It's hailing, it's pouring...

Just got in from hanging the washing out - and my fingers are almost frozen off! They are red raw, and I'm still brushing the hail-stones off my jacket. Yes, you definitely know you are living in the wild west when you are forced to hang your washing out in a hail storm, because at least it's not as wet as it has been the past two days, while (in your spare moments at home) you've looked forlornly at your pile of wet washing on the kitchen table, and then out the window at the even wetter hills hoist.

D-boy, thank me now for researching that car hire!

Speaking of which, the highlight of my last couple of days has been the news that D-boy IS coming to visit; have thrown myself into researching transport options (no car from the boss, which is a darn shame, but have managed to find a car hire and flight option that is no more expensive than the boat and motorbike, and decidedly less soaking potential!!), and of course into researching what mischief we can get up to in my two days off while he is here. Ok, so I don't need to think too hard about that one... but would love to get out and explore the area around the town (I'm itching to get away from the familiar. It's a gorgeous little spot, but when you see the same 10 buildings and 2 boats day in and day out, I don't know how 'regular' 9-5ers do it!!). Am tossing up between finding a two-day hike (to get into training for the walk - yet to be decided - in January); or suggesting we take the car for a wander up the North West coast, and just check out the landscape along the way. It probably depends also on what the weather will do, and as they say here - Melbourne is four seasons in one day. Here, it's four seasons before breakfast! So who knows.

Another little saying that demonstrates the fairly constant need by many locally-born Tasmanians, it would seem, to prove they are just as good as - sorry, better than! - the 'mainlanders'. It's an interesting concept, to be a 'mainlander'. I am an 'other'; only accepted warily and partly into the local 'fold'. Lucky I am used to that - but I still envy the feeling of identity one must get from living in the same place all your life. It always comes down to a question of identity for me, it would seem...

Enough philosophical ramblings for tonight. The wind is howling around the house, and I suspect that tonight I'll be thankful indeed for the down-feather quilt Kathi found me yesterday. I'm also accutely aware of D-boy's comments about my 'OP 1' writing - hehehe. Better put some bad gramur und spellin just to be precocious. Oh, there I go again :)

On work matters - the island was disgusting today; windy and hailing. The weather was nice enough to clear up for the 5 mins it took to convince the tourists to get off the boat; and then kept us trapped under the tarpaulin over the other side of the island for most of the 2nd tour! Perhaps the NW wind's ironic sense of justice...

No more training for me today, despite plans, as the weather was against us; but we had a small contingent of brave souls who made it to the play, and I played Shires tonight quite well - well enough that I only got one gentle note afterwards too, so was all in all pleased. I'm settling into that role well enough, although need to keep up my script-work; and if I were to give myself notes I'd say that I'm still hamming it up a little too much (a tendency that stems from not being so sure of it all) - as Richard says, I think I need to work on underplaying the comedy. I have to be a little careful; I'm aware of the possible tendency to relax once Richard stops giving me notes, and slip into bad habits. I found watching the play on Thursday night useful not only for the Porter role, but seeing someone else do Shires too; so I've resolved to watch the play at least once a week on my night off.

I meant to brave the pub again after the show; but after the washing experience decided that I've had enough braving of the wild western weather for tonight, and am spending a night snug in bed instead, waiting for the D-boy's welcome voice, music to my ear...

What goes up...

Ah shit. What a god-awful evening.

I was rostered onto the show this evening with Richard. Which is intimidating enough when you know (ish) what you are doing (ie the secondary role, Shires). But having heard me do the first and last bits of Porter the other night with Nigel, he decided I should do it with him. Which is intimidating enough. But then he asked me to do the Porter build as well - which I have not been trained in. And I (thinking, how hard could it be?) stupidly said yes, and then stubbornly stuck to my guns, even when he offered to do that end of the set... and didn't it come back to bite me in the arse. Not only was my script much more all over the place than the other night, but I had no clue what I was doing with the set, so Richard ended up building most of it. I was kinda impressed with my ability to cover most of the lines while he did so, but was also cringing internally as I could feel his anger at my inability to fulfil the role properly, emanating from the other side of the stage. The problem was, we were both stuck in it now!! To top things off, it was cold and windy, and the audience were generally miserable. They didn't have a terrible show, I don't think - but we did! There ended up big gaps where we had to scramble to get things ready, and at one point I stood on a platform and it just shattered under my feet! The set's been made with green timber, as Richard says, so it's slowly shrunk, and is all fairly unsafe anyway...

