Summer of '88

As the snow falls early this year, I’m reminded of…summer. Particularly, another special summer, 1988.


Background. I had finished sophomore year at University of Maryland, and was taking 4 summer classes in order to get into the business school in fall. This meant staying on campus over the summer instead of returning home to Paris. Fortunately my best friend Phil was around, and one of my top friends at UMCP, Baron, was also taking summer classes, even staying in the apartment next door.


Classes. I took Accounting I, Accounting II, Calculus and Statistics. The accounting I professor was a Chinese woman with an impenetrable accent. Calculus was an easy A, as it was less challenging than the calculus class I’d already taken in high school. Statistics was dull, but it was a night class. Although the summer schedule meant classes 5 days a week, they were at noon or 2 p.m. so I could sleep late every day. I had no idea summer school was this laid back.


Apartment. I was in an on-campus apartment with Dave – a Diamondback photographer – and Jeff, a Texan from Houston studying urban studies. In July my brother came down from NYC, and then my Dad came down, and we all went up to NYC when my summer session ended.


Car. I had been saving up for a late 70’s Trans Am, but just as I was about to buy one, my parents bought me an ’84 Chevrolet Cavalier. Excellent gas mileage, if not particularly reliable, but it had A/C, automatic transmission, 4 doors, and a tape deck; and it could fit the 4 cubic foot fridge I was using.
I had gotten my drivers’ license in summer ’86 as a 17 year old, but without a car to drive consistently, my skills were almost nonexistent. The MVA test was “parallel park behind the MVA building”, not a very good indication of highway driving. I knew I’d have to teach myself how to drive.
Fortunately, UMCP has a small “city” worth of roads, and during summer the campus is virtually deserted, allowing me to drive around and teach myself. From there I ventured forth into traffic on Route 1, then brief trips along the Beltway. When I first drove all the way around the Beltway to Fairfax, to visit my friend Phil, it was like crossing the ocean. From there I learned to drive at night, a completely different experience. I even had my first accident: a minor scrape with a UMCP utility pickup truck. The crew said not to worry about it, they wouldn’t even file their own claim.


Music. The big deal was that (A) I got a CD player (er…borrowed my brother’s over the summer) and (B) got into early Scorpions, mainly Fly to the Rainbow and Lonesome Crow. I managed to jam with my friend Ken in Columbia.


Concerts. This was a great year for concerts.

1. Pink Floyd at RFK, the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour. Baron and his buddy Rob sold Floyd pictures Baron had taken at the Philadelphia show. I guarded the stash while reading Ayn Rand books. Our seats were in section 300,000 something.
2. Van Halen’s Monsters of Rock. Also at RFK, this time with Phil. Kingdom Come, Metallica, Dokken, Scorpions, and Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar) on the OU812 Tour. The fans set fire to the seats during VH’s set, forcing them to turn on the house lights. Sammy Hagar wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or amused.
3. Iron Maiden, at the Cap Center, with my brother. This was the Seventh Son tour. I got great tickets at the Stamp Union, “camping out” with minimal competition. A great show!
4. Judas Priest, at the Cap Center, with my brother. This was the Ram it Down Tour. More awesome seats! Not quite “Heavy Metal Parking Lot”, but close. This was the first time I’d ever seen Priest in concert.
5. AC/DC at Madison Square Garden, with my brother. I scored 5^th row seats buying them at the box office a week before the show. White Lion opened. Another great show, even if the album they were touring, Blow Up Your Video, totally sucked.
   

NYC. Every other year we went back to the US for home leave in summer. In ’88, my parents decided to swap places again, but unlike ’84, when we got Bag End, this time we scored a huge apartment on 5^th Avenue & 96^th Street in Manhattan. We went to the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, the guitar stores, the subway, Central Park, the library, and even walked all the way from 34^th Street back to 96^th. The AC/DC concert I mentioned above. Finally, we rode the Cyclone at Coney Island.

In 1998 I visited our relatives in Glens Falls, New York, only vaguely aware that France won the World Cup (“o que aconteceu????"). I have to wonder what summer 2008 has in store for us.