I’m doing my best to ignore that yet another year has gone by (and the fact that despite my best wishes, the pandemic is still a thing), but this past year has been full of excitement and I thought I’d try and sum it up a little! Despite the pandemic, I spent 2021 in three different countries, and while I’ve documented a lot of it on here, I couldn’t help myself from summarizing it in a nice little list. In the past 12 months, I:
Spent the first four months working in Dijon, France
Baked several loaves of challah
Got my three doses of the Covid vaccine (and a fun sticker to go along with it each time)
Experienced record breaking 115ºF heat
Took nine nasal swab Covid tests, and way more lateral flow tests
Moved to London
Completed the Tower Challenge in York
Saw a handful of shows (fully masked)
Had a few successful TikToks
The sticker was (almost) more exciting than the vaccine itself
Okay, I know that when written out in a list, it doesn’t seem that impressive, but I’m super proud of myself for all of it (even the Covid tests, because that’s just been a part of this year). 2021 will forever be the year where I achieved my goal of moving to London, and even with the struggles that have come along with that, I can’t get over the fact that I actually managed to do it. When the year ends, I’ll have spent nearly four months here, and not only have those months been amazing, but I feel like I’ve managed to do a fair amount, even with the stress of moving and pandemic restrictions. Some highlights include:
Touring Arsenal Stadium (did I decide to support them purely because their mascot is a dinosaur? I’ll never tell)
Finding green spaces to wander (I personally really enjoy Hampstead Heath at the moment)
Watching Tower Bridge lift several times
Starting a new job
Consuming a ridiculous amount of Pret barista made beverages because of their subscription
Going back to the theatre (I managed to see seven performances in my four months in London in 2021)
All we’re missing for the perfect photo is Gunnersaurus!
I think that’s a fair amount to have accomplished in a small amount of time, don’t you? I’m so excited to see what future months in London have in store for me, and I’m even more excited to experience living somewhere in a permanent way, and all that entails (the longest I’ve spent in one place that isn’t where I was born was nine months, so I’ll be excited to pass that date in 2022). I still have a list a mile long of things I’d like to do in London, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make a dent in that as the next year progresses. I’m also just eager to see all the personal growth I’m sure I’m going to do, both from a professional angle, as well as a personal one.
2021 was the year London called!
I was re-reading my 2019 recap post (somehow I forgot to do one for 2020, whoops), and I wrote that “obviously the future isn’t crystal clear.” The irony that that statement is just as true now as it was then (and even more so now I feel) isn’t lost on me, and it almost feels silly to make any kind of resolutions or goals when we have no idea what 2022 might look like. Here’s to hoping the next year is a good year, nonetheless – happy new year!
When I moved to the UK, boosters for the Covid vaccine were already starting to roll out across the US, so I figured at one point or another, I would have to navigate getting one in the UK. I couldn’t really find much out there about getting a booster as someone who had their first two doses abroad, so I thought I’d throw a post together in case someone comes looking (not sure I attract that much traffic, but hey, why not)!
Since I’m under 30, I was in the last age bracket to become eligible for the booster in the UK. That day came on Wednesday, December 15. Most people were advised to book their booster online as soon as they were eligible. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t do that. Even though I have an NHS number, and have registered my first two doses with my GP, those doses aren’t registered in the NHS database. As such, when I tried to make an appointment online, it would only allow me to book a first dose (which then required you to book a second at the same time). I rang 119 (the NHS helpline for Covid) to ask about how to proceed, and they told me to go into a walk-in center. You can find walk-in centers near you by heading here!
When Wednesday rolled around, I rocked up to the walk in center closest to me at opening (which was still one mile away from where I live – about three tube stops and a bit of a walk), and the queue was already very long. I was glad to see how many people were trying to get their booster, but after about two hours, I was disappointed to learn that I was too far back in the queue to be guaranteed a booster that day (and it would still be about a four hour wait even if I was). The staff was very kind though, and suggested returning any other morning, but to be prepared to get there very early, and that’s exactly what I did. I went back to that same center two days later, and started the queue (I was first in line) 2.5 hours before the center even opened. I was alone for about 15 minutes, but by the time I’d been waiting around 90 minutes, I could no longer see the end of the queue.
Shortly before the center opened, they came out to check what dose we were getting, confirm when the date of our last dose was, and to tell us to have our vaccine proof out, as well as our NHS number (if you knew it – some centers don’t require an NHS number to get vaccinated. It just won’t get recorded on your registration if you don’t have one). When I got in the center, I sat in one of 12 plastic chairs, before being motioned up to a table where they took my full name, post code, date of birth, phone number, NHS number, and asked what dose I was getting. After I was signed in, I went back to waiting in the plastic chairs before getting called up to the second table where another worker took my details again, entered in my CDC doses (somewhere, but not in the NHS database), asked me questions related to my medical history, whether I’d had Covid in the last 28 days, a vaccine in the last seven days, if I’d ever had any allergic reactions, you get the gist… Once I’d gone through all those questions, I went back into a makeshift curtained stall with the woman who would be administering my jab. She confirmed all my personal details, asked about my first two doses (again, there’s no evidence of me having gotten them other than my flimsy CDC card), and in which arm I wanted the jab. She was absolutely so kind, and asked if I’d like to have her narrate what she was doing, or if I’d rather talk about something random. She administered the jab, and then gave me a paper NHS card with the lot number and date, which I’ve put into the plastic pocket I have for my CDC card. She also gave me an “I’ve had my Covid vaccination” sticker (although I did ask for one after seeing them on her desk).
Forever collecting stickers to celebrate getting jabbed!
Unlike in the US, you’re not required to wait for 15 minutes after getting the jab in the UK. That being said, I always mention when getting vaccines that I have a history of passing out from them (which is true, although it’s not happened recently). The woman who gave me my jab immediately told me that she wanted me to sit in the designated waiting area, and escorted me there. The staff there made sure I sat down, and even brought me a water bottle! I only waited for about five minutes (that’s all I need to know I’m good), but it was lovely to see their kindness and how they’re looking after people heading to the walk-in centers.
Other random observation, but in the center where I went, they didn’t use band-aids for the jab, but rather a cotton ball and tape! It doesn’t really matter either way, but I found it an interesting thing to note.
ANYWAY. That was the process of getting the booster! Not counting how long I stood outside queuing, the entire process took about 20 minutes, and that includes me sitting and waiting for a bit. It’s to be seen if I can get the Covid pass from the booster, or if it will show up in my NHS app, but that’s also something I can deal with later (ironically, they’ve just set up a foreign vaccination verification process, and I was meant to have an appointment next week for that, but they’ve cancelled it for me, ostensibly *because* I got the booster. There are now no appointments for that kind of thing anywhere in the country as there are apparently only a handful of computers that can handle that process). I’m just very grateful to have been able to get the booster, and for it to have been relatively painless (the process, my arm on the other hand…).
Long story short, if you’ve not been double jabbed in the UK and can’t book an appointment via the NHS, head to a walk-in center! The earlier you can get there, the better!
As a side note: I checked my NHS app 24 hours after my booster, and my vaccination was in my vaccination record. I also now seem to have a travel Covid Pass. To be determined if it actually works for travel, but it’s all updated and in the system! Now just to get my foreign vaccines certified!
