Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

After spending a month in London, I’ve come to understand the vast importance of pub culture, but I’ve also learned that the pubs fall far from my original expectations.  In my mind, I’ve always equated pubs with American bars but have found the comparison to be entirely false.  In my hometown, very few people go to bars at all. When they do, the point is to have a drink (usually after work, and often by yourself) and then go home.  In my opinion, the bars are rather dirty looking and dimly lit.  They don’t attract the most upstanding of people, either.  There is no entertainment within, and the bar countertop itself takes up the majority of the establishment.

In complete contrast, the majority of the pubs I’ve been to throughout the past month have been busy and flourishing.  Different bars cater to different age groups (the Court for university students, others for businessmen, etc.) but there often seems to be a mix of people regardless.  They’ve all been reasonably clean and large, housing pool tables or jukeboxes for entertainment in addition to a wide variety of drinks.  The sheer number of tables makes clear that the pub expects you to stay for a significant chunk of time, and I have always felt comfortable in doing so.

To me, the pub scene here is most similar to the coffee shop scene near my home.  People go to socialize, meet with friends, chat, and relax.  As a barista, I know that people make connections with their servers and occasionally become close friends.  Attending a pub in London or a coffee shop in New Jersey has very little to do with what you’re drinking, but everything to do with the people you join.  As we learned on the pub tour, different bars specialize in different ales or brewed beers.  Likewise, I’ve worked in two different coffee shops that pride themselves in roasting their own particular beans and there are countless others in the area that boast of original, unique flavors as well.  The only difference is the rich history that bolsters the pub community, whereas coffee shops in northern New Jersey don’t tend to have a long standing historical context.

My favorite pub was the Jack Horner, which was recommended to me by a friend who lives in London.  It’s often overlooked by tourists, so I met a lot of awesome people who live in the nearby area.  Being at tourist-attraction pubs is certainly fun (albeit filled with some sketchy individuals) but I prefer the less crowded ones, as they feel more authentic to me.  Overall, it was fun to explore an aspect of British culture formerly so foreign to me.

Yesterday I had a absolutely HORRIBLE experience at the British Museum.

It started off ok, as soon as I entered I got a map and began walking through some of the exhibits. I began my adventure in the Living and Dying Exhibit. I then began to climb up the stairs and headed into the Chinese Ceramics Exhibit. As someone who has practiced throwing pottery for seven years, I have a GREAT respect for ceramic technique and craftsmanship. However, I was not pleased with the woman who had answered her phone in the middle of the exhibit and was having a VERY loud discussion on her mobile. This irked me but what happened next sent me over the edge. After looking at the ceramics I went to the Mummy room. The room was packed with people and screaming children (not that I could blame them because I also felt like screaming). As I began to walk around the room in effort to see the mummies and read the panels next to them people, people were bumping me and pushing me out of the way to take touristy pictures with the sarcophagi. This completely disgusted me; these people have absolutely no respect for museums, the dead, history, nor their fellow museum goers. When my corpse is hundreds of years old I do not want it to be on display for people to take pictures with while they hold their thumbs high in the air. If I were those Egyptian pharaohs, commoners, etc. I would haunt those fools. By the time I left the room I felt as though I was going to have a panic attack: my heart was pounding, my head spinning, I could not focus on anything, and I was beginning to regret the coffee I had right before. The rest of the museum is a bit of a blur, I vaguely remember seeing people leaning on ancient statues. Most of the time I was at the museum I felt as though I was heading against the crowd. The only thing that I distinctly remember after that was almost getting run over by a large group of Asian tourists on my way out the door.

Something needs to be done to the layout and the security of these exhibits to improve the safety of visitors and of the artifacts the museum houses. Photography should not be permitted on the premises and a walking path should be constructed (especially in the Mummy room) to make it smoother and easier for every visitor to see and appreciate the artifacts. The use of mobiles in the museum should be restricted and enforced. There should also be more security protecting the statues and patrolling the area. I would not mind paying an entrance fee to the museum if it meant the museum would change these things.