The British Steal Things

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I woke up late and missed breakfast, pried myself out of bed to take a shower, and then went to The Jack Horner pub with Lauren and Alana for lunch. Not one of my favorites, but I did see the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen on a menu. Faggots with Bubble and Squeak. Interesting because I have absolutely NO idea what it is. The description said that it was “pork faggots,” which I can only assume are like hot dogs. What bubble and squeak are, Lord only knows.

We went to the British Museum for a while. What an overwhelming place. It and the V&A are competing for the title of “collection of all collections.” Walking through the rooms was a maze of eras and cultures. I would be in a room featuring artifacts from ancient Egypt, and the next one would be about American printing in the 20th century and feature pieces by Jackson Pollock. Of course we saw the Rosetta Stone, too. More than the V&A, though, the British Museum seemed like a collection of things that were probably taken during colonization. Of course, this theft became a central issue in the Elgin Marbles drama, where Greece demanded that Britain return the pieces of the Parthenon that they had taken. Obviously Greece has not gotten them back, seeing as they’re still in the British Museum. One way that the V&A seemed to get over this problem, was by taking plaster casts of what seemed like every architectural and sculptural masterpiece from all over the world. These were the rooms, in particular, that reminded me of that scene from National Treasure. When I first walked into the Cast Court, I didn’t realize that everything was a plaster cast, and I thought, once again, that the British had stolen some of the most significant architectural pieces of the Middle Ages. Thank God for the signs about the plaster casting, otherwise I might have gotten angry and indignant. As it is, the plaster casts present a wonderful way to see beautiful doorways, statues, effigies, columns, and crosses that, otherwise, you might have to travel all over the world to see…or Britain could just take them. The casts avoid those problems.
One thing that interested me about the museum was that they advertised, on the same signs that told you not to touch anything, that they lead a Touch Tour for the blind, and that only they are allowed to touch artifacts like Egyptian sarcophaguses and Grecian statues. Maybe I just have never looked at the signs long enough, but I think that such a tour would never be offered in an American museum. All of our artifacts are behind bullet proof glass and you have to maneuver and contort yourself in order to get a good view of anything. Once again, I’m finding that the British seem to be much more trusting of their history (and of other countries’ history, apparently), and that perhaps that reflects a greater respect and possibly appreciation in the society.

In the evening we found this nice Indian restaurant and had a wonderful dinner, then went back to Wild Times with Lauren, Jen, Chris, and Phil for swing dancing. It was fun and a bit more up-beat than last week. I thought this would be the time for us to finally meet British people, but instead we met Molly from Grinnell College, Iowa. Oh, irony. But no worries. She’s very nice and taught me how to Lindy Hop. I think we’re going to try to get together again before we leave for Norwich, maybe dancing again next week.
I’m exhausted now and should go to bed. I need to look semi-awake tomorrow for our meeting with Lord Griffiths, Baron of Bury Port.