How was Harrods? Well, let's put it this way. it was like stepping into Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Zabar's, and half of Fifth Avenue all rolled into one.
So is she saying that Harrods is bigger than all of those combined or that Harrods has everything all of those shops have to offer, combined? But I thought you could (pretty much) get the same thing at Bloomingdales at Macy's and so forth. Of course, I've only been to New York once and only went to Bloomingdales and Macy's. We did walk Fifth Avenue and I know they have pretty high end stuff, so maybe you can get affordable stuff and high end stuff at Harrods? Anyway, not surprisingly, this is Stacey's highlight of the trip. Typical Stacey. Her mom buys her two outfits - "one for the theater that night and one for daytime sightseeing." Unfortunately, we do not get a description of either outfit and I feel very cheated. I'm just going to pretend that one of the outfits she got was a Union Jack dress, you know like what Ginger Spice would wear. Stacey isn't the only one who does shopping that day. Kristy also buys a pack of white crew socks. That's just odd. Unless she needed them? Otherwise, why not wait and buy them when you get home?
A message has arrived and they now know where the guy who has Stacey's luggage is staying in Paris and he's an elderly man from Colorado named Louis Anderson. He's made arrangements to have Stacey's luggage delivered tomorrow, but he's requested if Mrs. McGill and Stacey can deliver his luggage themselves since they contain the ashes of his friend, Dennis, who was in WWII with him. Kristy thinks this means that Dennis died back when they stormed the beach at Normandy together and that Louis has been carrying his ashes for all these years! But Mrs. McGill clarifies that Dennis died this past year. He wanted Louis to scatter his ashes at Normandy. I bet Louis got quite the surprise when he opened his suitcase only to discover trendy clothes for a thirteen-year-old girl!
Since Louis (or Maureen) don't feel comfortable about trusting the ashes with the airline, Mr. Anderson has asked if they can deliver them when they get to Paris (good thing they were going to Paris; otherwise he'd have to get them through the airline) and Stacey isn't thrilled about this. I'm really not sure what the big deal is. They're going to be in the same city as this guy; is she worried it's going to cut into her Paris vacation time or something? We get this passage from her:
Why would a grown man ask someone to scatter his remains on a beach halfway around the world? Wouldn't he want his ashes to be near his friends and family? And why would another man actually travel all the way to Europe to do this for him? I mean, okay, they were in the war together. That was important, but it was over 50 years ago. It seemed weird. Morbid.
I love how she answers her own question there. Also, why is she being so judgmental? She doesn't know this man or his deceased friend. But her tune quickly changes when they go to the Cabinet War Rooms the next day, "where Winston Churchill and his cabinet hid underground during WWII, planning the strategy that won the war." I wouldn't describe myself as a history buff (don't get me wrong, I do find plenty of history interesting and fascinating) and this sounds really cool to me. This also sounds like something that would be great for a class of kids to visit in London (unlike, say, the beach, when they were in Hawaii).
Stacey is acting like a brat when her mom tells her where they're going that day:
Ugh. My beauty sleep was being ruined for the sake of a war exhibit?
OMG, STFU, Stacey. She sounds like such a spoiled brat. However, when she visits the exhibit and the tour guide tells them how the strategy called Operation Overlord was planned there, the one where "thousands of American, British, and Canadian troops launched an all-out surprise attack...", her tune changes when she realizes that Louis and Dennis were part of that and she thinks about the ashes again and that "this time [she] didn't think they were weird at all."
They take the Chunnel from London to Paris and Stacey calls it "the new improved, underground way to cross the English Channel." She isn't wrong about the "new" part; it was built in 1994, so when the BSC rode on it, it was fairly new!
Stacey and Maureen return the ashes to Mr. Anderson and he thanks them and Stacey asks him if they can come along to Normandy when he scatters the ashes. A bit presumptuous of her, but he tells her he wouldn't mind the company. Maureen, along with everyone who is reading this, is SHOCKED: "You want give up a day of Paris in order to go to Normandy?" Stacey claims she'll have plenty of time in Paris and that this is important. So they drive to Normandy and Stacey and Maureen give the old man privacy as he says good bye to his war buddy and it's a nice moment.
