My Time at the Tower . . .

Cover of the souvenir booklet

As I continue on with my museum career journey, I come to the making-a-dream-come-true part: Living in London. I had always loved the city and had the opportunity to travel there a couple of times and really, really wanted to live there. So after I getting my undergraduate degree in history, I took it and my British passport (which I got through my father, who was born in Wales) and headed off to the place that captured my imagination so much history in just one place. I packed a HUGE bag - a hockey bag no less, how Canadian! - with a bunch of books, a stereo (!), my photo albums and some clothes in a suitcase . . . I was going to set myself up there and be part of the action!

My Welsh cousin met me at the airport. I do wonder what she thought of me and all my bags . . . and we took the underground subway (tube) to her place in east London. I arrived right around Guy Fawkes Day, and so there were fireworks and everything, I was so excited. I quickly got myself settled best I could and hit the pavement, looking for work.

I remember specifically going to the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum on my trek around town in my new and not-yet-broken-in pumps. Staff there were not overly-excited to see a young eager Canadian university graduate, I have to say! And, ya, as this was the time before easy internet (!!), it was tough to figure out where to look, who to talk to, how to get to work in a cultural organization. But I was not to be deterred! I went an employment agency of sorts and tried to understand the new place I was in. The positions listed there were more for odd-jobs and pubs, and I didn't come all that way to NOT work in a museum-like setting, so I decided to take more resumes to other places in person. My cousin was kind enough to put me up until I found a job, but time was pressing on . . . and that's when I got an interview and then awarded a seasonal position in the Tower of London gift shop!

for more awesome photos, check out here


Yeoman Warder

 

I was ecstatic. I would be taking the tube from Leytonstone to Tower Hill EVERYDAY, be a commuter in my big city. They also provided a uniform, which I later found out was a little bit too much like a school uniform, but that was okay - I would know what to wear. And it was a pretty intense schedule of 6 days on, 1 day off, with every fifth week a three-day break (not necessarily on a weekend, for sure). So I would be getting a LOT of experience working front-of-house at a World Heritage Site.

I learned a whole lot in my time there . . . we had rotating assignments in the main gift shop, a smaller one inside, a booth at the Crown Jewels as well as selling tickets at the front gate. Oh the stress of a balanced till at the end of the day! And all those postcards and sweets and little soldiers and souvenir books. And answering a whole lot of the same questions over and over again . . . . it is true that visitors ALL want to know where they can get a good cup of coffee, where to grab lunch and if there is a public loo anywhere nearby. Oh, and what of these heavy coins, help?! Oh and WHY is everything so expensive? Can they use this ID to get a 'deal'? Also to see the student groups from all over the world as well as the walking tours with a guide who would hold their umbrella up high so they could follow them easily. And what it was like when either or both groups would descend on the gift shop at the same time!

The entry to the Crown Jewels. Once I answered the phone on duty

when at my booth there and it was a person wanting to talk to someone at
his bank branch . . . but he didn't think he was calling THE Bank!

I really liked my co-workers. We were of two sorts - permanent, local East Enders with benefits and temporary, seasonal students and backpackers from places like Australia and Germany. And as mentioned in a previous post, the security and tour guides were Yeoman Warders, which was pretty cool (although I got in trouble with them a few times for accidentally kicking the alarm in the ticket booth. "CANADA! Stop swinging your feet!!" they would say...). I also got in the groove of having a bacon butty and tea on break, and having great conversations . . . made my own accent kind of funny, living with my Welsh cousin and working at the Tower. One visitor actually said to me, "What are you, Irish?!" It was truly an international experience, lol. 

One of the shopgirls was a daughter of a Yeoman Warder, whose family 
lived on the grounds. She invited me to stay overnight once and I
got to sleep in the amazing (but very spooky!) place!

One bonus I had not earlier considered was that being in England also gave me an opportunity to travel easily, and this job situation made it possible to earn money, go on adventure, and return back to work. With the intense full-time schedule, I have to say it was tough to get even just laundry done - work was all I did when I was there, with an odd one-day fun day if my day off landed on a weekend. And so a friend from home and I took trains for a couple of months and we saw almost all of the western countries in continental Europe. It was awesome. It also made me realize that I wanted to do some more travel . . .  maybe I had done all I needed to do in London - for now! - and so another friend and I planned a great return back to Canada via Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. What an experience that was! (I HIGHLY recommend doing something that can combine work and travel, especially when you're young!)

Venice!

Sydney!

