Its almost 3 months now that i've been here, and I have met some pretty amazing people. In Butlins, it's like we have our own world. Its a mix of Big Brother, Jersey Shore and your first year of college. It is also known as 'the bubble'. About 500 team members live on site, and we are the bubble. Everyone is switching rooms, dating eachother, and out drinking a lot, its just a different world. In the real world, couples wouldn't move in together as quick as they do here, rumours spread like wildfire, and we all live off of microwave meals or team diner for two quid. Most people live with the same team that they work with, but not everyone. There are different style accommodations to live in. I live in a four share. In my room it should be me and another girl, then across the hall lives two girls, and we all share a washroom, and open kitchen / living room. Other accoms are the same style, but only shared between two people. Then there is the 'couples accom' which is one bedroom for two people, and a shared bathroom and kitchen / living room. Lastly there is singles. One washroom and kitchen shared between a few people, no living room, but everyone in that accom has their own bedroom which they don't have to share. Since I have been here, lots of the reds have moved around. I switched accoms shortly after coming here, into the one that I am currently in. I lived with Chloe, but she moved into a couples accom with her boyfriend. So i have my own room, which is nice and big, until they move in someone new. In my accom I have two other girls, who are moving out into their own accom. So another red is planning on moving in with me. I'm currently in the midst of painting and re doing the accom so its how I like it, before they move in other people with me. Its strange because back home, I never really cared if my room was a mess, or if I let dishes pile up a little bit in the kitchen, I would just put it off and do it later. Here, its not like that at all! Now that I basically live on my own, my room is almost always tidy, and the kitchen makes me cringe if its not clean. If the living room has stuff lying all over the place, it stresses me out! I never used to be like this, but the bubble has changed me. Talk about growing up fast! Making mama proud for sure!
There is currently around 30 redcoats on the team. They are in need of more, so i'm assuming in the next few weeks we will get some newbies. All of the reds had to audition to get their job, and fight for it with 100s of other hopefuls. I would say everyone has some sort of talent. Singing, dancing and hosting are the most popular. The entertainment team is full of outgoing, loud, and unique characters. Of all of the Butlins, Bognor Regis has the tallest female red, and the shortest, the youngest redcoat & only canadian (yours truly), two magicians, a Guiness Worlds Record adjudicator, many singers and dancers, and a whole ton of characters. Not only is there 30 reds, but there is also Billy the bear, Butlins main man, and his scottish girlfriend Bonnie Bear. Then the skyline gang which is made up of Mimi, Candi, Pip, Bud, Sprout, Dude and their dog Rainbow. Dino and Darwin are two dinosaurs that are best friends and like hanging out at the Shoreline hotel a lot. Barney, BJ & Baby Bop; Angelina Ballerina; Fireman Sam and Naughty Norman Price; Pingu; Bob, Wendy & Spud; Ludo another big green dinosaur, and lastly Cedric the seagul. My job has given me the opportunity to hang out with the characters I grew up watching on tv, and allow me to meet the most amazing people.
Other teams here are Splash, which are the lifeguards that work in the water park. Then there is the Sports Coaches & Leisure so all of the people that work with the kids on football, archery, the rock climbing wall, stuff like that. Fun fair team which is indoor, outdoor, and a lot of them work overtime in Safety. Resort safety, which is security, they work the venues at night, overlook the resort and work the gates. Then there is the restaurants like Papa Johns, Bar Rosso, and the Beachcomber. There is also Bars, which work Center, Reds, Hotshots and Jaks. Those are all of the different teams that I have become friends with so far! All together we make `one big hearted team`.
For an update on whats been new with me,just lots of work, and i`m always doing something new in details. For example, I was a cheerleader at a wrestling show last Saturday. I went out with the bad team, at first I was really nervous about doing it, but by the end, its become my new favorite shift! Last week I took part in the `Best of British Garden Party`which was a family sports day basically and everyone was split up into the four different countries: Wales, England, Ireland and my team, Scotland. It was alot of fun as I got to participate, characters came out, and it was the first day of it, so it was all trial and error. Last night I did party dances on stage with Billy and Bonnie which was a first, and was absolutely adorable! In Center Stage we have had around eight reds going on stage instead of just the regular three for party dances, creating WOW moments for families. Its such a good laugh having all of us on stage, stuff like that is why I love being a redcoat.