As this is my second time being a language assistant, and as I’ve had the opportunity to work in both grade levels allowed through TAPIF, I thought I would write up a comparison of my experiences. Maybe you’re looking at applying for the first time and are curious what teaching at the primary versus the secondary level might look like. Or perhaps you’re renewing and wondering whether you should switch grade levels. Or you even might just want to know what the primary and secondary education system looks like in France. Whatever your reasons for perusing this post, I hope you’ll find it informative and helpful! The experiences I will be outlining are, of course, not indicative of every language assistant’s experiences, nor are they in line with what every primary/secondary school will look like in France. These are just my experiences, but hopefully they’ll be beneficial to someone!
What is the primary level? What’s the secondary level?
When you apply for TAPIF, you’ll have the opportunity to rank your preference for what level you’ll get to teach (knowing of course that you may not get your top choice). You get to choose between primary and secondary. Primary is what the US would call elementary school, meaning you’ll most likely be working with students from first to fifth grade (although sometimes you get some kindergarteners as well). Secondary encompasses what the US would call middle and high school. You might get to teach in both, or only in one. Middle school is called collège in France, while high school is lycée. The grade levels are divided a little differently in comparison with the US, though. Collège runs from sixth to ninth grade, and lycée is consequently only sophomore to senior year. If you get to work in both levels of secondary school, you’ll have a wider variety of ages/grade levels than at the primary level. One thing to note as you enter the French education system is that they do not have the same words as in the US for describing grade levels. Here’s a handy table to show you the differences:
Grades in France
Grades in the US
CP
First Grade
CE1
Second Grade
CE2
Third Grade
CM1
Fourth Grade
CM2
Fifth Grade
6ème
Sixth Grade
5ème
Seventh Grade
4ème
Eighth Grade
3ème
Ninth Grade
Seconde
Tenth Grade
Première
Eleventh Grade
Terminale
Twelfth Grade
In France, once you get to middle school (6ème), you start counting down until the end, rather than up as we do in the US
Doing TAPIF in Primary
The first time I was a language assistant, I worked in two primary schools in Angers, in the académie of Nantes. I worked with all grade levels, including Grande Section classes (kindergarten) at both of my schools. At the primary level, it is possible you will be working with GS (or even maternelle – preschool) students, and will go up to CM2. Working as an English assistant in primary schools will give you very varied experiences as English is not mandatory in schools until 6ème. As such, any English learned before that is supplementary, and done at the school’s discretion. While in practice this is great, I found that most of my students from CP-CM2 were at roughly the same level of English, despite the fact that some of them had been having English classes for several years. In my opinion, this is because a) teachers at the primary level aren’t required to know how to teach English, and b) they know that since not all schools have an English curriculum before middle school, the students will mostly be starting over once they “graduate” anyway. The first point (a) is due to the fact that since English isn’t a mandatory subject at the primary level, teachers aren’t required to be able to teach it to become a primary school teacher. This means that English classes are relying on the teacher’s level of English (which varies), and their experience with the language. I found that was one of the less fulfilling aspects of working primary level considering I was working on fairly similar content with all of my students.
One perk of primary school is the excellent English language tool decorations in the classrooms
That being said, working in primary schools does afford you with being able to work with students who usually haven’t reached the age where they might start being disenchanted by school. Most of my students were always super excited to see me, and since I saw the same classes all the time, I was able to learn all their names and recognize them all easily. You can also use a lot more songs and what might be considered “childish” activities with primary aged students as I’ve found that they’re more open and less likely to be self conscious about using Baby Shark as learning material (obviously there are secondary situations where this will work too, just speaking from my observations). I really enjoyed the way I knew who all the students were and was able to really track their progress as the months passed.
Working in primary schools was a lot of songs, book reading, and vocabulary learning. I’ll admit that some weeks it did feel rather repetitive, and I very rarely had any say in what material I would be teaching, or using. It also sometimes felt like English was an afterthought in a lot of the classrooms. I had one teacher who would prep with me during the lunch hour for our class directly following lunch, and others that wouldn’t mention anything at all until I was already in the classroom. I know that teachers at the primary level are responsible for more than just English, so it wasn’t their only subject that needed prep time, but a lot of my classes would feel very much on the fly. As a side note, I only ever spoke French with my teachers at the primary level.
Another slight difference in the primary system in France vs the US is the use of split classrooms. It’s pretty common in primary schools in France to have a classroom with two, or even three, grade levels in the room. I had classrooms of CE1/CE2, CM1/CM2, and even one CE1/CE2/CM1! This is another reason why students are sometimes all at the same English level. It might also impact the way you teach English and get to work with the students, but it’s for sure a different way to structure a classroom than in the US.
Your hours at the primary level can sometimes seem more spread out and long. The classes where I assisted were always 30-45 minutes, which meant that I worked in more classrooms to attain my 12 contact hours per week. I was also at my schools for longer during the day than I was with secondary (which I’ll touch on later). Part of that was due to where I lived relative to my schools, but another part was because my lessons would be spaced out in such a way that I’d have a decent amount of down time between some classes. One of my primary schools had no school on Wednesday, while another had half days on Wednesday. The former school went until 16:30 to make up for the four day week, while the latter went until 15:30. I never worked until the end of the day, but the days were a little shorter than the days I have at the secondary level because the school day itself was shorter.
Lastly, the administrative side of working at the primary level. You will be assigned a Conseillier(e) Pedagogique, who is someone who is not a teacher, but is in charge of pedagogical implementation of schools within certain “districts.” As such, your CP (not to be confused with the grade level), is not actually in your schools, nor do they have much sway over them. They can be very valuable resources, but are not likely to know all the ins and outs of where you’ve been assigned as they oversee multiple schools, and potentially, multiple assistants. When it comes to applying for Sécu as well, the primary level handles things a little differently. You will be responsible for submitting all your paperwork to CPAM via mail, and will have to undertake most of the process yourself. Again, your CP can be a good resource for this, but you’ll be the one mailing the envelope with all the documentation.
Doing TAPIF in Secondary
Unlike with primary, which is always elementary school, being an assistant at the secondary level could see you working in a middle school (collège) or high school (lycée) or both! I’m currently an assistant in Dijon and I work in one high school and one middle school. I work with students from 6ème up to première (I used to have a class of terminales but that changed in the new year). This means I get to work with students just really starting to work on English in class all the way up to students who are wrapping up their English studies in preparation for the BAC. As with primary, I have a variety of English levels even within different classes in the same grade, so my lesson plans are all over the board. One thing I have really enjoyed about working at the secondary level is that I have more freedom with what I do with the students. For many of my classes, I work alone with a small group, and the teachers have told me to work on their conversation skills, or do any activity around a specific theme. It makes it more interesting for me to lesson plan, but it also creates more variety between my classes, and the weeks I work with the students. It’s nice to be able to have debates with students or to work on activities that force them to speak, rather than solely working on vocabulary expansion.
