Welcome everyone, to the #AtoZChallenge Blogging Extravaganza, where hundreds of bloggers publish 26 posts in 30 days, one for each letter of the alphabet, covering a myriad of topics!“Musical Memories” is my theme. Click HERE to see all posts and HERE to view the A to Z Blog. Please support our efforts by visiting, sharing and commenting. We have all worked long and hard on this project. Have fun and thanks for reading! ♥
WHERE DO YOU GO TO, MY LOVELY? | #AtoZChallenge 2017 (W) Day 23 #MusicalMemories #dogladysden Share on X
The time: January 1969
The place: Boarding School, Switzerland
Excerpt from “Confessions of a Boarding School Inmate”.
[A memoir stuck in rewrite limbo.]
Second Semester, New Roommates
During the holidays, a letter had arrived from school. This worried me. Did they find out about our extracurricular activities? (see ‘A’ post). No cause for alarm. It was merely a note detailing room assignments. Fortunately, mine stayed the same. It was one of the biggest, with three beds.
First to arrive again, so I settled in. Same bed, same closet and I assumed, same roommates. (See ‘H’ post) That didn’t happen. Annette had left for good (we never found out why) and Giulia got reassigned!
She moved down the hall, to share a room with Maria, from Guatemala. One spoke Italian, the other Spanish, yet they understood each other perfectly and became fast friends.
So, who was joining me then?
In sauntered Veronika, from Germany, chic in designer duds and shooting me her best “What a dump!” look. A tall, leggy blonde with an aloof manner, I knew her by reputation only, but we did have a personal connection.
Her boyfriend was the son of my mother’s school mate. Veronika’s big sister was a famous model and her family came from old money. Intriguing! It would be a challenge to break through her icy exterior.
One more to come. I was hoping for Penny, my British “partner in crime” and the sister of Nigel, whom I was so infatuated with. She ended up on the floor below, paired with Heather, who was from the U.S. midwest.
The “Penny and Heather Show” soon became popular and surpassed our own friendship. (You may remember Heather, from the ‘P’ and ‘T’ posts. What a bitch!)
Mandy arrived just before supper time. She was the daughter of American missionaries and had been living in Africa for several years, before enrolling the previous semester. Her older sister, Mary, was also at the school but in the Senior girls’ building.
In the beginning, Mandy was a shy little girl and completely unfamiliar with the pop culture of the day, thanks to her sheltered existence and home schooling. Over time, she broke free of that cocoon and turned into a social butterfly.
Much to our disappointment, Penny and I discovered the escape room had a brand new, heavy duty lock on it. Horrors! No more ‘Schwarzausgang’ (going AWOL).
We and the boys had to content ourselves with a few stolen moments during the weekly chaperoned outings. Better than nothing!
Getting extensive airplay that new year was a bittersweet song by Indian/British artist Peter Sarstedt which, to me, profoundly captured the ambience of European culture. I was enchanted by it then, and still am:
More boarding school adventures on April 1st, 3rd, 10th, 19th, and 24th
Click HERE for sequential time line.
Have you ever had a roommate? Did you enjoy the experience?
Are you enchanted by certain songs?
Looking forward to your comments!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
30 thoughts on “WHERE DO YOU GO TO MY LOVELY? | #AtoZCHALLENGE (W) #MusicalMemories”
Debbie,
I’ve enjoyed your memories. You are the only girl I know who attended a boarding school. 🙂 Your song choice is new-to-me and I enjoyed the mewsic. It sorta whisks me through time with the melody flow and the vocal style. Thanks for the intro!
I’m glad you enjoyed the theme and the song, Cathy. 🙂 Boarding school was a unique experience. Meeting people from all over the world was the best part.
I remember this song well and now you’ve started a ear worm in my head ! Never had a room mate but have lived in a hostel while at college so I know what it’s like to share space with a bunch of strangers. Didn’t really enjoy it ….
I hope it’s a pleasant earworm. 🙂 Sharing space with strangers isn’t my idea of fun, either. Privacy is a precious commodity. Apologies for the late response. I’m hopelessly behind.
Ah, the stories of roommates! Sounds like you had an amazing array of cultural backgrounds with your various school friends. I’ll have to catch up on your posts as I’ve obviously missed many great stories and accounts of years gone by. Hard to believe that the end of the alphabet is already here. Where did the month go?! I’ve been outrageously busy these last few weeks so it’s actually a good thing that I didn’t participate in the A-Z this year. But I realize I am also missing a lot of good stuff! I always enjoy your posts and hope to get to go back and read a lot more of what I missed this month.