While working as a shopgirl at the Tower was not exactly what I had dreamed for my first museum-y job, it was amazing all the same. The reality of it - and I am grateful to this day for it - is that I gained a deep appreciation for people who sell admission tickets, work in retail, help visitors navigate a good experience at cultural organizations. Some things you need to do yourself to really understand all that needs to go into making a good first impression, be the first good contact, at a place a visitor has invested the time and money to explore. It was my privilege to do so at the Tower of London, and I took this visitor-centred learning and understanding on with me on to my next work adventures.

 There's No Life Like It . . . 

Now before I get all museum-y on my journey down Memory Lane, I need to acknowledge a really amazing experience I had in the working world as a young adult.

You see, when I was still in high school, my older brother joined a band. Now it wasn't *that* kind a band, but one that had - what!? - a prerequisite of going through basic military training for the army reserves. This did not sound so appealing on the outset . . .  until the band part of his job started, where he marched in parades and played in a concert band for mess (official) dinners. This was a part time job?! Paid to play his euphonium? The clincher, though, was when he was approved to go to music school for the summer, away from home. THAT sounded cool and so I got my flute, auditioned for the band and got in as well, at age 17.

Ya first though . . . that basic training part. Oh boi. Uniforms, marching, learning to fire and care for a rifle. There was even rappelling down a wall, for which I did not do too well (that whole heights thing). We also DUG A TRENCH and participated in an overnight exercise. I will be the first to admit I was way more Private Benjamin than GI Jane! But you know, I got through it. I kept telling myself that if it didn't work out, I could fall back on my swimming instructor certificate and do that part time through the rest of high school and into university. But I didn't have to, as I learned discipline, to do a proper uniform kit - including polishing boots! -  and how we all had to work as a unit for us all to succeed, no one left behind.

I spent that first year in the band going to band rehearsals both in the drill hall learning how to play and march, and in a concert room practicing regimental music. Then I also got the opportunity to go to the Canadian Forces School of Music that next summer. In order to get promoted, we had to complete our 'TQs' - Trade Qualification levels - which, for musicians, included scales and technical pieces. The way courses were scheduled though I couldn't do my TQ right away so I chose another course. I decided what I needed was to learn how to be a drum major . . . how to lead the ENTIRE band around the drill square, learn how to hold and then signal with a large mace where we are supposed to go. Gutsy, eh! I have NO idea where I got that gumption, but I did. And this was on top of living in barracks, figuring out how to braid my own hair, getting up early and showing up at the music school on time. But I did it, again with the guidance of instructors but maybe more importantly with the support of my colleagues - from all over Canada - that were soon to become lifelong friends. It was truly a magical summer job.

There were a lot of flutes that first year at the school!

I was encouraged to take a junior leadership course after a couple of years of playing in the band. This was also a part of the requirements for promotion. By this time, I had switched from the army to the air force reserve. The training, though, remained focussed on working together, getting everyone through the challenges put in front of us. There was more tough outside stuff - rope bridges! - and classroom learning. It's a little odd, but I don't really remember the instructors except that they gave space for all the students to take turns leading, and then later evaluating each other. It's a foundation of leadership that has stuck with me - we support each other as we learn to lead.

After five full years of training ME, I was informed it was time to give back . . . I would be teaching basic training to a new bunch of air force reserve candidates. I ain't gonna lie - it was a little overwhelming to think about that! And so when they set me up to be a drill instructor, it my was first "Atten-TION!" where the silent "please" was pretty apparent. Lol. So I was told, Corporal Davies, you will be a classroom teacher. I appreciated that, because that is where my skills would best be put to use, teaching about rank structure and other parts of the Canadian Armed Forces. (And I guess I made an impression as that cohort did a rendition of You've Lost That Loving Feeling, aka Top Gun, at the local pub. THAT was a moment.)

I was in the part-time reserves for the whole time I was doing my undergraduate degree, and it was a wonderful experience. Not only did I get paid to play my flute and learn how to do it better, I learned a lot about life. I learned about discipline and teamwork and leadership. I would think there are a few people who wouldn't like the structure that the military offers, but I believe that there is comfort in knowing what one needs to do to get promoted, to understand hierarchy because it is on everyone's sleeves. And yes there were nuances in the band that may not be in other parts of the military such as a new recruit who is the best musician gets the solos but there was still a feeling of shared ownership of how we show up as a team. What I do, what she does, what he does, it all affects how we get our work done, show up on parade together, play at that Remembrance Day ceremony. We all stand together as one.