Richard, of course, bawled me out afterwards for taking the role on 'far too early' obviously - the set was unsafe, and my lines were all over the place, and I was taking on 'Nigelisms' that I didn't need... as a side note, the funny thing is, he talked about these phrases Nigel adds that aren't necessary - they just slow the play down - and Nigel talks about his lines in the same way! So I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place there. But then he went on to tell me off for doing Porter the other night as well, as I obviously wasn't ready for it and hadn't asked him... I tried to tell him that tonight was a shambles compared to last time; especially as I was dealing with set I'd never touched before. I mean who heard of going into a play without rehearsals or tech anyway? But there's no real excuse. I realise that he's right - I didn't ask him, and he is the boss after all, when it comes down to it - whatever else happens, I should be aiming to do the job to the standard he wants it. If he wants me to do the role as he does - to imitate him - I should (as a professional) take that as part of the job and do the work necessary to do it. Before I start trying to go off half-cocked.

So, as a complete flipside to the triumph of Monday night (I should have realised it was premature) I came out of this evening's show feeling totally shite, and absolutely missing a shoulder to cry on. Ok, so I cried a little even without that shoulder - sometimes I feel so brave and grown-up, and other times I'm suddenly a little lost kid again. Particularly when Richard criticises me like some overbearing teacher. Ugh.

Dav's been commenting on my change in perception of the boss. Well, to be fair, I do still think he's quite inspiring and an ingenious person, having set up his own self-funding company in a niche market here, and managing to build a life for himself in a spot he loves, and working in the arts!! But it's another thing to get to know him personally, and then have to work under him - when he's grumpy, and his arthritis is playing up, and he won't admit when he's done something wrong but neither can he stand you not getting something the way it 'should be', even if you've only been here 3 weeks.

Hmm, feeling a little sorry for myself, aren't I??

Adjusting to a new job, a new city, and a new life is never going to be easy. And it will get easier as I put my head down and do the work again (not off the hook yet! sigh). But I've never been very good at dealing with failure; and it sure can suck whe everything comes crashing around your ears... Of course, thinking about it, how you deal with the tough stuff, with failure, probably defines what kind of person you are. My inclination is to shut up shop, tuck my tail between my legs and go and hide. But that's never going to get me very far, is it?

No, I'll just have to call on my stubborn streak, and do that character work I've been meaning to do... swallow my pride, and learn to brush off the rebukes. It is draining work, and easy to want to do a 'good enough' kinda job and stop doing any more. But tonight, I realised that I have to keep at it - let my guard down and I drop the ball, and dropping the ball here can be potentially dangerous... So tomorrow I'll do a build with Richard (Kathi's home today, so maybe he'll be happier tomorrow?). And the aim is to do Porter - properly, and to script - by Nov 11, with Tom. I know I can do it. I just have to watch how much I bite off (my ego can be bigger than my skill base!), and set myself up properly... so I can throw that ball back up in the air again...

Reflections by the sea

Written this afternoon at Ocean Beach:

I'm sitting half-way up a dune, or rather, a sand mountain, with the (much appreciated) sun shining harshly and a gentle touch of the roaring 40's in my hair, watching the waves roll in for miles ans miles. 30 miles long, they say Ocean Beach is (and what an inventive name! But it's what you have to think about first here - the grand mystery that is this huge body of water sitting in front of you). Heemskirk sits to my right, a sleeping monster in the distance. The beach stretches on and on round to my left, right around to the lightouse on the point, interrupted only by the numerous seagulls, the smooth pebbles washed up by the ocean, and the lack ripples on the sand left by the coca-cola sea. It really does feel like I am the only person left on earth right now - and I'm staring straight out across the Great Southern Ocean to South America.

