A recent stream of texts from New Haven resident Kinzie Lexington shows that she is extremely excited for her upcoming “exotic” trip to London.
Despite the fact that London’s population is majority white people who speak her language, Kinzie is still excited to “get out of her comfort zone.” Furthermore, Kinzie doesn’t really see why using the term ‘exotic’ could be problematic.
“I have always lived in America surrounded by people who look and talk like me,” says Kinzie. “I just can’t wait to experience a city where people are so culturally different.”
“It’s so important to experience other cultures,” adds Kinzie, who has never left the United States.
When asked what she meant by “cultures”, she replied, “Like, there’s a Queen there, they have accents. Also their breakfasts are sometimes beans? How exotic!”
Kenzie’s friends have attempted to explain her blatant ignorance to her to no avail.
“Kenzie keeps talking about how scared and excited she is to go on this trip,” says Kelly Zhu. “She’s literally staying at the Hilton in London. She’s planning on seeing a bunch of plays at the West End, which is literally exactly like Broadway. You couldn’t be going somewhere more culturally comfortable.”
“I wonder what she might learn if she went to India,” says Grace Adhri. “But at the same time, as an Indian woman who is often called ‘exotic’ by white people, I’m really glad she’s not going to India. But she will probably go to an Indian restaurant in London and call that exotic anyway.”
Despite her friends attempts to explain that Kinzie should definitely not be calling this trip “exotic”, the traveler is still excited for her journey.
“I wonder if I’ll have to dress differently in order to respect British culture,” says Kinzie. “But there’s a Topshop right next to my hotel though so if worse comes to worst I’ll just pick up a sundress or something.”
At press time, Kinzie’s friends reached out to us with an update regarding Kinzie’s trip so far.
“She texted us that the trip has been very ‘eye-opening’,” says Kelly. “Followed by a photo of her in a pub eating a burger and fries. She was like, ‘They put vinegar on fries here! This culture is so rich!’”
