WELCOME July 24, 2000 Issue

To Our Readers

Cyril Rakhmanoff

You could see the fire roaring through the little metal door that the engineer would open periodically to throw in some coal. There was also the white steam that was let out at some intervals, making the whole train station disappear in a white cloud. The steam engine stood there, huge and imposing. It was like magic. Especially for a nine-year-old boy on his first day of summer vacation. In a few moments the train would be set in motion, and the colorful fields, dark forests, and imposing mountains would whiz by in swift succession.

I had dreamt of this moment for weeks. But as we had approached this much-desired departure date, tension had set in. There had been thousands of things to accomplish. And finally, it was a mad dash to the train station.

The vacation scenario of ups and downs, of expectation and anxiety was marvelously captured by French filmmaker Jacques Tati in his film, Mrs. Hulot's Holiday, where he portrays vacation time as nothing but excitement, frustration, multiple plans, and constant mishaps.

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