stellar performances of the cast of this production. The affable doctor Ernst (Aaron Neil) and philosophizing mathematician Ludwig (Ed Stoppard, incidentally Tom Stoppard’s son) were my favorite characters, and special mention should also go to Faye Castelow and Adrian Scarborough’s portrayals of Gretl and Hermann Merz. As I said in the first paragraph, I cannot praise Leopoldstadt enough. It is an unforgettable experience, though a family Merz-Jacobovicz family tree is recommended for maximum enjoyment.

HOW AMERICAN THEATRE TRANSLATES Be More Chill is a pop musical that focuses on a high school coming-of-age story, and the Off-West End production really digs into its quirky, American roots. The costumes in particular really make The Other Place Theater, which is small in size, explode with color and lights. The outfits are reminiscent of a 2003 red carpet, but with a little bit more neon, and it seems as though the London production’s costume department leans into the stereotype of wildly dressed 2000’s American teens even more than the Broadway and Off-Broadway runs. The popular girls matched tie-dye joggers with pink velvet sweat suits and purple space buns, in a perfect imitation of the early Disney channel days that many British people may recognize as typical American teens more easily than the toned-down truth. I honestly think these costumes plays to the show’s strengths; the show relies on the audience buying into the extremes of a pill that puts a computer in your head and tells you how to be cool. The wacky world the costumes and neon-lit set creates is a world that the audience can accept unusual things in.

by Becky Phelps

The accents in shows were another really interesting aspect of London theatre. For some shows, like Be More Chill, the characters are distinctly American, so no British accents allowed. That didn’t stop a few slip-ups from the actors, how ever. There were a few times in Be More Chill when then lead actor fell into his natural British accent, and while it didn’t necessarily make the characters feel less genuine, it definitely reminded the audience where we were watching this show. Waitress proved to be almost the exact opposite, with southern accents so thick I thought I was in Alabama. The accents are pretty thick on the original studio recording as well, but even for the Midwestern group of us that went to see Waitress, the accents seemed a little exaggerated. I wonder if that “ex aggeration” is specifically for London audiences. On the other side of things, some shows brought to the West End purposefully change the accents for their audience. For example, the characters in Wicked all talked with British ac cents, despite the show originally coming from the U.S. It was really interesting to hear that script in a British accent, because a lot of the terminology used in the script is American, so hearing British people use more American phrases is a little bit odd. I’d argue, though, that British Glinda is far superior to American Glinda. It really doesn’t get better than Glinda explaining her relationship with Elphaba by saying “We all went to Uni together” in a British accent.

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child re v i e w e d b y C o re y G o o d b u r n a n d D a p h n e L i n

PART ONE: An Introduction Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the story about Harry Potter’s son, Albus Severus Potter attending Hogwarts throughout the years. It features a journey of a distraught kid who seems to be doing everything wrong and can never seem to please his father. I don’t want to give away too much, but the play features all things Harry Potter you want… you may even travel back in time! PART TWO: From Script to Stage, 4 years later Time: a determining factor for the magic of both the play itself, and of watching the play nearly four years after first reading the published script. I was one of a few million people that purchased the script upon its first publication. Having been able to finish it in approximately two hours resulted in my complete failure to realize that it was, in all reality, a four-hour long play full of magic tricks and choreographed sequences that seemed to make the play so much more than the lines alone. Multiple elements of the West End production had previously seemed so insignificant -- a merely fleeting detail -- in the script version. The introduction of the play alone left me in complete surprise and awe. In the script’s very first lines (on page 7), it begins with “A busy and crowded station. Full of people trying to go somewhere. Among the hustle and bustle…”, but on stage it was more than simply that: a beautifully choreographed sequence full of cast members sweeping across the floor with long cloaks, picking up their carefully scattered baggage and twirling them along the stage in perfect synchrony. Magic tricks were also incredibly understated in the script, although that may have also been my error as a reader. Even now, I continue to be baffled by just how they did it. Without spoiling any of the plot, one recurring magic trick (my personal favorite) involved the cast members completely disappearing into a mail-sized slot in a telephone booth. Some parts of the production were also left out of the script altogether. There were two choreographed dance sequences, one known as the “Wand Dance” and the other involving [SPOILER ALERT:] Death Eaters that successfully established an incredibly ominous tone. These additions took me by such surprise that during both sequences, I was completely enamored. And all to Imogen Heap’s music! I had nearly forgotten that the amazing Imogen Heap wrote the entire soundtrack for the production. Every possible movement on stage -- even those not part of the script or plotlines -- was meticulously choreographed and performed. The result was that even stage transitions and moving props around or off the stage added to the spectacle. Each sharp transition was also accompanied with a dramatic flourish of a cape, all of which added to the underlying motif of the flowing movement of time. After returning home from London, I grabbed my copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and reread some of my favorite parts. As I did so, I could clearly imagine every line, every italicized stage direction, in my head as they were so beautifully performed by West End. And as much as I would love to cast spells with a wand, I realize now that I am perfectly content with the magic that is witnessing and remembering such a spectacle as this production brought to life by West End.

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Les Misérables Triumphant in West End Revival by Ben Grimes

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT

JAMIE review ed b y K i l e y Ti p p e t t

Having seen Les Misérables on stage eight previous times, from touring companies to Broadway, I went into the West End’s Sondheim Theatre with a strange mix of emotions. This is my favorite musical, every single song an absolute banger; the more I’ve seen it, the more I’ve fallen in love with it. Being the West End’s longest-running musical, I was thrilled to finally get to see it in the place where it cemented its place in the hierarchy of legendary theatrical productions. Up until late-2019, London was the last place on Earth where one could enjoy the original version of Les Mis, as all of the other productions had been replaced with a reworked and updated version that was created in 2009 to commemorate the show’s 25th anniversary. I admit that I was deeply disappointed to learn that, as of January 2020, the original version had been replaced with the new one, dashing my hopes of one last chance to see the classic. I entered the theatre concerned that I may be in for a disappointing experience. The show I saw was anything but. Directors Laurence Connor and James Powell have delivered the most powerful and affecting staging of Les Mis I’ve ever seen. To begin with, the performances were second-to-none. Jon Robyns’ take on Jean Valjean rivals even that of the legendary Colm Wilkinson, who originated the role in both London and New York. Similarly, Bradley Jaden’s Javert, Rachelle Ann Go’s Fantine, and Lily Kerhoas’ Cosette were arguably the best performances of those roles I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. Set designer Matt Kinley created dynamic set pieces which, coupled with the dramatic work of lighting designer Paule Constable, flow in and out of the stage, creating and recreating scenes with dreamlike fluidity. The reworked version of Les Mis adds a number of new songs to help with making the story a little easier to understand for those who aren’t already comfortable with the narrative. These are perhaps the weakest element of the new production, as they really don’t hold up to the quality of the original set of songs, but this is a minor issue in a production this phenomenal. This new version is also notably more violent and cruel, going further to depict the suffering of the Parisian poverty class than previous versions. This is ultimately one of the show’s greatest assets, as it both raises the stakes for the characters and makes the production more compelling for audiences who are perhaps more attuned to the themes in properties like Game of Thrones than was the viewing public of the early 1980s. The Sondheim Theatre’s Les Misérables is a compelling and beautiful rendition of a classic, and it delivers all the teary eyes, laughter, and goosebumps one could hope for. At a time when futures feel less certain, systems less equitable, and traditions less stable, the show comes across as a prescient vision of what could be. It is impossible to resist the power of the French resistance marching against the tyranny of their own government while singing “When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!” It serves to remind us that we are capable of reshaping our own futures into what we need them to be, and that anything is possible when we remember that the common people are the ones who are meant to be in power.

Overall, I would give this show a 4.5/5. I was really looking forward to seeing this show, and it definitely did not disappoint. Let’s start with the main character, Jamie. I found out he would be played by an understudy, which bummed me out a bit at the beginning, by but the end of the show, it wasn’t even an afterthought. Jamie was absolutely amazing! He was funny, bold, witty, and beyond tal ented. The character of his mother was also one of my favorites, you could tell the actress possessed a lot of seasoned talent and her vocals were always spot on. The show itself highlighted real queer experiences, but did so in a way that was both heartwarming and entertaining. The music was often upbeat and catchy; songs were stuck in my head days after the show. And most importantly, Ja mie’s character was authentic. He wasn’t always perfect, and was honestly just a normal teenager who dreamed of being a drag queen, with a mom who supported him wholeheartedly. Outside of the main story line being that Jamie’s dream career was being a drag queen, the story touched on topics involving bullying/discrimination, and not having a parent who supports you. The way the other conflicts were worked into the story was incredibly well done, and everything wrapped up perfectly at the end. I felt myself smiling and laughing, and even crying a little throughout the entire performance. I would gladly see this show a million more times.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Street Performers London’s Not-So-Hidden Gems

Joe Mirakian reviews

Agatha Christie’s

Witness for the Prosecution

by Anton Barybin Unlike the Crown Jewels, London’s street performers aren’t hidden away or kept under lock and key. What’s more, you don’t even need to search to find them - they’re everywhere. In tube stations, on street corners, and in town squares, you can be sure to hear live music on numerous occasions throughout a day in the city. Perhaps the most overlooked street performers are those that play in the tube stations. Each time I raced to catch the tube, I was torn between staying and listening and making it to my destination on time. It felt odd to be part of the crowds of Londoners shuffling past without so much as a glance at the musicians just trying to put a smile on people’s faces. In any case, I was thankful for the fleeting moments of music that made the dull, gray tube stations a little more lively.

Tube Station performer

Now, the town squares were quite different. In contrast to the hectic rush in tube stations, people tended to gather in Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus to listen to and even sing along with the street performers. It was nice to see the crowds of city-goers slow down for a bit and appreciate some music. Performers in the town squares really brought out a sense of community in the gathered audiences. Joe Scripps (known to Londoners as Gingerbeard Man) seemed to be a particular favorite of locals near Piccadilly Circus. Joe Scripps (@scrippslive) in Piccadilly Circus

While guitar was the most frequent instrument of choice for street performers, I was pleasantly surprised by the wide range of instruments and styles that I heard throughout the city. Between the tube stations and town squares, I saw a flute player, a soprano saxophone player, and even a couple of cellists keeping the classical tradition alive. One of my personal favorite encounters was a two-piece jazz combo set up along Portobello Road. With just a bass, snare drum, and ride cymbal, they really proved that you don’t need much to make great music. In a city saturated with talented musicians, you never know just what you may find if you take the time to stop and look (or listen) around.

Jazz duo on Portobello Road

Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution ran on a small stage in the London County Hall court chamber before an audience in the gallery. The experience was thus very authentic and made the lighting and sound effects even more impactful. On the whole it was an excellent play from the writing to the acting to the production. Standout performances include Jo Stone-Fewings as straight-laced public defender and amateur investigator Sir Wilfred Robarts QC, Taz Skylar as the endearing defendant Leonard Vole, Alexandra Guelff as his cool, calculating, love-to-hate wife, and Jeffrey Kissoon as the ever-entertaining Justice Wainwright. The story behind the play—which is helpfully detailed in the souvenir program—is quite interesting in and of itself. The short story it was adapted from, originally titled Traitor Hands, was dismissed by Christie as no more than a “sketch”. Her theatre producer, Peter Saunders, desperately wanted to adapt the story to the stage, and though Christie refused to write the adaptation herself she eventually gave him permission to write his own version. When presented with Saunders’s version, Christie set to work on her own which would eventually become the Witness for the Prosecution we know today, now complete with its wild twist ending.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

THE PAGE THAT GOES WR

ONG

MAGIC GOE S WRONG G OES RIGHHT Review Editor: Absent (Called in sick) (Drank 12 beers)

Review By Emma Miller:

This was by far one of the best magic shows I’ve seen. Was it scripted? T he website online said it was by the Mischiefg Company which includes Engl ish comedy legends Jonathan Sayer, Henry Lewis, Henry Shields (well, I never heard of them before either). Those magicians though! I’ve also never heard of them before the show. But now, I’ll never forget the names of Sophi sticado, the Mind Mangler, the Blade, the… skinny ballerina chick? The other blonde woman? The one that got sawed in half, and… the bear? There was a bear, right? Anyway, they were great. For me, the best part of the show was when the Mind Mangler got to interact with the audience. He had five magic skills, with one skill for each sense. For example, he could taste names and smell careers. Wow, isn’t that cool? Also, there was the Blade who hurt himself repeatedly and needlessly in the passion of his act. Incredible. I’ll never forget most of what happened on stage that night. Partially because I think I’m permanently scarred from from from it. Anyways, ehh, yeah, I definitely recommend seeing this show when you can. Not right away, maybe. Wait until seats are cheaper. Get your money’s wo h. rt My Rating: 28

Five Stars

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

The Three Best Books Divorced, Beheaded, Died, I Bought in London Divorced, Beheaded, Survived by Maddie Seymour by Corey Goodburn

1 . A S p a r k o f L i g h t , J o d i P i c o u l t - 4 S TA R S What I liked: Following the woman and male doctor trapped during a hostage situation inside an abortion clinic was a heavy and intriguing concept. The book covered the difficult topic in a way I liked and was structured to start with the climax and work its way b a c k a n h o u r e a c h c h a p t e r, s o t h a t t h e r e a d e r g r a d u a l l y learns more about the characters and how they came to be in the present situation. What I didn’t like: The plot moved a little slow at times, and sometimes the reverse structure of the book made it confusing. Also, every women in the book seemed to have been pregnant, was pregnant at the time, or got an abortion, which I thought seemed a little pred i c t a b l e , b u t m a y b e t h a t w a s P i c o u l t ’s i n t e n t .

Six: The Musical was hands down the best musical in London, and I saw a total of nine shows! This was one of my favorites because it was an English history lesson and an exciting concert all in one. It is a story about Henry VIII’s six wives - with no appearance from the infamous Henry VIII. Each wife had a solo song to determine who was the “best” ex-wife. Meet the Six Wives - Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived Catherine of Aragon - Divorced Marriage Length: 1509 - 1533 Song: No Way Lyric That Describes Her: “That I’m cursed ‘cause I was your brother’s wife” Anne Boleyn - Beheaded Marriage Length: 1533 - 1536 Song: Don’t Lose Ur Head Lyric That Describes Her: “Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t lose your head” Jane Seymour - Died Marriage Length: 1536 - 1537 Song: Heart of Stone Lyric That Describes Her: “Soon I’ll have to go, I’ll never see him grow” Anne of Cleves - Divorced Marriage Length: 1540 - 1540 Song: Get Down Lyric That Describes Her: “You, you said that I tricked ya. Cause I, I didn’t’ look like my profile picture” Catherine Howard - Beheaded Marriage Length: 1540 - 1541 Song: All You Wanna Do Lyric That Describes Her: “And ever since I was a child I’d make the boys go wild” Catherine Parr - Survived Marriage Length: 1543 - 1547 Song: I Don’t Need Your Love Lyric That Describes Her: “I don’t have a choice. If Henry says “It’s you”, then it’s you. No matter how I feel.”