A cultural lesson, but not one that I’m sure would’ve been easy at the primary level
Additionally with secondary schools, it’s possible you’ll get to work in a school with specialized programs. Both my collège and my lycée have international sections, meaning the students in those sections do most of their classes in English, rather than just English class. My lycée also has a dual German/French program, along with a section euro (which I’ll be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the difference is between that and the section internationale). I’ve gotten to work with these students on Gothic Literature, literary analysis of the Tempest, Free Speech, and of course, free form conversation classes, among other things. It does sometimes mean more prep work on my end (especially if I’m not super familiar with the subject), but it means I’ve gotten to work with students on a lot more broad topics than I had initially expected, especially in comparison to my experience at the primary level.
I’ll admit that I do miss the relationship I had with my students in primary because I haven’t quite replicated that this year at the secondary level. Since the students I work with vary each week (a function of working with half the class for half the time and having a hybrid model at the high school), I don’t know as many of their names as I’d like. Additionally, with the masks, it makes it very difficult to learn names because you can only associate them with 25% of a face. I don’t want to firmly make a judgement in this category though about knowing students at the secondary level, because I’ve only experienced it during a pandemic year. I’m sure it’s much easier to learn names and foster relationships when that extra added barrier doesn’t exist.
My hours are also a little more cleanly divided at the secondary level than they were at the primary level. Classes are essentially an hour, so the number of classes I work with is exactly the number of hours I’m assigned at each school. This means that, unlike in primary school, I work with a very finite number of classes. There are several teachers in the English department that I don’t work with, and several students I will never interact with beyond potentially passing them in the halls. It’s neither a good nor a bad thing, per se, but it does differentiate my experience working at the secondary level from the one I had at the primary level. Additionally, the English teachers at the secondary level are exactly that. They are only responsible for English classes so their focus is only on that subject. In terms of school hours, secondary schools do go later than primary schools. I work in the final period of both of my schools, which ends at 17:20 for the middle school, and 18:00 at the high school. I do get home later than I did working in primary, but I’m not working from the first bell to the last so I don’t find it to be too big a deal (especially considering the current health crisis – not as if I’m going anywhere after work)
At the secondary level, rather than a Conseillier(e) Pedagogique, you get a professeur referent(e). This will be a teacher who actively works in your school – if you’re assigned to more than one school, you’ll have a prof ref in each school. Both of my schools also have secretaries who I’ve been able to go to for administrative questions, such as when I had issues getting sécu to go through properly. I’ve also found that many of my teachers at the secondary level will speak English to me since they have a lot of experience with the language. I don’t mind speaking either French or English with my teachers (and sometimes we’ll switch mid conversation even), but that is something to keep in mind if you’re wanting to really improve your French while working as an assistant.
In Summary
Those are essentially the differences/similarities I noticed when working as an assistant at both the primary and the secondary level. Obviously these are just my experiences, and some of the difficulties I faced will have been things others found easy, and vice versa. No two schools are ever the same for an assistant, and even within levels, there can be massive differences. I enjoyed my time working as an assistant at both levels, and am glad I had the chance to work in both! Please let me know if I missed any big differences between teaching at the two levels!!
Back in 2018, I had the opportunity to be an extra for Netflix’s American Vandal: Season 2. I had never been an extra before, but thought it could be fun, and it was a way to earn some money as well. They filmed not far from where I live, so it seemed like a no brainer to at least try for it. I had auditioned to be one of the speaking characters a few months prior, but obviously, nothing came of that. In February, I received an email stating that they were looking to cast extras, so without hesitation, I submitted all of my information. I didn’t hear anything else until a month later, when I received an email with a week of dates, asking for our availabilities. I promptly responded, and here begins the extra adventure.
I got an email a couple of days before I was set to be an extra confirming my booking for day one (I did two days on set). I was only given a date, and some vague information about what clothing to bring to set. The next day, they sent me another email with my call time of 5:30am, telling me where to go, and what to bring. As an extra, they ask you to bring clothing that fits the aesthetic of what they’re shooting. Sometimes it’s just colors, sometimes it’s a decade they’re trying to replicate, or sometimes it’s generic “wear something you’d wear if you were in high school.” This particular email asked us to bring clothes that were befitting of a uniform like a white collared shirt, khaki pants/skirt, dress shoes in brown or black, etc… Other than that, I was given no information about what my day would entail or what I would be doing.
My first day, I arrived at 5:30am, and walked to set in the dark (this was March so no early sun rise) after having driven almost an hour to the shooting location (it was a VERY early morning for me that day). As a side note, in all the times I’ve been an extra, I’ve never been given a location until after I’ve confirmed that I will do it, so sometimes you end up schlepping a little. I arrived and was ushered into “holding,” which is the area where all the extras wait during the day to be called and/or used. You sign in by presenting ID and are given a form that you hold onto for the whole day that will be used to clock your hours. I presented what I had brought to the costume people, and was then given a Saint Bernadine uniform to wear for the day. It consisted of a khaki skirt, button up shirt (the only thing I wore that I had brought myself besides my shoes), pullover vest, a clasped plaid tie, and knee high socks. Peep the photo below for the top half of my look. Sometimes when you’re an extra, you provide your entire wardrobe, but in this case, since we all had to play students who wore uniforms at school, they provided most of the attire (I truly had a very lucky first extra experience).
This is the only photo I have in costume. Since no photos are allowed on set, I was so nervous to even take one in my costume, so I snuck this one on my last day right before I left!
After getting dressed, we were allowed to eat a catered breakfast. I can’t really remember what we were fed, but I remember being pleasantly surprised, and I certainly couldn’t complain about it! Around 7:00am, more extras arrived who had had a later call time, and they filed in for at least another hour. Ironically, those of us who had been called early hadn’t done anything at that point other than eat. A lot of extra work is just sitting around and waiting.
At around 9:00am, we were ushered into the gymnasium (set was at a community college), where we sat in another holding room for probably around 90 minutes (again, a lot of hurry up and wait). Luckily, there were snacks! I spent my entire first day of shooting sitting in basketball bleachers, and the first scene we shot was one where all the students were present at an assembly, and then while cheerleaders fired T-shirt cannons, we were rained on by cat litter (which in reality was film dust, fear not). If you haven’t seen the show, I promise it makes sense in context. We rehearsed the scene several times without anything, and then filmed it probably three or four times while getting dusted. After each shot, makeup artists had to run in to clean us up so we didn’t look like we were already dusty when the scene started. I was lucky to be placed in the front row, so I could find myself pretty easily when the episodes aired on Netflix!
I’ve circled myself for easy viewing (pardon the expletive)!
I can’t really remember what came next exactly, but I do know that we took lunch after they filmed this scene. It took a while to get everything filmed because there were so many extras to place, and the clean up between takes wasn’t quick. We went back to our initial holding area and ate the catered meal there. They dock you one hour for lunch, but in this case, it was a good lunch, and we were indoors so I couldn’t really complain (I’ve done extra work where I’ve been outside ALL day). I do remember sitting in holding after lunch for a while, and trying to study for the GRE (something I don’t recommend trying to do while being an extra). We were then instructed to change our clothes into our “day time” apparel, as we would be filming a basketball game next. Ironically, I hadn’t been informed that we needed to bring a change of clothes, but luckily I had come in my jeans and a sweater so I was able to make it work. Always smart to bring more than what you think you need, just in case.
