Wow! It's been a while since I've written anything, didn't realize I'd been neglecting my thoughts for so long. Well though I doubt there are many people affected by my lack of writing, I apologize to anyone who was. The reason I haven't been writing is because I've been too busy to think...seriously...I don't joke about these things.
So since it's been to months let me catch the blog up on all the crazy happenings.
(It's subtitled because that's how compartmentalized my mind has been since reading week.)
The Last 5 Years:
So Lea and I were driving one night and she starts telling me about this new musical she's been learning a song from and how amazing it is. She puts it on her iPod and I absolutely loved it! I go home and Google it and discover it's by a composer named Jason Robert Brown...and suddenly it all made sense. Jason Robert Brown = JRB who is referred to in the first episode of The Battery's Down, a reference which left me confused as to what I was missing....and with this discovery I finally understood! The Last 5 Years is a beautiful musical. It is about the last 5 years of a romantic relationship and is told through soliloquies. The female begins at the end of the story and moves backwards to the beginning while the male does the reverse and it's a joy to listen to.
Anything Goes:
On March 12 and 13, Hillel of Greater Toronto presented a student production of this witty musical. It was AWESOME and HILARIOUS and I had the privilege of stage managing it!
Starting on March 6th, the show consumed my life. I entered a warehouse that afternoon at 4pm and did not leave until 10:30. The next morning I went to get my passport...because a week later I was going to New York and my passport had expired so now I had to get it rushed (New York will be explained later)...I forgot my flight information and, thinking I needed to get this done, went to Kinkos printed it and went back to line up for a second time - why can't the passport office just rush your passport because you want it rushed??? I'm still paying $75 more, why can't they do it becuase I want it? - anyways after waiting for an hour and a half, I broke down in tears from frustration and decided to leave. I got home and went to the warehouse for 11am (my day started at 7am). It wasn't long before I started to notice that this set which we were priming didn't have any support beams and was so complicated that we didn't know how it all pieced together. In addition to all this, the worst snow storm of the year was starting up on the outside. At 3pm after a few moments of panic, I braved the snow to pick up my friend Dave - the theatre genius - who came in and solved all our problems. Now I make this sound easy but really it took until 9pm before we were actually able to feel like we were getting somewhere. Having constructed the set with supports, we departed at 1:15am confident that all that was left were the flats and some detail painting. (I would also like to point out that my parents were at a cottage this weekend and my sister was a trooper and put up with me abandoning her for the entire time, despite her hatred of sleeping when noone else is home.) The snow didn't stop falling, so despite having planned to go in from 4-6pm, after doing my application for a fellowship, I went in at 2pm and didn't do my application. The expected 3 hour job ended at 12:45am. In total 15 people, including some very dedicated Hillel staff, worked on the set. However, we concluded that it was the blood, sweat, and tears of Rachel (our director), Lea, Jaime (two cast members), and myself who spent the whole day working Saturday, in the freezing cold warehouse, while the snow didn't stop outside. One of the funniest moments of the weekend was when Lea went to get our dinner at 9pm when we were starving. First she was short money, then when she came back to drop off the food and go back with the rest of the money, her 4x4 vehicle got stuck in the unplowed parking lot. Next Jaime and I went out, not properly dressed for the conditions, to help dig her out. However, we forgot to bring the money with us so Jaime went back to get the money, while I continued to dig. We got Lea out of the snow and then Jaime and I had to walk backwards with the food through the parking lot because the wind was blowing the snow too hard. This of course was hilarious and we began laughing really hard. This laughing fit was extended to Rachel and we all proceeded to laugh inexplicably through our meal and the return of Lea and through her meal. We listened to The Last 5 Years obsessively this night. The next day we returned to the warehouse one last time, after our dress rehearsal, to take apart the set and pack it into the truck that would take it to the theatre.
On Monday I had a very busy day. I had a conference call for the UJC Pro Day (which I got accepted to!) at 10am, but first I had to wake up at 6:30 and go get my passport - that's right I lined up at 7am -- 3rd in line! I was out of there at 8:06 they open at 8am - at 1pm I had a phone interview with the University of Florida Hillel for their Arts Director position and by 11:59pm I had to submit two applications for fellowships at Hillel International in Washington, D.C. At 8pm I submitted my application and headed over to the theatre to help finish loading in the set. We were supposed to be out at 10, we left at 11pm.