I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the SMS students are touring London and Paris along with another class from Toronto, who have their own chaperones as well. There are two tour guides who assemble all the kids and have them play a "get to know you game" where everyone has to take off a shoe and put them in one of two piles --the Stoneybrook pile and the Berger (the school from Toronto) pile. I've had to participate in an activity like this before and it's as stupid as it sounds. You grab a shoe and you're supposed to find its owner. This seems really gross taking off one of your shoes when you've been in a plane for hours....then you have to touch someone's shoe? Ewww. So Kristy is narrating this chapter and while all her friends hate this little activity, she thinks "the idea sounded cool." She had scribbled "Let's Go, Mets! "on her sneakers so she thinks that will be a great ice breaker (which I have to agree), you know, as long as the person who has her shoe is a baseball fan!
Kristy grabs a shoe that belongs to a French-Canadian boy named Michel DuMoulin and it doesn't go well from the second they meet:
He took his shoe back before shaking my hand. "Michel DuMoulin.
"Michelle?" I asked.
He gave me a curious look. "You sound surprised."
"Well, it just - sounds like a girl's name. I mean, in my country. Like my sister's name, Emily Michelle."
I have such a big mouth. I should learn to shut it sometimes.
Michel did not look pleased to meet me.
Great first impression there, Kristy. They bicker about baseball (Michel is a Blue Jay's fan) and Kristy isn't impressed with him either. Of course, everyone around them can tell there's some sexual tension (in the most G-rated way, of course) between the two of them and Stacey even tells her, "Just kiss him and put both of you out of your misery." Oh, Stacey! (Haha, she has no idea how right she was!)
When they're at the Louvre, their group has left without Kristy and Michel. Obviously, this is for plot reasons, but kinda weird that a big group would just leave like that without taking a head count. These kids are only thirteen-years-old for God's sake. I was sixteen when I went to Paris and they did a roll call everytime we were supposed to go somewhere. They just wouldn't leave us somewhere. Of course, Kristy and Michel get into a fight, with Kristy blaming Michel for making them miss their tour group. I guess they had been given instructions to meet at the Eiffel Tower at five o'clock if they got separated from their group. Kristy is aghast since that's four hours from now and she doesn't want to spend all this time with Michel.
Michel may be a bit of a pest, but he's nowhere near the level that Alan Gray is and it's pretty obvious he likes Kristy. He'll tease her and be in whatever group she's in. During this time when they're alone together, waiting to kill the time until it's five o'clock, they go to a patisserie and she tells him she doesn't know him and they're going to sit at separate tables. Apparently, when Michel ordered first, he told the girl behind the counter to act like she couldn't understand English, so therefore when Kristy tries to order her pastry, the girl has no idea what she's saying (even though Kristy is literally pointing at the pastry in the case!) When Kristy tries to get Michel to help her, he says he doesn't know her and everyone is laughing (I guess everyone in the store was in on this prank). Of course, we find out the girl can speak English and she serves Kristy. Kristy says she has "never felt so embarrassed in my life" and if this is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to her, well, that's pretty good. Michel apologizes and tells her he thought it was the only way to get her to talk/sit with him. (Another obvious sign he's into her). Kristy takes this way out or proportion and says she's leaving, but he tells her it's too dangerous to go out in the city by herself, she starts SCREAMING at him, telling him he's dangerous (really, Kristy?) and making this huge scene. I feel a bit sorry for the guy:
Michel recoiled. That's the only way I can describe it. It was as if I'd hit him.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I thought - you know, all our arguments, the insults - I thought we were just kidding around. I thought we were having fun together. I wouldn't dream of hurting you, Kristy."
Michel makes a deal with her because he knows that a thirteen-year-old should not be wandering the streets of Paris alone (though, I guess it's okay if two thirteen-years-old are wandering the streets of Paris, though I guess that is better, especially if one of them speaks French) and tells her he's been to Paris many times and is familiar with the city. He tells her:
"Let's make a deal. We can pretend to be friends, like an acting exercise. I promise not to play pranks or make jokes. You promise not to insult me."