I really enjoyed Peter Sarstedt’s song! Listening to it for a second time now… Very nice!
Michele at Angels Bark
Thanks for reading my posts, Michele. 🙂 I know you’ve been busy, so I really appreciate it! I’m way behind with comment responses. 😛 The greatest thing about that year was meeting people from different cultures. That’s a priceless education.
Yet another song I somehow stumbled onto in a Time Machine post. A very pretty tune, a lot like Al Stewart.
Al Stewart did ‘Year of the Cat’, but that’s all I remember, other than he has a nice voice, too. 🙂 I’m pleasantly surprised you know this song, but then again, you research the British charts and it was a hit in Europe.
My younger sister and I shared a room growing up. I hated it. Then I got married and liked sharing a room with someone who snored even less. I have had travel companions that drove me crazy. My son’s dog spends time here when they are away and is the noisiest sleeper I know. I lock him out in the hall. I love having a house to myself!
Sharing a room can be difficult, for sure. Your comments made me laugh. 😀 I’ve dealt with the snorer and noisy dogs. These are things I can live with. Strangers? Not so much…
I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song before, but it feels warm and inviting. It also has a ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’ feel to it. hmmm. I hope your book gets printed soon. I am willing to be it will be a best seller.
This song really draws you in, doesn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for your kind words about the book. Problem is, the content is much too thin at this point, only about 4600 words. It needs to be fleshed out more, but being a memoir, I don’t want to start making stuff up. Dilemma!
DEBBIE, I’d never heard of the song nor the artist but I liked it. I actually found it kind of humorous and, to me, it seemed to have a Dylanesque lyrical quality to it in places. Pretty good.
~ D-FensDogG
[Link:) Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews…
I’m glad you liked the song, Stephen. I can see the humour but mostly, it feels bittersweet, to me. Never thought of it as “Dylanesque” before. You might have a point, there.
Another song I’m passionate about 🙂 Thanks Debbie for sharing. xoxo
Natasha
natashamusing
Travel Epiphanies:
Walk of Wisdom
Glad you enjoyed it, Natasha. 🙂 Apologies for the late response. I am way behind and unlikely to get completely caught up.
My roommate experience has been much better thank God… my first experience in a hostel was in 1999, joining the medical field. Today, 18 years later, we still meet up on New Year at the very least to enjoy a break from real life for awhile.
How great to remain friends with your roommates, Roshan! 🙂 Vero and I kept in touch for awhile, but that petered out after I moved away from Europe.
Love this song – and really enjoyed the film clip – it fitted the song perfectly. Another interesting update on your school year – you seemed to have an awful lot happen – much more exciting than my boring high school days!
Leanne | crestingthehill.com.au
The video was definitely a good fit for the song. 🙂 That was one wild and crazy year, for sure!
Poor you. New roommates can be a problem. I only faced that once in the dorm in university. The first year. I never heard that song before. Thanks for introducing me to it.
Never had a roommate (other than spouses) and wouldn’t particularly want one. I’ve had housemates which usually worked out okay, but I chose wisely by living with good friends.
Never heard the song today. Or the artist. Sounds pretty typical for the era.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I wasn’t thrilled about having to share a room either. As an only child, I was used to having space all to myself. At least with housemates, you still have some privacy.
Hi Debbie – well done … but what a varied range of school mates … lots more stories to tell I suspect I can read in the undertones! That Peter Sarstedt song did just draw one in … he died earlier this year … but I see his brother was Eden Kane – had forgotten that and another Sarstedt brother … well I’m living and learning … but that song – oh yes! Cheers Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/w-is-for-whistlejacket.html
Thanks, Hilary. Yes, I heard the sad news about Peter. 🙁 Lots of talent in that family!
Oh dear, how awkward to find the escape route barred.
Loved the music, very evocative. And I keep forgetting to write that I really like the way you have personalised the A-Z badge to match your colour scheme – way cool!
Losing our escape route was a major blow, Nila! I’m glad you enjoyed the song – it still has an effect on me, all these years later. 🙂 I have this little, OCD ‘matching fetish’. LOL Good thing the badges turned out well.
No more Schwarzausgang, too bad ?
Do you think overall the school administrations make good matches in terms of roommates?
I know! We were SO bummed out about losing our escape hatch. 😮 The roommate situation wasn’t bad. Good thing I didn’t get Heather, eh? 😀 Vero and I had the closest bond and kept in touch for a couple of months after we left school.