After changing, we went right back to our seats in the basketball bleachers. I honestly couldn’t feel my lower half after that day, I spent SO many hours sitting in hard bleachers, yikes. Since we were playing students, we didn’t have to do too much, but we did watch the game (when they were filming), and were told when to cheer/react. I remember doing multiple takes of us having to cheer after the star player scored a free throw, because if he missed, we had to redo it. We were all assigned sections of the bleachers, and then periodically would be moved to try and make it look like we were attending multiple games. Since we were playing high schoolers, we were allowed our phones during this shooting, which isn’t common, but was very lucky as it passed the time a little more quickly (don’t worry, I talked to the people around me as well)! We were given props and occasionally crew would come up to us and ask us to pose for photos/videos that could potentially be incorporated into the show since they use Instagram posts as evidence in their investigation. None of the ones I was in ended up in the show, but some that were taken in my section, did! I was, however, by the basket so again, I ended up in the final shot! While filming this, I received the email confirming that I would be coming back the next day for a second day of filming. That was the last thing I filmed for that day, and I finally went home around 8:00pm, making for a 15 hour day. You do get paid overtime for anything over 8 hours, though.
No, I didn’t bring the head to set with me
Checking out involved giving our costume pieces back, and then lining up to be signed out so they can check your hours. The costume people also took a photo of every person in their costume before we had changed out of it earlier.
Luckily, I had a 7:00am call for day two, so I didn’t have to get up nearly as early as I had for day one. I was outfitted in the same uniform I had worn the day before, and waited in holding again for some time. They called several of us up to the cafeteria upstairs where we started our morning. I didn’t spend a ton of time up there as I exited the scene fairly quickly, but I know that they were up there for a while after I had gone back down to holding. A lot of whether you’re used for extra work can just be luck of whether you’re sitting in the right place, or placed just right.
After lunch, they had us do some more scenes in the cafeteria, and more Instagram photos upstairs as well. I know none of those made it into the final cut, but the story line did. Oh well! We had a fun time doing those little bits anyway since only a handful of us were doing it. I do remember being told when we were filming “snapchat” videos not to say anything, as if you’re given lines as an extra, they have to pay you more!
Surprise, surprise, we ended up back in the gymnasium for the rest of the day. I really don’t remember what was being filmed, apart from the fact that they sent a large number of minors home (they have limits on working hours), and then a small chunk of us were asked to do another shot of being sprayed with the cat litter. We were positioned, and were told we had one shot at this one, as the cannons would be firing at us from quite a close distance. I, unfortunately, ended up holding a sign so my face can’t be seen in this shot, but you can see my arm and watch! Regardless, after they fired the dust at us, we all had white hair and were completely covered. They didn’t even try to clean us up, but luckily, that was the end of the night so we were free to go. One perk of being that dusted up, was we all got a slight pay bump for the “inconvenience,” of it, which was a nice little bonus.
The cloud of dust at the top right does not accurately portray the amount of dust hurled at us
Much like the first day, my second day was a long one, albeit only 13 hours. Being an extra can be such a grab bag for what hours you get, what the set/holding areas are like, and how good the experience can be. I had a great time being an extra on American Vandal: Season 2, and I’ve gone on to be an extra for other productions as well, although I’ve never returned for a second day, again (not usually a personal choice, by the way). It definitely set the bar high for extra experience. Plus, it’s always a fun thing to be able to say you’re on Netflix, even if your name doesn’t appear anywhere!
Anyway, that’s my tale! I know it’s old, but I’m revisiting old memories at the moment, and this made for a good one. Hope you enjoyed my retelling of being an extra, and honestly, if you haven’t watched either season of American Vandal, I highly recommend it (and not just because I’m in it)!
All the world’s a stage, and that much has become more and more evident lately. Whether it is through the creative means of broadcasting theatre, or local theatres promoting fun activities for those stuck at home, it is now more clear than ever that theatre is not only important, but necessary.
As I mentioned in my last post, I was in rehearsals leading up to my state’s Stay-At-Home order. I won’t lie, I miss it dearly. Not only was it something more in my routine to keep me busy, but it was a phenomenal distraction from life, and the most welcoming environment. Almost every rehearsal in which I’ve been has been full of smiles, giggles, and ridiculousness in a way that can’t be replicated in an office. The theatre is a space that lets you pretend to be someone else, enter a world that isn’t your own, and take part in fantastical stories. Not only that, but the theatre community itself is one that almost can’t be described. It’s warm, and loving, and eccentric in all the best ways. Whether theatre is something from which you make your living, or a hobby you do in your spare time, there is no denying the love and acceptance that comes from those with whom you share the stage (on and off). You form bonds with cast mates that sometimes can’t be explained to those who weren’t there, and everyone is truly there for one another (you need a quick change buddy, I’ve got you). It’s hard to go through weeks of rehearsals, tech week, and performances without forging a certain kind of relationship with everyone, and I miss that kind of experience. I had just gotten back into theatre after some time off, and the void that those few weeks had filled, was one I didn’t even know was empty.
I realize that hundreds of people will have written about why theatre is important to them, and I’m just adding to that, but this idea has been mulling in the back of my head for a couple of weeks now so please, bear with me. Plus, it’s certainly something that means a lot to me and I want to get back to writing so here we are. I started theatre after seeing a production of Macbeth at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in seventh grade and I was absolutely hooked. It quickly became a big part of my life and I’m so grateful for it. Every theatre in which I’ve ever stepped foot has become a sort of second home, with a community that has made me feel safe and happy. It’s a place where I’ve found confidence and my voice (literally and figuratively), and a place where I have been free to express myself through characters that can, at times, be the absolute opposite of myself (or if you’re playing an Oompa Loompa, at all times). Theatre has made me push myself physically – ten hour tech days are something different, let me tell you – and it has pushed me to allow myself to fail. It’s never easy to make a mistake, or to put yourself out there in a way that so many people can see, but theatre has made that risk feel a little bit easier to take. I look back on every show I’ve done with fond memories (yes, even the disasters backstage, the forgotten choreography, and the many, many wigs), and I know that I want to make more.
Theatre is the perfect magic
The theatre is a place where I feel endlessly happy. Whether it’s creating ridiculous backstories for characters without names, or being drawn into a performance from the audience, there are infinite ways for me to fall more in love with theatre. There’s no way really to describe the feeling you get when the house lights dim and that hush falls over the audience. The nerves that settle after you’ve delivered your first line. The thrill of being so immersed in a story that you forget where you are. The excitement of putting on your makeup and truly becoming a character for the first time. I find these feelings just aren’t the same when reproduced in a not live fashion (don’t get me wrong, I still love a good Netflix binge). It’s been a couple of years since I stepped foot on stage, and I’m hoping to be able to get back to it soon. I can’t wait for theatres to reopen and for people (including myself) to get to enjoy them again.