R e c o m m e n d ? Ye s ! N o b o o k i s p e r f e c t , a n d t h i s o n e definitely kept me interested enough to warrant a read! While the twists and turns are revealed at the very beginning, the explanations of these turns take another 300 pages to be fully revealed. 2 . T h e D o l l F a c t o r y, E l i z a b e t h M a c n e a l

- 4 S TA R S

What I liked: This book was an impulse, last minute b u y a t o n e o f t h e Wa t e r s t o n e b o o k s t o r e s . T h e c a s h i e r told me I could get 50% off if I bought a second book, and I’m a sucker for a good deal. However, I had no idea what to choose and was put on the spot, so when he recommended this book, I thought “Why not!” Definitely the right decision. This book reads very British, and I l i k e t h a t a b o u t i t . T h e s e t t i n g o f L o n d o n i n t h e 1 8 5 0 ’s is perfect. I love a good Victorian/gothic/romance, and that is exactly what The Doll Factory provided me. W h a t I d i d n ’t l i k e : C a n r e a d a l i t t l e s l o w a t t i m e s , b u t this could just be because I need constant high stakes action to be 100% in a story at all times. Recommend? Yes! Highly recommend reading, with extra points if you manage to read it while in London. ( E x t r a p o i n t s i f y o u a l s o t i m e t r a v e l b a c k t o t h e 1 8 5 0 ’s while reading, though that could be a bit of a trick. 3 . l a i t e t m i e l ( m i l k a n d h o n e y ) , R u p i K a u r - 5 S TA R S Wh a t I l ik e d : I ’ v e r e ad R u p i K a u r ’s p o etr y b e f o r e, a n d I a b s o l u t e l y a d o r e i t . I ’ m a F r e n c h m i n o r, a n d w h e n I s a w F o y l e ’s B o o k S t o r e h a d a n e n t i r e F r e n c h l i t e r a t u r e section, I knew I had to check it out. I wanted something that I would like and that wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of my French literacy level, and this book was perfect. Somehow poetry sounds even better in French than in English. What I didn’t like: N o complaints , really, except that it made me hyperaware of how poor my French is. Recommend? Yes! Might want to stick with the English version, though, unless you happen to study French too!

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Jazz in London R o n n i e S c o t t ’s J a z z C l u b by Anton Barybin If you love jazz or have a passion for diverse types of music, then Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho is a must-visit venue in London. Founded in 1959 by tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott, the club consistently hosts world-renowned musicians from a variety of genres. Much like Smalls Jazz Club or The Blue Note in New York City, Ronnie Scott’s is London’s centralized jazz hub. As a saxophone player and jazz enthusiast, I was incredibly excited to experience the London jazz scene. Seeing that a seasoned trio featuring Kenny Barron (piano), Johnathan Blake (drums), and Dave H o l l a n d ( b a s s ) w a s h e a d l i n i n g R o n n i e S c o t t ’s d u r i n g our stay in London, I quickly hopped online to purchase tickets, only to realize that the shows were all sold out. Undeterred, I still made the trip out to S o h o , h o p i n g t o b u y t i c k e t s a t t h e d o o r. B y a s t r o k e of good luck, two tickets were available at the door for the princely sum of £13.00! At first I thought that the hostess had misspoken. Only £13.00 to hear w o r l d - c l a s s m u s i c i a n s p l a y a f u l l s e t a t L o n d o n ’s most famous jazz club? I guess some other cities could learn a thing or two about jazz event pricing *cough* NYC *cough*. The Kenny Barron trio was s i m p l y w o n d e r f u l . I h a d n ’t h e a r d a n y o f t h e p l a y e r s before and the set list was primarily comprised of their original music. My favorite tune by far was “The Oracle,” which opened with an otherworldly, ethereal drum intro. Kenny Barron’s melodic phrasing was incredible, and Dave Holland had one of the most beautifully resonant bass tones I have ever heard. As for Johnathan Blake, he was without a doubt the tightest drummer I’ve ever listened to live. Eager to hear more music, I ventured out to Ronnie S c o t t ’s t w i c e m o r e d u r i n g m y b r i e f t i m e i n L o n d o n . O n t h e s e o c c a s i o n s , I o p t e d t o a t t e n d R o n n i e ’s L a t e Late shows (12-3am). The first evening (or morning

I suppose), I had the pleasure of hearing the “Wakey Blakey” Sextet (pictured right), a group paying homage to the music of the legendary “Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.” I may be biased, but the tenor saxophonist of the group, Alex Hitchcock, stole the show (especially w i t h h i s s o l o o v e r C u r t i s F u l l e r ’s “ A r a b i a ” ) . T h e second evening was highlighted by a London-based fusion group called the Lydian Collective. If you’ve ever listened to the grammy winning group Snarky P u p p y, t h e Ly d i a n C o l l e c t i v e h a v e a s i m i l a r v i b e . There was a really great balance and interplay between each member of the four-piece fou group.

In addition to hearing scheduled performers, Ronnie’s late shows included jam sessions featuring students and gigging professionals from the London area. I have always found jam sessions to be a fantastic way to gain inspiration and uncover new practice material. As I sat listening to players creating new lines over familiar standards like “Confirma tion” and “In a Sentimental Mood,” I started to get the itch to practice. In just three short nights at Ronnie Scott’s, I think I heard enough to keep me busy in the practice room for the next six months. If I ever have the fortune of visiting the UK again, Ronnie Scott’s will be a non-negotiable item on myitinerary.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

THE LEXINGTON PUNK ROCk by Emma Miller and Libby Brungardt

The Lexington - a 2008, two-story pub in the Islington borough of London, it began as a simple pub, but as time went on, they began to host a lot of live music events. Today, the Lexington has live concerts just about every night of the week in their upstairs venue, while their downstairs remains a simple pub. Walking into the Lexington, it looks like any other pub, with a bar at the back and wooden high tables with tall wooden chairs to accompany them. What sets the Lexington apart is that directly to the right of the entrance, there is a small ticket booth, and a steep set of spiral ing stairs. This is the entrance to their live music venue, and this was the entrance to two extremely fun nights! Punk Time - Emma Okay, so before the trip I looked up a bunch of London rock venues and shows and planned to have a week full of shows. This did not happen. First of all, London is very spread out and half of the venues were like an hour away from our hotel. That’s no bueno. So I begrudgingly narrowed down my list until I got to the closet venue: The Lexington. Still far-ish away, but only a tube’s ride to King’s Cross. And- what’s this? A punk show? Wow. The band Helen Love was scheduled as the headliner on a Thursday night, along with singer-songwriter Simon Love (no relation) and a couple of DJ’s (no relation). I had not listened to or heard of any of these acts but I had read their Spotify “About” sections so I felt like the show was gonna be good. SPOILER: The show was good. Libby and

I were by far the youngest people there on a Thursday night but the older folk had no problem fist-pumping and bouncing to the punk. Helen Love was an a m a z i n g three-part band of middle-aged rockers, fronted by Helen in a red Adidas hoodie and sunglasses, which she never took off even in the dark club room. Iconic. Their lyrics were projected onto the wall behind them so even we foreigners could easily scream along. The band also apparently had a strong affinity for the Ramones so there were plenty of references there, from lyrics like “you can’t beat a boy from the Ramones” (ironically played after the song “Beat Him Up”) and “she was Debbie Harry, he was Joey Ramone!”. The DJs before Helen Love also played an extremely monotone Blitzkreig Bop. And while the singer-songwriter opening act did not play any Ramones, his music was less the sort you’d hear in coffee shops and more the type you’d have to seek out around less-than-sober people. His first song began with the lyrics “I wanna kill somebody” and continued into a very romantic love song about how he only needed the person he loved. Mixed into this were several death threats to people he did not care about. It felt very English. After the show, which luckily ended early enough that we could still catch the tube back to the hotel, Libby and I poured out into the street already in a desperate search for drinks to quench our thirst. Fist-pumping and bouncing to punk is a hard

job and deserves coke-products. Fortunately, there was a Tesco’s nearby. Unfortunately, as we scrambled in the employee told us it was closing in two minutes. We ran to scan and pay for our drinks at the self-checkout but there was some sort of payment error. Worried what this meant for our future, Libby and I looked to the Tesco employee. “Just take it!” he said. “Take it and go!” We let out a muffled chorus of thank-yous as we shuffled past the man and back onto the street. The tube was still open, but for how long? We headed straight to King Cross’ station, still buzzed from the show. The trains were still running and we, now veteran Underground travelers, were easily able to find our train and make it back to the hotel, stopping one last time at a Tesco’s for more soda and a deviled-egg sandwich. Rock and Roll - Libby The very next night, after the punk show, Emma asked me if I wanted to go to a rock concert. Of course I said yes, because I was super excited to see what that would be like in London. She assured me that this venue was much closer to our hotel - and to the tube station - than the Lexington was. The excitement of the upcoming event stayed with me all day long! After we were done for the day, we went back to the hotel, and we got ready to go. As I went to get Emma, I saw that she had decided not to wear her matching fruit sweater with me…. She said “It's going to be warm” Okay, but we had agreed to wear the fruit sweaters! But we headed off anyway, me in my fruit sweater and Emma in a crop top. CONTINUED>

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Mady Edmonds presents

THE LEXINGTON Minding Manners PUNK ROCK with Mady by Emma Miller and Libby Brungardt (continued from p. 31)

Today’s Topic:

We got on the tube station and went off to Kings Cross station. As we arrived, we walked out onto the street and tried to orient ourselves. I asked Emma which way to go, and she said to me

How to be the Perfect Roommate

“I don’t know… Which way did we go last night?”... I turned to her. “Are we going to the same place??” I ask. “Uh…. Yeah…” That was the funniest thing in the world. Back to the Lexington. This time, when we got upstairs there was no live band. The upstairs venue was instead filled with young people dancing to loud rock music being played over the speakers - a rock club! “Wait, this is a club.” I said “Oh yeah, the concert I was thinking of got cancelled, so we’re going to this instead” Emma replied. “I looked you in the eyes and said it was going to be WARM!” Alright. So we’re at a club now. We get drinks, we dance, we go to the bathroom and take turns holding the door closed for each other, we watch a lady puke in the sink, we get another drink, and we dance some more. This time, we dance a little harder as we slowly become acclimated to the style of rock music. When we get a little tired, we sit down for a minute on the benches surrounding the bar. As we’re sitting, a guy comes up to us and asks us if we will watch his jacket for a bit. We tell him we’re only going to be there for a little while, and that maybe he should just check his jacket in at the front desk, but he goes off anyway, leaving us with his jacket, saying “Protect it with your life” as he leaves. We watched that jacket for way. too. long. We thought we might just hide it somewhere, or leave it and hope no one takes it, but he eventually came back. That guy was somethin’ else. Very trusting, that one. We go back to dance. This time, we really don’t hold back. The music is flowing through us and we dance like no one was watching - but they are. We don’t know any of the words or rhythms of the local rock music being blasted over the speakers, but we don’t care. We laugh when one of us stumbles, we try our best to guess what the next words of these songs are, and we swear to each other that we are not going to leave until they play Mr. Brightside. But they never did. As the night grew old, we decided it was best for us to leave. Tesco’s was closed, but we got to see some rats in the tube station, so that really rounded out the whole experience. Rats in the tube station, rats at the Lexington.

Roommates are vital to any experience. Just think of college - if your roommate isn’t the best, your experience is much different than if you love them to pieces. Although we couldn’t go wrong with choosing roommates on this trip, I truly think I had the best roommate for me and my personality. Here is all the criteria to be the perfect roommate: 1. Leave as little room as possible for you both. This forces you to really get close. Especially when you wake up six inches from each other. 2. Be willing to share everything - and I mean everything. From clothes to opinions to comfort, while you’re together you are practically siblings. 3. Don’t get too attached. Although it’s nice to have someone to do things with, don’t be afraid to split off from time to time. You can tell them all about your adventures once you get back to your 6’ x 6’ hotel room that night. 4. Be able to problem solve. Even if you can’t fix the TV you somehow switched the input on, you can still find a way to make a 30 minute trip into a 15 minute one. 5. Compromising is the key to any relationship, whether it’s letting them get the bed next to the window or the first shower at night. 6. Have a night owl and an early bird. Both of you shouldn’t be able to wake up at 6am, and both of you shouldn’t be able to pass out at 12am. 7. Be willing to grow closer through your trip, as no one else will have experienced it with you in quite the same way.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

An Emma’s Guide: There are no trash cans anywhere. The money looks fake and plastic. It is impossible to tell which side of the street you should walk on.

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

A Joe’s Guide: Crossing lights literally just don’t work half the time and you’re left in a state of limbo where you can jaywalk or wait for it to change from red to green, which it never does. No water fountains but plenty of bottled water available for purchase.

They only have Coke, never Pepsi. 18 is the legal age to drink there but sometimes people still ask for your ID and suddenly you feel less cool about the whole exchange.

They make fun of us for Trump but conveniently forget that they elected Boris Johnson. Their legal system is so bogged down in arbitrary tradition that everyone has to wear funny wigs in the 21st century. Sure, it works pretty well and is highly regarded globally, but those wigs are really dumb.

They’ve colonized everywhere. Seats in the theatres were tiny. You can’t take glass into the theatre. But they give you cokes in glass bottles at the bar. Theatre programs often cost money. A lot of stuff costs money. Ideally, London would be a magical place where everything you want is free. Platform 9 ¾ is there at King’s Cross but unfortunately, muggles have taken over and made it a tourist stop.

It is, apparently, perfectly okay to ask someone to remove their bag on the Tube if it is bumping into your bag...but you are by no means obligated to remove your own bag.

A Daphne’s Guide:

Londoners must go through extensive calisthenics training prior to school-age...Bobbing and weaving through crowds without bumping into any person or their belongings is an artform that we Americans have clearly not mastered and we know they silently judge us!

WHERE ARE THE PUBLIC RESTROOMS??? WHY ARE THEY MISSING

Where the F are the normal flavored potato chips….pardon, crisps?

The cars parked in the middle of the street were so disorienting.

Asking a question in a shop with a clearly American accent results in 75% of the customers prairie dogging to see the idiot who clearly doesn’t know that one should never ask questions….meanwhile, the other 25% mumble under their breath about silly Americans.

COVID-19 was around. Not cool. The coins were weird. Their value was on them so that was fine but sometimes cashiers would ask for specific coins to make their job of making change easier and I just had to stare helplessly at them until they realized my incompetence and let it go.

They think fish and chips is a personality trait An Ashley’s Guide:

That trash pile in the middle of the sidewalk. Not a London standard but it bears mentioning.

No one cuts your pizza for you. Maltesers (which I loved and are definitely better than Whoppers but also are not in America :( )

The people there don’t like answering questions of any sort, but they also don’t like when you accidentally walk into their home because you thought it was the niche café you were looking for for hours. “Excuse me” is considered rude? Well pardon me, I want to go home.

There wasn't even just one trash pile in the middle of the sidewalk. It was trash piles literally everywhere -- for a country that prides itself on its proper manners and efficient organization, this one was such a sore disappointment. They really don’t like serving tourists sometimes and they make sure you know it.

“Restroom” and “bathroom” gets you looks, but they’ll tell their friends at dinner they’re going to the “toilet”...

A Sadie’s Guide:

For a city with some of the best public transport in the world, there is an awful lot of walking!

People look at you weird when you take pictures of food? Rude and unappreciated.

A Taija’s Guide:

The big grand staircase in our hotel?? Who would ever want to climb that many? Who could ever??

Why is everyone smoking in public all the time? 14/10 scientists recommend you smoke in your own houses and not on the street so I don’t have to deal with it all the time

There’s no such thing as “free”. No free museum maps. No free PlayBills. You get nothing unless you hand them £5 The accents. That’s it.

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION Musicals / Plays Waitress Libby Brungardt - 5/5 - I thought all the actors were amazing singers! Very funny show. Pies were not free :/ good drinks tho. Daphne Lin - 5/5 - This was my all-time favorite West End production I saw during our trip, thanks to Sara Barielles & Castʼs soaring vocals! Maddie Seymour - 5/5 - Honestly, I would give this musical more than 5 stars. It was SO good! I loved the songs, and Sara Barielles was amazing, the girl really has some range. Iʼd see it again today if I could!