I don't know why they have to "pretend to be friends"; why not just call a truce and have him say he won't play pranks if Kristy doesn't insult him? Oh, well. So she agrees and they hang out together and actually enjoy each other's company and a couple of people even think they're a couple. When they have to leave, Kristy kisses him and they write each other in the epilogue.
I actually kind of enjoyed the "Kristy has a romance in a SS subplot" because it's something we've never really seen before. Claudia and especially Stacey get so many of those, but when it's Kristy, it's way more interesting since Claudia and especially Stacey go through boyfriends like Kleenex.
When they're in London, they visit Victoria Kent, the "little princess" that Mary Anne had a sitting gig for. Abby tells us that she and Mary Anne are the ones who spent most of their time baby-sitting Victoria and know her the best and I do not remember Abby ever baby-sitting for her, so I don't know if I just remembered things wrong or they retconned this in. Of course, I read all the books post 70s on my laptop last summer, so all of that is pretty much a blur and I probably didn't retain a lot of information. Abby thinks Victoria lives in a castle even though Mary Anne tells her (at the BSC meeting before they go to Europe) that she doesn't.
When Abby visit her (with the rest of the BSC along the way, of course), she thinks their house is the servant's quarters. But, no, it's the house Victoria lives in with her family. She describes the house as "a large, Tudor-style house with a nicely kept lawn," so while she doesn't live in a castle, it sounds like they have a very nice home. Turns out that Abby thought she lived in a castle because Victoria called her house "Kent Castle." Abby tells us she tries not to look disappointed. I don't know why she's so butt hurt over this. It sounds like the Kents live in a perfectly nice, lovely home (Abby even tells us it's "beautiful" when she's inside the house.) I guess she really wanted to visit a royal family in a castle.
Victoria tells them she's going to meet the Queen tomorrow at Buckingham Palace and will be presenting flowers to her. That's actually quite adorable. She asks Abby if she would like to accompany her because she needs a "guardian" and her parents will be busy with the event and her nanny/housekeeper "can't stand on her rotten ankles for more than two minutes with complaining". Of course, Abby is thrilled and gets permission to go.
There are about two dozen young girls who will be presenting the Queen with flowers and they're all standing along the road with their guardians behind them. The girls are "the daughters of the various ambassadors and politicians who have organized the event." Abby soon realizes she won't actually be meeting the Queen herself and is disappointed by this. (Poor Abby, she gets quite disappointed a lot during her trip to London, doesn't she?)
Abby tells us the Queen was escorted by a Prince she recognized from the news. Hmm, I wonder who it was? I feel like she would know Prince Charles. Prince Andrew, perhaps? I must admit, I'm not really familiar with who else would be popular princes in the news back in the '90s. By accident, Abby ends up stepping on his shoes as she's running to meet up with Victoria after she's presented the Queen with the flowers. A photographer snaps a picture of the moment and it ends up in a weekly newsmagazine that Victoria sends Abby in the epilogue chapter. Yes, we see the photo (illustration), and yes, it is hilarious
In Paris, Abby writes in her journal that they visited the Pompidou Centre which I've also visited. I only remember it being an "inside out" building and don't remember anything about the interior at all so now I'm questioning myself if I actually went inside it or just saw the outside.
One day, while most of the group goes to EuroDisney, a small group, including Abby and Kristy decide to tour the Parisian sewer system which I know is a thing. I honestly don't see what the point of going to EuroDisney, especially if you're an American. Go to Disney World; that's the best one. Even Disneyland is acceptable. If you're a European kid, fine, I get it. But an American in Paris going to EuroDisney? Why?? What is the point??
Before I move on from Abby, I need to mention that during the BSC meeting before they all go to Europe, she's talking about Elvis (who's she a huge fan of; I never met a teen in the '90s who was an Elvis stan) and how he was in the army. Claudia asks her which war he was in and, I shit you not, Abby says she doesn't know, but guesses the Civil War. The f**k? First of all, did Peter Lerangis get Abby confused with Claudia and thought she was the dumb one? Kristy does set Abby straight and tells her Elvis wouldn't have been around during the Civil War and Abby says something lame about missing class that day.
