My day started with my usual struggle to get out of bed. Valerie and I were scheduled to do a tour of the British Museum starting at 11. We haven't seen each other for a bit, so we scheduled to meet for a Starbucks at 10:30 outside of the museum. Working backwards, that meant I needed to be on the train at 9:45, leaving the house at 9:30. I left a little bit late, but it all worked out ok.
As I left the house to walk to the tube station, I saw my neighbor Pam at the bus stop. I stopped to say hello. She grinned at me. I haven't run into her since the locking myself out of the house incident, so I'm certain she was remembering that too!
There is some construction work going on at St. Catherine's, which I pass on the way to the station. A construction man was pushing a wheelbarrow full of bricks, and he stopped to let me go by on the pavement. To be polite, I said, "Thank you." His response? "Thank you." I'll never understand the British. Was he thanking me for thanking him?
I got to the station and hopped on the tube. It's the time of year for Wimbledon, which means tennis fans are everywhere. There were a few English people on the tube from outside of London. How can I tell? They were talking loudly to one another on the tube. If you are from London, you don't talk on the tube unless absolutely necessary. Oh, tourists!
After half an hour, I was at Tottenham Court Road and began to walk towards the museum. As I rounded one corner, I almost walked into two East Asian girls consulting a map. The one stopped me and asked, "Can you show us where to go for the British Museum?" I laughed and told them I was going that way, so we could just walk together. It turns out they are from Korea. The girl who asked for directions said, "Oh the British are so nice. Thank you for helping us and walking with us." Bless. I didn't have the heart to tell her I'm American :)
Our tour was a group of 11 South Africans, 1 American, and 2 Brits. What a fun bunch. Valerie and I had fun with them. Since it was a smaller group than expected, we alternated artifacts. It makes it a bit easier on the voice to have the tour broken up like that. Additionally, today was apparently field trip day for several school groups. There were elementary age students from at least three different schools throughout the museum. Imagine marble floors, high ceilings, and hundreds of children. It's very difficult to speak over all of that!
I started to joke with the group, trying to perk them up. I told them I went on this tour when I was 18 and loved it so much that now I'm leading it. The one South African woman said to me, "Oh, you came on the tour when you were 18 and now you are leading it a year later?" We had a good laugh at that.
The tour always makes a long day. We start at 11 but finish around 2, with a quick break for lunch, then we walk as a group to the British Library and carry on there until 4 or 4:30. Given that most of the British Museum has marble floor, it's a hard surface to stand on for that long. There are places to sit at times, but no such luxury for the guides!
It is worth the sore feet though. I love seeing the faces of people who are excited and encouraged by what they have learned. I wasn't exaggerating when I told the tour that I still remember my first visit to the British Museum nine years ago (almost to the day). I hope that today has at least a bit of the same effect on their lives.
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