Leopoldstadt - Wyndhamʼs Theatre Daphne Lin - 4/5 - Exquisite writing and design with a perfect use of both swelling music and deafening silence. Would have liked it more if I had been able to keep track of all of the different characters. Ben Grimes - 5/5 - If I call it a perfect play, I am surely being hyperbolic and therefore undermining my own seriousness and worth as a writer. Leopoldstadt is a perfect play. Ashley Eshnaur 5/5 - The storyline kept my attention for the entire duration of the show. This has to be one of the best stage performances of my time. I laughed, I gasped, I cried, there was in-audience drama during intermission.

Hamilton Sadie Williams - 5/5 - I honestly feel sorry for anyone who didnʼt get to see this cast perform this iconic, unapologetically American show. The cast made the script entirely their own, and delivered each line with their own style and flair. The London cast presented this masterpiece in a way that was equally fresh and true to Lin Manuel Mirandaʼs original vision. Ben Grimes - 5/5 - The West End production did not disappoint. The performers gave new meaning and life to the work, creating something fresh and exciting out of a piece that had already done so much to challenge our expectations. Maddie Seymour - 5/5 - Iʼd been dying to see Hamilton for YEARS, so when I found out it was playing in London, I knew I absolutely had to see. Let me say, I was not disappointed. It was all amazing! The entire cast was phenomenal. I wanted to see it again as soon as it ended.

Harry Potter Daphne Lin - 4/5 - Although I still believe the script has its major flaws, seeing it on stage was an entirely different and wholly unexpected experience. It could have only been made better if nearly half the stage was not blocked by the large head two rows in front of me.

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION was phenomenal. I wanted to see it again as soon as it ended.

Prince of Egypt Sadie Williams - 5/5 - Even though Corey and I caught the understudies, the vocals were phenomenal and the visuals to this day have me shook. Itʼll hit you right in your childhood.

Everybodyʼs Talking About Jamie Kiley Tippett- 4.5/5- The songs were so upbeat and catchy, and the characters (especially Jamieʼs mom) were so authentic and loveable. The show highlighted real struggles queer teens go through all over the world, and was something I could relate to. But it ultimately showed a story of love and acceptance that I think every young queer person should see! So good.

City of Angels Kiley Tippett - 4/5 - Vanessa Williams was amazing on stage. I was a little disappointed in Theo though, his acting was subpar and his voice wasnʼt anything special. The other leads did amazing work though, and the show was incredibly entertaining for a classic 1940s Hollywood drama. Maddie Seymour - 4/5 - Literally only bought tickets to this because of Theo James, and since his singing wasnʼt anything super special, it was a little disappointing. But I had enough suspense and mystery to keep me interested, and the sets were so well put together I felt like I was watching a movie!

Les Miserables Ben Grimes - 5/5 - This production was an excellent restaging and reworking of producer Cameron Mackintoshʼs legendary 1985 musical. Daphne Lin - 5/5 - To my delight, West End did Les Miz absolute justice. This was my first in-person theatre experience for Les Miz. The West End production was incredibly creative and an absolute delight -- having to enter late and getting tickets so last minute only made it better.

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION Foods / Restaurants Fish and Chips Libby Brungardt - 3 /5 - Its good, but donʼt get your hopes too high. The quality varies a lot from place to place and you could get something great, or something soggy and gross. Sadra Gerami - 4.5/5 - As a fan of seafood, this really hit the spot every time, whether it was at a local pub or a fancier restaurant. I mustʼve eaten it at at least five separate restaurants across all of London, and I have zero regrets.

Meat pies Daphne Lin - 5/5 - Had a Chicken & Wild Mushroom Pie at Shakespeare's Head and have absolutely no regrets. I have been craving another bite of that pie ever since. Libby Brungardt - 5/5 - This is one of the few things I had more than once on the trip. Oh yeah. This is where itʼs at. Ashley Eshnaur - 5/5 - This is the food that I miss when I am back home. No joke, I have dreams about a good meat pie. Chicken and mushroom is preferable to steak and ale, but steak and ale pies certainly hold their own!

Ciders Mady Edmonds - 5/5 - I genuinely enjoyed every cider I had. I enjoy fruitier drinks, so these were perfect. My absolute favorite had to be the pear and apple cider I had in Oxford. Ashley Eshnaur - 4.5/5 - Iʼve been a bit of a cider fan for several years, but the UK has something the US does not: Aspall Suffolk, specifically their Draught Cider. Fruity and delicious, this is my go-to when Iʼm in a London pub, and I judge them harshly if they donʼt carry it. Eight generations have certainly done well as this family has, hands down, the best cider in the UK.

Crepes Sadie Williasm - 4/5 - I didnʼt actually try them, but the fact that I didnʼt shows more about my will power than the quality of the delicate, angelic french pancake. Daphne Lin - 3.5/5 - Had a mediterannean-style breakfast crepe shortly after arriving in London. Although it satiated my hunger quite satisfactorily, the outdoor seating with its free view of the square outshone the paid meal itself.

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION British Museum Sadie Williams - 3/5 - I came for the Rosetta Stone, I left almost immediately to escape the hordes of screaming school children on a field trip. Daphne Lin - 4/5 - I was understatedly underprepared in coming with only a couple of hours available to explore. I have visited several museums throughout the years while traveling internationally and this museum may make my top five. Ashley Eshnaur - 3/5 - Went for the Rosetta Stone and Viking exhibit. Entrance was super quick, not many in attendance. When trying to view the Rosetta Stone, patrons were quite rude, I barely got to see it. Disappointed as this was something that has been on my bucket list for years. Viking exhibit was much smaller than expected, but was still interesting nonetheless.

Science Museum Libby Brungardt - 5/5 - Not too busy, very exciting. The medical floor (yes a whole floor) was by far the most interesting one. They also have a space exploration part that was pretty cool. Sadra Gerami - 5/5 - A very fun and enjoyable attraction. Having visited once when I was younger, it was nice to be able to wander around the museum and explore all the new exhibits since my last visit. A thoroughly enjoying place overall.

Tate Modern Libby Brungardt - 4.5/5 - Honestly a great museum, but the only problem I had was that there were a bunch of school kids walking around, making a bunch of noise and drawing EVERYTHING. Not the best experience there :( Kiley Tippett - 4.25/5 - I went mainly for the Andy Warhol exhibit which was amazing! It showcased a lot of his artwork that I hadnĘźt even seen before, along with a lot of his classic pieces as well. It was a really beautifully designed museum, and I loved just sitting down by the fountain and reading my book :)

Natural History Daphne Lin - 3.5/5 - The main dinosaur exhibit was cool but rather underwhelming, and the layout of the museum's exhibits seemed incohesive. I may have given this a higher rating if I had visited for longer than an hour and seen more exhibits. Overall, a good way to pass some time near the Strathmore.

Victoria and Albert Daphne Lin - 4.5/5 - I spent far too little time here. Nonetheless, several displays that encompassed entire rooms forced me to stop. I was most definitely unprepared for the size of some of the displays -- it was breathtaking!

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION Mady Edmonds - 4/5 - As a huge AP Euro lover, this was the museum of my dreams. I loved being able to see all different forms of art throughout the world. A little overwhelming but very much worth a visit if you have a lot of time to take it all in.

Attractions London Eye Sadie Williams - 3.5/5 - The photos are an iconic London view, but the tickets are a bit pricey for the ‘grams that ensue. Itʼs definitely one of those things that if youʼve done it once, you never need to again. Libby Brungardt - 2 /5 - I didnʼt go, but I know itʼs not worth it. Thereʼs a handful of free viewing places across the city so I went to those instead. Looks cool on the outside tho. Mady Edmonds - 3/5 - I loved sitting and observing London from above, but after a while it loses its excitement. Good pictures, though.

Sky Garden Mady Edmonds - 4.5/5 - Stunning views and itʼs free! Caroline Hwang - 4.9/5 - I loved it! Beautiful views of London and the garden part of it is amazing as well. Definitely worth a visit. It is also a great spot for aesthetic photo taking with London in the background.

Windsor Castle Ashley Eshnaur - 4/5 - The Queenʼs weekend home. The oldest, largest, continuously occupied castle in the world. Entry was very quick. Be prepared to walk! Two disappointments: First, I was not informed that there are two State Apartments tours: the Historic Tour and the Ceremonial Tour. I only did the Historic Tour. The second is the chapel and all buildings after it were closed for an event.

London Bridge Caroline Hwang - 5/5 - I loved it! I went once during daytime and once at night and took so many pictures. Definitely worth a visit to see both the day and night view of it. The river walk was also nice and could be quite a romantic walk at night.

The City Itself Our Hotel - The Strathmore Sadie Williams - 10/5 - Although the rooms seemed small at first, I soon realized that they were deliberately scrunched to force us into the

SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION world to mingle amongst ourselves. The breakfast and hospitality were unmatched, and my only regret is that I am now addicted to a Jam that even Amazon cannot give me. Ashley Eshnaur - 4/5 - Fancy! Almost too fancy. That being said, the beds were phenomenal, hospitality was most generous. Breakfast was pretty decent. While Kensington is beautiful, I think there are other places in London that could have served as our hub and still would have received the stellar service the Strathmore gave us. Caroline Hwang - 4/5 - Loved our hotel! The entire building was beautiful, and I felt so fancy walking into our hotel every day. The location was great, and the buildings in the area were all very beautiful.

The Tube/The Underground Mady Edmonds - 4/5 - Okay, the London Underground has to be the best kept and thoroughly functioning form of public transport Iʼve ever been on. The different train lines are fairly easy to understand, and after a while knowing the different stops and where to get off comes naturally. Iʼll take the tube over the Lawrence buses any day. Sadra Gerami - 4/5 - A very convenient and quick way to get to any place in London you desire. While it may be a bit confusing the first times you use it, and the amount of people crowding each carriage can be a bit uncomfortable at times, the Tube is a highly reliable and efficient way to travel around the city. Caroline Hwang - 4/5 - It was pretty easy to understand and navigate the Tube after taking it a few times (and making a few mistakes)! Also, a plus is that a few lines run 24 hours on Friday and Saturday nights, which is quite convenient for tourists who would like to travel to places late at night (me). Another thing I loved about taking the Tube is that you often see many dogs on the Tubes! Which is so, so cute.

THANK YOU FOR TRYING YALLPʼS NEW SPECIAL QUARANTINE PRINT EDITION HOW DID YOU LIKE IT? TO TAKE A BRIEF SURVEY, PLEASE MAIL A SELF-ADDRESSED, STAMPED ENVELOPE TO: YALLP PO BOX 119 OSLO, NORWAY, THE WORLD (ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 15 OCTOBER, 2007)

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

by Becky Phelps, Edward Reyes, a n d Ta i j a F a i r b a n k Desserts: 1.) Chocolate Oranges -- it’s an orange shaped chocolate. Very self-explanatory. We had 2 varieties: “whole” oranges and mini “orange slices” Becky: If I ate that it would kill me, but it’s aesthetically nice. Really pretty, I love that it has all the details of an actual orange, I honestly expected it to just be a solid sphere of chocolate. Edward: I knew chocolate tasted good, but who knew fruits were also tasty?

bought them in this quaint little sweets shop within the Oxford covered market. We were welcomed by the shop owner, who was this extremely friendly older gentleman who gave us tips and backgrounds on all of the unique sweets he sold, as well as free samples of anything we asked for (including these flavored chocolates because we were not able to purchase each flavor!) He also had special dairy free chocolates that Becky could eat (we’ll get to that) and the glittery potion drinks we discuss in the “Tea” section of this article. Tajia: Did Not Like Any Of These One Bit

Tajia: The single most delicious chocolate I ate all week. I need a personal stash in America

teas or iced teas, but really enjoyed breakfast teas. I had an English Breakfast with each english breakfast and it became the most anticipated part of each breakfast. I thought I liked Earl Grey, but after having it more in London, I really didn’t care for it. My preferred “Tea & Desserts” tea was Chamomile. Tajia: I have a newfound hatred for the English Breakfast, but I do like Chamomile. 2) Glittery potion drinks Becky: Let me start by saying that finding these Magical potion-inspired lemonades was by far the most excited I have ever been by a drink. The aesthetic of them was so beautiful I was obsessed immediately, and I was so excited everyone was willing to go along with me and get them! I will honestly be sad when we finally drink them because they’re too pretty to drink. Also, I have very high expectations because all the lemonade I had in London was incredible. Edward: I’m really excited to get together with Becky and Tajia to enjoy these someday. We all purchased different flavors, mine being “Tropical Fruits”. So we HAVE to drink them together so that we can try all the flavors.

4.) Jelly Babies -- essentially the UK version of jelly beans. 2.) Cadbury Twirl -- it’s a bar of chocolate in similar shape to a Twix, but instead the inside is full of thin layers of twisting chocolate. Becky: Again, I am unable to eat this, but I’m sure it was great. Nice packaging for sure, and I tend to judge chocolate on its packaging and how fun the advertisements are. Edward: I had heard about it years prior from a friend in highschool who described it as their undisputedly favorite chocolate, but hadn’t had it till London. It was great! Because of the layering, the chocolate’s texture was really creamy and light, much more than the standard chocolates you find here in the states. Tajia: Super chocolate-y. The idea of it was nice, but it was too rich of chocolate for me to eat 3.) Chocolate made from science from a small shop in Oxford

Becky: As it turns out, British jellybeans are significantly different from American jelly beans. They’re at least 2x bigger than jellybeans are and are a much softer candy covered in powdered sugar. Personally, I don’t think they live up to the Dr. Who hype, because it took me about 10 minutes to get the gummy residue off of my teeth after eating each one. Edward: As a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I was ecstatic to try Jelly Babies, so when I noticed them one night at Tesco while browsing for some Becky-safe candies, I jumped at the opportunity to ‘selflessly’ purchase them for Becky. I really enjoyed them, thinking they would be similar to Haribo jelly bears, but pleasantly surprised to see they were larger, and had a softer interior. Also, they were originally marketed as “Unclaimed Babies”, so I love eating orphans. Tajia: Icons.

Edward: Science is cool and made chocolate taste like not chocolate but still chocolatey. I liked it and the variety. What was really cool about these is that we

-----------Gathering nightly to chill and eat desserts while everyone else was out at nightclubs was one of the best parts of the whole trip. You can’t put a price on how much fun it was to explore London and Oxford with these people. (Though, I will say, it is at least several thousand dollars.) We even coerced Edward into putting on a face mask one night! Don’t tell him there’s photographic evidence or he might get mad.

“Tea”: 1) Tea

Becky: For the literal last time I cannot eat chocolate or I’ll die, but I do support science!

Tajia: We haven’t had these yet because we’re saving them for our reunion post coronavirus lockdown

Becky: Tea is terrible, I drank it twice and it got worse each time. 0/10. Edward: I love tea and really liked that we had a healthy supply within the hotel. I’m used to fruitier

Meeting Becky and Tajia each night for “Tea and Desserts” was such a relaxing and wholesome way to end each day. Each night was unique and memorable and very much felt like a classic sleep-over. Also, there was no face mask, I don’t know what they are talking about, and they promised me there was no photographic evidence.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

Scan for our video reviews of Golden Union Fish Market!

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

H I G H EXPECTATIONS by Grace Schilling

The ice was the best part of this meal unfortunately. The fish was extremely bland even with lemon and tartar sauce. Malt vinegar made it edible, but I still didn’t even eat half of the portion. Again, they were generous, and the fish was huge, but I wasn’t impressed by the flavor. As a child who was able to visit Walt Disney World and loved Epcot for all of its countries and dining options, I think I had a twisted view of Fish and Chips. In Florida you can get Fish & Chips in a cone with fries at the bottom and the fish on top. I was looking all over London for a cone of Fish & Chips and was even looking forward to eating street food. I had heard Mary talking about the amazing Fish & Chips in cones and was upset to not have found any myself. By my own admission, I never did a Google search or tried to ask a local, but I didn’t expect it to be difficult. If I ever find myself in London again, I know I’ll I know I’ll return to Golden Union Fish Market and I’ll do my research to find Fish & Chips in a cone. I need a Fish & Chips cone experience to meet my high expectations.

