I had never left the United States until my family and I went on a trip to Puerto Vallarta. I was 31. Consequently, I had never been to a movie theater outside the United States until I joined the Foreign Service.
I went to my f
irst posting in Asuncion, Paraguay -- very small country, not a lot to do or see, particularly in the early 1990's. When a movie came to the theater there it was there for a long time and there were only two theaters in the city. Who knows, maybe in the country. I remember going to see Jurassic Park (the original) for the first showing with my friend Jeff. His wife La was 8-3/4 months pregnant and did not relish the idea of sitting in a Paraguayan movie theater for two hours -- in less than comfortable seats, at least for a pregnant lady. The movie started, no THX sound, but whatever -- then in the middle of the movie, it stopped for intermission. A young man came out carrying a tray, like the cigarette girls in movies from the 1930's, in it he had candy, popcorn and dixie cups of warm Coke. It was an interesting experience and the movie itself was fantastic.
irst posting in Asuncion, Paraguay -- very small country, not a lot to do or see, particularly in the early 1990's. When a movie came to the theater there it was there for a long time and there were only two theaters in the city. Who knows, maybe in the country. I remember going to see Jurassic Park (the original) for the first showing with my friend Jeff. His wife La was 8-3/4 months pregnant and did not relish the idea of sitting in a Paraguayan movie theater for two hours -- in less than comfortable seats, at least for a pregnant lady. The movie started, no THX sound, but whatever -- then in the middle of the movie, it stopped for intermission. A young man came out carrying a tray, like the cigarette girls in movies from the 1930's, in it he had candy, popcorn and dixie cups of warm Coke. It was an interesting experience and the movie itself was fantastic.While in Paraguay, I went on my only real visit of South America, a co-worker, Ms. Katie and I went on a trip that went through Chile, we started in Santiago, did a day trip to the desert in the north, another south to an area that reminded me a lot of Monterrey, California. We went further south to Puerto Montt and then ove
r to Bariloche, Argentina with a stopover in Buenos Aires. Ms. Katie and I had McDonalds for dinner. Give me a break, it had been nearly a year since the last time I was there! And then we went to the movies -- Schindler's List. You have to understand Ms. Katie and I had only a basic grasp of Spanish. So when we bought our tickets we just went and sat down. Someone came down and kicked us out -- we walked over to the usher who took us down and showed us where to sit. Pointing and gesturing, we finally figuree dout the seats were assigned. Ohhhhkay, but boy did we feel dumb. The movie was good, but sobering and I cried like a baby. But at the end where they're doing the epilogue -- it was all in Spanish and I couldn't read it fast enough. So I had my Mom buy me the book (pre-Amazon) and the book is different and the people in the movie are composites so I never have understood why they would do the epilogue.
r to Bariloche, Argentina with a stopover in Buenos Aires. Ms. Katie and I had McDonalds for dinner. Give me a break, it had been nearly a year since the last time I was there! And then we went to the movies -- Schindler's List. You have to understand Ms. Katie and I had only a basic grasp of Spanish. So when we bought our tickets we just went and sat down. Someone came down and kicked us out -- we walked over to the usher who took us down and showed us where to sit. Pointing and gesturing, we finally figuree dout the seats were assigned. Ohhhhkay, but boy did we feel dumb. The movie was good, but sobering and I cried like a baby. But at the end where they're doing the epilogue -- it was all in Spanish and I couldn't read it fast enough. So I had my Mom buy me the book (pre-Amazon) and the book is different and the people in the movie are composites so I never have understood why they would do the epilogue.
My second posting was London, they have lots of movie theater's there. I saw movies I loved, some I hated, some I just plain didn't understand. Most were at Leicester Square -- it is full of movies, half price ticket booths, hucksters and pickpockets. But always full of life. One of the things I remember most is it was my first experience with having popcorn choices, salty or sweet. I tried both but I'm a traditionalist -- give me the salty! Also, it was the first time I had ever been to a movie theater that showed advertisements before the film started. WOW, was that a long time ago! When I go back to London, I usually always head to Leicester Square. The movies and concessions were expensive!When I rejoined the Foreign Service, I went to Tel Aviv for my first assignment. We went to 
movies there quite often, particularly when my friend Ack was there -- she loves movies. We generally only went on Friday night or Saturday afternoons, as these were the days when the Israeli's didn't go to the movies. It was a security thing, back then a lot of malls were getting bombed. Except for the theater that was in the building in this picture -- you could go anytime there because it was an apartment buildng with a few shops and a movie theater and not a mall. The theaters in Tel Aviv did the same thing as in Buenos Aires, the seats were all assigned and woe betide you if you sat in the wrong one. It also did the intermission in the middle of the film, in mid-sentence if it hit the 40 minute mark there. Quite disconcerting. The movies were cheap and the concessions more expensive. Once a bunch of us were at a special showing of Harry Potter in Hertzliya and two cars got stolen from the parking lot while we were all inside. They were BMW's or Volvo's...
movies there quite often, particularly when my friend Ack was there -- she loves movies. We generally only went on Friday night or Saturday afternoons, as these were the days when the Israeli's didn't go to the movies. It was a security thing, back then a lot of malls were getting bombed. Except for the theater that was in the building in this picture -- you could go anytime there because it was an apartment buildng with a few shops and a movie theater and not a mall. The theaters in Tel Aviv did the same thing as in Buenos Aires, the seats were all assigned and woe betide you if you sat in the wrong one. It also did the intermission in the middle of the film, in mid-sentence if it hit the 40 minute mark there. Quite disconcerting. The movies were cheap and the concessions more expensive. Once a bunch of us were at a special showing of Harry Potter in Hertzliya and two cars got stolen from the parking lot while we were all inside. They were BMW's or Volvo's...I loved going to the movies at my next post in The Hague. You could sit where you wanted, and no intermissions
. You were spoiled for choice because there were a lot of theaters nearby. I would do "chick flick" get togethers when a particularly chicky flick came out and we would go and have a coffee and applebak after, or if we were down in Scheveningen go down to the Pier and go to the waflehaus for Poffertjes (tiny puffed pancakes, served warm with melting butter and powdered sugar on top but I always got them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream). Yummmmy. I want to go back to The Netherlands for Poffertjes!
. You were spoiled for choice because there were a lot of theaters nearby. I would do "chick flick" get togethers when a particularly chicky flick came out and we would go and have a coffee and applebak after, or if we were down in Scheveningen go down to the Pier and go to the waflehaus for Poffertjes (tiny puffed pancakes, served warm with melting butter and powdered sugar on top but I always got them with fresh strawberries and whipped cream). Yummmmy. I want to go back to The Netherlands for Poffertjes!Going to the movies in Australia is just like going in the United States, but the cost is even more than back home -- if you can believe it. I usually don't get any concessions because those are expensive too. But I will always go to movies!
No comments:
Post a Comment