November 20, 2007

Hello!!!

So it has been ages since I have written! If I said I was busy before, I must have been lying! I don't know what to call what I am now, swamped maybe! I have gotten myself really involved, as normal and now have many things going on at once! Which is great, except for sending e-mails and keeping in touch with people at home!

Anyway, I have gotten myself involved with a project that the first year students are working on. I really don't have a set level, i.e. first or second, so I jump between the first year students and the second year students because I want to try to get as much out of this as I can! So while I still go to class with the second years, and complete the projects there, I now am also heavily involved with this one first year project. It is called Blackstar and has been very exciting to be a part of. Not only does it give me a chance to hang out with the guys I first met when I came over, but now I also have another opportunity learn more about the equipment! It has also been a challenge because I have gotten myself involved with the scriptwriting as well! These past two weeks have been very buys with school and then Blackstar stuff after school! I am loving it!

I also will be involved with filming an International Bowling Tournament here is Perth all next week! I start training on Friday 23rd and then each game will need to be shot until the end of the tournament on Thursday 30th.

Sometimes I wish I could have gotten to stay longer because it took me so long to adjust that by the time I felt comfortable, its time to go home! I also wish I could have traveled more, I know that it is not too late, but I am beginning to think it is. But I must say that the little time that I have been here, I have learned and experienced so much! I am really happy that I have decided to pick education over travel. I would have never been able to work at Speakeasy, St. Johnstones Football League, the International Bowling Tournament and other little piece I have done here and there. So overall, I am finally happy! And now it's time to go home...but that's life isn't it? Ha!

Well, off to walk home before it gets too dark! By 5 o'clock now it gets pitch dark! The temperatures stay the same about mid 50's but the sun is so low in the southern sky, it almost no point in it coming out!

-Holly

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving!

November 1, 2007

Happy Halloween, well a day late!

I’ll just cut to the chase; I got the internship with Speakeasy! I have been there for the last two Mondays and it is so great! The people there are very much family and have taken me in and taught me so much. I get to spend all of my time there in the edit suite.

There are four full time editors and I just kind of float between all of them. I thought that I would just be watching and observing for the most part, however they have decided to teach me all they know. They take time out of their busy days to explain to me what they are working on and how the program they are using works. They also ask my opinion, give me little pointers and encourage me to ask as many questions as I want. Stuart, one of the editors, has decided that it is his job to make sure I get the most out of my internship. He has given me homework and finds little jobs for me to do. This last time I was there he had me edit an interview for a quarterly pod cast. I was so excited! Plus, he liked my work! Things could not be better. This was the internship I was looking for! Although, I wouldn't be as confident as I am if I would not have gotten the Hotshots Internship, so I have to give Hotshots credit.

Halloween! Every interesting! Many families across the U.K. do not support the celebration of the holiday. Many of the reasons can span from just the fact that it is an American holiday to not agreeing with people begging. Not to mention that the holiday is really seen by the kids as more of an excuse to be violent! Many places all over the U.K. don’t like the fact that many kids egg, throw firecrackers or damage the houses that do not give them candy or don’t give the "right" kind of candy. It is different. Most people don’t decorate and if they do they decorate on the night of and take everything down that same night. There still are those who trick or treat, but far and few between. I had a very fun Halloween learning all the differences and attending a classmates party.

I really feel like I have settled in finally! I know it has a lot to do with the fact that I have gotten myself involved in so much. I am ecstatic with my internship, excited by the football games and entertained by my schooling. I have found a new friend in the international office who just started working there who is very interested in the struggles I have gone through. We have decided that we are going to use my experience to help build a better way of handling exchange students at Perth. I am very excited about that.

-Holly

p.s. Halloween, Scottish style, is now up at www.hollyinthehighlands.myphotoalbum.com

October 16, 2007

Hello everyone!

Sorry I have not written in such a long time! I have actually been busy! I just got back from a week long trip to Ireland! I went to go visit my dear friend Louise Murphy. She studied at Monmouth last year for a year and we became really good friends. It was very nice to be able to see someone I knew for a change. I stayed with her at her apartment in Belfast, where she going to Queen's University. Ireland was just beautiful! I thought Scotland was, but Ireland is 10 times as pretty! We spent most of the week in Belfast because Louise did have classes, but then on Thursday, we went to her hometown of Armagh. I met her family and ate a real Irish home cooked meal! It was very good! Then that night we got in the car and drove with her mom, and a friend down to Donegal. We spent all of Friday going from beach to beach along the western shores of Ireland all the way back up to Armagh. Then we got the bus back to Belfast for me to wake up at 4:30am to catch a bus to the airport, and then back to Scotland!

Other than travel during my holiday break from school, I have been busy. Even though my teacher did not show up the week before break and didn’t even bother to tell us, I have managed to get some work done. The weekend before I left on break to Ireland, I got a chance to help film the football (soccer) match at the local stadium! It was great experience because I have never really ever shot sports before and it was hard to keep up with the ball, but I did it and it was a lot of fun! I also have an interview lined up for a production company here in Perth called Speakeasy this Thursday. I am not sure if they are looking for an intern or anything, but I am hoping that I at least get a tour of the company! So even though school is not going very fast, I have tried to make the most out of my time here.

Emotionally, I have been doing much better! I think that part of it is the fact that I have been here longer and have settled a bit better, or the fact that I went over and spent time with someone I knew. Either way, I am doing better and getting out more to hang out with the friends I have made here. Which is always good! Well, I am off to go wander the town, it is such a beautiful day! I love autumn and the trees here are just as amazing as at home!

Write again soon!

-Holly

p.s. I am working on putting up the pics i have from Ireland...so keep an eye out!

September 19, 2007

Hello!!

I am doing much better, now that school has started up and is running. I do have my days though where I feel like I am missing out on a semester of school at Monmouth. Well, I am, but I feel like it’s not fair even though I was the one who put myself here!

Oh well, I am sure things will get better when we start working on movies. For now, we are just learning how to use everything. While I am at school, I do feel much better and happier because David, the teacher is so nice and knows a lot. But when I am at home, most days I find myself wishing that I could go home to visit for just a weekend, but I think if I were to do that I might not come back the Scotland. I think I need to just go out more with my friends here, but it is hard because all I have is a bike and I do not want to ride that at night. I will find some way to pass the time better, but until then I just sit at home and write letters.

On the weekends I do get to go out and travel and see Scotland, thanks to my host family. This past weekend, we went to Glencoe, which is in the Highlands!! It was just amazingly beautiful. On the way up to Glencoe, when we just entered the Highlands, I felt like we were flying because we were driving on the top of the mountains!

Of course I took a ton of pictures, but it started raining and I stopped carrying my camera. It rained the whole weekend! Well, most of the weekend anyway. My tent I was sleeping in didn't leak though, so I was happy! During the days, we hiked and played games. When I am out in the beauty of Scotland I tend to forget my woes, but as soon as we came back into Perth, I felt much more depressed. I have been talking to a few guys in my class about how I want to travel, and they said they enjoy traveling as well. I might have found a group to travel with! They wanted to go somewhere this weekend, we will see.