When I think of the United Kingdom, I think of fish & chips. Fish & chips, typically a breaded white fish served with a side of fries, was first introduced to me in junior high school. I ordered them from an Irish Restaurant in Weston, Missouri. I had high expectations for authentic fish and chips. I originally had planned to eat only Fish & Chips and have a large collection of amazing five-star reviews and photos of beautiful fish. I ended up only ordering Fish & Chips twice and then hating the second fish. My first experience with authentic Fish & Chips was at Golden Union Fish Market near Oxford Circus. I found their location listed on TimeOutLondon.com in an article for the Best Fish & Chips. They truly deserved the top spot. The restaurant offered take away or sit down and the menu of seafood options with Chips was longer than most entrée menus at the U.S. I decided to go with the classic breaded Cod and Chips with the

classic breaded Cod and Chips with the house tartar sauce. I typically enjoy my Fish & Chips with lemon juice and malt vinegar but near the end of the meal I was asking others if I may finish their tartar sauce. The fish itself was the size of the plate and the Chips were perfectly crunchy and also had the warm, soft potato filling. I’m no professional food critic, but I really enjoyed this whole meal! During an afternoon in Soho, Daphne and I came across Shakespeare’s Head. Shakespeare’s Head was a nice-looking pub with an interesting interior. The inside walls were covered in posters and articles about the history and relevance of Carnaby Street where the pub was located. After getting over the initial confusion of ordering upstairs when there was no waitstaff, I decided on a Coca-Cola served with ice and the Fish and Chips. The ice was the best part of this meal unfortunately. The fish was extremely bland even with lemon and tartar sauce. Malt vinegar made it edible, but I

still didn’t even eat half of the portion. Again, they were generous, and the fish was huge, but I wasn’t impressed by the flavor. As a child who was able to visit Walt Disney World and loved Epcot for all of its countries and dining options, I think I had a twisted view of Fish and Chips. In Florida you can get Fish & Chips in a cone with fries at the bottom and the fish on top. I was looking all over London for a cone of Fish & Chips and was even looking forward to eating street food. I had heard Mary talking about the amazing Fish & Chips in cones and was upset to not have found any myself. By my own admission, I never did a Google search or tried to ask a local, but I didn’t expect it to be difficult. If I ever find myself in London again, I know I’ll return to Golden Union Fish Market and I’ll do my research to find Fish & Chips in a cone. I need a Fish & Chips cone experience to meet my high expectations.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Hyperbole and Transcendency on Gloucester Road by Ben Grimes Just around the corner from the Strathmore Hotel, across the street from the Gloucester Road Station, tucked between a KFC and a burger place, stood an intriguing-looking restaurant called Comptoir Libanais. Every person with whom I passed this establishment remarked on how, er, remarkable it looked. The restaurant exuded such color and life that it was impossible to avoid noticing it. Every square inch of the place seemed to be covered in gorgeous tilework that was absolutely bursting with vibrant color, and the mismatched chairs and tables were similarly bright and cheery. From within the restaurant, a huge vintage print of a woman’s visage gazed out as passers-by. Even if not to eat anything, I knew at first glance that I needed to explore the inside of that space. Fortunately for me, I did eat something… and holy hell, did I ever. The Mezze Platter came with hommos, baba ghanuj, quinoa tabbouleh, falafel, natural labné, cheese samboussek, flatbread, and pickles, and I am not exaggerating when I say that every single time I took a bite, I melted in my seat, collapsed on the floor, died of natural causes, and had to be revived by a ragtag team of medics. I’d tried hommos in its many varied incarnations and spellings a thou sand times before, but this was without a doubt the richest and most delicious version I’d ever had. Similarly, the baba ghanuj and tabbouleh exceptionally exceeded the expectations engendered by my earlier experiences with these kinds of delights. The flavors were a symphony of spices and herbs, blended to perfection. The platter was, to put it lightly, one of the best culinary experiences of my life. And that was just the appetizer.

For the main, I ordered the Lamb Kofta Tagine. Now, I’m a sucker for a nice tagine, so when I ordered I wasn’t expecting anything with which I didn’t already have a sense of familiarity. But having just consumed the mezze, my expectations and senses were unavoidably heightened… and they were assuredly not disappointed. What came to my table gave me the sense of something a parent would lovingly prepare for their family: a heavy clay bowl nearly overflowing with a rich stew of rice, vegetables, and impossibly tender spiced lamb. Perhaps this dish was aided by the fact of a chilly London rain falling just outside the windows, but in that moment my body and soul needed warming, and the Lamb Tagine did precisely the trick. I had to re-call upon the services of that ragtag team of medics as I again collapsed, died, went to heaven, cursed God for taking me from my meal, and returned to Earth burdened with a knowledge of the future which no mortal man should ever have to bear, with every bite. Paired, as it was, with a Mojito, the meal was utterly transcendent. Comptoir Libanais was founded by Algerian chef and restauranteur Tony Kitous, who moved to London from his home country as an 18-year-old with £70 to his name, to chase a dream of opening his own place. He has stated that his goal was to make Middle Eastern food as popular and ubiquitous as Italian food. He has undoubtedly made a great start at that. The restaurant has been a smashing success in the UK, and there are now 23 Comptoir Libanais locations spread across the British Isles, as well as a location each in Dubai and the Netherlands. Despite now being a chain of sorts, the restaurant has lost none of its sense of individuality, craftsmanship, or significance. It’s a singular dining experience, and one that I sincerely hope crosses the pond so we might enjoy its riches without having to get British Airways involved.

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LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

1. The Chicken Nuggets. First of all, they come in sizes of 9 or 4, which is just so impractical, as far as sizes go. Perpetually one less chicken nugget than normal seems like a curse a witch would put on someone they hated. Couldn’t be me, wouldn’t be me, don’t want that to be me. You know the saying that it’s what’s on the inside that counts? Doesn’t apply here. The outside of the nuggets is gorgeous. They were golden brown and crispy instead of the usual slightly soggy nuggets we get in the US. Not only that, but also they smelled different than our normal nuggets. It’s hard to describe the way they smelled because you don’t notice the way something smells when you’re around it a lot since you’ve gone “nose blind” to it. It’s like the way you notice how the smell of the air changes when traveling from eastern Kansas to western Kansas (something I am intimately familiar with). But the real reason that that saying doesn’t apply here is because the meat on the inside of the nuggets in the UK is different than what we’re used to. The chicken tasted like real chicken instead of the imitation chicken that we get here in the US. The change in the quality of the meat is so drastically different that you have to eat half of your nuggets before you’re able to move past the difference (and by then you don’t have many nuggets left).

3. Raspberry Mini McFlurry. Now onto the menu items we don’t have. The raspberry mini McFlurry was genuinely a godsend. This menu item is so different from the McFlurry we have in the US. A good difference though. Beautiful difference. To start with: the size. Since it was a mini McFlurry, the dessert was in a cup about the size of a teacup and you were given a regular, plastic spoon instead of the clear, plastic spoon-almost-turned-straw that are given out with McFlurries in the US. The raspberry was half-way mixed into the ice cream, but mostly settled at the bottom. I can forgive them for this on the principle that everything about this dessert was delicious. I mean, there were chocolate shavings on it even. McDonald’s US could never. The raspberry puree made a great contrast with the vanilla ice cream and, I’m not gonna lie, I had a little bit of a religious experience while eating this. I don’t know if eating McDonald’s ice cream can really be considered a religious experience, but I definitely think so. The only thing I was disappointed by in this menu item was the size. I should have ordered a bigger size, but that’s on me. The McFlurry caught me slippin’.

2. A Big Mac. People have always said serving sizes are bigger in the United States than other places, but I wasn’t aware of just how true that is until this moment. The size of the burger was smaller than I was used to, and I needed a few seconds, staring at it in my hands, to get used to this fact before I was able to eat it. There were also less sesame seeds on top of the bun than normal too--but that’s more of an afterthought than anything else I noticed in the moment. You know when you’re in the US eating a Big Mac, only a few bites left, and suddenly all of the bun has shifted so there’s more bun than patty and you’re just eating straight bread and condiments for a bit? Never happened here. Maybe it’s the smaller size, maybe it’s the (presumable) higher quality ingredients, but the bun and the patty were perfectly pro portioned. It was lovely. The taste wasn’t any different from the US either, so that was super rad.

4. Banana Shake. The only thing I can really say is a question. Why don’t we have this? This shake flavor is one I would get with my usual McDonald’s order if we had it. The consistency of the shake was a bit thicker than in the US, but it was a wonderful addition in this situation. + 1. Fries. (Bonus) This was the only part of the menu I tried that tasted the same as in the US. They weren’t the re-heated, re-salted fries that you would sometimes get from going through the drive through mid-afternoon, but instead they were the kind of straight-from-the-fryer, still piping hot fries you get from showing up just before the lunch rush at noon. Beautiful, gorgeous, delicious, 10/10 would eat again.

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

To d a y ’s To p i c :

Food Allergies

Having Food Allergies CAN Get Better Across the Pond! By: Becky Phelps As someone with an ever-growing list of life-threatening food allergies (every dairy product ever, red meat, cherries) traveling can be…difficult. I prepared for this journey by packing half a suitcase worth of snacks, mentally and emotionally ready to eat nothing but my Chex-mix and Crasins. The reality, I am happy to share, was much more filling, and a lot tastier. I had the good luck to have friends with me that were willing to walk around a little to find options that worked for me. The key, we learned after a week of crossing our fingers and walking into restaurants that either had “vegan” written in the window, or looked as hipster as possible (yes, hipster restaurants usually have more allergen-friendly options). With only a week of experience under my belt, I feel confident saying you only need two tools to find allergen-friendly food in London: an eye for very small, hipster-looking local chains, and Google. These tiny local chains often have something most places do not: an online ingredient menu! Simply search the name of the promising-looking restaurant you’re looking at from across the street, and if it’s safe you’ll know within seconds! Since I already went ahead and did the (weeks’ worth of) in-depth research of the best allergen-friendly restaurants to eat at, I’ll share some of my favorites. Patty & Bun is a London-based hamburger chain with a significant plant-based and allergen-friendly menu. With all my allergies, I usually have to eat a plain hamburger wrapped in lettuce. But at Patty & Bun, I got the vegan ‘Smokey Robinson’ burger; loaded with safe to eat toppings, and by far the biggest burger I’ve ever gotten to eatcomplete with vegan fries! Franco Manca is a sourdough pizzeria with not only vegan and allergy-friendly options on the menu, but a weekly vegan special pizza! I got the #1 on the menu, an organic tomato, garlic, basil and oregano pizza that was bigger than the plate it came on, and absolutely yummy! It was really neat to find a place where the part of pizza I usually struggle with, the dough, automatically being dairy-free. Last, but probably best, Prezzo is an Italian chain with an allergen menu that gets as specific as soybeans and mustard seeds, that also happens to be beautifully designed. I got the Penne Arrabbiata with chicken (the original dish is vegan), and it was not only beautiful, but it was delicious! The restaurant on its own is something special; the wall nearest to the road is all windows and it brings a lot of natural light inside. The chairs and the walls are a bright turquoise and soft red that complement each other surprisingly well and makes the whole atmosphere just lovely.

Having a Tree Nut Allergy in the UK by Maddie Seymour My whole life has been a constant series of asking “does this contain tree nuts” and carrying around an epi pen in my backpack. Having a tree nut allergy hasn’t altered my life in any extreme way, but the fact is, I’ve always had to be more aware because of it. While some allergies are non-life threatening, mine could potentially kill me. I’ve become lazier about checking and double checking and carrying around the medicine that could save my life as I’ve gotten older, but in London I realized why it’s so important to do so—and how much more seriously brits treat allergies than Americans do. On one of the days of our trip, we took a Tea Bus Tour around London and because I didn’t order my own ticket, I forgot to remind the company of my allergies. I was seconds away from eating a muffin with walnuts in it when I remembered to ask the worker if it contained nuts; she promptly freaked out and made me sign a form saying if I died, it wasn’t her fault. Let me just say, it doesn’t feel good to be treated like your life, and your allergies, could end in an accident on any given day. In addition, I remember thinking that if it had happened in America, they would’ve brushed it off like it was nothing. They certainly would not have made me sign away my life. But shouldn’t they? Shouldn’t allergies be treated as seriously as they are? At almost every restaurant I went to in London where I mentioned my allergy, I was given either a whole other menu or a special dish. While it was kind of uncomfortable to be treated differently, it was mainly just because I’m not used to it. If I learned one thing in London, I learned that there is a alle better way to call attention to food allergies, and that the US could learn a thing or two from the UK.

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The Best and the Worst Trying Alcoholic Drinks in London When in London, one of the things I looked forward to the most (other than the history and the sights and whatnot) was trying as many alcoholic drinks as I could afford to purchase. I myself am not twenty-one (I’m nineteen) but lucky for me, the drinking age in the UK is eighteen. Despite being carded numerous times, I managed to fulfill my goal of trying lots of different drinks. Below is a list of every drink (good and bad) that I ordered during my ten days in London. 1. Rosé At a cute, little café (that also turned out to be a chain of many) near the famed Harrod’s Department Store, I ordered my first alcoholic drink of the trip. I had high hopes for Rosé, it’s one of those classy drinks you always see referenced on t-shirts or on rich people’s Instagrams. I wanted in on the experience. So, I tried it, and I did not like it. I guess it was kind of sweet, but I didn’t like the flavor. It tasted a little too alcohol-y for my personal taste. Strike one.

4. Apple Pie-Tini One of my favorite ways to order a drink during the trip was while at the theater, where you could order a drink for before and during the show all at the same time. At the musical Waitress, I ordered the specialty drink for both before and during the interval of the show. sho I’ve never had a straight up martini, but I have to say, the “apple pie-tini” was one of my favorite drinks of the entire trip. It was delightfully chilled with a sweet, apple taste and little chunks of ice that melted on my tongue. I drank both of the drinks, and probably wouldn’t have minded a third. Two points for me. 5. Cider At a cute little pub near the hotel, I tried raspberry cider, and it was delicious. If I learned one thing over the course of my trip, I learned you can never go wrong with a cider. If I wanted a drink I knew I would like, I always ordered cider. This particular cider tasted like cranberry juice with a little zing to it. Three points for me!

2. Pimm’s Lemonade The next day I bought a Pimm’s Lemonade (kind of like a Mike’s Hard or a seltzer) with my lunch of fish and chips at a café in St. James’s James Park. I chose it because of my failure the day before, figuring it was better to play it safe. It was the right choice. The Pimm’s tasted just like a raspberry lemonade—with a little kick. It paired well with my meal and had a low enough alcohol content I didn’t feel it had any drastic effect. One point for me. 3. Merlot Ah, what to say about Merlot? Sunday night we went to a classy steak house in Gloucester Square, and it only felt right to split a bottle of wine to pair with our steaks. I’d never really had wine before, beyond a sip or two, but a glass of red always looked appealing enough to me. I’d see my mom drinking a glass after a hard day at work and groups of millennials ordering a bottle at a restaurant. I figured it was a safe enough bet that I, too, would enjoy it. How very, very wrong I was. I spent the entirety of the night trying to control my facial expressions as I downed the glass rather than genuinely enjoying it. I don’t know what it is about wine, but I just don’t like the taste. It would take several more mistakes to realize this, but the fact remained from the beginning. Strike two.

by Maddie Seymour

6. Mimosa At the Heathrow airport on our last day in London, I ordered my final alcoholic drink as a legal woman. I’d always wanted to try a mimosa, and it was barely eight in the morning, so it seemed like the obvious choice. I don’t know what I expected a mimosa to taste like, but I definitely thought it would taste a little more juice-y and a little less alcohol-y (I’m not trying to become a rich housewife just yet). Definitely not my favorite drink of the trip, and I have to say it didn’t pair well with my white toast and raspberry jam. Three strikes, I’m out.