Even though I cannot be in the rehearsal room, I am grateful for theatres across the world keeping the community alive, and spreading the joy that theatre brings in a time where joy is so very much needed. No matter whether you’re onstage or in the audience for any given show, each production offers something for everyone that we might not even know we needed until it is presented to us. With technology, the world is still getting to experience the magic of theatre, albeit through a screen. The National Theatre has started presenting weekly showings of National Theatre Live productions on YouTube, which have so far not disappointed. The Globe is also showcasing some of its classic Shakespeare plays online. The theatre where I got my start is presenting weekly “how to” videos for crafts on Facebook to engage children in the world of creation and make believe. I even recently took part in creating a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest with stuffed animals that will be edited into the entire play with others doing their own take on the same. These are just some of the examples of ways that theatre is still touching our lives, and making this unprecedented situation a little bit easier to bear. Some ways in which we are making all the world a stage.
At the start of the year, I made a resolution to get back into theatre, and to do more of it. I was on track to achieve that, but now, it’s unclear if that resolution will be kept, and grappling with those feelings is still something with which I’m struggling. With all the unknown, it’s hard not to keep thinking about the fact that a return to the stage may be later rather than sooner, or that personally, it could be some times before I find myself back in a theatre. I know (or at least hope) that as things start to open back up, theatres will return, but it has crossed my mind that I may not be back on stage anytime soon, and that things will be very different when theaters open up to audiences again. I know that any first rehearsal back will be filled with hugs and first shows will be met with standing ovations. I will relish every “thank you, five,” and that feeling you get when the orchestra plays those first notes. I can’t wait to take stereotypical photos of my tickets with the stage in the background, and to take as many nerdy cast photos as possible at every opportunity. Gathering in any space will be something that will take some getting used to, and it might take time for people to once again congregate in full force in the theatre, but I have hope that the curtains will be up one day, and I can fulfill my resolution.
I look forward to the day when I can take more photos like this
I had hoped my return to blogging would have been documenting my getting back into theatre, but as that journey has been temporarily postponed (and my fingers are still itching to write something), I thought I’d go another direction. I have hopes that I will still be able to write about theatre (watch this space), but obviously going to rehearsals is not an activity that should be taking place at the moment. Don’t worry though, I’m still keeping that part of me very, very active, but more on that later.
It feels like 2020 has been a rather large mess and as Malcolm Tucker would say, omnishambolic (if you’ve never heard this word before, please watch The Thick Of It ASAP). It doesn’t feel like March, nor does it feel like a month ago I was living a busy life of going to work during the day, rehearsals at night, attending NBA basketball games, and looking forward to various things that seem trivial now. I saw someone tweet that they were tired of living through a historical event, and I’ll be honest, this historical event doesn’t even really feel real some days. Something about dissonance and distance (both mental and social) has coated everything with a slight haze that makes me feel like we’ll wake up and everything will be fine, right? I’m well aware that isn’t the case, and I’d be lying if I said that I’m not frightened about the future at the moment, but I’m trying to stay positive, and take things one day at a time, which is easier some days than others. I know that personally, I’m scared (of many things in this situation), and that does not help getting through the day when I get too in my head, which is more often than I would like.
Due to a combination of stay at home orders, and being temporarily laid off from work, I have found myself at home for much longer than I have really ever been at home before. I will admit, when faced with the idea of endless Netflix binges, and little work responsibility, I was initially excited. A couple of days in though, I’ve started to realize how much I miss leaving the house, and how repetitive the days can become. There’s a constant nagging in the back of my head that I’ve been on my computer too long, not been outside enough, or that I’m not doing enough to consider myself productive. I know that in order to conquer the next (at least) two weeks, I need to put less pressure on myself, and re-evaluate what a productive day actually looks like. I’m trying to stay away from social media because overconsumption doesn’t help the low grade anxiety that is always there, and it can be really easy to go down a rabbit hole of disheartening news headlines and articles, but avoiding opening those apps is a little easier said than done.
I’m no expert on handling this, but my first line of defense has definitely been music. If you’re looking for some calming tunes, I can recommend Lewis Capaldi and Ben Platt. Both of these artists have been on repeat for the last month for me and they’re very good at lowering my heart rate. That being said, being a bonafide theatre person, I’ve taken this time to truly take center stage in one woman productions of the classics. If James Corden called me up to do Carpool Karaoke when all of this is done, I would be excellently prepared for that. My lip-sync game is also going to reach new heights, I guarantee it. Mamma Mia is the current favorite, but by the end of this, that might change, who knows, but it’s a definite mood booster (I mean honestly, try singing Waterloo in a mood, it’s harder than you think).
As if lip syncing weren’t enough, I’ve decided to get back into dancing as a way to not only get all the nervous energy out, but also as a way to stay in shape since gyms aren’t open at the moment (and also to not let down my Fitbit, obviously). Some of it is me trying to (once again) put on my own shows by learning choreography off of YouTube, but I’ve found some good cardio workouts as well that have reminded me that dance is a full workout and something I should be doing way more often. I’m partial to 567Broadway which offers the perfect combination between dance, working out, and BROADWAY (this should be said with a side of jazz hands). Important reminder though: ALWAYS STRETCH. Staying at home has a way of making me feel way more stiff than usual so I’m trying to stretch daily to not feel so tight and feel like I’m still in show mode (yikes my thoughts seem to be all about theatre, oof). It’s also just relaxing to do some stretching, in my opinion.
I would be lying if I said that I spend my whole day working out, or getting fresh air, or doing things that would otherwise have me feeling productive and healthy. I freely admit that I have spent a decent amount of time binge watching. I’m currently running my trial on Disney+ and I have already watched Frozen Two, The Mandalorian, High School Musical: The Musical: The series, and some of Encore (no, I’m not divulging how long I’ve got left on the trial). Please send me any further recommendations that I can add to my list so I can emerge from this well versed in film and television. Well, at least the Disney content.
Sitting on my computer for hours on end can sometimes feel saddening, but I have found an upside to it: FaceTime! With more people staying at home, and me having more free time, I’ve been able to catch up with friends in all time zones and that is something that always manages to brighten my day! I always crave conversations, virtual or in person, and in a time where we’re actively told not to go out and meet others, I don’t want to limit myself to only texting (although that can be a meaningful form of interaction, don’t get me wrong). I mean, we even had a rehearsal on ZOOM before everything really ramped up, so it’s good to know that things can still happen, even if not in the way we always expected them to happen.
I fear that I’m rambling, but it is a definite time of unknown, and even a minimal exercise like writing all this down has provided a small amount of distraction for the world outside my house. I know I’m young, and that should be encouraging in terms of my future, but it’s daunting to think that I could be permanently without a job in the next two weeks, and trying to find employment in an industry that was severely impacted by the pandemic is a little disheartening. I’m constantly vacillating between overwhelming myself by searching for jobs, and remaining optimistic about my current position. I’ll admit that I try not to spend too much brain time on it, but it is always a small thought living in there. In between the cleaning and the constant hand washing, I’m trying to focus on accomplishing something every day. Maybe that sounds mundane, or juvenile, but I want to be able to say when I go to bed that I did something with my day. Yes, some days that will probably just be “I watched 15 Netflix episodes and put two puzzles pieces together,” but other days will have longer lists. I just need to come to grips with the fact that the next x number of weeks won’t have a normal feeling, and as such, they shouldn’t be treated with normal expectations. Yes, our lives have been upended, but we can still find small ways to put things right side up.