A few weeks ago, Butlins hosted a Special Needs Hockey Tournament. Of all the places in England, Butlins Bognor is where they stayed. It was a Canadian team, and I was so happy all week! Canadians were everywhere, we were taking over bognor!! Brianna, a friend from home, was one of the coaches and it was amazing to see her. She was my first and only friend from home that i`ve seen so far. I was working while they were down but fortunately in between shifts and after work I went out with them. Made a new friend named Cody, hes 18 and his uncle played on the team. He was down to party so I took him out at night on resort to show him how we do it at Butlins. His first night out he ended up being escorted from the Shoreline hotel to his room because he passed out in the washrooms. I found this out from security the next day, because he was so drunk he didn`t even remember! To say the least, I know he enjoyed his time in England. Brianna brought me stuff from my mom which included a teddy bear that I now sleep with, chocolates, tootsie rolls which you can`t buy in England, and last but not least, TIM HORTONS. Thank god for that!!! To the brits reading this, Tim Hortons is the Canadian version of Costa or Starbucks. To the canadians reading this, moving to a country without Tim Hortons is harder than you`d think!! The Canadians all left and then it was an adult weekend. I went out on the Friday night, nothing out of the ordinary there, but then sat out the Saturday and Sunday. Just wasn`t feeling it, and needed to chill out and have a relaxed weekend. So I did some painting, walked around town, watched movies, played Black Ops and hung out with Matt the whole weekend.
We are back onto regular breaks now but because schools in, its mainly young families with tots, and grandparents. Not as full, so its not too hectic. This weekend coming up is the Footballers weekend. Its 3 days that Butlins hosts all of these football (soccer) dads and sons. Im a bit nervous about this one because apparently its a nightmare of a weekend. I work in Center stage until one in the morning on Friday by myself, but then I have Saturday off which isn`t too bad. Once we get through this weekend, the next three in a row are all adult weekends. Should be a good time and I probably won`t have to work too much so I want to do a bit of travelling.
Tomorrow I am off to London as long as the weather is half decent, with Matt. For those back home that have yet to see facebook, I am now in a relationship. To answer the basic questions i`ve already been asked.. No, he is not a redcoat, hes resort safety, a few years older than me, tall and yes, he is british. Things are going really good here. I love my job, my accom is coming along, and I have a great guy that I get to see all the time. I`m a very happy and lucky girl. Sorry it took so long for an update, but this is whats going on, on my side of the pond!
4/30/2012
4/01/2012
Ministry of Sound & Minehead
Its been about two weeks now since my last post, so i've got quite a bit to update on. To start, the past two weekends have been adult weekends, the first being 'School Reunion' and the second was 'Icons Weekend'. I have had most of the adult weekends off, so School Reunion was the first one I had to work for. We don't wear our Redcoat uniform for the adult weekends, as the adults tend to make fun of, or harass us for it. Instead, we wear our casual grey track pants, and a red zip up sweater that says 'Events Team' on it. We don't swan the Skyline and we aren't out half as much as we are during regular family breaks. Billy the bear doesn't make any appearances, nor do the rest of the characters we have. We mainly work the reception and check in, and then work the doors for some of the venues. This is the best time for training for new shows and stuff like that, as barely any Reds actually work this weekend.
Friday and Saturday night, I worked at the Silent Disco. We hand out the headphones, explain how it all works, and send them into our sports bar, Hotshots. Friday night it wasn't too busy so the four of us working the doors got to have our headphones on and dance around the whole night. I worked with two out of my three roomies, and my old room mate too. We finished at about 130 in the morning. So we went home, got changed and went out to party for the night. It was weird because although it was around 2am by the time we even got to the bar, it just felt like 10 oclock, tons of energy, and the start to a good night! We started in Center Stage, by this time there were no more shows or acts going on, it was just a live DJ. Tons of people in costumes filled this venue, and kept the party going. After a good amount of drinks, and some dancing, we headed down to Reds. Reds isn't normally a busy venue, but that night it was packed. Full dance floor, bars were busy, it was a good time. We partied until about 5am when they did last orders at the bar. Made it into our accommodation just before 6am. I would say that was one of my best nights in England, until the night after. I slept in that day until about noon probably, as I didn't have work again until late that night for another night of the Silent Disco. Saturday night in Reds was 'The Ministry of Sound', this is an unreal DJ that has a sweet stage set up and the act is well known in England. Because of the Ministry of Sound, and Center Stage with its live DJ and shows, we all figured that the Silent Disco would be a dead venue. In the Skyline to start the night off for the guests, the skyline stage has a DJ there until about 10 or 11pm I think. So as our venue opened up, that DJ was just finishing, and the shows up in Center and Reds were just starting. From the beginning of our night until the very end, we were lined up out the door, and jam packed inside. It was crazy! So many people were coming into the venue, we didn't have enough headsets, and unfortunately didn't get to enjoy listening to the two different DJs. It was still a good night, and we finished up around 2 in the morning. After work, we went home, got ready and went to Reds to see the Ministry of Sound. It was busier than the night before and the DJ was unreal. We stayed out until at least 5 or 6 in the morning. It was a messy but fun night as always. I absolutely love the adult weekends, they are the best time to let loose and have a good night out with the team, as most people are off. Unfortunately that weekend was a big one for training as there are a ton of new shows starting up. So not too many Reds were out. Still a good time none the less.
