Thursday was a really great day at The Cat Museum. I learn so many things and I can feel myself growing more confident every time. The cats are all getting used to me and I can tell some of them even recognise me. It is really an amazing experience to work there!
As usual I met with Dawn to have a late lunch before going to TCM. We had a Japanese lunch and I ate Udon. The bowl was much bigger than I expected. I had ordered dumplings too but the kitchen forgot to make them when we ordered so instead of having them, since I had almost finished my meal and was getting full, we cancelled the order.
Then we went to TCM. Every week we get our duties sent to us in the group-chat over WhatsApp - who is going to which section at what time. First shift is between four and half past five. I started in the kitten kindergarten, also called Kittengarten. It is the most popular room where most people stay for an hour or more. Around five o'clock it is absolutely crowded with barely any space to move. The kittens are very playful with fewer people in there, but when it is crowded they get anxious and a bit tense, which leads to less cosy and playful kittens and less happy kids and parents. I love it in there and I know all the kittens by now - their names and personalities.
At five thirty it was time to move around. There is not really a system for it and it can be quite messy doing so. We can not leave the visitors alone in a section, but at the same time we need to move to the next room. Usually, it is only one person going to relieve another and that sets the motion in place and eventually everyone is at their new place. Second shift this time was in the adult section, literally the room outside the Kittengarten.
I am a quiet person. I only talk a lot when I am comfortable with the person I am talking to, mostly friends. Being a volunteer at TCM helps me talk to strangers and I feel like I have grown a lot in that regard. Yesterday I really got into it and talked to a man who was from Germany about adopting, about his cat-friendly apartment, about moving cats from one country to another. It was odd, since I never talk that much usually, but it felt good. I also felt a bit awkward, but what the heck, he was leaving the country the next day!
We prepared the food close to six o'clock and the cats know when it is time to eat. Suddenly they all gather outside the small bathroom, which is where the food is, to not be overwhelmed by the cats while preparing, and they start to sing and fight outside the door. It is funny and when the door opens they rush in. It is time-pressuring to get the twelve or so bowls out of the room. There is this one cat, black Fusilli with a crooked tail, who is very greedy and jumps up on the counter and eats from the bowls there while we are trying to get them out. He is adorable, but a bit cranky with food. When they are all eating he will move from his bowl, that still has food in it, to another and push the other cat away. We try to move him back but he can be very sneaky.
An hour after dinner TCM closes for the day. Visitors are slowly moving out the door and the volunteers clean up in the sections. ACs and lamps shuts down, cats are already half asleep in their favourite spots, we close the doors and walk home.
Kelly Clarkson
Spring and Orion
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