Made it home again alive. I'm sure you would have to confirm this with the students, but I would have to say that this was a pretty smooth year. Considering everything we did, and the utter lack of disasters along the way, I'm pleased with it. And more than that, I had a lot of fun. This was a great group of people and I have some pretty specific, and entertaining, memories. A couple of details about the trip, more for me to remember than anyone else:
The Group: Anna-Marie Johnson, Ashley Grant, Sarah Mann, Sara Preston, Emily Hill, Levi Brown, Sarah-Lucy Hill, Mette Nielson, Melissa Chung, Aubrey Warner, Mandy Lyons, Jason Sullivan, Hyrum Allred and, for one week, Lisa Valentine Clark.
I read: The Great Movies II, by Roger Ebert, London: The Biography, by Peter Ackroyd, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris, Entertainment Weekly
2009 playlist:
Washington - Clementine
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Roisin Murphy - Ruby Blue
Sara Bareilles - Gravity
Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
Radiohead - Cuttooth
Nitin Sawhney - Songbird
Phoenix - Girlfriend
Wilco - You and I
Koop - Koop Island Blues
Phoenix - Lisztomania
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Passion Pit - The Reeling
Gregory Alan Isikoff - That Moon Song
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Roisin Murphy - Ramalama (Bang Bang)
Phoenix - 1901
Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
People: the awkward married/flighting couple, Fedra Jones, Ethan Hawke, Rebecca Hall, the grouchy ASL lady, The Burma protesters, Adam & Loraine, Kekoa, Sara's scaffold boyfriend, Percy at the Hotel Ajiel, the mysterious french waiter in London, all the Parisian buskers who sang "Beso Me Mucho," young guy with the blind grandpa on the metro, the skating guy at the D'Orsay & the mimicking clown, the ticket saleslady at the Cinema Ecole, Samuel Beckett (RIP), the scary French guard lady at St. Paul's, Brian of Bloomsbury, Dreen and Paul, the scary Stratford coach driver, Mathew Robins, The old lady who met us on the "exciting" new woods walk, the teens from the Winter exhibit, Tony and Leslie Gunn, the good folks at Sweet, the Thai lady who accosted me, Cliff Phipps, Andra the ghost guide, the Australians on the ghost walk, the drunk guy on the hill, Ewan Spence, Our always zealous tattoo usher Anne
Quotes to remember: "GO!!!!!" "Hey! I like your matching!" "Burma sucks." "Fo Shiz!" "A Haaaandbaaaaaaaag?" "PRISM. WHERE. IS. THAT.......BABY?" "There's no cops here. You can go as fast as you like! (Shriek!)," "Jesus Wept!" "Gray is for standin,' blue for sittin.'" "You'll kill yourself if you miss Jumpers!" "Oh, piss off, Debbie." "P-p-p-Paris face, p-p-Paris face" "D-d-d-denture cream, d-d-denture cream" "Sir you will never make it. You are too old and fat." "I wonder if perhaps you'd like some tea, Major Courtney?" “Be mysterious. Be in love. And you will be happy.” “You don’t have to pay, monsieur. Eet eez on ze house.” "the bloody blog" "We're going to a cow party!" "I, Albert Narracott, do solemnly swear...." "If anyone presses the nuclear button, we're all in trouble."
My favorite shows: A Little Night Music, A Streetcar Named Desire, Waiting for Godot, Flyboy and the Haunted Horse
Thoroughly enjoyed: All's Well That Ends Well, The Importance of Being Ernest, My Life With the Dogs, The Red Room, War Horse, The Cherry Orchard, Troilus and Cressida, The 39 Steps, Oliver, Billy Elliot
Meh: Carrie's War, Fusion, Hamlet, Arcadia, Julius Caesar, Phedre
Avoid at all costs: Romeo and Juliet
Movies I watched: JFK, Floating Weeds, M, Public Enemies, The Ladykillers, I Love You Man, Two Lovers, The Soloist
TV I watched, via the internet: So You Think You Can Dance
I think this completes my account. This was a wonderful trip. If you would like to come with us next year, please consider it. I would love to talk to you more about coming. You can contact me at clarkch@uvu.edu.
Until next summer, Cheerio!