Tuesday was dress rehearsal day...yay! I got there nice and early at 9am and spent the time until 2pm going crazy trying to mark the set and gather set/prop pieces. At 2pm, Jaime and I left for food and errands. Jaime quickly assumed the role of my personal assistant - answering my phone, texting people, replying to texts, and making phone calls. It was hilarious and yet one of the most amazing things that could have happened at that time. I thank Jaime with all my heart for being so helpful because for the 15 minutes I was without her at York, I lost my mind and couldn't think straight...that's how much was going on inside it at the time. Our dress rehearsal was fabulous, the tech rehearsal however was slightly concerning and we decided to cut some set pieces and I may have been guilty of taking my stress out on people who didn't deserve it.
Wednesday was opening night...all I had to do was make some signs and lists for backstage....turns out Rachel needed to pick up programs and go to value village and we both wanted to make gifts for the cast - so since I was lacking in the transportation department we combined are tasks and had what turned out to be a relaxed afternoon pulling things together and eating fast food for the umpteenth time in the past week - we discussed how we missed real food.
So all drama aside the shows were amazing! It's so interesting how bonds are always formed in the theatre. I strengthened friendships with acquaintances and left with a whole lot of new friends. Its rare to find a cast with so much love...I experienced it in my first and second year with VCP and it was nice to find it again in this environment.
New York and the UJC Pro Day:
On Saturday March 15th...having pretty much JUST finished Anything Goes - like only had one day off - I boarded a plane to New York. Having been accepted to the UJC Pro Day I needed to be in New York for interviews on the 17th, so I decided to make a long weekend out of it and visit Sophia and Dave. So I went to Sophia's residence in Brooklyn Heights (my accommodations) on Saturday morning, dropped off my stuff and we headed into Manhattan for brunch, a walk, and a cupcake. I love how easy it is to find brunch in New York - you just have to expect to spend $13 on it. Sophia then took me to see Union Square where just down the street I noticed a Max Brenner's and got very excited - we decided that we were going there on Monday after my long and hopefully great day of interviews. That night we went for sushi around the corner from where she lives and I had an amazing salmon and avocado salad - good luck finding that elsewhere - it was delicious! Sophia then took me to see the promenade by the water and then we went in to the city for a movie - we saw Definitely Maybe - my new favourite chick flick.
Sunday I got to sleep in while Sophia went to see her new apartment on the Upper West Side. When she came back we went for burgers and fries or in Soph's case grilled cheese at a small place around the corner called 5 Brother's ...they claim to be the best in the area and I don't doubt it. However, they cook with peanut oil. For those of you who don't know, despite how yummy peanut oil makes food taste, it is one of my pet peeves because of the restrictions it places on those with nut allergies. After lunch, we went in to the city in search of some accessories for my interview outfit...H&M had them and it was cheap. Check. We walked around SoHo for a bit, stopped in at Victoria Secret and headed back to get ready for dinner. That evening we went to Crown Heights to visit Dave and have some dinner. I knew Dave lived in an orthodox neighborhood, but I didn't know it would feel like Jerusalem meets the Tel Aviv bus station. I was worried I wasn't snius enough. Rather than searching for a place to eat that we wouldn't feel out of place in, we went into a deli, ordered an array of food and for $30 we had ourselves a feast at Dave's place followed by Family Guy and some great YouTube videos I'd yet to see. Having feared we were heading into the middle of nowhere on the way out, our train ride back was relatively faster.