I don’t necessarily have a conclusion to this piece, and I know that my thoughts far outnumber what can possibly be put down on paper (or typed out on screen, as it were). With the extra free time on my hand, I do want to find a way to get back into blogging, and other things that have long been on my list of “one days.” I may not be successful at it all, but who knows? I feel like there’s an unspoken pressure to be prolific in some way during this period, but this is uncharted territory, and there’s no guidebook for how we as individuals should handle it (which is probably another factor in the stress of it all). Here’s hoping we can see the other side of things soon.
It’s been a hot sec since I’ve been on here, but I haven’t forgotten it! I’ve been feeling the urge to write lately so here I am, as lame as this post may be… Honestly it’s hard to write about travel when you’re stuck in one place. 2020 will hopefully have loads of adventures, even if they aren’t as extravagant as the past year has been (the travel bug has been well and truly caught, my friends). I miss blogging though so I’m definitely open to suggestions from those of you reading this for content and I am going to try and find some way to keep writing in the new year!
I don’t feel as though 2019 was a truly monumental year or anything, but that doesn’t mean it was without its successes. In the past 12 months (among other things) I:
Finished my contract in France
Crossed the Panama Canal
Visited four new countries (Malta, Guatemala, Czech Republic, and Aruba)
Made a bunch of scrapbooks
Saw loads of phenomenal theatre
Spent six weeks working in London
Went to a decent number of NBA TrailBlazers games
Did lots of solo traveling and exploring
Had my wisdom teeth out (jury is still out on whether I became less wise as a result)
Repping the home team on the iconic PDX carpet will always be a highlightCheesin’ into the new year 🤓
I documented my days this year with 1 Second Everyday and if you want to check it out, you can have a peek at my year in a second for (almost) every day – I lost it about September, whoops.
One second a day makes for a great way to review your year 😍
This time last year, I was getting ready to ring in the new year with 12 grapes in Spain, which makes this New Year feel kind of anti-climactic. Going into 2020, I’m not really sure what I want to come out of it. I want to explore opportunities in the field of international education, sort out some kind of travel adventure, and start of this next decade with a good mentality. Obviously the future isn’t crystal clear (I don’t have 2020 vision… what? You thought I wouldn’t throw it in somehow??), but maybe it can be a decade of change and really figuring out where my path in life is meant to take me. Who knows. What do you all think? Happy New Year!
Finishing out 2019 in the PNW – hoping 2020 will be LUMINOUSHard to believe this was my home for almost half of 2019
When I was in England, I wrote a blog post about Britishisms and things I’d noticed that were kind of specific to British culture. Now that I’m over in France, I thought I would do the same thing! Again, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think negatively about the French culture at all (or at least, not about everything), but I do find it fascinating to examine differences in culture, and in day-to-day life. Enjoy!
Long(er) meals
At the schools where I work, the students (and myself) get an hour and a half for lunch. This includes recess and time for eating for the kids, but in the US, it seems like you’re lucky if you get half an hour to eat. Although this means that the lunch hour can sometimes drag on if you have no one to talk to or nowhere else to go, it means that you have time to decompress and prepare yourself for the afternoon. Not to mention the fact that you don’t feel rushed to inhale your food (so I could actually prepare decent lunches for myself instead of just a small sandwich because that’s all I could eat in the time I had – although that it what I eat because who can resist a good lunch time sandwich?). The students also get much more balanced, and healthier lunches in the cafeteria, and the menus sometimes include things you’d never see in a US elementary school (one prime example would be rabbit for lunch). The best thing is that it’s not just lunches. If you go out to dinner, you’re not rushed to pay your bill after they clear your place. You can chat, hang out, and be relaxed until you’re ready to pay and leave. The French take eating very seriously.
Chip flavors
Okay, I’m not sure if this is a super “frenchism” but I got a kick out of it anyway so, I’m using it. Literally my first day in Angers, my mom and I went to Monoprix to suss out the goods, and to see what I would have access to grocery wise. We wandered around this fairly big store and somehow ended up in the chip aisle. After glancing haphazardly through the titles, my eyes fell upon a bag with a cheeseburger flavor. That was quite the double-take. From there, there was roasted chicken, pickles and mustard, and my all time favorite: ham and cranberry. I’m not sure if this is a national thing, but those are pretty daring flavors. Here I was thinking prawn cocktail in England was adventurous!
Timeliness (and its almost non-existence)
Within my time here, it has come to my attention that if you want anything done, you should’ve asked for it a week before you needed it done. Part of this is the bureaucracy, but part of it is also just a “we’ll get to it when we get to it” kind of attitude, which is nice sometimes, but not so nice when your toilet is running and you’re told it could be a week before someone looks at it (I realize this could be universal, but it’s the manner in which you’re told you’ll have to wait that really adds the oomph to this frenchism). Not to mention, you seem to need appointments for everything (for instance, for opening a bank account) and heaven forbid you be able to do something the day you planned on getting it done! One might even say they have a bit of a laissez-faire attitude towards life, and you can definitely see where that saying originated.
Stores aren’t open all the time
One of the first days I was here, my mother and I made the mistake of waiting until 3pm to try and find lunch. Much to our surprise, almost every place was closed. Many eateries close at 2pm, and don’t reopen until dinner time, around 7pm. Because of this, most places (including banks and other offices) close from 12 until 1:30/2pm to make sure that everyone can get food if they want. As aforementioned, the French take their lunch break seriously. Additionally, very little is open on Sundays. That means your options are limited for eating out, the grocery stores close earlier (if they’re even open at all), and the streets are pretty empty throughout the day. It’s fine to navigate if you’re aware of the closures, but not great if they catch you off guard. This also means that the places that ARE open on Sundays are often packed, and have long lines because of this. It can also make Sundays quite dull since there isn’t much to do. Banks are also always closed on Sunday, and many aren’t open on Monday so you better hope you don’t have any banking emergencies over the weekend (honestly not that big of a deal unless you want to do something with a person because ATMs are open 24/7). Peep this funny comic another assistant shared on Facebook to illustrate the struggle:
BREAD
I’m pretty sure the French eat bread, usually baguettes, with every meal. It’s a solid staple and I appreciate a culture that doesn’t shy away from its carbs. One fairly true stereotype of the French is the number of people who do, in fact, walk around carrying a baguette from the shops. It makes you feel slightly more French when you walk around wielding a massive loaf of bread in your arms.
Vous vs. Tu
In French, you address people differently based on their age, status, or position relative to you (formality is taken very seriously in this language). Anyone older than you, or superior to you is addressed using a “vous,” while your friends and those younger can be called “tu.” They have aptly named this se vouvoyer and se tutoyer. It’s always a question when meeting a new person whether it’s a vous or a tu situation, so to be safe, always go with the vous. Half of the teachers with whom I work have been super chill about us tutoying each other, but the others haven’t said a word, and I’m not about to rock the boat that is French grammar. Ironically, you get in trouble for not vousvoying when you should, but the teachers have also corrected me when I accidentally use vous instead of tu with them as well!
