SMILE ROOMS We were blessed on our Globus Bus Tour of Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia with an experienced guide. The ropes he knew. Organized, personable, efficient, somewhat demanding, Erik also was a very good communicator.

For instance, when telling us the time that we had at a particular stop, he would never give rounded numbers. "We vill meet back at the bus at 2:35 in 24 minutes and 15 seconds." It was effective in delineating the exact time rather than allowing a misunderstanding. "I thought he said 2:55."

An experienced guide forced by arthritis to make a career change, he was also very even keeled. One especially fun night at a German outdoor restaurant complete with strolling musicians, our group got a little rowdy. I attribute it to Henry, a South Korean with a beautiful singing voice, who joined in with a violinist to a beautiful rendition of a Korean love song.

The others seated in groups of 8 at various tables also started singing culminating with "God Bless America". Keep in mind that while there may have been 30 of us, there were several other patrons at the restaurant. As I said at the time, "We're the group that you hate unless you're a part of us." None of the others joined in any of our songs.

As we were told we were going to leave, a chorused cheer went up with a flashback to the '60's: "Hell, no, we won't go."

It didn't phase Erik in the least as he acknowledged us, then led us to our bus. Besides that night, one other thing I'll long remember about him was his coining the term "smile rooms" for restrooms, necessary rooms, johns, luces, heads, toilets, potty rooms or any other terms. I'd never heard it used before, but I'd imagine in 10 years if any on our tour were to hear "smile rooms", they'd remember Erik.