Monday morning Soph and I both had to leave early so waking up was not a problem. We then left her place and I was left on my own to find the subway and make my way to 111 8th Ave. I was set, we'd been using the subway a lot and I was sure I could do this no problem. My day started by me getting on the wrong train :S...let's just say it was an uncomfortable moment and I got off at the 1st stop where, luckily, I could catch the train I wanted. Everything else went smoothly...thank goodness. I got to the building and went into the wrong board room - embarrassing - then experienced 10 minutes of the most uncomfortable silence in the right boardroom. I had 6 interviews on my schedule and after my first I added one more. The entire day was a whirlwind. I sat in numerous offices with gorgeous views, spoke with different people about different jobs, and learned a lot about myself. I went in willing to take anything anywhere. I came out willing to go anywhere but much more sure of what I wanted to do. One of the things i was more sure of was that I wanted to work for Hillel. In my first interview, I was stopped 3 minutes in and asked why I wasn't applying there, and when I said I was, the interviewer jumped at the opportunity to help me get things rolling. All in all it was a successful day. Dinner at Max Brenner was amazing and then since Soph and I were not in the St. Patty's Day mood we went to see Juno...finally...it was awesome!
Tuesday I learned the joys of catching a cab in morning traffic and headed back to Toronto. I was back at Hillel by 5pm that night, in time for work.
End of School:
As of the start of March I still had 3 papers and a project to do. I finished one 5 page paper in the 3rd week of March - 4 weeks after it was supposed to be due. I then turned my focus to my 15 pager which I needed to submit by April 7th. I spent the last week of March and first week of April conducting interviews and wrote my paper in one sitting, only to find out I could have until the 10th. I submitted the paper on the 9th. I then spent the 10th writing my final 5 page paper which was due the next day. In between all this I managed to pull together a website with my group for my comm class. I can proudly say that as of Friday April 11th, I have finished my undergraduate degree. I got 85% on my 15 pager and an A on my final 5 pager. Only one unknown mark remains but I'm predicting straight As on the year.
The Job Hunt:
Side note: One of the Hillel Fellowships actually called a reference, which I'm told is quite an accomplishment, but in the end I was rejected from both. This is okay, I was taking a long shot applying.
I came back from New York and went on a Hillel application spree, the final tally was:
10 applications
I've since had:
5 first round interviews
4 second round interviews
and in on case I'm even having a 3rd round!
I had a video skype call from Penn State and next Monday I'm heading down to Albany...very exciting stuff!
So far, 2 rejections and 1 I'm not to positive about, but all in all a great experience. I'm really hoping one of these jobs pans out and a lot of people are fairly confident at least one will so think positive thoughts for me. :) I'll let you know all this all works out.
That's it for now...I'll post something about Camp Hillel and Pesach another time.
So since it's been to months let me catch the blog up on all the crazy happenings.
(It's subtitled because that's how compartmentalized my mind has been since reading week.)
The Last 5 Years:
So Lea and I were driving one night and she starts telling me about this new musical she's been learning a song from and how amazing it is. She puts it on her iPod and I absolutely loved it! I go home and Google it and discover it's by a composer named Jason Robert Brown...and suddenly it all made sense. Jason Robert Brown = JRB who is referred to in the first episode of The Battery's Down, a reference which left me confused as to what I was missing....and with this discovery I finally understood! The Last 5 Years is a beautiful musical. It is about the last 5 years of a romantic relationship and is told through soliloquies. The female begins at the end of the story and moves backwards to the beginning while the male does the reverse and it's a joy to listen to.
Anything Goes:
On March 12 and 13, Hillel of Greater Toronto presented a student production of this witty musical. It was AWESOME and HILARIOUS and I had the privilege of stage managing it!