After that adult weekend, we were back on family breaks for the midweek. It was really quiet for both midweeks as school is in, so its mainly young parents and tots. Its good because we get to bond with the kids, and see the same faces over and over, helps to add sparkle to each families holiday. The next weekend was the adult Icons weekend. I decided to take a holiday from the 'Butlins Bubble' and go to Minehead for the weekend. It wasn't really planned, I just decided a few days before that I would go by myself because I had the whole weekend off. It should have been about a four hour journey from Bognor to Minehead.. it ended up taking SEVEN hours. Seven whole hours alone.. on a bus, train, car, subway, and foot. It was quite the adventure. Bryn & Louis walked with me from Butlins to the Bognor train station. Two minutes before my train was supposed to come, I was told that it was cancelled so I had to take a different one and get off at the next stop to change over. So i got on the train, and found another person going to London, so we stuck together for the traip. His name was Damion, really nice guy, and would have been lost without him. On the train for about 10 minutes, then at that station had to get off and wait 30 minutes for another train.. Repeated this for 3 stations. At this point, I should have turned around knowing that it was going to be one hell of a trip to get to Minehead. After a few hours, I was near London.. Then a voice on the train said that we were no longer going to London Victoria.. but London Bridge instead. Without a choice, I had to get off at the Bridge and then take the Subway to figure out how to get to Paddington Station. To get another train to Taunton. By this time, the sun has set, it is no longer warm outside, and I am standing alone in the London Bridge Underground in hightops, jean shorts, a leather jacket, animal print headband, and a huge animal print luggage bag. Not to mention I had diamond aviators on. The only person that would have stood out more than me would be someone dressed as Wheres Waldo. I looked like I was heading to L.A., not Minehead. I figured out which platform to be on, but to make sure I was in the right place, asked a girl that looked nice.. she replied in an Australian accent, "I'm lost too". Just perfect! Now there are two foreigners lost in the London underground. A nice young guy, also lost, came up to us to ask for help, which of course we couldn't give. Instead, we all got on the tube together and figured out where we were supposed to go. Cracked open a beer, had a few laughs, and enjoyed the short London Underground journey. Once we all split up, I made my way to get onto my last train of the day. It was a straight two hour journey to Taunton, where Nancy picked me up and then we drove to Minehead from there. Arrived around midnight, got changed, and hit the pub. It was absolutely dead, but i got to see friends that I haven't seen in six years! It was so weird, but such a good laugh. The next day myself and a few of the girls took a bus to taunton for some shopping then headed back to Minehead for another night of drinks and a fun. Started at the Hairy Dog, had a few drinks, saw some friends from the night before, then we all headed to another bar. This one was much busier Saturday night! Saw a ton more people that I knew and stayed out til about 4 in the morning. The next day, had some troubles about getting back to the train station, but with Ellie and Calums help, sorted myself out. It was only about a 5 hour journey home which I was really happy about.