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Te a

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

L o v e r ’s

By Grace Schilling Tea Things I Did In London: I took Bridget’s Tea Bus, bought tea at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, smelled tea Twinings Tea blends until nearly closing time at midnight, and saved tea from the hotel breakfast to drink at home. London has a rich history as a Tea Town. Dutch merchants were said to have been the first to bring tea leaves to Europe. Tea became popular as it was safe to drink due to the water needing to be boiled. Tea was more popular than its rival coffee drink because of how easy it was to brew the leaves. As Americans, tea is often thought of as being the good dumped into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party. This was due to the prices but in reality, tea was being taxed in London as well from 1689 to 1964. Tea was a high commodity drank by those who could afford it. Now, tea is popular around the world and many experiences exist to learn and enjoy the fancy drink. Bridget Tea Bus became a bucket list experience in the Summer of Bridget’s 2019 when I saw a YouTube Couple take the tour and review the experience. I think this was some of the best money I spent on the trip because I got to ride for an hour and a half on one of the famous red double decker buses. I enjoyed this bus tour in order to rest my legs and also to see the sites missed when taking advantage of the Underground Tubes. The Tea Bus had about 8 different teas from and I decided to try to drink as much of the Jasmine and Earl Grey tea as humanly possible in an hour and a half. The bus itself had a narrated track which went over the sites we were seeing out of the windows and some of the British history which tied everything together. Our group was quite a rowdy bunch which did make the listening a little difficult, but the mix of narration and classic “British” tunes was perfectly enjoyable. I enjoyed the selection of sandwiches and pastries and was happily filled just eating one of each. The takeaway from the tour was the travel mug we drank tea out of on the bus which was a cute little plastic pink and white cup with girly illustrations and London sites around the exterior. Of course, if you didn’t eat everything on the bus you could have taken away a little box of leftover treats. Fortnum & Mason was a very popular suggestion on my Pinterest searches and for good reasons. It was a magical tea buying experience and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed walking through the other levels of the tea/department store. They sell their own famous tea blends in bags or loose leaf. They also sell sweet treats, candies,

L o n d o n

R e v i e w

unique wines and spirits and various accessories, clothing items and home goods for gifts on the upstairs levels. Everything above the tea level was extremely expensive, though nice to look at. I was shocked to learn they did not sell wooden tea chests, as I was hoping for something to store all the tea in once I made it home. I bought their typical 6 tea sample for myself and as gifts for others and also a unique Gin & Tonic zesty tea blend for a friend whom I have yet to see and gift it to due to COVID-19. If I was to return to London, I would like to try to book a reservation in their tearoom to compare it to my Tea Bus experience. Twinings has a flagship store in Temple, London which was closed the week we were there; however, Daphne and I stumbled upon a store in Piccadilly around 11 PM after we saw Waitress one evening in the West End. The gentleman wafted us with about 20 different types of tea blends before he “allowed” us to peruse the store on our own. He wasn’t overly aggressive and was very passionate about us smelling his favorite tea blends all over the first floor of the show room. Since it was so late and close to closing, it was not crowded. Daphne and I were able to giggle at the situation and walked circles around the floor smelling every type of tea imaginable. I settled on a green tea in a beautiful navy canister with a silver moon which was accented with a “grand berry and vanilla”. I thought it smelled like a sweet light tea which I may enjoy on summer days over ice. Daphne bought more tea than me in this location as she bought more gifts for others here. This location also had tea ice cream which I didn’t try and its own tearoom. I wish I would have tried some of the beautiful tea ice creams because of their gorgeous colors, though I’m not sure I’d have liked a milky tea flavor.

Overall, London was a tea lover’s heaven. I was able to shop for every kind of tea imaginable and enjoy a cup 2-3 times a day, if not more! I would love to go back to London for more unique experiences but for now my wandering heart is very happy drinking the tea I purchased and brought home.

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Food for Thought Libby Brungardt eats London

The food in London is absolutely spectacular! There is something for everyone there! I have always heard about how food in England is bland, but I can assure you, this is only sometimes true. Not often, but every once in a while, you get something that just seems to not have any salt at all (like the big, soggy fries that you’d eat with some fried fish), but aside from those rare occasions, the food is amazing! Breakfast: For breakfast, I mostly had the hotel breakfast. This may sound boring, but it certainly is not. They have a beautiful assortment of breakfast foods! From croissants with brie cheese and fresh strawberries, to salmon on rolls with butter (or whatever else), to classic English beans on toast with boiled tomatoes, to eggs and bacon, they really have it all! And their jams are truly something else - apricot, black currant, raspberry, strawberry, and orange marmalade they’re all absolutely delightful. For breakfast in London, if you do get tired of the hotel breakfast, they have a lot of other absolutely delicious options. They’ve got some of the best doughnuts and crepes I have ever tried. One cute little doughnut shop I went into reminded me a lot of Cozy’s in Manhattan. It had a beautiful display of doughnuts, a small bar/ counter from which to buy the doughnuts, and that’s it. It was a little hole-in -the- wall kind of place, but it was out of this world! Lunch: One thing that London had quite a lot of was little convenience store-esque shops with prepackaged food items that you could just grab and buy. These kinds of stores could hold anything from curry to a simple sandwich, and they were not hard to come by. These were the types of stores I frequented for my lunches. They were by far the quickest way to get some good food in London, because anywhere with a waiter or waitress was definitely going to take at least an hour. Two of my favorites of these sorts of lunches were a flakey chicken pie and a delicious bento-box style sweet chicken meal, along with a rose boba tea. I cannot recommend eating at these sorts of places enough! They really make it easy to eat and then get on with your day! A word of caution, they have something like Panda Express there. It’s not bad, but it’s not good. Find another place to eat.

Dinner: So for dinner, of course there’s a million options in London, and most of them are amazing! In my time there, I ate a lot of food, as did everyone else. In this section, I believe I will be mostly going over the experiences at the group dinners - at Pizza Express, Turf Tavern, and at Wagamama. The only thing I will add aside from this is that the Golden Union Fish Bar is the best place to get fish and chips at, if you decide you need to eat that while you’re there. Delightfully crisp fries and flakey fish 10/10.

Firstly, let’s talk about Pizza Express. It was quite a bit more food than I was expecting! I wish we would have coordinated appetizers and desserts because it was just too much! But it was absolutely delicious! I got the cal amari for my appetizer, and I’ll be honest, it was the right choice. It was by far the best out of all the ones I tasted - including the dough balls. Hot take: the dough balls are only okay. I say, go big or go home and get a fancy appetizer. When it comes to the pizza, they were all amazing. I can’t stress enough how you cannot go wrong when choosing a pizza here. They’ve got a killer crust, and a rich, savory sauce. Not too much basil! Then the desserts came out and oh boy those were amazing too. I got one of the lighter desserts, and I’m glad I did. I don’t think I could have eaten an entire slice of tiramisu if my life depended on it! I got essentially coffee and cream puffs, and they were heavenly! A nice, light, crisp exterior with a creamy, rich, chilly interior - perfectly balanced.

Wagamama was also a lot of food. It too was 3 courses, but we ordered while we were there, so we could collaborate with our pals to get just enough food. Their appetizers were absolutely amazing! I got some duck potstickers and oh my gosh, I could eat only those for the rest of my life! The sauce they came with was also nice and tangy, and just slightly spicy. Highly recommended. Then, for the main courses, there was every kind of noodle you could think of! They had curries, ramens, and various pan noodle dishes, and they were all amazing! I would recommend not getting ramen though, because the broth is very filling, and you’ll barely have room for their delicious desserts! They have a fairly large variety of desserts, but I got a vegan layered cake. Which brings up a good point about this place: they do have quite a few vegan options! CONTINUED>

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Food for Thought cont’d from Page 42

In Which Libby Brungardt Carries on Eating London Lastly, the Turf - a won derful pub in Oxford, it really is something else. You have to go through a narrow alleyway to get there! It makes it feel like you know a little secret about Oxford that no one else knows! Turning to go down this little passageway so small that two people couldn’t walk next to each other. You go down, and take a right, behind a building, and there it is. A little pub just tucked away and out of sight. They had a good splay of pub foods - meat pies and mac and cheese were some of the best! But above all, their ciders were absolutely amazing. I truly do not believe I will ever taste a cider as bing- bangslap- my- knee- amazing as the one I had at this place. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and it was as light and refreshing as a cold honeycrisp apple. Desserts: This is perhaps my favorite category. I ate a deplorable amount of desserts on this trip - so much so that despite having walked everywhere every day, I still managed to gain 5lbs while in London. The desserts there are undeniably fantastic. I actually had quite the pilgrimage to get to a cupcake shop that I’ve been dying to go to ever since i was in junior high. It’s called Crumbs and Doilies Cupcake Shop, it’s in Soho, and it is the best cupcake shop. You cannot convince me otherwise. It is the best. The reason I have wanted to go there so badly for so long is that when I was in junior high and early high school, I began to really love baking. I would spend a long time trying to find fun things to make when I happened upon this YouTube channel called Cupcake Jemma. She made all sorts of wonderful cupcakes, cookies, and other desserts with different fun flavors- cereal milk cupcakes, red velvet macarons, birthday cake batter cupcakes, and so many more. She always talked about her shop in Soho. I didn’t remember this until about 2 weeks before we went on the trip, and I decided that I absolutely HAD to go!!! I ended up going twice. These cupcakes are so amazing! They came in a little cardboard box, and I accidentally ate the meringue off of the strawberry one before taking the picture here. Oops! Aside from these, I also partook in a lot of ice cream, meringues, cakes, gelato, doughnuts, cream puffs and lemon me ringue pies. Every desert I had in London was astounding. Not a single miss on the whole trip!

Through the Market by Sadie Williams Growing up in a city that is most accurately described as a suburb of a suburb of Wichita, my whole life has consisted of the slow paced, contented lifestyle that only small towns can embody. Life here is peaceful, and no one is ever in a particular rush to be anywhere or to do anything: it drives me crazy. While planning a detailed day-to-day itinerary for London, I made it a point to try to find the places that I thought would be the antithesis of my hometown, that is fast-paced and crowded with people. Of course, my mind immediately went to Soho and the West End, with their constant flow of individuals going to a myriad of shops, shows, and bars. Little did I know, the exact organized chaos I was so desperately hunting for was waiting for me on my last few days in London. On Friday morning, a group of us planned on going to the Borough Market to grab some lunch and wander around for a little while before continuing on with our day. After trudging through a series of what only can be described as suspiciously well-kept alleyways and becoming (truly only slightly) disoriented, we went down a flight of steps that at least would take us somewhere interesting, if not our intended destination. After reaching the bottom of the stairs that were obviously older than our country, I led the way--or rather my nose did-- through a row of restaurants that omitted the most mouth-watering aroma. Not letting our stomachs overpower our minds, we continued on and on until we were greeted with a massive green structure and a series of bridges that equally covered row upon row upon row of vendors selling everything under the sun. I knew then that this was what I had been searching for. The stalls were full of items ranging from gourmet beef jerky (to be clear, I’m sure they would smack me for calling their craft beef jerky) to full service dining to a tucked away sandwich equivalent of the Garden of Eden. My ears were overwhelmed by the cacophony of sounds that resulted from the hundreds of people walking through the whole market and taking meticulous mental notes of their choices before finally choosing the stand they were to buy from. I didn’t know before stepping foot in the Borough Market that it would be everything I was looking for on my Study Abroad, but it was even more. It had the culture, the cuisine, and the people that would have no place except in this city. Among all the palaces, all the gardens, and all the museums, this is the heartbeat of London.

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Falling in Love with Cambridge by Caroline Hwang

I fell in love with Cambridge on March 12th, Thursday, of 2020. This love story begins when a group of 4 of us, Maddy, Amanda, Anton, and I, decided to visit Cambridge. Despite the concerning circumstances of the Coronavirus, after discussion, we decided to still visit Cambridge that day. And now, I am glad we made such a decision. Before we decided to visit Cambridge, I was hesitant and nervous-- what do people do on their first date with Cambridge? What if my first date doesn’t go well? Too many concerns were running through my mind. However, after further digging into Cambridge’s background and finding out that him and I had a mutual love for the sciences, I decided to stop worrying, and give the date a try. It was quite cold and a bit gloomy outside, so our date started with a quick stop at Cafe Nero for some warm coffee. While at the coffee shop, Cambridge also introduced himself to us by telling us more about the different colleges he owned and how fun his town is. I was immediately intrigued by his introductions, and we started our {group} date walking through his town. King's College, Emmanuel College, Corpus Clock, Corpus Christi College… The list of colleges and items that he owned was endless. We only had one morning and afternoon, so we didn’t have enough time to see all of the colleges that he wanted to show us. However, all of the ones that we did get to see were such beautiful castle-looking buildings. While admiring the architectural beauty of the colleges, I couldn’t stop but imagine myself attending those colleges. I could see myself walking down the streets, smiling, while carrying books in one hand and a coffee from Cafe Nero in the other. And at that moment, when I felt my heart beating so fast and my emotions consisting of only adornment and excitement, I knew that I had fallen in love with Cam bridge. Before ending our dates, Cambridge offered us gifts to take with us. I received clothing and postcards with Cambridge's name on it. I was really drawn towards a cute Teddy Bear, but Cambridge insisted that I must visit him again to receive it. Saying goodbye to Cambridge was hard. I felt sad, and I did not want the date to end. I told my friends that I am now dedicated to Cambridge, even though I knew it couldn’t be true since Cambridge is at a much higher social status than I am right now. On the train back, I knew that Cambridge and that cute teddy bear will be on my mind forever . However, instead of feeling sad, I will use my memories to motivate myself to strive for further dreams. Maybe one day, I will be able to see Cambridge again-- and this time, be gifted with the Teddy Bear.

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Where’s My Marbles? The British Museum, The Parthenon, and Empire by Ross Fitzpatrick What exactly makes the British Museum British? Sure, smartypantses, it’s in Britain. But even a brief scroll through the museum’s website, or perusal of one of its guidebooks, is enough to tell you how much of its contents are decidedly non-British. There are floors filled with artifacts from Ancient Egypt, the Assyrian Empire, or Feudal Japan. Of course, that’s part of what makes the museum such a worthwhile visit. The one consistent comment I heard from classmates and professors who visited the museum was just how much stuff there was to look at. If some of us had wanted to, we could have easily devoted our entire week to exploring this singular site’s seventy galleries, and would probably have found something we missed on each trip back. So, returning to the original question, perhaps the British-ness of the British Museum is, in fact, understated. After all, what really unites all of the artifacts held inside, if not that they all made their way to London, despite their origins? The real question worth interrogating, then, isn’t what, but how? How did the Rosetta Stone and a big ol’ chunk of the Parthenon get where they are today? How did they become “British?” And that complicates things.