Never-ending paperwork
One thing I didn’t necessarily expect was how bureaucratic France is, and the sheer volume of copies and signatures they require for even the tiniest little thing. It feels like for any little thing, you’re going to need your birth certificate, bank information, photocopy of your passport, and your work contract, along with potentially random other tidbits. On top of that, once you’ve submitted any given application, you’ll then have to wait for approval, you’ll get a letter telling you you’ve been approved, then another letter with whatever it is you originally wanted, and then another letter outlining the details of what you’ve received. I had to sign three copies of my work contract, and when setting up a bank account, had to initial all 10ish pages of the document outlining everything. I think there are a lot of trees dying due to France’s penchant love for requiring literal mounds of paperwork for everything. Not to mention, you’re told to keep your pay stubs for the rest of your life, so honestly, I can see how it’s a bit of a thing here. To further back up the length of time things take, I received my November paystub in MARCH… you can imagine the strength of my eye roll when I opened that envelope.
Striking
Faire la grève could potentially be considered a national pastime. The French are very proud of their allotted hours for the work week, how many vacation days they get, their right to public transportation, and many other things, to the point that when one of those rights is infringed upon in the slightest fashion, the unions might announce a strike. Since moving here, there has already been a national strike (which didn’t impact me specifically but some teachers at other schools went on strike, and transportation was a little delayed), two strikes where my school(s) for the day was closed the entire day, and some smaller strikes on the bus services, which can lead to minor delays or no busses running on certain lines, and various other “social moments” that occur. (Don’t get me started on the gilets jaunes, because that’s just a whole other can of beans)
Tea with no milk
At my orientation for work, the woman in charge told us we were going to break for tea and coffee. I saw a box of English Breakfast tea, and promptly got very excited as for various reasons, I hadn’t had any tea since I arrived in France. I poured myself a nice cup (in a plastic cup), and looked around for the milk. We all searched around the room, in the fridge, and asked about it, only to be told that the French don’t take their tea with milk (cue the gasps). I thought this was just an isolated incident, but alas, I’ve seen it many more times in my schools, on essentially a daily basis! How the French can make such beautiful coffee and wine, and yet still drink tea without milk is completely beyond me.
Split classrooms
This is specific to the French education system but it isn’t a rare occurrence to have at least one (if not more) classroom that is made up of multiple grades in a school. The smaller of my two schools only has three classrooms and all three of them are split grades. The theory behind this practice is that it allows students to learn empathy and how to work with students either ahead or behind them, while also potentially pushing them to learn a little more than they would if they weren’t in a split class. Sometimes this is done, however because of size, resources, and the number of teachers available at any given school.
Scarves
I swear, in France, a scarf is the most important, and necessary accessory for any given day, regardless of the weather. In my first month in Angers, there were several low-to-high 70s days, and you’d walk around seeing people wearing heavy coats and bundled up in scarves! It’s like the scarf simultaneously keeps them warm AND keeps them from getting too hot! They also have this way of tying their scarves that I feel like unless you’re French, you can’t replicate, and I would like to be let in on that secret, please.
Non-refrigerated milk
You can still find milk in the refrigerated section, but if you go to larger supermarkets, there’s also milk you can buy on the shelves. You refrigerate it after opening, but seeing milk sitting on a shelf at room temperature threw me for a loop the first time I saw it. Plus, it expires much more quickly it seems than the ones that come straight out of the refrigerator. (Related side note: some of the yogurts have fromage blanc, i.e. white cheese written on their labels, but I have been assured that the yogurt does not, in fact, contain any cheese.)
AZERTY keyboards
It’s a minor thing, but typing with a keyboard that uses the same letters as English, but puts them in a different order is beyond confusing to my touch typing brain. Not to mention, French has accents, so those characters live with the numbers at the top of the keyboard EXCEPT they have priority over the numbers so you have to press the ALT key plus the number key in order to get the number. Don’t even get me started on punctuation as well because some keys have THREE characters so there are three different ways to achieve three different characters and honestly sometimes, I just spell the words wrong and hope for autocorrect. Sometimes I’ll even start typing incorrectly on my laptop after a day of having used a French computer… Just take a look if you don’t believe me:
MORE PAPERWORK
Did I mention the paperwork issue already? I did? Funny, because that’s exactly what the bureaucratic situation is like in France because you think you’ve done something already and know all about it, and then NOPE, you’ve got to do it all over again but this time with different information… plus signing it, submitting it by mail, along with a pdf copy submitted online, and just for kicks, you’ll have to email it along with an additional copy because vive la France. I’m already dreading leaving if only because I have to write a properly worded letter to cancel my phone plan, close my bank account, cancel my housing assistance, and terminate my rent agreement… because we love killing trees here, and making things more difficult than they need to be!
Bonjour
Even though saying hello to each other isn’t something that is specific to France, it seems like the French take a certain type of pride in uttering bonjour to their colleagues and friends (and depending on where in the region/country you are, this can be applied to crossing a random human on a walk in the park, or on the street). All the teachers with whom I work make a point of saying bonjour to me when they first see me, and I’ve frequently heard teachers say to other teachers “I haven’t said hello to you today yet, have I” as if it were sacrilege to have not greeted your coworkers in the morning. Not only this, but if they happen to have said hello to each other already, they will proceed to say rebonjour… the French have a word specifically for saying hello to one another again, and I quite enjoy the novelty of it. Not to mention, they take saying hello so seriously, that it’s essentially a routine that every interaction must begin with bonjour regardless of where, when, and with whom, and they take offense if you skip that little introduction in your interaction. I’ve frequently asked people in shops, or at the train station for assistance, and gotten their attention by saying “excuse me” and proceeding to ask my question, only to get a look of disdain in return as they aggressively look at me in order to say bonjour, to make the point that I forgot that pivotal word. (I once overheard a customer at a smaller supermarket get mad at the person behind the cash register once because he “walked in and nobody said hello” to him after he had said the requisite bonjour, so it’s a thing with strangers as well).
Nonexistent public restrooms
This seems to be a European thing in general, but France really doesn’t buy into having restrooms accessible to the general public (and if they do, they probably won’t be free). Going out, or traveling somewhere can become an endeavor of planning, and you always have to be prepared to potentially have to shell out some coins for the privilege to pee (Shout out to you if you understand the Urinetown reference there…)
La Bise
When you greet someone in a friendly setting, this can sometimes prompt the act of la bise, where you greet the other person with a kiss (it’s really a cheek-to-cheek sort of action) on each cheek (which one starts still baffles me). It’s not something that I’ve had to do frequently, but I’ve definitely had the awkward start with some people of the whole “should I, or shouldn’t I” type thing when it comes to the whole ordeal. It can certainly be disconcerting if you’re not expecting it, and perhaps a little awkward at first, but it’s definitely part of the custom. I’ve seen teenagers partake in it while greeting each other on the bus in the morning, so a sure fire way to pretend you’re wholly French, is to use la bise as a greeting (when it’s appropriate, of course)!