Now that would be an adventure! What a tale to tell - that huge voyage over the sea from here to there. You almost wouldn't think, sitting here looking at that wild vast ocean, that it would be possible. But it was. I will go to South America one day - but I am sitting here, contemplating my last two weeks, and realising that I am already on an adventure. There are points in my life - probably not enough of them, but they are there - when I actually do stop and take stock of where I've come from and how much I've achieved. Six years ago, when I was a shy girl from Bundy, moving to the city by myself for uni, I don't know if I had any idea how independent I could become, or how much I could make happen - how much control I have over my own life, my own destiny. I was always happy to float; to excel at what was in front of me, but only to get it 'right' and not often enough to blaze a trail of my own. And here I am, a trail blazer - all the way from Brisbane to Melbourne, from Melbourne to Strahan, from Strahan to Ocean Beach (a 7-8 km run each way!!). Storing away times like this gives me hope that even when I feel totally down, or trapped, there's always somewhere I can go, a decision I can make, that will change my fortunes again.

So I'm taking a moment to give myself credit for the acheivements I have made. In one sense, they are quite small - I'm no world-class star, and I can't even get an audition for a TV soap. But the things I have achieved, even recently, well, they ARE huge to me. I've had the courage to finally ditch a 'secure' job that I hated, to struggle to do full-time what I love AND make a living out of it. I've fallen in love again, when I wasn't even sure if that was possible. And I've found a boy after my own heart, who's able to let me fly free and trust that I'll return to him (my challenge is always to return that trust!). I've moved away from the big smoke again, to a tiny little town, to do a full-time paid acting gig which no-one on the mainland will notice and which may cut off other opportunities - but which is fantastic training, a totally new adventure, and the longest paid gig I've had to date. And I have apparently achieved the fastest 'turn around' in the job - taking full tours after 5 days here, performing the secondary role in "The Ship" after 3 shows, and last night (2.5 weeks in), managing to pull off Porter, the main role. Ok, so I need to keep brushing up, and I need to do some desperate character work, but today I'm taking full credit for what I have managed to do. And I'm sloly finding acceptance - and maybe even a little 'cred' - in a staunchly 'local' town.

The final challenge for the week is, of course, to do the talk at the Mill tomorrow, so I guess I'd better get cracking on that! But in the meantime, picture me sitting half-way up a sand cliff-face, soaking up the intermitent sunshine and being lulled by the persistent crashing of the waves. What a gorgeous day....

... And now I'm eating an anzac dipped in chocolate (no coconut though! They haven't quite caught on here...) andthinking again of Dav... mmmm.....

Rainy Whitlams afternoon

A day off (almost) - what a luxury. And it's raining. Of course.

I am performing the play tonight, with Richard (hoping his arthritis isn't playing up too much tonight!), but no tours for me today, which left me thinking that I'd run down to Ocean Beach and explore - until I woke up to bad dreams and the pitter patter of rain on the roof. So have spent the day 'internet adminning'. Now listening to the Whitlams' "No Aphrodisiac" and thinking of D-boy, running around keeping a green-screen clean somewhere in Melbourne.

Am missing Melbourne at the moment - the convenience of being able to go out and explore so easily; the cafe culture; and friends of course. Strahan is a friendly little town, the kind of place where you can walk down the street and have a conversation to several people you know on the way (in fact, it's rude not to!); but I have yet to really find a connection with someone to the 'hanging out' level. I miss the company on days off.

Am very much looking forward to the potential of a visit from D-boy with a car; and a couple of days off to explore the area with him - in only two weeks now! I realised the other day that this is only the second job I've had which requires such a routine; and probably the most unvaried daily kind of routine I've had since highschool. I also realised that the unfamiliar change is taking it's toll. Friday was an incredibly hard day - I was exhausted, and distinctly depressed.

Saturday, in contrast, I felt on a high; the light as we were going out on the boat was gorgeous, glittering on the water, and the groups on the boat were small and friendly. It's times like that that I feel incredibly lucky to have this opportunity. But I am dying to explore the surrounding area!! I have another full day off on Tuesday, and if it's good weather I'll definitely get down to Ocean Beach; afternoon tours also start soon, and Richard's promised to eventually take me out to Halliday's Island and Grummet Rock to explore them in Maggie K, in the break between morning and afternoon tours. I'm also hoping to go out with the boats up the river, and have a look up that way again.

But life feels a little mundane at the moment, in general - I'm struggling to really settle into the play, and now have the challenge of learning the main part, Porter, as well in the next 3 weeks. I feel like I've got a bit of brain-freeze; am having trouble keeping motivated due to the lack of variety. And yet am reluctant to really start too many other projects till I'm more comfortable with the script for the play.