On the museum’s website, they aren’t afraid to admit that “The British Empire had significant impact on the collection of the British Museum,” and they’ve “acknowledge[d] the difficult histories of some of [their] collections.” That’s particularly true of the Elgin Marbles, the museum’s collection of classical Greek sculptures, originally a part of the Parthenon – a Greek temple in Athens dedicated to the city’s patron goddess. Even the name of this particular exhibit demonstrates its complicated past. Lord Elgin was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire who, in the early 1800s, negotiated the excavation of large portions of the Parthenon (with a government that wasn’t ethnically or historically Greek), which remained in his private estate for the better portion of a decade before being sold to the British government. Perhaps expectedly, this has generated a significant amount of international controversy, with the Greek government consistently calling for the return of their lost marbles (see what I did there?). Now, as fun, hypocritical, and shortsighted as it would be for an American college student to sit at his laptop and continue to type up his rant against the British Museum for his fun-time-London-adventure class, I think it’s time for me to make my point. Which is that this issue is complex, influenced by a history of colonialism that should be seriously interrogated. But not necessarily that one side has got it all right. Supporters of the museum have a point when they remind opponents of the decrepit state of the Parthenon during the age of the Ottoman Empire; and the museum’s restorative efforts have been essential to preserving one of the most important pieces of classic Greek sculpture. But even these arguments point out the serious cultural erosion that was a byproduct of imperialism – even if it was the Ottomans and not the British, this time, that started the chain of neglect. Still, The British Museum does, as it claims, “[tell] the story of cultural achievement throughout the world, from prehistory until the present day.” They do it well – remember all that stuff I mentioned – and that should be recognized. The next question to ask, for us all to consider, is this: who has the right to tell that story?

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The Two Types of People You’ll See On the Tube by Sadra Gerami Before we headed to London, one assignment we had to complete in our class was to read and learn about the various unique elements of life in our destination. While some of these readings focused on elements such as how to behave in a pub or the average weather conditions, one particular reading discussed the primary methods of transport people in London use to travel within the city. The main item of focus in this reading was the London Underground, or, as it is more affectionately known, the Tube, which consists of a series of underground railway lines operated by high-speed trains. Thousands of people use the Tube daily, whether they be heading to work, a late-night play in Soho, or trying to catch a train at one of London’s many railway stations. Whenever you climb on board the Tube, you’re always likely to run into someone, and everyone you meet is a character of their own. However, it’s also likely that you’ll unfortunately run into someone with a bit too strong of a character. This in fact happened to me not just once, but twice in the same day. On my final day in London, I travelled down to Piccadilly Circus with a group of friends. We spent a few hours browsing the various shops and stalls, and after a quick lunch, we headed down to the Tube to go back to our hotel. We board the train and sit across from an older woman. I give a friendly nod of acknowledgement and resume conversation with my group. A short time later, the topic of keeping warm comes up, and the method of using your pants gets brought up courtesy of Edward. Reflexively, I remind him that we’re in public and probably shouldn’t be mentioning such topics so loudly. Unfortunately, the woman sitting across from us overheard my comment, and for whatever reason, took offense. I had been told before arriving in London that some British people could be quite the character. I didn’t really believe it at first, but the woman sitting across from us was about to show that she had all the character in the world, and an equally colorful vocabulary to boot, though not an equally useful thesaurus. She was giving us quite an earful, violently rambling on for what felt like an eternity before we all decided to simply move down the train and be done with her. I thought that’d be the last time I’d have trouble on the Tube on this trip. Little did I know just what was in store for me that night. After our final group dinner at the Rail House Café and a quick trip around Soho with the same group of friends, we boarded the Tube to head to our lodging for the last time. As I boarded the train, I was approached by a smartly dressed man with a thick accent. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, and truth be told, given his soft and seductive tone, I really didn’t want to know what he was saying. All I knew was that I needed to stay as far away from him as possible, and the rest of my friends agreed with me. Admittedly in hindsight, these experiences were rather humorous, and I think the rest of my group would agree with me. But these incidents taught me that London, like any other country, is filled with people of all sort of characters, extreme or otherwise, and these two instances weren’t enough to take away from the plethora of delightful and pleasant experiences I had with the local citizens throughout my trip.

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Just Off the Main Road by Daphne Lin Oxford Street, London: hundreds of stores, including a personally long-coveted Muji store and a Burberry building with an unnecessarily expansive floor plan encompassing at least three floors. The rows of storefronts seemed to go on and on and on. The wideness of Oxford Street made me feel diminished and almost… empty in a way. In every way, it was far more of a globally commercialized avenue -- one that I can find in any other large city in the world, mind you -- than a classic London-esque spectacle its name deceives you to expect. As I look back on my trip in London, there is one underlying fact that stands clear to me: some of the best memories and experiences on my trip were the ones waiting just around the corner of a busy street, a few steps down, and into an alleyway. Small shops seemed to hold the most charm. My fondest shopping memories weren’t in three-story Burberry or Lush stores, but in an underground vintage thrift shop store or the smaller Barbour shop along Carnaby Street manned by one chill guy dressed in Venetian stripes.

City of London, London (above) Pictured: Cecil Court, London (below)

There was something wonderful being away from the hustle of shoppers and into the lanes where hundreds-of-years-old buildings and lovely storefronts loom high on either side. It gave me a moment to breathe. Within these alleyways, I could finally properly let memories and conversations with new friends sink in amid a comforting kind of silence. I found these moments upstairs in a pub drinking Earl Grey while overlooking Wyndham’s Theatre, recording a daily journal entry and reading my new copy of The Silmarillion by a corner window at The Bear down Bear Lane in Oxford, drinking a pick-me-up with small conversation in the Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, or just by simply walking through Oxford with my AirPods nestled in. It was within this tucked away world that I also had some of my most eye-opening and memorable casual conversations. A bookkeeper of an eclectic Alice in Wonderland shop taught me the basics of book binding and the worth of vintage classics. An elderly man who spent the last thirty years running a map store -- specifically, The Portobello Print & Map Store -- told me about the origins of his prints and having to hunt down 1800s-era maps across England. A shopkeeper of a vintage bookstore helped me realize that most locals in England didn’t know about hidden gems like Cecil Court; told me about famous book illustrators and even showed me their illustrations; and let me flip through vintage copies of Charles Darwin, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh that were priced in the thousands (in all honesty, I was extremely nervous leafing through the pages). What made traveling to London so immensely special and unique was not strolling along Oxford Street, but was instead exploring the streets that lay just a few blocks over. Within these streets, I held the most memorable conversations, was the most at peace, and truly felt I was in London. Within these streets, just off the main road, London lives on.

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MONSTERS IN LONDON by Emma Miller

Capturing London on Film by Mady Edmonds

“Draw a monster. Why is it a monster?” - Janice Lee Despite the common, misguided assertion that monsters are monstrous, in reality, they are just like you and me and all of us humans. They eat food. They’re materialistic. They go shopping. And yet there exists only one shop for monsters. This miracle is the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies in London at 59 Hoxton St, Hoxton Established in 1818, they have built a loyal and diverse customer base, from vampires to werewolves to dragons, through excellent service over the centuries (their site can fulfill online orders for the international monsters). These monsters have a clear charitable side, with all shop profits going to the Ministry of Stories, a creative writing and mentorship charity for children. The shop offers o a wide array of goods, including: FOOD such as these (tinned fear tastes like hard candy, werewolf food tastes like shortbread):

PHARMACY and LIFESTYLE items like salt made from tears of sorrow (tastes like salt and lavender) and daylight for vampires (solar-powered for the pasty people):

During my junior year of high school, I found my schedule especially lackluster. It was full of STEM and AP courses that would benefit me in the long run, but there was nothing to fulfill my more creative side. I had two options - an intro to darkroom photography class, and weights. Thankfully, I took a chance on darkroom photography, which turned into taking advanced darkroom photography and being a teacher’s-aid. In my last year of high school, I spent just as much time in the darkroom as I did onstage (which is saying quite a lot). Something about the soothing red lights, the white noise of running water, and the rocking of chemical bins became my safe space from the overwhelming pressures of the future. In those moments, it was just me and my photographs. I enjoy the intentional labor of love that each photograph demands - setting the aperture and shutter speed, focusing the lens, loading the film, and finally developing and printing each image. When you know you only have a finite number of frames, what you choose to take pictures of becomes more deliberate. You can’t erase a photo and simply try again: you have one chance to get the shot you want. It is enough of a risk to get my adrenaline pumping and my mind reeling with anticipation. London is the textbook definition of photogenic, which is why I was so excited to shoot film photography while we were there. Having spent a solid half of my high school career with my photography teacher, Mrs. Bock graciously allowed me to loan out a Pentax with sixty frames of film. There was just too much potential in London to not take the opportunity. The photograph doesn’t have to be of iconic locations like the London Eye or Big Ben; a three hundred year old church or a garden in the middle of a block of Victorian houses will do just fine. You could go from one area of London to the next and be able to take completely different photographs, which is what I loved the most. We could start out in Kensington, with it’s lovely historic houses and posh energy, and end up in Soho, with its thriving cultural scene and crowds everywhere. I never ended up with a picture quite like the others. As with everything in the past month, Coronavirus has of course put a damper on the project - I was hoping to be able to develop and print once we got back to Kansas, but as the only darkroom I had access to is now closed, the film is still sitting in my 35mm Pentax camera, waiting to be brought to light. There is still hope, as I may yet be able to either develop the film myself or send it in for printing, although it won’t quite be the same. Luckily, we do have the technology to mimic this kind of art, so I was able to mess around and create some similar shots to what I hope the film will turn out looking like. Although the fruits of my labor may not become realized right away, in the end it’s all about thoughtfully taking the time to choose each frame wisely in order to bring a still image to life.

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Cambridge and the Chronophage by Amanda Hertel While I was excited to visit both Cambridge and Oxford, Cambridge drew my attention due to my love for science. Reading more about the University of Cambridge, I was fascinated by the famous alumni that studied at the various Colleges. From Isaac Newton, Rosalind Franklin, and Stephen Hawking, to today’s celebrities like Emma Thompson, the notable people from Cambridge seemed almost endless. One of my favorite parts of the campus is titled the Corpus Clock. It has a unique gold design with a strange dragon/goblin/insect-like creature turning the clock as bright LED lights circle around. This clock had been unveiled by Stephen Hawking, a graduate of Trinity Hall. The designer of the clock, John C. Taylor, refers to it as the Chronophage aka “time-eater”. Taylor added deeper meaning into the design by making the clock show the correct time only once every five minutes. This is meant to symbolize the irregularity of life. Wandering around campus, this clock gave me the best sense of direction. I referenced buildings and distance relative to the art piece and was continuously mesmerized by its movement. Not to mention, the symbolic representation of life's unpredictability felt a little too real with the current pandemic. Graduate school had always been in the back of my mind. There are times I feel my career plan is set in stone, then experiences like this shift my perspective making the future once again open-ended. The number of paths to a career involving research seems endless, so many fellowships, so many graduate programs. Walking across each campus, I tried to envision myself as a student there. And to tell the truth, I’m still uncertain. The possibility of studying at Cambridge still feels like more of a dream than a reality. And with the current times, I feel like the Corpus Clock really sets the mood of my future and the entire world. Life is truly irregular.

A Trip to Cambridge by Anton Barybin Central London is a vibrant, bustling area. Buildings crowd each other for space, cars weave through traffic, and people endlessly clamber in and out of tube stations. From a bird’s-eye view, I would imagine that the crowds of people look something like wild rivers pouring through the winding streets. But just 90-minutes away from London by train lies the far more peaceful city of Cambridge.

City of Cambridge

The Corpus Clock

Upon arriving in Cambridge, the first thing I noticed was this sense of peace. Sure, the streets weren’t empty, but the town seemed to have a sort of quiet grace about itself. Walking past immaculate lawns and intricate architecture, I couldn’t help but feel deep respect for this storied institution. While I knew that Cambridge was the second oldest university in the English-speaking world, I only truly began to appreciate its age as I flipped through my guidebook, matching dates with names and historical contexts. Seeing that Corpus Christi College was founded in 1352 in response to the Black Death and that notable alumni of Trinity College included Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Byron, and Sir Francis Bacon was astounding (and made the United States appear infantile by comparison). And though the old colleges harbored a vast amount of history, they were anything but tired and idle. In fact, I got the impression that the medieval walls were quite strongly juxtaposed against the new ideas and discoveries developing within them. I suppose you could say that the “buzz” of Cambridge lies within the university walls. CONTINUED>

On the train to Cambridge

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

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f r o m

t h e

Tu b e

by Travis Andregg ‘fuck the po po’ as a drugged-out pink mohawk fumbles over a freestyle rap to the beats in his headphones that are shared with everybody in the tube station. Everyone else notices him because they move out of his way to let him obscenely dance but nobody pays him any mind. First the sound, second the gust of air, and then the train quickly arrives, screeches to a stop, the doors open, humans exit, humans enter. ---------Seems as though all become one on the tube. Lined up in no order. Everyone is moving to the beat of another’s music blasting out of their air pods as hypnotize me by the B I G is heard most near.

The London tube is what it’s called but it’s more like a big can of farts and anxious exhales transporting humans through the London underground. Or maybe it is simply meat and metal in motion because when it hits that slow curve, everyone on the train from the original crooks to cooperate criminals share the same bounce, and then offset the motion with a bounce back in the opposite direction. Everyone from the stay in the ways to the get in the ways, the bodies all grove. Heads snap, and then return back, a monotonous motion brought by the transporting motion of this meat and metal. Eyes wonder, as they do.

A Trip to Cambridge by Anton Barybin (cont’d from p. 49)

King’s College, Cambridge Known today in part for its great research prowess, Cambridge certainly reflected many of the things I have come to enjoy about research in a collegiate environment. Namely, the atmosphere felt very collaborative. Meandering through the colleges, I heard a diversity of languages being spoken and saw people from all walks of life. Just standing in the same places where brilliant scientists once worked (and continue to work) was incredibly motivating. As I thought about some of my own physician-scientist heros like Atul Gawande and Siddhartha Mukherjee, who made research contributions in the UK (though at Oxford) before returning to the US, I too was inspired to pursue graduate studies in the UK. Cambridge had a unique way of pushing me to do more and dream bigger. No explicit messages, challenges, or emotional appeals - just being. Just a centuries-old medieval exterior steeped richly in history. I hope that one day I can add to this tremendous legacy of discovery, as did so many before me.

Observe and or judge. All eyes from hasty hazels, bombastic blues and greedy greens. When the eyes meet each other, they dart away from each other and return back into oblivion as if there is nothing here to see. Other eyes stay protected behind closed lids. Some ignoring the immediate reality and others are sealed to sleep through it all. ---------There are 11 different colors that represent 11 different main lines of the London Underground. ---------On the Tube I kissed a girl. ---------There is potential of distractions and entertainment everywhere you look around and as I descended the lengthy escalator and heard in the distance a guitar weeping to the sound of Paint It Black. I needed to know the source. But quickly, ‘The people I was with’ turned into ‘the people I was following’ as I was mesmerized by this underground one-man rolling stone band. I keep walking. But then yelling and shouting from behind me caused me to witness a homeless man being told to kick rocks by a security guard. Then by the quick shutting of the tube doors, ‘the people I was following’ then quickly turned into ‘the people who were on the tube that were waving goodbye to me because I missed the stop’. Alone, no phone, but with a faint idea of where I was and a bit of confidence I waited for the next train. So first the sound, second the gust of air, the train quickly arrived, screeched to a stop, and I made sure to climb aboard this time. The next several stops I look out the windows searching for familiar faces but by the fifth or sixth stop ‘the people who were on the tube that were waving goodbye to me because I missed the stop’ quickly turned into ‘the people jumping up and down and yelling’ as the train stopped, the doors opened and I was once again joyously reunited with ‘the people I was with’. ---------There was chaos for a little while. The tube station had been closed by police. Later we were told that there was the sound that came at first, then the gust of air, but as the train arrived and was screeching to a stop there was one big yell, followed by multiple screams and then chaos ensued. We were told there was an individual that had meet their fate. Not many knew how the interaction occurred, probably many more people did not want to know how the interaction occurred. It was either a push or a jump is what they told us. All we know it that there was chaos in the underground. ---------Average speed of a tube machine is 21 mph (33 km/h) ---------From gucci loafs to 6-inch punk heels. Fish net stockings and knee-high white nike socks. Skinny guy denim to ole dirty pajama pants. Button ups, ratty tees, pencil dresses, soccer jerseys, rain jackets, and jumpsuits but mostly just black coats. and some facemasks. ----------

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LOLLYGAGGING WITH LEGOS by Edward Reyes Some of the best days of your life start out like any other day: you wake up in a fancy hotel in a foreign country and the world has officially entered into a global pandemic. The Thursday of London Review was no different. After another hearty breakfast and discussion of tentative plans with some other travelers, we decid ed to set out to the TKTS booth hoping to snag some cheap matinee tickets. After finally deciding on catching an afternoon showing of Be More Cool, I began exploring the square housing the TKTS booth, as I had not been there previously. Within minutes I had spotted that which my heart always silently yearns for: the LEGO store. As I walked in to what I would later learn is the world’s largest LEGO store, I was dazed by the splendor of it all, overcome with a childlike-glee; my parents had stopped taking me to the LEGO store, citing the fact that I was an adult. I wandered the store, gazing upon creations beyond my talent including an almost life-size London tube car, a two-story Big Ben, and a 3-D mural of the city of London, all made out of LEGOs.

