London (with captions): Taster Day and Unseen Tour (and a little poetry on the side)

So today I woke up at 8:00 this morning. Got ready and shipped out on a 14 tube stop adventure to Forest Hill out in Zone 3. This is where the Horniman Museum is and the place where I am doing my internship. I didn't take any pictures of it today, but I will have pictures of it up another time to show what it looks like. I was there for what they called a Taster Day. They showed the soon-to-be volunteers and I what we'd be doing around the museum, some of the exhibits. Overall, it was a great time. I'm a part of a great programme that's about engaging visitors, showing off some of the objects at the museum, even handling some of them to show to them. I also had a really fun time getting to know the other people who were at the Taster Day. It was so much fun talking and getting to know them. It was my first real experience interacting with Londoners. I had to think about all the basic questions someone would ask a student on study abroad like "What university are you here through?" "What university are you from back in the states?" "What state is that?" It was the first time I had to think about it and try and explain it to someone, because FIE isn't technically a college. It's a study abroad programme, so that got kind of confusing. We also talked about comparing the UK to the US, one of the big topics were the recent election, Mitt Romney, NHS. It was a blast. I loved it.
The fun didn't stop there though. The Taster Day ended at 2:30pm and I had to run it back to the tubes, get to London Bridge station and meet up for a tour at 3:00pm. Funny enough, I ran into one of the would-be volunteers at the tube station and we talked some more on the way there. I got to the station, ran to an exit. Ran away from that exit to the right exit, and clumped with the nearest group of American sounding, college age, people I found. This tour was called the Unseen Tour, and it's led by ex/homless people. Our tour guide, John Smallshaw (www.johnsmallshaw.com), was really funny, very engaging and also a poet! He gave us a couple poems along the way and it was really cool to hear him reciting them to us. We went to a couple out of the way places that weren't big stops like Big Ben or Hyde Park, but the lesser known areas, and sights that people might not go out of their way to see. We saw the London Bridge, where The Globe Theatre used to be, the Golden Hinde, Southwark Cathedral (the oldest gothic cathedral in London), The Rose Theatre, Red Cross cemetery, and Red Cross Garden.
I may not have gone out to Istanbul this weekend, but I had a fantastic time here in London. From tours, to the people, to just exploring on my own. London has so much to offer. Last post I said there'd be more adventures. Well, they aren't over yet. I think they're just getting started. I'll be sure to post as many as I can in the future. Till then, later!