I certainly appreciate the days off that I get. I can understand how this job gets really draining! Well, I knew it would be a challenge - I'm now feeling it, and I just have to find the thing that will motivate me to rise to that challenge. I do feel the need to start setting and keeping to daily and weekly goals with both the play and the tours. My goal over the next week is to perform Porter down pat - by Sat 28th, when I am performing again with Nigel. So I'd better get to it - my mini-goal for this arvo is to do a complete lines run, here goes!

Strahan Welcome (ssh, not too loud, my head hurts!)

Well, I finally got the 'Strahan Welcome' I've been promised by various locals during conversations last night. Phew, did I get it at that. It may not have been long - I think I slurred a goodbye and stumbled out of the 'staff room' at around 10.30, but 3 pale ales, 2 drafts, and a tequila slammer in two hours will definitely do it for u - or at least, it will for me, little (and generally sober) gal that I am. My days of drinking like a fish and not feeling it are definitely over.

Nigel, as promised, introduced me around - I met Guy (who owns the red boats with his brother Troy) and Stu, both institutions in the town; the second Nigel (not as cool, apparently ;); Greta who works at the school I think; Tim (the wood-turner) and Cassie, who's just come back from a holiday in King Island and is red-cheeked and sunburnt; Andy, the captain of the fancy ship "The Discovery", which does 3-day luxury tours of the Harbour for $3000 a head (!!); and machine-gun Dave (head chef at Risby Cove, where I went to dinner with Richard and Kiah - called so because of his laugh, which he good-humouredly persists in) and his new apprentice; as well as several others (I think)... it was a fun night out, bigger than I'd certainly thought it would be, although fairly low-key. Seems I made a good impression, by Nigel's report on the boat today though, so am glad I did it. It'll be a fine balance I think, going for drinks often enough to appear friendly - but not so often that I wipe myself out for work consistently! It is interesting to note that while Nigel can be cynical and rather barbed, he did make a much-appreciated effort to introduce me to everyone; whereas Kiah, while lovely, tends to flaunt her 'wing-in and know everyone status', and made a rather paltry effort at introducing me to her friends the other night at dinner. Admittedly, I also felt out of place and didn't actaully bowl over and introduce myself...

So today was a fairly rough day - after all, not only did I get home hammered last night; I then chatted to D-boy (yay!!) til 1am, thinking I'd have the day off. But at 10 past 8, as predicted (most annoyingly, althought I did ask for it) by Nigel AFTER I'd had the slammer last night, John rang and said the white boat was at 161 (!!) - that's 1 passenger over the 2 guide cut-off. So I struggled against the urge to go back to sleep, rolled out of bed and into the shower, and was on the boat half an hour later. It did mean that I had the morning off, as was only needed for 1 tour; so took the opportunity to again resist the urge to crash on one of the hut beds, and scramble over and have another look at the back half of the island.

Fought my way through the overgrown first bit of the back track, and managed to climb / slip down into one of the little coves, which has an amazing rock cliff-face; and these caramel rocks, whipped and burnt by the sea - and lots of drifters, huon pine, beached on the sand. Spent a time exploring there (am hoping to get a little camera to start taking some shots); and then scrambled back up and over. Visited the hospital site again, which was quite spooky alone - the hairs on the back of my neck were up; the trees were cracking and moaning; and you can really feel the history there. I almost thought I heard a cry - it may have been a tourist over the other side of the island, or the water in a hollow rock, but I can understand why some of the locals feel the island is haunted.

I finished my ramble by following the old track up over the edge of the island closest to Grummet Rock; going past the stone chimney from the gardener's cottage (there is a Parks and Wildlife sign there; it's quite bizarre to see it there in what appears to be a deserted or now-unused part of the island) and scrambling down the high edge of the island to the burnt-toffee rocks below. I'd love to have a look out on Grummet Rock one day, perhaps if I borrow Rick's sea kayak he's mentioned he might lend to me; as it'd be fascinating to discover how big it actually is (it looks tiny! And yet was supposed to have housed up to 100 'out and outers', I think). I found, on one of the rocks, a tiny plaque cemented there - "Lands and Survey Dept". Another slightly bizarre thing - it feels as if you are standing in this wild and deserted landscape; and there's this tiny stamp, as if the land has actually been man-made. I felt for a moment as if I was in some kind of virtual reality landscape; where if I pulled the little labelled 'plug' it would all disappear down the hole created. Hmm, maybe that's the hang-over talking!