Starting on March 6th, the show consumed my life. I entered a warehouse that afternoon at 4pm and did not leave until 10:30. The next morning I went to get my passport...because a week later I was going to New York and my passport had expired so now I had to get it rushed (New York will be explained later)...I forgot my flight information and, thinking I needed to get this done, went to Kinkos printed it and went back to line up for a second time - why can't the passport office just rush your passport because you want it rushed??? I'm still paying $75 more, why can't they do it becuase I want it? - anyways after waiting for an hour and a half, I broke down in tears from frustration and decided to leave. I got home and went to the warehouse for 11am (my day started at 7am). It wasn't long before I started to notice that this set which we were priming didn't have any support beams and was so complicated that we didn't know how it all pieced together. In addition to all this, the worst snow storm of the year was starting up on the outside. At 3pm after a few moments of panic, I braved the snow to pick up my friend Dave - the theatre genius - who came in and solved all our problems. Now I make this sound easy but really it took until 9pm before we were actually able to feel like we were getting somewhere. Having constructed the set with supports, we departed at 1:15am confident that all that was left were the flats and some detail painting. (I would also like to point out that my parents were at a cottage this weekend and my sister was a trooper and put up with me abandoning her for the entire time, despite her hatred of sleeping when noone else is home.) The snow didn't stop falling, so despite having planned to go in from 4-6pm, after doing my application for a fellowship, I went in at 2pm and didn't do my application. The expected 3 hour job ended at 12:45am. In total 15 people, including some very dedicated Hillel staff, worked on the set. However, we concluded that it was the blood, sweat, and tears of Rachel (our director), Lea, Jaime (two cast members), and myself who spent the whole day working Saturday, in the freezing cold warehouse, while the snow didn't stop outside. One of the funniest moments of the weekend was when Lea went to get our dinner at 9pm when we were starving. First she was short money, then when she came back to drop off the food and go back with the rest of the money, her 4x4 vehicle got stuck in the unplowed parking lot. Next Jaime and I went out, not properly dressed for the conditions, to help dig her out. However, we forgot to bring the money with us so Jaime went back to get the money, while I continued to dig. We got Lea out of the snow and then Jaime and I had to walk backwards with the food through the parking lot because the wind was blowing the snow too hard. This of course was hilarious and we began laughing really hard. This laughing fit was extended to Rachel and we all proceeded to laugh inexplicably through our meal and the return of Lea and through her meal. We listened to The Last 5 Years obsessively this night. The next day we returned to the warehouse one last time, after our dress rehearsal, to take apart the set and pack it into the truck that would take it to the theatre.
On Monday I had a very busy day. I had a conference call for the UJC Pro Day (which I got accepted to!) at 10am, but first I had to wake up at 6:30 and go get my passport - that's right I lined up at 7am -- 3rd in line! I was out of there at 8:06 they open at 8am - at 1pm I had a phone interview with the University of Florida Hillel for their Arts Director position and by 11:59pm I had to submit two applications for fellowships at Hillel International in Washington, D.C. At 8pm I submitted my application and headed over to the theatre to help finish loading in the set. We were supposed to be out at 10, we left at 11pm.
Tuesday was dress rehearsal day...yay! I got there nice and early at 9am and spent the time until 2pm going crazy trying to mark the set and gather set/prop pieces. At 2pm, Jaime and I left for food and errands. Jaime quickly assumed the role of my personal assistant - answering my phone, texting people, replying to texts, and making phone calls. It was hilarious and yet one of the most amazing things that could have happened at that time. I thank Jaime with all my heart for being so helpful because for the 15 minutes I was without her at York, I lost my mind and couldn't think straight...that's how much was going on inside it at the time. Our dress rehearsal was fabulous, the tech rehearsal however was slightly concerning and we decided to cut some set pieces and I may have been guilty of taking my stress out on people who didn't deserve it.
Wednesday was opening night...all I had to do was make some signs and lists for backstage....turns out Rachel needed to pick up programs and go to value village and we both wanted to make gifts for the cast - so since I was lacking in the transportation department we combined are tasks and had what turned out to be a relaxed afternoon pulling things together and eating fast food for the umpteenth time in the past week - we discussed how we missed real food.
So all drama aside the shows were amazing! It's so interesting how bonds are always formed in the theatre. I strengthened friendships with acquaintances and left with a whole lot of new friends. Its rare to find a cast with so much love...I experienced it in my first and second year with VCP and it was nice to find it again in this environment.
New York and the UJC Pro Day:
On Saturday March 15th...having pretty much JUST finished Anything Goes - like only had one day off - I boarded a plane to New York. Having been accepted to the UJC Pro Day I needed to be in New York for interviews on the 17th, so I decided to make a long weekend out of it and visit Sophia and Dave. So I went to Sophia's residence in Brooklyn Heights (my accommodations) on Saturday morning, dropped off my stuff and we headed into Manhattan for brunch, a walk, and a cupcake. I love how easy it is to find brunch in New York - you just have to expect to spend $13 on it. Sophia then took me to see Union Square where just down the street I noticed a Max Brenner's and got very excited - we decided that we were going there on Monday after my long and hopefully great day of interviews. That night we went for sushi around the corner from where she lives and I had an amazing salmon and avocado salad - good luck finding that elsewhere - it was delicious! Sophia then took me to see the promenade by the water and then we went in to the city for a movie - we saw Definitely Maybe - my new favourite chick flick.
