Inspiration

I have no shame.

Why, you ask? Because I'm beginning the blog of possibly the most exciting three months of my life thus far by admitting that I named it after a Mary-Kate & Ashley movie. Forgoing other, undoubtedly cooler options—London Calling,  arguably one of the best rock albums of all time by The Clash or perhaps something literary (though the best I could come up with was "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley's creepy futuristic dystopian novel)—I went with the 2001 film starring America's favorite twins as they go to London to compete in a model UN tournament, play polo, impersonate James Bond by crawling through air ducts, and wear really, really ugly 90s pants.

Mary-Kate contemplates the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens.

But, if I am to be completely honest, it was "Winning London" with its look into London's history, literature, and culture that first drew me to the city on the Thames at the ripe old age of nine. As I've grown up, and become a bit more cultured, I've also come to realize there's no better place for a bibliophile to study abroad than the home of 221B Baker Street, of the Globe Theater, of Hogwarts and Jane Eyre's moors. Though Shakespeare, Victorian Fictions of Revolution, and 20th Century Spy Fiction classes at Northwestern have given me a glimpse of London throughout the centuries, in four short days I will make the marvelous city my own.

So only one question remains: can a city as tremendous as London really be "won"? Perhaps not, but if Mary-Kate and Ashley can try, I certainly can too.