Emerson College - Emersonian Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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Punks and trendies . . black leather and spikey, died hair. Scones and tea. The chanp;inp: of the f uard and British arrogance. kdsh and chips — familiar food fare for fourteen days — cockney accents and pubs that close by 11 p.m. In Waterloo, see bums huddlinp: around trash can fires warming their hands eating 25 pence cheese sandwiches. Their faces, grotesque and dirty in the firelight, their bodies, sad, twisted silhouettes, framed by alleyways. Homesickness double duty spreads and “The Day After,” reminding us of America, is viewed in a crowded T.V. room where international students — neighbors in our dormitory quarters — cast scowls and belligerent remarks at us, the American nuclear culprits. Leave for Gatwick early-morning December 15 A busload of familiar comrades departs, dazed, catching a final glimpse at London St reets dim in fog and snow remembering that first sight of a glowing castle in the dark of a September night. A plane ride transatlantic and hurried airport good-byes. Promises to stay in touch. Home seems warmer, familiar, but a little strange. Something about it has changed — the streets? the weather? — us? “When I got home, it ivas really weird because home was so different. The whole trip, at first, was like a buzz in my mind; it was all like one big blurr. Then, after looking at all the pictures, individual experiences started coming back and I was remembering more and more. Kelly Gammon Just another stop along the way . . . Allison Zimmerman makes dual use of her luggage while waiting for a train. l1 At last, Paris Arriving in Paris, the Emerson contingency takes a rest and a look around. 28 Compendium Events

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Napping of a train . . Karen O ' Brien takes grey drizzle. time out from the rigors of the road. Nights spent crowded into bunkbeds A fantasy place, a calm, winking jewel on the ocean. A moment of rest, time for a deep breath before killer couchettes tonight. It tvas amazing to see how everyone pulled together. After a while, we just did what we had to. If it meant getting up at U o’clock i)i the morning to catch a train, we would he up and out. There was a spirit of ‘do it and shut up about if.” Kelly Gammon “Survival on the road sometimes mea is transcending people and situations. Walt Littlefield Feeling exhausted and hungry and dirty. Little things bring great joy: Clean clothes, a cup of hot chocolate, a bowl of soup, a loaf of bread. A sunny day. A warm shower, A letter from home. Even in the rain, though, Paris is spectacular. Places, sights only dreamed of, become unforgettable realities. Ride the Metro and scavenge through flea market wares. Or, do some real spending along the Champs de L’Eysees, Place des Halles. Prostitutes wearing fishnets and sjiandex line Rue St. Denis, eyeing prospective buyers. Thanksgiving is spent in restaurants, missing the folks back home. Mentally preparing ourselves to move on once again. En route to Barcelona, Spain At 4 a.m., the call to switch trains (at the Spanish border) is met with weary reluctance, yawns and sighs. Our dazed and rumpled group, zombies on a new train, arrives in Barcelona at 10:10 a.m. Nov. 22 Our final stop before London, Amsterdam, Nov. 29. And of course it’s raining, as we jog along littered sidewalks panting, arms and backs aching, during the toughest luggage-schlep to date. Retire to the Hans Brinker Student Hotel where the quads are roomy and the showers are warm. Another city, another museum, this time the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. Discover the Ravensbruck Monument, commemorating the victims of concentration camps. Dedicated to the women who met theii ' deaths there. This voyage, it seems, follows a cycle of reinforced learning. From the Dachau concentration camp to the Ravensbruck Monument, we are reminded of the ravages of political insanity, of war. Likewise, from city to city we see the protests against nuclear weapons. The problems of the world and at home are not easily avoided. Here in Amsterdam, the youth are seeking peace, political and social equality, a safer world, employment. No matter where we are — At the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Dachau, Amsterdam, Boston — people are searching for security, peace, jobs. After two days of roaming cobblestone streets and dodging garbage, we’re off to cross the English Channel and make a final, homeward step. In London, where the native language is our own, simple tasks like buying groceries, reading street signs, become simple again . . A dingy city, gritty and tough, streets crammed with people, smells and sounds. Finances running low, budget shopping a necessity. A few blocks from the hotel buy fruits and vegetables at a huge, open-air market. There, Spanish men bark prices, hurriedly weighing and bagging produce, requesting payment in quick Spanish. We hand him a few bills, hoping that it is enough to cover the price and hoping that he doesn’t bring our foreigness to the attention of the native shoppers. Take advantage of those bargains while we can — tomorrow night, we leave for Paris! “The biggest challenge ivas the stretch between Florence and Paris, ivhich ivas a series of almost one-night stands. It was difficult to be packing up with -everyone getting sick, and to keep going while trying to get enough sleep.” Marcie Littlefield 53 Americans board a night-time train and settle down into couchettes for the last time. Muffled giggles and coughs, train noises and dark countryside scenery. We are one incredible moving machine, relentlessly forging on after quick pitstops. Paris and four days of cold. Hub of youthdom, unemployment, canals and trolley tracks, the house of Anne Frank. Bikers and students dominate this city. As do piles of garbage — the result of a sanitation workers’ strike — lining the sidewalks. Walking, we find ourselves stepping over and around the mounds, often resorting to the streets to avoid the optical and optical unpleasantries Coffee at breakfast is served in cups reminiscent of Dixie Cups at home. Cobblestones and brick buildings I’emind us of Boston’s Beacon Hill. Weary from new sights, we drag ourselves through Parliament and Hampton Court down King’s Road and over London’s bridges spanning the Thames. Spend two weeks in a whirlwind of activity theatre-going sight-seeing night-clubbing holiday shopping. Throngs of eager holiday buyers — caught up in the urgency of purchasing gifts — jam sidewalks and department stores. The pounding surf . . Ted Phillips, Beth George, Jessica Moritt and Michelle Ryan relax on the French Riviera Compendium Events 27

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1 Compendium Events 29 1. Diane Rubin, 2. Billy Glasser, 4. Natalie Morales, 5. Kate McMorris. 6. Beth George, 7. Marcie Littlefield. 8. Walt Little- field, 9. Jessica Moritt, 10. Laura Anderson. 11. Barbara Szla- nic, 12. Donna Alexander, 13. Nicole Torre, 14. Carmen Maru- sich, 15. Susan (chatelaine), 16. Ted Phillips, 17. Rich Thorn- gren, 19. Tara Meany, 20. Kit Holland, 21. Lisa Pastore, 22. Robina Lelle, 23. Barbie Follett, 24. Jennifer Hirshan, 25. Stacy Zucker, 26. Maria Hanley, 27. Karen Dorrwachter. 28. Eric Rhoden, 29. Andrea Katz, 30. Kym St. Pierre, 31. Mau- reen Callaghan, 32. Allison Zimmerman, 33. Alan Padula, 34. Jennifer Barbone, 35. Annemarie Simko, 36. Diane Raike, 37. Susan Cafarella, 38. Jessica Cohen, 39. Kelly Gammon, 40. Donna Chessare, 41. Brian Frazer, 42. Kim Jones, 43. Patty Brown, 44. Patty Oot (with hat), Cathy Rose, 45. Kim Blethan. 46. Karen O’Brien, 48. Beth Ann Daily, 49. Lynda Maria. 50. Patty Parisella. Missing: Dr. Robert Roetger, Debbie Rabino- witz, Ricardo Arambarri, Fran Orner, Julie Kreichman, Michelle Ryan. A sign for the times . . Jessica Cohen, Rich Thorngren, Diane Raike and Karen O’Brien play Jedi Knights in France. A.FF1CHA E CIRAUDY,