And I Get Credit for This:

9 hours worth of credit to be exact. This is the form I have to fill out, or something minutely different each week.


WEEK 3

DATE Sept 17- Sept 21 HOURS WORKED 31 1/2


Work responsibilities- what did you do this week?
I cut rabbit fur. I cut rabbit fur into capes and little diamonds to make ermine tails for coronation robes. I cleaned fur off of things. I hate fur. I did learn how to use an industrial sewing machine on Monday.

Are you beginning to achieve a better understanding of the mission as well as goals and objectives of your company/organization? Do you have an initial sense of how your company/organization fits within the broader niche of similar concerns?
We’re a costume shop. Our goals are to make costumes and make them well enough for more people to hire us.

Have you received any specific types of training and how does that relate to your work responsibilities? If not, is there additional training that you’d like to receive that would assist you in performing your job?
I’ve been taught how to read the industrial patterns, how to cut the leather on the back of fur without cutting too much of the fur off. Mainly I’ve learned how to deal with new fabrics. I’d like to work with the props master to learn how to make some of the things, like wigs and whatnot as it is not something I would likely learn to do in classes.

By contrast, do you find yourself providing informal training to some of your colleagues, particularly in computer or web- based technology?
We have one computer in our office and Ginny is the only one who uses it. The closest I got to informing my colleges on anything was telling them the name for a quilting needle. They just called it a half circle needle, as that is its shape.

What cultural and linguistic differences are you beginning to hear or observe? Be specific and compare with US culture and spoken English.
Trousers are pants, pants are underpants. Zippers are zips and scissors are snips. I’m comparatively more chatty then the others, but they are more than happy to talk with me. Theatre and the artistic communities seem very similar in both cultures. People seem a lot more open with curse words than we are in the States.

Name 2-3 new skills you have developed and how they might help you in the future?
I can now cut out patterns, guestimate yardage and use an industrial sewing machine. The first and last are really the most important, as those are the ones that will get me jobs but the second will help me keep them.

What previous skills or knowledge, either classroom or previous job-based, have you begun to apply in your internship?
Sewing is not too much different on a domestic machine from an industrial machine, and knowing how to hand sew has kept me busy the past few weeks.

After three weeks, to what extent are your ‘levels of responsibility’ expectations beginning to be met? Are there steps you can take to achieve gradual levels of responsibility?
I am gradually being given more and more responsibility, and hopefully by the end of next week I will be using a sewing machine for something other than just learning. I understand the hesitation, as there isn’t always a lot of time to fix something that I might mess up. I don’t mind what I am doing now as far as my responsibility but I will not turn down a little more.
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Anyways, after that bit of boring. My work week was filled with fur, nothing too different from day to day. There is more in store next week as well. 37 coronation robes to be made, but I'm not sure if that's just the mens or both men and womens. God, I hope it's both.
Friday night Flatmate K grabbed me on the way into the building and dragged me out to Islington to watch the France Vs Ireland rugby match. Real men play rugby. It's an amazingly fun game to watch, even if it is on TV. France beat the pants off Ireland, 25 to 3. The rules of the game still escape me exactly, as they seem to be somewhere between soccer and football. We also tried some awesome beer, Blanc, which was a white beer. Very tasty without tasting like beer. Kinda weird, and pretty expensive, but I hope it was just the pub we were at. I went home early, as I'd be standing all day at work.
Saturday I went out to Portobello Road Market. It's awesome, packed like crazy though. Anything you could ever want to buy was there. Some of the best street food I've ever seen and some of the most interesting antiques. I can't wait to go again when I remember to bring money with me. The produce there was some of the most wonderfully fragrant and the other things around where at stalls where you could haggle easily enough if you needed to. But I'll deffinately not bring my backpack again. I'm pretty sure someone tried to go through it while it was on my back and not in front of me. They didn't get anything, which is good, because it was all inside my sweater inside my bag. It was a beautiful day to top it off. So nice and cool and sunny. I didn't end up taking any photos because I didn't have anyone to watch my back and it was so terribly packed that you wouldn't have seen much. When I came home I was supposed to go back out to a bar near here with some friends but ended up stepping on a tiny sliver of glass from something we broke earlier in the week. We thought we'd gotten it all up. But apparently not. I attempted to get it out with tweezers then flush it out. I ended up having to walk to the store to get Peroxide thinking that it would be able to bubble it out. I thought I had, but when I woke up this morning I had to have C get it out for me.
Amazing Dr C got it out with very little pain or annoyance. She'll be an awesome mom. Today a small group of us went down to Camden Town to do a little shopping. I ended up getting a cute top and C got one too. There are a billion cool stalls there, but most didn't allow photos, and those that did didn't have anything interesting. It was also very very very crowded. Hello Kitty stuff all over! It was all so cute! I could spend hours walking around there. Even though I have. I didn't see half the market I don't think. I really want to go back to both of the markets I went to today. The weather this weekend couldn't have been better.
Next weekend is Dublin and Inverness! Yay exciting! I can't wait. :) If you want a postcard make sure to email me or comment if you don't have my email and I'll send it to you!