Opening a new page of my life

As a girl who lived in a small town for 18 years I have always dreamed about seeing the opposite side of the world. All through my teenage years I have been wondering if sun shines brighter in another country and if there is a place where people are nicer to each other. Hoping for a better tomorrow I left my country just a week ago to start my brand new life in Coventry, United Kingdom. Even though Lithuania (where I came from) is just a tiny dot on the world map, it was extremely hard for me to see it disappearing from my view as I was sitting on my plane to Birmingham. Now I am here, exploring not only a new city but also a very new version of myself.

 It is extremely fascinating to be able to do things you could not imagine ever doing and having to cope with something you have never had to cope with before. Besides doing laundry, making lunch for yourself and trying to manage your budget, there is one thing I am still trying to fight the most – my language barrier. This British experience made me realize that learning a new language and getting only the best grades in school does not guarantee you have no problems applying it to your daily life. It is not impossible but it takes some time to reprogram your brain into not only speaking but also even thinking,in my case, in English. As I was sitting in a classroom I could not help but wonder – could I find at least one person who feels the same way as me? Is there anyone who struggles much worse than I do and how  could I help that person? Then it popped to my mind – I could actually do something about it.

 Being not a native speaker and not having the widest vocabulary is not the worst thing that can happen to you. It is much more difficult when you do not know the language at all. Could you imagine living in the world and not being able to understand what it wants to tell you? Guided by this idea to make someone‘s life just a little bit easier I interviewed few native English speakers and asked them one simple question: What are 3 phrases every foreigner needs to know in case to survive in United Kingdom? This is what they told me:

These are just a few things I wish I had known before opening a new, very different and very British page of my life. Anyway, there should not be anything, even a language barrier, to stand in your way of pursuing your dreams. Sometimes you have to put yourself out of your comfort zone in order to make your life count.

A day in a life of a working journalist

Seeing myself as a potential future journalist makes me think what my daily routine after 10 years from now would consists of. It has been a long time since I decided to pursue a career in this field so it is a little bit obvious that I consider a day in a life of a working journalist to be perfect. Let‘s say the character of this story is Amy. She is working in a fashion industry as a professional journalist and a freelance photographer. A call from this famous magazine wakes her up and she is invited to shoot one of the most popular fashion designer‘s birthday and the show that comes in honor to this famous lady. Amy jumps out of her bed and tries to keep calm in order to avoid being unprofessional. She immediately contacts the designer and asks if she’s up for a cup of coffee just to make sure she understands what the requirements are. No time for a hot bath or pancakes, Amy is rushing through the busy Oxford street trying to get to this small café where the guest of honor should be waiting. The appointment makes every detail clear and Amy is surely ready for the big day. As she is working in a magazine she makes her way right into the office to continue her article about those never endlessly trending sneakers called “Vans” in which she is comparing these to “New balance” shoes that are trying to overrule the world. Of course, Amy has some difficulties and as she likes to call it “the creativity crisis”. Since Amy is more of the girlish style her lack of knowledge about sports inspires her to conduct a quick street survey. She goes right to the street and asks strangers which ones they prefer. It made her realize that people can easily help each other sometimes without even knowing it. This is the main task of her day so as it is almost finished, she can go home. I am quite sure that a journalist doesn’t have a specific office. It can be anywhere – a bunch in the park, a comfortable couch at home or even on the sand by the sea. Moreover, I strongly believe that there are no concrete working hours and if someone calls you in the middle of the night having “burning news” a good journalist should take his laptop and start writing about it. This is what intrigues me the most – you can never be sure where you will be tomorrow. A journalist must be ready for the craziest adventures and this person has to realize the importance of standing out of your comfort zone. This is what fascinates me the most and I am sure I would make a great journalist because everything you need for a good start is passion. And I have it. I know it would be shocking at first but I am sure it gives high quality entertainment for astonishingly little cost. In fact, if the cost is only my time, ambition and hard work I am all in.