Jessi finds out the dance company she was in for a month in New York will be performing at the Barbican Centre in London while she'll be there. Of course, she and the European-travelin' baby-sitters go to see the performance, one that Jessi is familiar with and knows all the moves to, mind you. While she is visiting her ballerina friends in the green room, a fellow dancer has sprained her ankle right before the show is to start and if that wasn't bad enough, the understudy is sick with food poisoning. So guess who is asked to take the dancer's place? Yep, good thing Jessi already knows those dance moves because she's going onstage! Uh, I feel like this would never happen in real life. Even if they know Jessi, you just can't take a random girl from the the audience and ask her to be in the production. Also, isn't there more than one understudy for this ballet? That's very baffling. But, anyway, they rush to find Jessi a costume and she's whisked onto stage and all her friends are just so amazed she's dancing. She does mention she makes a few mistakes (well, duh, it's been awhile since she's done this dance and she barely had time to warm up), but other than that, it was an amazing experience.
That's pretty much all that happens for Jessi. She pretty much has the most boring storyline abroad. Still way more exciting than anything that happens in the Stoneybrook chapters.
Mallory has cousins who live in London so she visits them. From what I gather, the woman, Gillian, is her mother's cousin (making her Mal's second cousin? I always get so confused with the different degrees of cousins) and she has two young children, Bernard and Brett. The thing I'm confused about is Gillian introduces her sons to Mallory as being their second cousin...wouldn't she be their third cousin? Oh, well, I'm not going to give myself a headache thinking about it.
Gillian is a writer, so of course Mallory is in awe of her. She hasn't published a book yet, but has a contract for one to be published.
Gillian shows Mallory the family tree for her mom's side. A couple things:
The Berger kids were pretty cool. For the first time, we were all talking together getting to know each other. I did not, however, tell them about ancestry. I didn't want them to treat me like a celebrity or anything.
Don't worry, Mal, I don't think there's any possibility of that happening.
Mallory is working on a story (she's on vacation; why does she need to be writing a story?) and is having trouble with it so she's hoping to channel some Shakespeare energy. Her story is called "If Life is a Barrel of Monkeys, I Must Be a Banana" which must be one of the worst titles I've ever heard.
It was about a girl going totally nuts because her parents expect too much of her, her brothers and sisters tease her and her best friend moves to New York City.
Wow...that certainly doesn't sound familiar :::rolls eyes::: And let's not forget, Jessi ALMOST did move to NYC when she attended that dance school, but didn't. At least Mal tells us that her teacher told her to "write what you know". Can't say she didn't take his advice! However, she decides to change up her story and have her main character go back in time and switch places with Shakespeare's daughter. So she's pretty much writing an episode of Quantum Leap! Sounds way better than her original idea.
It turns out Mallory is so engrossed in her story that while she's in Paris, she's barely paying attention to the Bastille or Notre Dame or the Tuileries Garden. It kinda reminds me of when Jessi is in Hawaii and is so busy taking pictures for the scrapbook for Mallory that she's barely enjoying anything for herself.
So that's everyone who traveled abroad. Now we'll go to Stoneybrook where the rest of our girls are going to be counselors for Playground Camp. BO-RING. Now, would you rather travel to London and Paris or have to baby-sit a bunch of kids? Hmmm, real tough decision there.
Claudia tells us:
I could have gone on that trip to Europe. But I hadn't wanted to. I had preferred to stay in Stoneybrook. I'd never been a counselor in a real, official camp before. And I love kids.
I call bullshit on this. Bull. Shit. Claudia had preferred to stay in Stoneybrook? Puh-leeze. Gimme a break! Claudia would have LOVED London and Paris. The fashion! The art museums! The architect! The culture! The desserts! The Parisian desserts alone should have been enough to get her to go! And I get that she loves kids, but, my God, she baby-sits all the freakin' time! Take a break, girl! Also, wasn't she a counselor when they were at Camp Mohawk? Okay, she was a Counselor-in-Training, but still...