As happy I was to be here in this magical space, I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to purchase a LEGO set, as I didn’t have luggage space for a full-blown LEGO set. To cope with this difficult realization, I approached a play area where a young sales rep by the name of Minja was building a very-colorful house. I asked if I could join her, to which she accepted, beginning what would become a two and half hour exercise in creativity and “urban planning”. We started this journey by finishing the house that Minja and another sales associate had started. Upon completion, we both wanted to continue building and decided to add a nice little tree for our house. We continued expanding, first adding a carrot stand, then a playground, and pretty soon we had an entire little town square!

During my time there, I was fortunate to get to know Minja and hear her story of how she came to London from Serbia and had come to work for LEGO. I also got to meet and talk with many of the other sales associates there, like Alexios who continually checked up on our project and provided encourgament while we worked (he even encouraged me to consider LEGO as a career!) They were curious to know more about me and why I had come to London, and so we exchanged stories during my time there. After two and a half hours of fun and friendship, I had to depart to catch my matinee show. As I was leaving, I took many pictures of our little town, knowing I would cherish this memory forever. As a show of thanks, my new friends even gifted me with a small LEGO set and took pictures of Minja and I with our creation. While I knew that each London review trip is unique and special, I realized that my experience at the LEGO store was why the trip is so special. It allows us as students to explore and seek out these kinds of adventures, and I know I will never forget my time with Minja at the LEGO store.

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Journey Bey When you’re travelling to a city as big and famous as London, there’s obviously a great deal to do just within the city itself. Whether it be the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, or even jaunting around exploring the city’s various street corners and pubs, there’s always something to do and something new to see. But while exploring London on its own is very exciting and fascinating in its own right, sometimes it’s fun to let that inner explorer inside us take over and see what lies beyond it, to broaden our horizons and see things we never could have seen in London. That’s exactly what drove me to travel to York and explore the various locations it had to That offer. As I arrived at King’s Cross station that Thursday morning, I felt an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion, as it was 8:30 in the morning, but as I climbed on board my train, those feelings of fatigue quickly went away as I embarked on my cross-country adventure. As my train raced through the countryside, I looked out my window to see all sorts of beautiful scenery, and even though I couldn’t stay to take in any of it, it still felt exciting to be travelling through lands unknown, seeing sights I never would have seen in London. Over the next two hours, my window continued to be my gateway to sights unseen until I arrived at the York railway station, ready for adventure, but little did I know just how close adventure was waiting. Right behind York station stood the National Railway Museum, and there waiting for me was my uncle. He’d heard about my travels to York and thought he’d pay me a visit while I was in town. The two of us explored every nook and cranny of the museum, filled to the brim with a variety of locomotives, rolling stock, and various other relics of railway history from centuries past. Steam, diesel, electric, old, new, coaches, freight cars, signals, headboards, model trains, simulators, interactable displays – you name it, they had it. To stand among these engineering marvels was a truly humbling experience, and I felt like a young child again as I explored every inch of the museum, delightfully snapping photos of anything that caught my eye. A few hours later, and after a quick lunch of smoked salmon in the Countess Of York rail carriage and a purchase of a few souvenirs, I made my way across York to my next destination – the Yorkshire Air Museum.

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ond London by Sadra Gerami

One 20-minute drive later, we arrived at the Air Museum, and right as I entered, I caught sight of several WWII-era aircraft out on display, and once again, I felt my inner child grab my hand and drag me to all the (ahem) cool airplanes. Perhaps the most incredible war plane on display was the gargantuan Friday the 13th Halifax plane, having flown 128 total flights before being taken out of service. But even excluding the planes, there was still a large amount of WWII relics left to see, including old uniforms, gatling guns, a control tower, and even an officer rest room. A few hours later, I’d finished my tour of the Air Museum, and my uncle and I headed back to the York railway station. Before arriving at the York railway station, we stopped by a local restaurant for a delicious lunch of rice and kabobs, which kept me full as the two of us strolled around York on my way back to the station. Once I arrived and said my goodbyes, I climbed on board my train, and prepared for the journey home… only to find that my train had suffered from mechanical faults and wouldn’t be able to leave the station. So, a solid half-hour later, I’d managed to get on board a different train back to King’s Cross, and arrived back at the station without any further mishap or delay. While I did greatly enjoy my journey beyond London, it was nice to be able to return to a familiar location at the end of the day, to prepare for another exciting day of sightseeing and adventure – just a little closer to London.

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Portobello Road Market and the Blue Door by Amanda Hertel

Elite Colleges of the UK and Limitless Possibilities by Mady Edmonds

I had never heard of Portobello Road Market before the London Review. Along one scenic street, there were many shops set up selling about anything you could want. Including a surprising amount of magnifying glasses and phrenology head sculptures. After talking to one stand owner, she pointed out that the door from Notting Hill was down a few streets and to the left. Not knowing what Notting Hill was, I nodded, smiled, and changed the topic. I wasn't planning on searching for it, but its bright blue color and neon green heart gave it away. I took a picture of the door and proceeded along to the other places she recommended. This included a bakery with the best Portuguese egg tarts and a pub owned by Ed Sheran named “Bertie Blossoms”. One quick conversation and I had learned so much about the area surrounding the market.

I’ll be honest, going into college, I was dead set on one career path - taking two years to do my undergrad, spending four years in pharmacy school, and then spending the rest of my days as a practicing pharmacist in some kind of medical setting. If you would have asked me back in December, that’s exactly what I would say I wanted to do with my life. The London Review has really made me think about life in a deeper way, and I realize now that in order to find a more meaningful existence, I’ll have to do more for me.

In high school, I was your typical artistic kid, spending most of my time onstage or in the darkroom. All of my 30 credits coming into college are from History, English, and Statistics (which is basically just another English class with numbers). I’ve never been super STEM oriented, but I’ve always loved the idea of medicine and the reasoning behind why certain medicines work. This is why I chose pharmacy - it included something to satisfy my fascination with medicine and vaccines while providing a stable and well-earning job. My parents enjoyed that aspect the most, especially compared to my original aspirations to pursue musical theatre.

The blue door featured in Notting Hill

Ed Sheeran's pub “Bertie Blossoms”

Leaving Notting Hill district, I soon forgot all about the door. That was until the plane ride to Chicago. I decided to search through the movies offered (which took a while due to my indecisiveness). Eventually, I saw the movie Notting Hill pass the screen, and my mind was made up. This

We had the opportunity to visit both Oxford and Cambridge during our eight days in England, and that’s where I had my epiphany. By the end of our trip to Oxford on Tuesday, I realized I wanted to do more with my life than just sitting in a pharmacy and verifying medications. I wanted to be able to do so much more, including potentially pursuing a masters or PhD at an elite college in the UK or abroad. I have a brain naturally wired for questioning and problem solving, so I might as well make the most of it. It was at Oxford where I started thinking of possibilities beyond pharmacy school, but it was in Cambridge where I realized those possibilities needed to become my reality for me to truly be fulfilled.

must have been a good choice because the person sitting next to me also decided to watch Notting Hill. I was surprised I had never seen the film considering the main actors were Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. There were many scenes featuring Hugh Grant walking through Portobello Road Market. The set up was almost identical to reality, even over twenty years later. The blue door made many appearances throughout the film and had been unchanged except for the green heart. While most probably wouldn’t pay attention to the blue apartment door, that was my main focus. I’m not much of a romantic-comedy fan, but I enjoyed Notting Hill because I felt it gave me some closure on this trip to London.

I consider myself eternally grateful for this opportunity, not just for the experiences but also for our professor, Dr. Mary Klayder. She was truly meant to be a mentor, and it’s from her that I feel so much encouragement to think outside of the box and do what is best for me. I remember one night we were all sitting in the lobby, talking and laughing about everything, when Mary sat down and talked with me about all the possibilities my life holds. She is extremely willing to meet and really listen to what her students need, and I’m glad I was able to meet her so early into my college career. I know as I navigate the future ahead, I can always come to her for guidance and support, whether I want to study at an elite UK college or beyond. I’m so much closer to finding my true passion in life, all thanks to the experiences the London Review has given me.

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Windsor Castle Home to the Queen

Something that has always been on my London bucket list was to make the short trek to the town of Windsor and see Windsor Castle, official residence to Queen Elizabeth II. Before I delve into what I loved about it, I must make two complaints upfront…I feel the need to get it out of the way. I was not aware there were two different ways to go about seeing the castle… one to see the apartments used by King Charles II and Queen Catherine of Breganza, his wife, and another that focuses on rooms used by the reigning Queen Elizabeth II. I might have chosen the second route, if I had realized it. I also want to note this is entirely my fault and I should have read the website further before going. Second, I did not see that the Cathedral or any of the buildings near the Cathedral as it was closed for an event. There were no postings in the Visitor’s Entrance, so I hadn’t a clue. I got stopped by a staff member on my way toward the Cathedral and was told as much. That was a disappointment…however, onward I went, and so will this piece.

castle, but all of the outside of the castle was fair game. I ended up on the Historic tour (read the note above) and could not believe some of the things I saw. It’s hard to describe most of it without pictures (I suggest going to the website for Windsor Castle to see many pictures and videos they have posted there), but I can describe the feeling of the castle. Keeping in mind that Queen Elizabeth II is the 39th monarch to call the castle home, and William the Conqueror was the founder, there is about a thousand years’ worth of history in these walls and what we’re getting as visitors is a mere fraction. Charles II had a keen interest in all the fanciest of things. According to the audio tour, he had a bit of a rivalry with his cousin King Louis XIV of France and wanted to show off his rooms to be better than that of his cousin. It’s fun to imagine the discussions that happened within these rooms, both mundane and world changing. Something interesting I have noticed after having visited a couple of other castles in the UK, the rooms get smaller the closer you get to the private rooms used by the monarchs. Windsor follows suit, restricting access to the King and/or Queen to their personal staff and VIPs.

I arrived in the town Windsor after a pleasant train trip from London. The train station was fairly empty being that the world was starting to come to grips with the spreading Coronavirus, but attractions and transport were not yet closing. It was rather brisk outside, and I had left my scarf on the plane, so I was on the hunt for a new one and found it easily at a kiosk within the station itself. After a short, albeit uphill, walk to the Visitor’s Entrance to Windsor Castle, I found I was literally the only person in queue. I was told several times that pictures and video of any sort were not allowed inside the

The highlight for me was Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. Queen Mary (Mary of Teck) was consort to King George V, making her Elizabeth II’s paternal grandmother. Over a period of three years (1921-1924), an incredibly intricate dolls’ house was built for her by Sir Edwin Lutyens, a famous British architect. According to the Windsor Castle website, “…it includes contributions from over 1,500 of the finest artists, craftsmen and manufacturers of the early twentieth century.” No detail is overlooked. Over 200 books are housed within the library, working electrics are placed throughout the house and it even has running water (though the docent told me the water feature is rarely used these days in order to maintain the house). You can see how things were during best of the Edwardian period, and if you’ve seen Downton Abbey, you’ll have a fair idea of what it looks like. Again, unfortunately no pictures of the inside, so I will have my memories and a guidebook of those bits and pieces I really enjoyed. However, I did manage to get some pictures from the grounds. If you’re ever in London, it is definitely worth the trip, just be prepared to walk!

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I GOT BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY DAD by Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff I was halfway across the world, yet somehow closer with my dad than ever before. On this day of the London Review trip, I explored by myself with the freedom of my own time. I took the tube straight to the St. John’s Wood stop on the Jubilee line. I was headed toward the “Mecca” for Beatles fans, Abbey Road. Since childhood, a vivid memory has recurred to me. My family and I go to mass on Sundays and clean the house afterward. Throughout the memory, we are always listening to the Beatles. Now, we weren't that hip, we didn’t listen to the Beatles at church, but rather on the way. However, one could argue that “All You Need Is Love” is spiritually rousing. If there was a world-wide Beatles fan club, my dad would be President. You can imagine how excited I was to finally make it to Abbey Road. The iconic crosswalk, the studio building, and all of the graffiti on the fence from decades of fans and Beatles adorers made me feel like I had walked straight into the Abbey Road album. As I walked closer to the scene, I imagined walking side by side with my dad, experiencing this magical moment with him. If it weren’t 3:00am Kansas City time, I would’ve Facetimed him, but I had to settle for the next best thing. I paid a random pedestrian 2 pounds to take a photo of me walking the crosswalk, just as the Beatles did every day on their way to the studio. And that was it! I had visited the Holiest Beatles sight, and it was all over within a couple minutes, but that didn’t lower its significance to me in any way. Later that night I called my dad to tell him all about the experience, and he got emotional on the call. He told me how when he was growing up in KCK, London and Abbey Road felt like another planet. He expressed to me that he never imagined in a million years he would be able to go there, but through me, he had. When listening to the Beatles, he was able to escape some of the pressures and wrongdoings of our communities while also bringing up realities of societies that people often did not want to face. For him the Beatles are a therapeutic source of love that speaks to our identity. Sometimes it is the simple things in life that we make into larger realities which shape us into who we are. Visiting Abbey Road was a simple thing for my father and I that brought us back to my childhood and the foundation of our relationship.

