First Day of Classes

SOME MORE MONEY PLEASE

One of my biggest fears about leaving the working world and heading back to school was the lack of a paycheck. It is so nice to have the satisfaction in knowing that money will be there waiting for you in your bank account every other week. I was scared to let that security go…even though it wasn’t much of a security. I am a worrier and I tend to panic randomly. One of my big reasons for panic is not being able to financially support myself. Checking my bank account online is like avoiding a root canal for me. I put it off and put it off until I really can’t avoid it any longer.

You can imagine my freak out when I saw my schedule for the next month of bartending. I assumed I was going to have the solid 20 hours/week that my visa allows and make the money I need to stay afloat. Turns out I’ve been demoted to 10-15 hours/week which means I can pay about half my rent. You would think I could do better seeing as my boyfriend is assistant manager but sadly his power for that was usurped. I can’t do much complaining until I work more and have the right to ask for more hours. Until then I have been brainstorming ideas to make an extra quid here or there. P.s. “quid” is slang for a pound here. It is sort of like saying “five bucks” in America but you would say “five quid” here. I’ve gotten pretty used to the term and love using it.

So how can I find some more money? Besides the fact that Matt and I have together gained a bit of a gambling problem. We’ve done everything from hoping we will win the lottery, trying to win bets on the football to even trying our luck at a Pub Quiz machine. Sadly not much of that has been lucrative. Matt won a bit of money on the football while I won six pounds on a scratch card. We lost about ten pounds playing on the pub quiz machine Saturday night, which was embarrassing but really fun! Through all this failed luck I think I’ve decided to put my Martha Stewart talents to work. Oooooo it would be good to be living with Hanna again right about now. Hanna (my NYC roomie and longtime friend) and I were super crafty together. We made homemade Christmas gifts together and spent many hours at Michael’s Crafts Store. She always has a box of paper or fabric samples and her sewing kit at arm’s length. We had this idea of making headbands and clips with cute little fabric flowers attached. We had a tendency to see things in a store and say, “we could totally make that.” Anyways, I’m thinking of crafting a line of hair accessories and once I have enough, I want to bring them to an arts and crafts fair and see if I can sell them. I know I won’t make a ton of money off of it, but it will be a fun project and I really want to “give it a go,” as they would say over here. Thoughts? As soon as I make a couple I will take pictures and post them here for further comments and suggestions. I’m putting up these pictures so you can have an idea of what I mean.

BACK TO SCHOOL BABY!

Today we officially started classes and we were hit with all our coursework and outline for the year. That wasn’t as painful as some of the “all-postgrad bonding” exercises we had to do. As an isolated program, I can tell I am going to get along well with my peers. It was nice to share a bond with them as soon as we walked into the auditorium filled with all the graduate students. It’s sad but funny when a group of students walks into the auditorium together and you can instantly tell “oh they are DEFINITELY actors.” Or, “those are the technical kids.” But it’s also comforting to know you are in a group of people who you can relate to in such a huge way. Even though it was a long day, I loved getting to know all of these people in a much more relaxed environment than it was at the scary and daunting orientation.

 

I also just want to finish this up by noting that I realized a huge dream of mine coming true today. At lunch I was sitting in a hallway with some other students eating and chatting. Because it was lunch there were tons and tons of students running up and down the stairs, some in their “theatre blacks” (the all black uniform usually worn by theatre people), others carrying giant rehearsal bags and some in dance and movement clothing. I realized in that moment, I had finally made it to that performing arts school, just like in Fame, that I had always dreamed of attending. Not to mention it was one of the best performing arts schools in all of the UK with an amazing list of alums. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret any of my educational choices in the past, but I am finally getting this performing arts school experiences that I always wanted to be a part of. I never saw this opportunity as that until today which was a fun realization.

Alright, off to do pages and pages of reading for school!

School Registration

 Today I FINALLY headed over to school for registration and a brief intro. It was so weird being in that new school situation again. We're all standing around awkwardly waiting to be told what to do. You will be sitting next to someone in an auditorium situation, waiting for further direction, and you sort of look around awkwardly knowing that the person next to you is doing the same. So who speaks first? If we happen to make eye contact, then I will say something. Ugh meeting new people...so not easy. I met a few people but spent most of the morning with an American. Go figure. There are only 35 people in my program and even that will be broken into two and I will end up with about 17 in my class but most of it will be made up of internships.

APPLIED THEATRE

For those of you who don't know I am studying a specific type of theatre called "Applied Theatre." I say educational theatre to make it easier when telling people what I'm studying, but it's a lot more than simply teaching theatre and drama. An example of Applied Theatre would be that of using theatre to educate or to give a voice to an oppressed community. There are countless ways to use this form of theatre. My year will consist of discovering how I can use the power of theatre to educate and in what field I can use this skill. I'm seeking my career that excites me every single day. I have a passion for other fields but this is one of them as well and I'm looking to see where it brings me. I'm looking forward to sharing that journey through my blog with my placements. I'm telling you now that I so desperately want to not only work in a school but on a larger level of working in the educational programming department of the BBC or The Royal Shakespeare Company. I would love to experience the large and small of this field. And that is a little bit of insight into my program.

BARTENDING

I just want to keep updating you on my miserable bartending skills. Last night was the test of the Shandy and the Tops. Again, lemonade here is sort of a lemon lime soda. A Shandy, which I don't is a thing in a America, is a pint of half beer half lemonade. While Tops is a pint of beer with a little lemonade at the top. Well when this group of 20 from a local business came in after work and started ordering Shandies and Tops...I looked at them trying to remember what Matt had taught me. I didn't realize I must have been staring at them for a good 20 seconds trying to recall...looking like an idiot. They totally called me out on it AND criticized my technique of failing to put the lemonade in first. I was SO embarrassed. I've seriously been trying to play this whole bartender thing cool. I'm a total newb. Sort of comical. Oh ya and I also had a bunch of 14 year old boys hitting on me while the receptionist had every ADULT man who walked in giving her their number. I'm so cool.

SAD DAY FOR APPLE

It was a sad today when we found out that Steve Jobs had passed away. He was an incredible innovator and has brought so much to the world of technology. He has actually dominated the technological world and is an amazing business man. My dad taught me a lot about Steve Jobs as a business man and innovator. I spoke to my dad tonight about the loss and I just wanted to quickly end this blog post with an inspirational old commercial Steve created but was never aired that my dad told me to watch. Steve was one of those great people in history that took risks and for that he will always be remembered. Thank you Steve. Signing off from my Apple MacBook Pro.