Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:00 am
Europe vacation gone bad...
I thought I'd share a story about my first trip to Europe.
It took place around October of 2000. At the time, the Church was having a "Call to Arms." They were having problems in France. Apparently, the French government had declared Scientology along with about 80 other religions "dangerous sects" meaning that if any member of that religion was convicted of a crime, the religion would be outlawed. I have no idea how factual that info is or if I even have all the info right.
But Scientology was organizing a Religious Freedom March in Paris.
There was a lady at the Seattle Org who thought I was really awesome and she invited me to be her travel buddy in Europe. She'd be going there for a week, mainly to tour London, but also to attend the IAS Patron's dinner at Saint Hill and also to go to the Religious Freedom March in Paris.
I thought it would be cool to go to Europe, so I accepted the invitation (my family paid my way, of course).
Anyway... I was only nineteen years old, and I was pretty thrilled that the drinking age in England was eighteen. So, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I could drink legally in a foreign country.
Perhaps I went a little too overboard, I don't know. The first store we went to, I bought a small bottle of wine. I proceeded to drink it outside (I wasn't aware that it was illegal to be drinking alcohol outside on a public street) until my travel partner told me I could get in trouble for doing that. We stayed at the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead, close to Saint Hill. I ordered a Brandy Alexander there at one point. Basically, here and there, wherever we went, I was buying or ordering an alcoholic beverage, but I think most of the time, I stayed fairly sober.
My travel partner and I went to see Les Miserables one evening. We had dinner at a Pizza Hut, and I ordered a bottle of Chardonnay. I think I only finished about a third of the bottle, but I got pretty drunk, but not so drunk that I got sick. The waitress kept bringing me more water. My travel partner warned me, "I'm not sure you understand the dangerous position you're putting yourself into. You're here in a foreign country and you're an inexperienced drinker. You're also here representing your religion which is trying to defend its rights in France."
Anyway, she gave me a locational after we left Pizza Hut before we went to the play. During the performance of Les Mis, I had to get up like six times to use the toilet because I had drunk so much water.
Anyway, the next day, some other people from Seattle showed up and joined us. At this point, I started spending less time with my travel partner to do my own thing, going to London by myself to see musicals.
Anyway, a few days later, there was the IAS Patron's dinner at Saint Hill. I didn't sit my with travel partner or the other Seattle people because I had paid for VIP seating, so I was sitting in the front.
I had three glasses of wine. I got pretty tipsy. I was obviously intoxicated.
Finally, one of the Seattle ladies came up to me and whispered, "You need to not have anything more to drink except water or coffee! No more alcohol!"
The next day, my travel partner came up to me and said, "You're in big trouble now. The Church's International Security is watching you. One false move and you could get declared. You might not even be allowed to go to the march in Paris. I tried to warn you, I tried to be like a big sister, but you didn't listen to me. Anyway, I don't really want to hang out with you for the rest of the trip. You're on your own now."
The lady who was the trip supervisor came up to me and asked if I'd be drinking anymore. I told her I wouldn't be having anything more to drink for the rest of the trip. She said nicely, "That would be so not okay if you did, so not okay."
So, the next day was the day of the march in Paris. All of us Scientologists staying at the Copthorne took an airplane. But there was a big delay in flight takeoff because the French government didn't want to let us in. But finally, we flew to Paris.
We were supposed to march from the Bastille to the Eiffel Tower, but we weren't even allowed to do that. All we could do was take the bus to go to this rally going on in this one area.
The whole day, I had been basically told to stay away from my travel partner and the rest of the Seattle group. The only time my travel partner would speak to me would be to make sure I had my plane tickets, I couldn't even sit with her on the plane, and other than that, she'd just be telling me, "THEY'RE WATCHING YOU. Stand up straight, walk straight, if you even look intoxicated, you can get in big trouble, maybe declared. Find somebody else to hang out with, because I don't want to be around you. THEY'RE WATCHING YOU."
I was very upset and depressed and scared and worried that whole day in Paris. I cried. I felt like a really bad person.
Anyway, like I said, the Scientologists didn't get to march. All they got to do was attend a rally. Some celebrity speakers like Kirstie Alley were there. And after the rally, we had to go straight back onto our tour buses. We were escorted by the French police back to the airport. They had their sirens blaring and everything. They wanted us to get the hell out of their country. We took the airplane back to England.
My one day in Paris, and I didn't even get to see any of it. Instead, I was ostracized by my Seattle group at the rally, and my entire day was horrible.
So, the next day, my travel partner and I checked out of the hotel (we had been staying in different rooms) and flew back to Seattle. She had it arranged that we were seated away from each other on the airplane.
Anyway, just because I get drunk at the IAS Patron's dinner, I'm viewed as a threat by the Church's International Security, and I'm ostracized from my travel partner and my Seattle group.