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While gallivanting through London I was convinced to go to a soul cycle class. we left at 8am or some shit to hit the tube and head to Notting Hill to get my ass kicked. Okay, so basically you join this cult. Walk down these stairs to a big entrance room with super bright lighting, glossy white floors white ceilings and white walls all with happy yellow accents and supper attractive big-eyed humans walking around everywhere with huge smiles and motivational nods and Hey how are ya? Let’s get you signed in! this is when it all changes. Stepping into the next room your world does a backflip, now all of a sudden everything is dark and there are 976 stationary bikes in militant row and as we individually mount these large seated bicycles the minion assistants get your feet strapped in and you immediately start peddling as if our lives depended on it. I finally look up and we all are facing these mirrors that are reflecting not true a reality but displaying a fiery wrath emerging from the river styx and rising through this turbulent flow of the sweat and tears of past mortals rose a grandiose figure! Who was actually just this guy up on a platform right in front of us, but it was still a dark and demented room full of soul sucking stationary hell and this man, no, this best, name tagged Beelzebub whom I’m sure butt chugs pre-workout laced with smiles and banana peels was trippin because for the next hour he yelled at me non-stop, and I didn’t like it, but maybe he was not yelling at me, but just in general because that was the only preset that he was given at his Soul Suck University training courses. Has the heat been turned up in here? and still!, constantly going absolutely nowhere while strenuously peddling was keeping the river flowing due to our maximum output of our mortal sweat and tears. Sit up! Sit down! Stand up! Sit down! Okay! Bounce to the beat! Turn Up the resistance! Yeah! But no, I was busy, in the back of my mind I was planning an emergency evacuation strategy just in case my eggs and my sausage and my refried bean breakfast planned on also emergency evacuating and but more importantly for some damn reason this cocaine voicebox of a cyclist was left in charge of the aux cord and the ability to control the strobe lights! We were told there would be Lizzo. There was no Lizzo. We were told there would be J.Lo. There was no J.Lo. Just 50 Cent and Britney bitch over this fallen angel’s acapella assault on me, or was it us, I don’t know, but still fiercely we cycled to destination nowhere in this particularly hellish way. Lean left! Lean right! NOW BOUNCE! Great job everyone! Alright! YEAH! hissed this bike jockey as visions of twinkling flash bang grenades rattle each of our individual eye balls while all three minions in training who occupied the front and center cycles where approaching completion in their she-devil robotic training regiments because I think one of them had 13 abs and possibly also 13 eyes and horns as well but I don’t really know, it was pretty dark and demented so I couldn’t really verify that one for sure. NOW GRAB THEM WEIGHTS! Let’s pump! ALRIGHT! Our legs still going in continuous circles so fast I think that I must be nearing the inner most circle of hell. CURL. NOW ARMS UP. ALRIGHT! YEAH! LAST ROUND! Almost Done! and Snap back to reality, as the previous song sang, and I recall that this was simply just an extremely bizarre version of a workout class, finally the hellish flames were extinguished and I discover the flames were only lit candles and that this was probably just a common part of their rituals and as the strobes also halted the lights came back up to a low dull dim {but just enough so that I still couldn’t get a positive verification if that woman in front had a tail or not} but as we get off of our stationary hell transport cycles and walk up to the front to pass the middle platform where the Beast resided he raises his arm to offer me a slap hand interaction. Was it a spell that had been casted on myself, was it my inner devil attempting to surface, was it magnets? For some reason that I am still not aware of, and against my will, my arm rises, my hand forcefully slaps the hand of this hot jock smelling like bleach and grapefruit axe body spray and for that half second of that physical hand slap embrace I realized that the devil is not always a beautiful woman in a red dress but in this case it was a human soul cyclist named Josh A. with a huge smile and pythons for arms dressed in spandex, hair gel and a septum ring. As we, and the rest of the minion congregation, walked back up the stairs out of the hell furnace our souls front flipped back into this realm that we know as reality in the big entrance room with super bright lighting, glossy white floors white ceilings and white walls all with happy yellow accents, all while the big angelic minion smiles pierced our exhausted souls ushering us into the chambers to reclaim our civilian clothes and life styles. The changing rooms, as they called them, were adorned with every hygiene product imaginable to cleanse our souls of the devilish mistreatment and looking back at it, not only until after our bodily realignment in the changing room was concluded did they unleash us from their wrath back into the world. I escaped through their front door and realized that possibly soul cycle is not hell but simply a sadistic cycle workout that I will never ever do again. I had wanted to do yoga that morning to connect with a higher self and find some peace of mind but instead I got my ass kicked while playing paddy cake with the spawn of Satan who went by the name of Josh A. disguised as a human with a real punchable face.

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by Emma Miller I don’t know the names or work of many painters, but Van Gogh has always been a favorite of mine. It all started in pre-school when I saw a giant mural of his Starry Night up on the wall. I was wide-eyed at the way Van Gogh pained natural landscapes, the swirls of colors on the page. So when I saw that there was an interactive Van Gogh exhibit in London, I was excited to go. The exhibit was immersive, showcasing not only his art but also the depth of emotions and turmoil within the artist’s storied life, and the impressive legacy he left behind. artist

Inside, there were several life-size recreations of Van Gogh’s painting, all of which you could touch and interact with.

Walking in, I didn’t know what to expect. The whole exhibit was under a large tent and we could still hear the storm outside. There was no line or crowd and we were able to get into the exhibit quite quickly and take our time walking through.

Like any other life, Van Gogh’s life was not one of just straight-up happiness. He had more than enough dark thoughts to fuel his art. One of the darkest moments in his life was his year in an asylum, recreated in the images here in a hallway you could walk down. The sound of CONTINUED> the rain outside really added to this one.

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V I N C E N T, c o n t ’ d Hoping to inspire future generations of artists, there were drawing pads and pencils available for guests to draw their own self-portrait masterpiece.

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

Finding Lad Gaga C nnec i n in he Science M e m. by Amanda Hertel

My attempt at a masterpiece

In one of the earlier London Review classes, I presented about the Science Museum. This location was at the top of my list due to their exhibits on medicine and mathematics. Entering the medical exhibit, the Wellcome galleries, you are greeted by a huge tattooed bronze statue. This specific statue is titled ‘self-conscious Gene’ and is a sculpture of the world record holder for full-body tattoos, Rick Genest. While I didn’t recognize the 12-foot figure standing in front of me at first, the plaque clued me in. After a brain tumor diagnosis at a young age, he began covering his body in tattoos of his skeleton. Rick Genest, was the tattooed person dancing with Lady Gaga in her Born This Way music video. This song is my all-time favorite and I have watched the music video way too many times. Rick Genest is a large part of the video with Gaga covered in skeleton tattoos to match him. The cross-over between science and art was an excellent way to open the exhibit. And for me, the connection to Lady Gaga made the gallery that much better. Going further through the gallery I immediately recognized a DNA double helix model from my old textbook in AP Biology. The model on display had some of the plates used in Watson and Crick's original DNA model. An image seen in textbooks now in real life.

Self-Conscious Gene

The exhibit included a room for Van Gogh’s legacy, with pictures of art that he inspired. Leaving the exhibit, I found a small guestbook. It was full of people’s writing of how much they loved the exhibit or Van Gogh himself, including what was obviously children’s handwriting. This was a heartwarming end to a wonderful exhibit.

The Mathematics exhibit, titled the Winton Galleries, was the second part of the museum on my to-do list. In my opinion, the best part of this exhibit was the amazing art piece glowing overhead. This piece was designed by architect and mathematician Zaha Hadid. The flowing design models airflow around an aircraft and was made using actual equations that model airflow.

DNA Double Helix Model

Winton Gallery Design by Zaha Hadid

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Some Things Never Leave You by Sadra Gerami

When preparing to travel to London, I made sure to write down a small itinerary of activities I could do throughout my week of holiday. Even though the list went through many changes before arriving and not every activity ended up being done, there was one item on the list that I made sure to complete regardless of what happened – to visit the members of my family that were over in the U.K.

As I prepared to travel to York on my first free day, I made sure to talk with my uncle beforehand to make sure he could drop by for a visit. I hadn’t seen him in person since I was 11 years old, so I was very excited and eager to see him once again. Although he lived an hour away from York in Sheffield, he assured me that he would meet me at York railway station when I arrived. Sure enough, when I arrived at the station Thursday morning, he was already there and waiting. We shared some quick greetings before heading down to the National Railway Museum behind the station, continuing to catch up along the way. After a few hours in the museum, we made our way towards the British Air Museum – but not before complaining about the station’s absurd parking prices. Upon arriving at the British Air Museum, I was pleased to find out that my uncle shared a lot of the same excitement I did with seeing such old aircraft on display. It was rather refreshing, and it was also nice to see that he was still just as young and cheerful as I remembered. After finishing up at the Air Museum and having a delicious lunch of rice and kabobs at a local restaurant, we headed back to the railway station, where we said farewell and parted ways.

Although I was only able to spend a day with him, it was nice to be able to see my uncle again, and my visit with him only made me more excited for seeing my other uncle the next day. The next afternoon, I met my other uncle outside our hotel, and we made our way to the Victoria and Albert museum, where we spent a few hours observing the various historical artifacts. We even made sure to check out the automobile exhibit, where my uncle made sure to tell me how he remembered when each of the vehicles on display were considered ‘brand new’. After a quick lunch of fish and chips, we made our way over to Greenwich, where my cousin and her recently born child were waiting. Once again, it was nice to see family I hadn’t seen in over a decade, but it was even better to see new (and cute) members to the family at the same time. We quickly caught up and headed down to a local park for some sightseeing. Not only were we able to see the prime meridian, but we also managed to explore the National Maritime Museum and Cutty Sark just before they closed for the day. After a quick walk through town and a few stories from my uncle about his younger days with my dad, we headed back to my lodging, where I once again said goodbye, feeling satisfied with the time I had been able to spend with my uncle and cousin. Even though part of the purpose of going on vacation is to get away from familiar faces and places to explore new ones, it can be nice to revisit those we haven’t seen in years. It helps make these new locations feel much safer and welcoming, but more importantly, it allows us to keep those closest to us in our memory, even after we’ve returned back home.

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The Five Best Statues in London (to imitate)

5 : C l e o p a t r a’s N e e d l e Gifted to the United Kingdom in 1819 by Egypt and Sudan, the red granite obelisk towers 69 feet tall and is covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs. It was originally built in 1450 BC, and its’ inscriptions commemorate the military victories of Ramesses II. Where you can find it On the Victoria Embankment, near the Golden Jubilee Bridges. What you’ll need A nice tall set of arms of steel, and the perspective of a worm. 4: Anglo-Belgian Memorial This sculpture from the Belgians was given to the UK in 1920 as thanks for the thousands of Belgian refugees the UK sheltered during World War I. The inscription below the middle statue reads: To the British nation from the grateful people of Belgium, 1914–1918". Where you can find it Right across the street from Cleopatra’s Cleopatra Needle! This area has an abundance of prolific art. What you’ll need A heroic group of people able to bring to life the morals of “Justice” and “Honour” that this memorial embodies. 3 : J e l l i c o e M e m o r i a l Fo u n t a i n These mermen, dolphins, and sharks are only a part of this much larger magical memorial that was unveiled in 1948 in honor of Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe. Where you can find it This fountain is on the western side of Trafalgar Square, fittingly near other great art in the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. What you’ll need 2-3 people willing to embrace their inner mermaid and brave the cement for art. 2: Mary Poppins Floating down from the sky, this Mary Poppins tribute is a part of the new Scenes in the Square series. Celebrating 100 years of movie history in Leicester Square, Mary Poppins alongside Mr. Bean, Bugs Bunny, Gene Kelly and more will be around for a probationary 6 months, and hopefully longer! Where you can find it Just around the circle from the TKTS booth in Leicester Square. What you’ll need 1: The Queen Victoria Memorial A spoonful of sugar, Standing at 82 feet and sitting on 2,300 tons a talking umbrella, and a of white Carrara marble, this Royal monument practically perfect attitude. is an iconic vision of London. Unveiled by King George V in 1911, it honors Queen Victoria represented at the top, shining gold. Surrounding the base are statues representing courage, constancy, victory, charity, truth and motherhood. Where you can find it Directly in front of Buckingham Palace. What you’ll need A big group of very excited (and jetlagged) college students who are willing to look like complete tourists for the 5 minutes it will take to pose everyone.

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A. Had two tube stations close while running late because 1. The tube line was abruptly discontinued and 2. “someone had fallen in front of the train”

A. When I was a baby I ate parts of my crib

B. Lost someone on the tube because they didn’t make the sliding door in time

C. My house has been struck by lightning

C. Nearly forgot to “mind the gap” and had my life flash before my eyes when I tripped

B. I can’t stand New York City

During my time in quarantine, I have done the following: A. Made 2 frog purses

A. I met someone in London who used to live in Kansas. They mentioned they went to a high school that I lived up the street from

B. Embroidered on 3 pairs of jeans C. Made 12 scrunchies

B. I love Indian food. It was fun being able to try all of the Indian cuisine over in London A. My favorite London site was the Tower of London C. I slept in until 5 pm for two days during the trip B. I’ve lived in a different country for more than 7 years C. I’ve been to 13 countries A. I almost got my arm caught in a tube door as Maddie and Corey pulled me on to the WRONG tube B. I fell asleep while watching an appeals court at the Old Bailey and made direct eye contact with one of the judges

A. I only went to one museum B. I bought more than three t-shirts

C. I got IDed every single time I tried to buy a drink C. I had an alcoholic drink at every meal

A. My favorite type of vacation is one where I can relax and unwind with a more empty schedule

A. This was my first visit to the UK

B. This is my second spring break in London

B. I turned 21 on the trip

C. Until a month ago, I thought calling the Tower of London guards Beefeaters was a joke between British people and they weren’t actually called that

C. I am cousins with one of the other London Reviewers

Lies: Sophia (B); Corey (B); Kiley (C); Sadie (A); Libby (B); Caroline (A); Daphne (C); Maddie (C); Ross (A)

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page” – Saint Augustine. This year I directed my 23rd London Review, and my 53rd study abroad program. As we began our meetings in January, it was clear that the group was special. Diverse in age and experience, they brought excitement and ideas to the conversation and were amazingly open to each other from the get-go. But I had no idea how much I would love them and respect them by the end of the journey. When we left, the pandemic had not been named that. There was a virus. It had spread in Italy. England was considered safe ground. We headed off with hand sanitizer and elaborate plans to take London by storm. We arrived comfortably to our hotel and began the exploration. Soon we all checked our phones for news. The pandemic was announced. Still London seems in good spirits. Plays went on as they must. Students thrived on them. By Wednesday, Europeans were banned from entering the US. BUT NOT THE UK. So, we consulted Study Abroad and realized we wouldn’t get everyone on a plane before Sunday so we stayed the course. Everyone was cheery and charming despite threads of anxiety. They were tough and careful, absolutely in touch and taking care of each other. By Saturday, the ban on UK travel was announced but we had a day - our travel day to get back. Again, this team of new friends banded together, making sure everyone got to the plane, taking care of each other at the airports, watching for us all to get to the gate in Chicago. I don’t know if I will get to lead another London Review but I know I could never have ended with any group better than LR. 2020. I love you all! - Mary Klayder

Scan for our YouTube video of London Review 2020 Memories

All of our love and thanks to Mary Klayder for leading us through a weird and wonderful week with wisdom and care. The London Review 2020 was written by Amanda Hertel, Anton Barybin, Ashley Eshnaur, Becky Phelps, Ben Grimes, Caroline Hwang, Corey Goodburn, Cormac Palmer, Daphne Lin, Edward Reyes, Emma Miller, Grace Schilling, Joe Mirakian, Kiley Tippett, Libby Brungardt, Maddie Seymour, Mady Edmonds, Ross Fitzpatrick, Sadie Williams, Sadra Gerami, Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff, Taija Fairbank, and Travis Andregg Layout and Design by Ben Grimes 63

VOL. 23, ENGL492

LONDON, UK, SPR 2020

I mean... We’re doing a newspaper theme. How can we not have puzzles?

Easy

Medium

- London Review 2020 Crossword Across 3. Number one Tube station most used by the 2020 London Review. 5. London Reviewer Grimes, only taller. 7. The instrument one should play in front of a mural of Shakespeare. 8. London Review’s illustrator extraordinaire. 10. The Tattoo Man who works on Drury Lane. 13. Ross got this tattoo. 14. Sophia went in search of this double-headed artifact. 15. Amanda found an interesting connection to this celebrity at the Science Museum. 18. Like a ferris wheel, but always watching. 20. This pub was a neighborhood favorite for the London Reviewers. 21. This London Reviewer spent time exploring York with their uncle. 22. It caused a global pandemic, nearly stranded the London Review in the UK, and forced them into two weeks of quarantine upon returning to the States.. Down 1. The one show all London Reviewers attended. 2. The Lexington's Thursday night headliner. 4. According to Corey, this is where love is. 6. London Review’s resident tea lover. 9. London Review's fearless leader. 11. London Review’s cruciverbalist. 12. Libby made 12 of these during quarantine. 16. The Strathmore Hotel is in this London neighborhood. 17. Sunflower accessibility accessory. 19. Caroline fell in love with this city that sits on the River Cam. J R G Q J R T

G Q

CRYPTOGRAM A G J R N F J

Q J D M I E T Q J - Y M D Z And your hint is:

U N F X J

Z T M D

Z T J .

W H M Z U T D Y=M

U=D

Hard