The London Series #4 Oddities

​The first oddity is, of course, that they drive on the wrong side of the road.  The first thing any and all Londoners will tell you is that they drive on the right side of the road and the rest of the world is wrong.  This leads to the second oddity, British arrogance.  The British are uniquely arrogant and seem quite proud of it.  To their credit, the streets all have signs which read LOOK THIS WAY.  Now to my simple American mind, if you need a sign on your streets which reminds you which way to look, that is a backhand admission that you’re backward in comparison with the rest of the world – just saying.
London is famous for its Indian restaurants.  We dined at an Indian restaurant one evening and were delighted there was no steam table.  Three different staff waited on us and we were given an appetizer without paying for it.  It was the best Indian meal I’ve ever eaten and probably ever will.   The oddity is that the British brutally ruled India, yet the Indian people moved to London and make a fine living sharing their culture and cuisine.
We enjoyed a traditional high tea at a French restaurant within a block of our hotel.  Why would a French restaurant serve high tea?  I was too timid to ask at the restaurant.  Of all the English restaurants we visited, and the hotel, not one offered a traditional high tea.  Sometimes, you to rely on the French for culture – even British culture.
There is a room, a very large room at the British Museum devoted to replicas of famous art works, like the David.  The British are so determined to have examples of classic art that if they can’t have the original – they have a fake.  At least our guide was honest enough to point out that all the art in that room was fake.  I find it odd for a world class museum to have a room devoted to fake art.
Speaking of the museum, in their entrance they have one of the heads from Easter Island.  Our guide admitted that the government of Easter Island is demanding that the head be returned since it was taken without their permission.  The museum curator adamantly refuses on the grounds that a million people would view it while at the British museum.  If the head were returned to Easter Island, very few people would see it.  So goes the logic of the British – uniquely self serving.
Finally, there is the relationship between the British and the monarchy.  If you know any British history you know that through time it has been a rocky relationship.  In the 21st century it is an odd anachronism that the British cling to as if their daily existence depended on it.  Our guide exclaimed that they are not “citizens” they are “subjects of the queen.”
The list of oddities could go on and on.  I’m not judging, really I’m not, just pointing out a view of the British from another perspective.