This brings us to this past week. It was an average week, did the same old stuff, had some party dance training and got our new uniforms. We have our redcoat which is just a little bit different from last years. We now wear black pants, a white tucked in top, and black heels. We also have a black dress to wear for some details. In a few more weeks we will get our casual uniforms, but for now we just wear our old ones. My first time up on stage was last night. I did my party dances and only messed up once. It was so nervewracking getting on stage in Centre as it seems so busy, with a full dance floor of kids looking up at you to follow your steps. When I only messed up once, it was a huge relief as everyone messes up when they are on stage. Today I have spent a lot of time on activities as I will hopefully become an activities Red instead of just a general Red. Activites consists of doing arts and crafts with the Get Busy: 5-8's, stage school, circus skills and arts with Club Red: 9-12s, and stuff with the VIPs: teens. Its a lot of fun because we get one to one time with kids and get to know them better on a personal level, instead of just sitting with them when shows are on. Its really awesome. They become your friend for that week and when they come back, they ask about you, get your autograph and pictures with you. Mini Celebrity? Hell ya. As it's easter weekend, we are full house and every venue is busy. I don't think a single Red had the day off today. Its one of our busiest times of the year, and this weekend / upcoming week are a small taste of what summer will be like. Its really exciting and I'm always doing something new. I have second guessed myself a couple times over the past few weeks, as to whether or not I made the right choice in coming to England, by myself to be a Redcoat. Last night, my boss said to me that he took a risk in hiring me, as I wasn't hired like most reds are with the unique interview and audition process, but that he is very happy with the Redcoat I am and to keep up the good work. Its a confidence boost that was needed, and I am really happy and proud of myself and my choices. People have asked me how I deal with being away from home, and if I miss my family and friends. Of course I do. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think of my old room mate (nana), or my parents. When I see the younger kids, it reminds me of Jonny and Julia, who I cannot wait to see again. I wasn't the best big sister with my siblings before, and this job has completely changed me and how I am with kids. I miss them to death, you don't really know what you have until its gone. I wish they could be here to enjoy the Butlins experience, this British Disneyland would be heaven for the two of them. It would be really awesome if my older brother came over and saw what I did, its such a unique place, and I would love to hear what he thought of how I am as a Red. I wish my friends could be here because I know they would love it as much as I do, and would love the people I hang around with. I don't want to go home anytime soon, but I would love if my family could just come and share all of this with me. So to mom and dad reading this, I love you to bits, and can't wait to see you. XOXO
Friday and Saturday night, I worked at the Silent Disco. We hand out the headphones, explain how it all works, and send them into our sports bar, Hotshots. Friday night it wasn't too busy so the four of us working the doors got to have our headphones on and dance around the whole night. I worked with two out of my three roomies, and my old room mate too. We finished at about 130 in the morning. So we went home, got changed and went out to party for the night. It was weird because although it was around 2am by the time we even got to the bar, it just felt like 10 oclock, tons of energy, and the start to a good night! We started in Center Stage, by this time there were no more shows or acts going on, it was just a live DJ. Tons of people in costumes filled this venue, and kept the party going. After a good amount of drinks, and some dancing, we headed down to Reds. Reds isn't normally a busy venue, but that night it was packed. Full dance floor, bars were busy, it was a good time. We partied until about 5am when they did last orders at the bar. Made it into our accommodation just before 6am. I would say that was one of my best nights in England, until the night after. I slept in that day until about noon probably, as I didn't have work again until late that night for another night of the Silent Disco. Saturday night in Reds was 'The Ministry of Sound', this is an unreal DJ that has a sweet stage set up and the act is well known in England. Because of the Ministry of Sound, and Center Stage with its live DJ and shows, we all figured that the Silent Disco would be a dead venue. In the Skyline to start the night off for the guests, the skyline stage has a DJ there until about 10 or 11pm I think. So as our venue opened up, that DJ was just finishing, and the shows up in Center and Reds were just starting. From the beginning of our night until the very end, we were lined up out the door, and jam packed inside. It was crazy! So many people were coming into the venue, we didn't have enough headsets, and unfortunately didn't get to enjoy listening to the two different DJs. It was still a good night, and we finished up around 2 in the morning. After work, we went home, got ready and went to Reds to see the Ministry of Sound. It was busier than the night before and the DJ was unreal. We stayed out until at least 5 or 6 in the morning. It was a messy but fun night as always. I absolutely love the adult weekends, they are the best time to let loose and have a good night out with the team, as most people are off. Unfortunately that weekend was a big one for training as there are a ton of new shows starting up. So not too many Reds were out. Still a good time none the less.