Sunday I got to sleep in while Sophia went to see her new apartment on the Upper West Side. When she came back we went for burgers and fries or in Soph's case grilled cheese at a small place around the corner called 5 Brother's ...they claim to be the best in the area and I don't doubt it. However, they cook with peanut oil. For those of you who don't know, despite how yummy peanut oil makes food taste, it is one of my pet peeves because of the restrictions it places on those with nut allergies. After lunch, we went in to the city in search of some accessories for my interview outfit...H&M had them and it was cheap. Check. We walked around SoHo for a bit, stopped in at Victoria Secret and headed back to get ready for dinner. That evening we went to Crown Heights to visit Dave and have some dinner. I knew Dave lived in an orthodox neighborhood, but I didn't know it would feel like Jerusalem meets the Tel Aviv bus station. I was worried I wasn't snius enough. Rather than searching for a place to eat that we wouldn't feel out of place in, we went into a deli, ordered an array of food and for $30 we had ourselves a feast at Dave's place followed by Family Guy and some great YouTube videos I'd yet to see. Having feared we were heading into the middle of nowhere on the way out, our train ride back was relatively faster.
Monday morning Soph and I both had to leave early so waking up was not a problem. We then left her place and I was left on my own to find the subway and make my way to 111 8th Ave. I was set, we'd been using the subway a lot and I was sure I could do this no problem. My day started by me getting on the wrong train :S...let's just say it was an uncomfortable moment and I got off at the 1st stop where, luckily, I could catch the train I wanted. Everything else went smoothly...thank goodness. I got to the building and went into the wrong board room - embarrassing - then experienced 10 minutes of the most uncomfortable silence in the right boardroom. I had 6 interviews on my schedule and after my first I added one more. The entire day was a whirlwind. I sat in numerous offices with gorgeous views, spoke with different people about different jobs, and learned a lot about myself. I went in willing to take anything anywhere. I came out willing to go anywhere but much more sure of what I wanted to do. One of the things i was more sure of was that I wanted to work for Hillel. In my first interview, I was stopped 3 minutes in and asked why I wasn't applying there, and when I said I was, the interviewer jumped at the opportunity to help me get things rolling. All in all it was a successful day. Dinner at Max Brenner was amazing and then since Soph and I were not in the St. Patty's Day mood we went to see Juno...finally...it was awesome!
Tuesday I learned the joys of catching a cab in morning traffic and headed back to Toronto. I was back at Hillel by 5pm that night, in time for work.
End of School:
As of the start of March I still had 3 papers and a project to do. I finished one 5 page paper in the 3rd week of March - 4 weeks after it was supposed to be due. I then turned my focus to my 15 pager which I needed to submit by April 7th. I spent the last week of March and first week of April conducting interviews and wrote my paper in one sitting, only to find out I could have until the 10th. I submitted the paper on the 9th. I then spent the 10th writing my final 5 page paper which was due the next day. In between all this I managed to pull together a website with my group for my comm class. I can proudly say that as of Friday April 11th, I have finished my undergraduate degree. I got 85% on my 15 pager and an A on my final 5 pager. Only one unknown mark remains but I'm predicting straight As on the year.
The Job Hunt:
Side note: One of the Hillel Fellowships actually called a reference, which I'm told is quite an accomplishment, but in the end I was rejected from both. This is okay, I was taking a long shot applying.
I came back from New York and went on a Hillel application spree, the final tally was:
10 applications
I've since had:
5 first round interviews
4 second round interviews
and in on case I'm even having a 3rd round!
I had a video skype call from Penn State and next Monday I'm heading down to Albany...very exciting stuff!
So far, 2 rejections and 1 I'm not to positive about, but all in all a great experience. I'm really hoping one of these jobs pans out and a lot of people are fairly confident at least one will so think positive thoughts for me. :) I'll let you know all this all works out.
That's it for now...I'll post something about Camp Hillel and Pesach another time.