The tour was a quick one, and I didn't have a great rapport with the tourists, as was concentrating on getting through alive. Still, many seemed appreciative. John and I were both on time (I was 'wedge', in the middle, the hardest position - trying to keep up and stave off the last group who's generally breathing down your neck) but Nigel trailed behind due to questions, late by almost 10 mins. The skipper was not happy! This is worth noting for busier periods - it seems very important to keep ontime, or the boat crew (who feel pressure from both their bosses and those tourists needing to get back) are not happy. The job, during the busy periods, apparently becomes a time-juggling act.

Was very glad to have the night off the play though! Am going to use it now to start rehearsing Porter; and to sleep!!

How to live in the Wilds of Tasmania (??)

Strahan was a pretty big move for me - interstate always is. I've had a bit of practice at it now (a woman on the tour today asked me where my accent was from, and wouldn't believe me when I told her I was Aussie through and through! Could be the mixing of NSW, ACT, Qld and Vic accents... hmmm), but have tended to move to bigger cities, rather than smaller. Not to mention leaving my boy behind. Yes, he's always in my thoughts (and so he should be :).

The first couple of days in Strahan were pretty hard - not only did I not have any phone or internet connection in my newly rented 1 bedroom cottage (living on my own! Another adventure, and one I'm thoroughly starting to appreciate!), but the only mobile coverage down here is Telstra, so I left my Vodaphone mobile back in Melbourne. So not only did I not know anyone here, but I had no contact with the outside world for the first half-a-week! That, and trying desperately to learn the 2 hours worth of script (tour + play) almost sent me crazy I reckon. But am feeling much more at home now that I a) have phone and internet access, thank god!! The outside world does exist!!, and b) am feeling rather more on top of things.

At the moment I'm actually finding the tour much more rewarding than the play - I concentrated on learning that much more, and was taking tours by myself within the week, so am much more confident with playing with the tour. And it's obvious how much tourists on the cruise boats appreciate you bringing the Island to life - it's instant gratification. The script is very good too, in relating facts, and adding drama through the telling of Stories. It's theatre as I think it should be - commercially viable, yes, but also getting ppl to think, and relaying info about our history, our past and our roots. The underlying message in both the tour and the play is political, as Nigel (one of the guides) likes to remind us - treat a man badly, and you won't get anywhere, but treat him well, and he'll do his best. Oh, should make that politically correct, shouldn't I, and say 'person'...

The play I'm finding a little harder, as there's no such thing as rehearsal here. I was pretty much thrown right into it, and while I've got the basics of the secondary part down, I've done no real character work yet, so it can feel lame at times - and I'm still getting used to the rough, comic, pantomime style. I'm still corpsing terribly onstage, laughing at the other actors' jokes!! But I am getting better at both responding to and including the audience, and making a fool of myself! Always a handy skill to have as an actor...

But apart from the play, what I found myself thrown right into when I arrived was the politics - of the job, the town and, to some degree, the state. As Nigel says, Tasmania has the same level of government that any other state has - but only a quarter the people! So everyone has to have an opinion on happenings in the state. It is refreshing to be surrounded by people with passionate opinions on current affairs, even if they are often heavily weighted to one side of the argument. On my 2nd training day, Tom, the local doctor's young son, was espousing his reasons as to why the Franklin River should have been dammed! Now there's something that polarised the community here, and you can still feel it...

The town itself has some very interesting politics... it used to be a busy little port for the Mt Lyell mining company in Queenstown... but it was closed down due to its ineconomy compared with freighting overland in the 1970s. It wasn't until the Franklin Dam protests in the 1980s brought so much focus onto Tasmania's nature-reserves that tourism really became it's main industry; and between this and fishing Strahan has since become quite a pretty little hub of tourism. It's situation on the harbour is just beautiful, and despite the cold and the rain 300 days a year (it's raining now!) people come from all over the world to stay here.

Within the town, there are 2 main cruising companies, and you generally work for one or the other. There's the family owned 'World Heritage Cruises' (the red boat people); and the Federal owned Lady Jane (the white boat people). We, working for Round Earth, are in the priviledged (??) position of having free reign on both boats (we tend to go out on the red boat in the morning and do a tour for them; then wait on the island for the white boat, tour for them and go back to Strahan with them). Now, Federal is a Tasmanian company also, but it's a huge and very wealthy one - it owns most of Strahan Village central, and they say u can visit Tasmania without once stepping off Federal owned land or premises. This was a concept I was initiated into on my first day here.