After that adult weekend, we were back on family breaks for the midweek. It was really quiet for both midweeks as school is in, so its mainly young parents and tots. Its good because we get to bond with the kids, and see the same faces over and over, helps to add sparkle to each families holiday. The next weekend was the adult Icons weekend. I decided to take a holiday from the 'Butlins Bubble' and go to Minehead for the weekend. It wasn't really planned, I just decided a few days before that I would go by myself because I had the whole weekend off. It should have been about a four hour journey from Bognor to Minehead.. it ended up taking SEVEN hours. Seven whole hours alone.. on a bus, train, car, subway, and foot. It was quite the adventure. Bryn & Louis walked with me from Butlins to the Bognor train station. Two minutes before my train was supposed to come, I was told that it was cancelled so I had to take a different one and get off at the next stop to change over. So i got on the train, and found another person going to London, so we stuck together for the traip. His name was Damion, really nice guy, and would have been lost without him. On the train for about 10 minutes, then at that station had to get off and wait 30 minutes for another train.. Repeated this for 3 stations. At this point, I should have turned around knowing that it was going to be one hell of a trip to get to Minehead. After a few hours, I was near London.. Then a voice on the train said that we were no longer going to London Victoria.. but London Bridge instead. Without a choice, I had to get off at the Bridge and then take the Subway to figure out how to get to Paddington Station. To get another train to Taunton. By this time, the sun has set, it is no longer warm outside, and I am standing alone in the London Bridge Underground in hightops, jean shorts, a leather jacket, animal print headband, and a huge animal print luggage bag. Not to mention I had diamond aviators on. The only person that would have stood out more than me would be someone dressed as Wheres Waldo. I looked like I was heading to L.A., not Minehead. I figured out which platform to be on, but to make sure I was in the right place, asked a girl that looked nice.. she replied in an Australian accent, "I'm lost too". Just perfect! Now there are two foreigners lost in the London underground. A nice young guy, also lost, came up to us to ask for help, which of course we couldn't give. Instead, we all got on the tube together and figured out where we were supposed to go. Cracked open a beer, had a few laughs, and enjoyed the short London Underground journey. Once we all split up, I made my way to get onto my last train of the day. It was a straight two hour journey to Taunton, where Nancy picked me up and then we drove to Minehead from there. Arrived around midnight, got changed, and hit the pub. It was absolutely dead, but i got to see friends that I haven't seen in six years! It was so weird, but such a good laugh. The next day myself and a few of the girls took a bus to taunton for some shopping then headed back to Minehead for another night of drinks and a fun. Started at the Hairy Dog, had a few drinks, saw some friends from the night before, then we all headed to another bar. This one was much busier Saturday night! Saw a ton more people that I knew and stayed out til about 4 in the morning. The next day, had some troubles about getting back to the train station, but with Ellie and Calums help, sorted myself out. It was only about a 5 hour journey home which I was really happy about.
This brings us to this past week. It was an average week, did the same old stuff, had some party dance training and got our new uniforms. We have our redcoat which is just a little bit different from last years. We now wear black pants, a white tucked in top, and black heels. We also have a black dress to wear for some details. In a few more weeks we will get our casual uniforms, but for now we just wear our old ones. My first time up on stage was last night. I did my party dances and only messed up once. It was so nervewracking getting on stage in Centre as it seems so busy, with a full dance floor of kids looking up at you to follow your steps. When I only messed up once, it was a huge relief as everyone messes up when they are on stage. Today I have spent a lot of time on activities as I will hopefully become an activities Red instead of just a general Red. Activites consists of doing arts and crafts with the Get Busy: 5-8's, stage school, circus skills and arts with Club Red: 9-12s, and stuff with the VIPs: teens. Its a lot of fun because we get one to one time with kids and get to know them better on a personal level, instead of just sitting with them when shows are on. Its really awesome. They become your friend for that week and when they come back, they ask about you, get your autograph and pictures with you. Mini Celebrity? Hell ya. As it's easter weekend, we are full house and every venue is busy. I don't think a single Red had the day off today. Its one of our busiest times of the year, and this weekend / upcoming week are a small taste of what summer will be like. Its really exciting and I'm always doing something new. I have second guessed myself a couple times over the past few weeks, as to whether or not I made the right choice in coming to England, by myself to be a Redcoat. Last night, my boss said to me that he took a risk in hiring me, as I wasn't hired like most reds are with the unique interview and audition process, but that he is very happy with the Redcoat I am and to keep up the good work. Its a confidence boost that was needed, and I am really happy and proud of myself and my choices. People have asked me how I deal with being away from home, and if I miss my family and friends. Of course I do. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think of my old room mate (nana), or my parents. When I see the younger kids, it reminds me of Jonny and Julia, who I cannot wait to see again. I wasn't the best big sister with my siblings before, and this job has completely changed me and how I am with kids. I miss them to death, you don't really know what you have until its gone. I wish they could be here to enjoy the Butlins experience, this British Disneyland would be heaven for the two of them. It would be really awesome if my older brother came over and saw what I did, its such a unique place, and I would love to hear what he thought of how I am as a Red. I wish my friends could be here because I know they would love it as much as I do, and would love the people I hang around with. I don't want to go home anytime soon, but I would love if my family could just come and share all of this with me. So to mom and dad reading this, I love you to bits, and can't wait to see you. XOXO
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