Horrible experience.
It took place around October of 2000. At the time, the Church was having a "Call to Arms." They were having problems in France. Apparently, the French government had declared Scientology along with about 80 other religions "dangerous sects" meaning that if any member of that religion was convicted of a crime, the religion would be outlawed. I have no idea how factual that info is or if I even have all the info right.
But Scientology was organizing a Religious Freedom March in Paris.
There was a lady at the Seattle Org who thought I was really awesome and she invited me to be her travel buddy in Europe. She'd be going there for a week, mainly to tour London, but also to attend the IAS Patron's dinner at Saint Hill and also to go to the Religious Freedom March in Paris.
I thought it would be cool to go to Europe, so I accepted the invitation (my family paid my way, of course).
Anyway... I was only nineteen years old, and I was pretty thrilled that the drinking age in England was eighteen. So, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I could drink legally in a foreign country.
Perhaps I went a little too overboard, I don't know. The first store we went to, I bought a small bottle of wine. I proceeded to drink it outside (I wasn't aware that it was illegal to be drinking alcohol outside on a public street) until my travel partner told me I could get in trouble for doing that. We stayed at the Copthorne Hotel in East Grinstead, close to Saint Hill. I ordered a Brandy Alexander there at one point. Basically, here and there, wherever we went, I was buying or ordering an alcoholic beverage, but I think most of the time, I stayed fairly sober.
My travel partner and I went to see Les Miserables one evening. We had dinner at a Pizza Hut, and I ordered a bottle of Chardonnay. I think I only finished about a third of the bottle, but I got pretty drunk, but not so drunk that I got sick. The waitress kept bringing me more water. My travel partner warned me, "I'm not sure you understand the dangerous position you're putting yourself into. You're here in a foreign country and you're an inexperienced drinker. You're also here representing your religion which is trying to defend its rights in France."
Anyway, she gave me a locational after we left Pizza Hut before we went to the play. During the performance of Les Mis, I had to get up like six times to use the toilet because I had drunk so much water.
Anyway, the next day, some other people from Seattle showed up and joined us. At this point, I started spending less time with my travel partner to do my own thing, going to London by myself to see musicals.
Anyway, a few days later, there was the IAS Patron's dinner at Saint Hill. I didn't sit my with travel partner or the other Seattle people because I had paid for VIP seating, so I was sitting in the front.
I had three glasses of wine. I got pretty tipsy. I was obviously intoxicated.
Finally, one of the Seattle ladies came up to me and whispered, "You need to not have anything more to drink except water or coffee! No more alcohol!"
The next day, my travel partner came up to me and said, "You're in big trouble now. The Church's International Security is watching you. One false move and you could get declared. You might not even be allowed to go to the march in Paris. I tried to warn you, I tried to be like a big sister, but you didn't listen to me. Anyway, I don't really want to hang out with you for the rest of the trip. You're on your own now."
The lady who was the trip supervisor came up to me and asked if I'd be drinking anymore. I told her I wouldn't be having anything more to drink for the rest of the trip. She said nicely, "That would be so not okay if you did, so not okay."
So, the next day was the day of the march in Paris. All of us Scientologists staying at the Copthorne took an airplane. But there was a big delay in flight takeoff because the French government didn't want to let us in. But finally, we flew to Paris.
We were supposed to march from the Bastille to the Eiffel Tower, but we weren't even allowed to do that. All we could do was take the bus to go to this rally going on in this one area.
The whole day, I had been basically told to stay away from my travel partner and the rest of the Seattle group. The only time my travel partner would speak to me would be to make sure I had my plane tickets, I couldn't even sit with her on the plane, and other than that, she'd just be telling me, "THEY'RE WATCHING YOU. Stand up straight, walk straight, if you even look intoxicated, you can get in big trouble, maybe declared. Find somebody else to hang out with, because I don't want to be around you. THEY'RE WATCHING YOU."
I was very upset and depressed and scared and worried that whole day in Paris. I cried. I felt like a really bad person.
Anyway, like I said, the Scientologists didn't get to march. All they got to do was attend a rally. Some celebrity speakers like Kirstie Alley were there. And after the rally, we had to go straight back onto our tour buses. We were escorted by the French police back to the airport. They had their sirens blaring and everything. They wanted us to get the hell out of their country. We took the airplane back to England.
My one day in Paris, and I didn't even get to see any of it. Instead, I was ostracized by my Seattle group at the rally, and my entire day was horrible.
So, the next day, my travel partner and I checked out of the hotel (we had been staying in different rooms) and flew back to Seattle. She had it arranged that we were seated away from each other on the airplane.
Anyway, just because I get drunk at the IAS Patron's dinner, I'm viewed as a threat by the Church's International Security, and I'm ostracized from my travel partner and my Seattle group.
Horrible experience.