Lack of self checkouts
This is kind of an odd one, but in most of the supermarkets where I shop, there isn’t an option for self-checkout, meaning you have to wait in a line with everyone else (there are never enough lines), and then check out that way. This always massively stresses me out because there aren’t people helping bag the groceries (which isn’t odd within itself, necessarily), so you have to frantically bag as the cashier scans the items, but sometimes it isn’t in the right order so you end up shoving things into your bag so rapidly so that you can get out of there before the next person starts coming through. The one store where there is a quasi self check-out option calls itself “express” so I always get people giving me a slight side-eye as I rock up with my rolling basket, even though I’m quick, and I’m not actually buying that many things. I miss having the “15 items or fewer” aisles, as well as the plentiful number of checkout lanes during peak business hours.
Since Sundays can get a little boring around here (what with not much being open), I’d been wracking my brain to find a way to make myself feel productive on these days, while also occupying my time in a way that wasn’t just watching Netflix all day (although we all know that sometimes those days are desperately needed). Scrolling through my explore page on instagram, I’ve frequently seen people’s beautiful spreads in something called a bullet journal, and been intrigued by them. When I was passing through Tiger one day, I saw that they had bullet journals, and decided to take the plunge for myself. Since the journals found at Tiger aren’t too expensive, I figured if I didn’t like it, or couldn’t get the hang of it, I wouldn’t be out too much, and I would still have a nice journal for other purposes, potentially. A little under one month in, here are some of my thoughts:
Initially, I was worried that I was trying my hand at bullet journaling merely because I wanted an excuse to doodle a lot, and to make pretty planner pages. Even though that can be a big part of it, bullet journaling is at its base, whatever you want to make it. Before I actually started on a journal of my own (and had even made the purchase), it was suggested to me that I join some Facebook groups. On these pages, people ask for advice regarding purchases, or ways to layout their spreads, but they are also full of people sharing their monthly themes, or how they’ve laid out their mood trackers, so there are plenty of place from which to draw inspiration. I’ve found that these pages were a great help when I was just starting out, and have continued to give me ideas/inspiration for how I might set up future months, or future pages.
I decided to start simple. I followed the basic layout described on the bullet journal website and started with a simple index page. One of the most important bullet journaling rules is to number every page so that you can easily find everything you put in it, no matter how much you fill it up. The index is essentially just for putting all the page numbers for everything. You can also use a key to denote different symbols for all your “bullet points” that you’ll use, but I didn’t do this as I prefer just keeping a simple box, and adding a check mark in it when I’ve completed something. Again, bullet journaling is really finding what works for you, so you don’t have to follow the set up instructions verbatim. Following the index is a future log, which has the next year (or in my case, I only did six months) laid out, so you can put big events/dates in your calendar at a glance. The same goes for monthly spreads. You can make these spreads as artsy as you like, or just go with a plain calendar look to see your whole month at a glance. You’ll go more into specifics when you get into your weekly breakdowns (I’m still debating if I like these, considering that my daily events don’t change much from week to week, but I can see how this would be useful for some people). In each month, you can also have trackers. I went fairly basic doing a sleep tracker, a mood tracker, and a hydration tracker. You can personalize these to whatever you want to track (if anything), and then see how it works out.
So far (and only being a couple of weeks into it), I’m really enjoying the process of bullet journaling. I’ve set up April already – I decided to be a little bit more adventurous, and to make it themed (but again, your journal can be as artistic or minimalistic as you want), and I find that keeping a physical tracker of certain things has helped motivate me to stay on track (especially with drinking water because I’m actually abysmal at it). It allows me to have a visual representation of what I want to track, while also putting all of my to-do lists in one place, rather than on little bits of paper everywhere. Even though I’m still partial to using my phone as a reminder for big events/interviews/anything important, it’s still nice to have a physical reminder of those as well if I need to have a check-in on what my week looks like.
Bullet journaling also gives you the space for creativity in the form of bigger spreads, that can be personalized for whatever you like. For instance, I have one for countries I’ve visited in Europe, where I’ve drawn a map of Europe, and am coloring the countries as I visit each one. I also have a theatre one, where I’ve drawn the page to look like a playbill from Broadway, and am writing in each show I attend throughout the year, along with the date and location so I can have a written list of them by the end of the year. You could also pencil out some long term goals, books you’ve read in the year, or anything else that floats your boat.
I know that there’s a “certain” way bullet journaling was initially meant to be done, but it seems to have shifted into very much a personalized experience. You can use an identified “bullet journal”, or you can use any old notebook that works for you. I personally really like the little dots everywhere because it allows me to evenly space things, and connect dots fairly easily, but there are also grid lined notebooks if that’s more up your alley. I enjoy the fact that I can make it what I want, while also indulging my inner artistic side (which is not the most talented of artistic sides by any means), AND use it to stay organized. It’s a fun way to do it all, while also giving me something to do on those days where nothing else seems to peak my interest.
I think the fact that you can highly personalize your bullet journal to whatever you want it to be is something that makes this activity feasible for anyone. Sure, I may not have beautiful calligraphy adorning every page, and mine is more on the simplistic side, but it works for me. The fact that (at least, as far as I have seen), the facebook pages have been very supportive to anyone who asks for advice, makes it that much more of an inviting community. As someone who likes to scrapbook, and make those as nice as can be, and as someone who already utilizes a journal (when I can, not as great at it as I used to be), bullet journaling felt like a natural possibility of something I would like doing. It can be a bit intimidating to see all the instagram pages devoted to making beautiful pages, and youtube videos of set up processes, but I’ve been trying to just use those as inspiration, rather than something which I’m striving to achieve.
Initial thoughts: Ultimately, I’m really enjoying my initial foray into bullet journaling. I haven’t gotten to the point where I take it everywhere with me (although I do take it on holidays so I can keep my trackers up to date), but there’s something about organizing my life on physical paper that is pleasing to me. I can keep all of my to do lists in one place, and work through them strategically (as well as easily find them in my sometimes mess of a room). I’m hopeful that I’m going to keep on doing it in the months to come, and that it’ll simultaneously help me feel productive, while also giving me some joy. Here’s to hopefully more months of successful bullet journaling!
This has really just been a brain dump, and a little different from my other posts, but I figured why not explore some new topics, and talk about some new things I’ve discovered while on my travels. This has definitely been one of them! Keep your eyes peeled for future travel posts coming next month!
Here I am, getting ready to start on the next (abroad) adventure in my life. Tomorrow (not that I’ve been counting down or anything), I’ll be on a plane to France, where I’ll be spending the next seven months teaching English through TAPIF. I’ve been assigned to two schools in the primary level, so I’ll be working with 1st-5th graders (known to be beautiful, adorable beans, but also little, read giant, bundles of energy). It’s all a bit exciting, and a bit terrifying – I have to open a bank account, get a SIM card, organize my room (I’ll be living in a foyer, more to come on that front), and get to know where I’ll be living for the next little phase of my life!
I got hooked on blogging while I was abroad in London, and I’m going to see if it’s something I can still do when I’m writing truly for myself. I’ll write about everything and nothing, give you a taste of the French life, but also talk about the struggles I’m facing, and hopefully all the good things in between! So, follow along, and on y va! Next stop: France!
Not Your Average Giraffe 