It turns out the orginial head counselor is not able to perform her duties, so Janine will be stepping in for her. She will be the head co-counselor along with her ex-boyfriend, Jerry. We get some backstory from Claudia explaining to us that Jerry only wanted Janine to help out because he was trying to get back together with her. They must be the Ross and Rachel of the BSC series, because they've already broken up twice. Janine being a camp counselor doesn't really vibe with her academic character, so I'm guessing she's only doing it because it will look good on her resume when she applies for Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Oxford. (Poor Claudia will be attending Stoneybrook Community College and her sister will have gone to one of those prestigious universities!)
Janine is being a bit of a hardass on Claudia and when Claudia goes off on her about it, Janine apologizes and tells her she's been taking her frustration out on her because of Jerry. Man, that guy is an ASS! I don't remember him from the series, but we get this exchange between the Kishi sisters:
"He's been overbearing, Claudia. He has so much more experience than I do, and I can't seem to catch on."
"You were doing fine a little while ago."
"I thought so. I'd set up a math contest for the campers - you know, weird, fun problems. Like a game show. I worked all last night on the concept. And the kids were loving it. But Jerry told me to pack it up."
"Why?"
"Not appropriate. He said, 'This is a summer camp, not a college classroom.' But that's how I relate to kids. I tutor them. I get them interested in math and science."
"They were having fun. That's appropriate."
"He's been saying things like that all week, Claudia. I feel as though I can't do anything right. So I try harder and harder. And it doesn't seem to matter. He just chides me even more."
Basically, Janine tells Claudia that she has been using her as her punching bag because of her frustration at Jerry. I like that Claudia sides with Janine even though she wouldn't have liked a math contest game. I don't know why Jerry is such an ass to Janine about it. I would assume he's a math and science nerd too if he dated Janine, so you think he would have though that was a great idea. Plus, not all kids are going to want to play outside on the playground all the time; I'm sure many of them would love something to stimulate their minds. Jerry SUCKS! Claudia tells her to ignore what Jerry says and do things her way.
Mary Anne pretty much spends her two chapters whining about her nemesis, Cokie Mason, who's also a camp counselor. Mary Anne describes her more like one of the kids they're watching and we learn the only reason she was able to become a counselor is because her mom is on the Board of Education and they are the ones who run the camp. Nepotism at its finest.
I'm still shocked that Mary Anne didn't go to two of the most iconic cities in the world, being a walking tour book and all that!
Have I mentioned this whole Playground Camp storyline is the most boring in all of the SS plot lines? I'm surprised that Mallory didn't stay in Stoneybrook to be part of this boring plot line!
Dawn only has one chapter. What was the point of coming back to Stoneybrook? Oh, yeah, to spend time with Mary Anne and her mom. Dawn spends her chapter at the Sunshine Gang Day Camp, which is a camp for special needs children. (She's sent there because someone is sick). Susan, the autistic girl we met many moons ago in Kristy and the Secret of Susan, is there and the head counselor tells Dawn she wants her to keep an eye on the kids in the gym, but also to keep an eye on the room where Susan is playing the piano because they need someone to accompany her if she leaves. Um, how does this woman expect Dawn to be in two places at once?
After the counselor leaves the room, Susan stands up from the piano and also walks out, so Dawn follows her to a room which is the same room the woman told Dawn she would probably go to. In that room is a "big, padded apparatus that looked like some weird weight machine." Dawn is freaked out when Susan wedges herself between the pads and it begins to move closer to her when she pushes a button. Dawn starts freaking out and calls for the counselor. How dumb is Dawn? Because literally not even a minute ago, the woman told her that they set up Susan's machine in there which is a hug machine since she doesn't like physical contact from humans, so this is how she gets her comfort. Like, duh, Dawn, weren't you listening? So the woman has to come back and tell Dawn about it...again!
Fun fact: we learn that Dawn has been to France on a family trip. I could care less about Dawn not going abroad; but Claudia and Mary Anne should have definitely been on that trip!
If you ever read this book, just skip the Mary Anne, Dawn, and Claudia chapters. Trust me, you will thank me. They are so boring and they disrupt the flow of the book. This is a book about a European vacation and that's what you came for!
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