There's also all the politics of a small town, which I only found out later, once Nigel returned from Hobart and briefed me. When I first got here I was working only with Richard, John, and Tom, all of whom had elsewhere to go after work, which meant that I (with my head stuck in script) didn't do a lot of exploring. But I've since been warned by Nigel that I'd better get to know the key people in the town, and all the crew on the boats, or I'll be pegged as snobby by the locals. Ah, the politics of small towns - so it wasn't just highschool that was like that, it was highschool in Bundaberg, yes, another small town (though not quite as small as this one, with it's 1000 locals). Nigel also likes to remind me quite regularly that I'm what's considered to be a 'vulture' (as he so tactlessly puts it) - coming in to work a job here over summer and saving money. I may see it a little different, but it's hard to combat the 'locals', who no doubt feel they have to stake their territory, what with so many hundred thousand visitors coming here every year. So from ppl like Nigel (who's actually a Hobartian, but still holds his local Tasmanian status up like a flag) there's an interesting paradox - the fact that the tourists who visit are his bread and butter; and yet at another level he disdains them. Interesting politics indeed. It's hard to know when to point this out, and when to just smile and nod sometimes... after all, I'm not a local now, am I??

First Entry - in two senses

Two weeks ago to the day I ventured into what is to be a 6-month adventure living in the isolated wilds of Tasmania. I only found out yesterday how bloody isolated!! The buses out of here are almost impossible!!

But not to start this, my first entry on a whinging note - I am working in Strahan, Tasmania, with a company called Round Earth Theatre - what, a full-time acting job?? They exist?? Yes, but for folk like me, it requires travelling to the ends of the earth. But it is a beautiful little spot here, and I have been wanting to experience life outside the big smoke again for quite a while... and this certainly is about as close to 'the little smoke' as u get.

Since I've been here I've been meaning to start a diary, a journal record of my experiences, but the problem with paper is u always lose it, and then it just clutters ur room up... so why not join the masses, and try the cyber version, thought I? Of course, I can't promise it won't be addictive, especially as there's not a whole lot else to do in Strahan of an evening...

So this is a page to talk to, for myself largely, but feel free to read all u readers - any opinions in here are mine and mine alone, and if u don't like them, bugger off! A girl's got a right to her own silly thoughts.

This is my longest ongoing employment as an Actor since leaving study two years ago. I was excited at the prospect when offered the job; but of course (as usual) forgot to really take into account what it could mean - largely the difficulty in getting back to see D-boy! My wonderful wonderful boy back in Melbourne, whom I'm missing like crazy! And hoping will come and visit me down here in this little haven soon, sooner, soonest...

And a haven it is. I feel pretty lucky. Not only am I able to practice my craft all day every day, but I get to do it surrounded not by jaded corporate types, or retail junkies (one notable exception perhaps, on the 'jaded' note), but by people on holiday! I almost feel like I'm on holiday too (while working bloody hard).

The job involves working with a group of 6 others (all blokes, at this stage) to take guided tours of Sarah Island, which lies in the Macquarie Harbour (on which Strahan is situated) during the day, and then perform in the show "The Ship That Never Was", in the evenings - which tells the story of the last 10 convicts left on Sarah Island. It's a fun little play - mostly a laugh and good audience entertainment, although with a couple of strong underlying messages - and it was written and has been run by Richard Davy here for the last 10 years non-stop!! So a pretty amazing institution to walk into. Richard is a real character - the unofficial 'custodian of the island' in the town, and he plays that part to the hilt. Despite the cynicism from some quarters at times (mostly from actors who've done the job for quite a while, and who can blame them on one level), I admire the ingenuity of Richard, who's found himself a niche market and set up a totally self-funded theatre business in a country where that seems to be almost unheard of - and managed to make himself a 'celebrity in his own backyard' at the same time. Call me green if you want - but I'm also grateful for the job; both for the training it provides (running the same show for 6 months - even I see that as a challenge!) and for the extended opportunities the funding may provide. I'm hoping to finally do my O/S travel next year (it's been ever delayed, owing to choosing a moneyless career in the theatre!!), starting with the SITI course in NY, should I be lucky enough to get a place...