Beccy on Tour - My Semester Abroad in Raleigh, NC, USA

Rebecca Schaden 0:09
Hello guys, and welcome to my podcast Beccy On Tour about my semester abroad in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. My name is Beccy, and I'm your reliable source into the exciting world of American college life. So if that sounds like something you'd be interested in, stay tuned.

Hello, guys, when this episode airs, Halloween will already be over. So I hope you guys had a great time going to Halloween parties, or binge-watching Halloween movies. Halloween is a big thing here. And just like with everything else, Americans make a big deal out of it. So celebrations started way before October 31. This past week, I've seen at least 20 people casually running around in blood trenched shirts, fake blood, obviously, but to be honest, it wasn't always completely certain. It looked so realistic. And some people had dyed their hair green and I even came across a professor who was dressed up as the Joker. So yeah, Halloween is definitely big here. And as always, I was eager to get the real US American experience, and I did. So without further ado, let's get into it.

First of all, I want to apologize for not being very active on Social Media the past few days, I had a lot of exams going on last week, so things were pretty hectic and intense. But I'm definitely committed to doing better soon. But if you checked my Instagram on Friday, you might have seen the costume I got for the Halloween party. So what did you think of it guys? Did you guess what or who I was supposed to be? To all of you who voted for vampire. I am truly sorry. But that is not what it was. But to be fair, when I got the Halloween costume, I didn't know what to do with it either. I just thought it looked really cool. But my roommate actually helped me figure it out. Because I forgot to get like devil's horns, and I couldn't really pull off the actual devil. So I decided to go for devil's advocate, which I think fit the costume very well. But anyways, thank you for using the poll on Instagram and sharing your opinions on the costumes. I'm actually really proud of myself, because I usually always dress up as a vampire just because it's easy and I'm not very creative in that regard. But I felt like being in the states gave me the perfect opportunity to change it up a little.

So the Halloween party I was invited to was hosted by a friend of a friend. So I literally only knew one person. But I wasn't too worried because if there's one thing I got pretty comfortable with during my time here, it's networking. Something I unfortunately have not gotten used to yet and I doubt that will ever change is the unreliable and insufficient public transportation system here in Raleigh. So to get a Halloween costume, I had to go to Crabtree Valley Mall, because it's the closest to where I'm located. And while it's just like a 10 minute drive, it takes more than an hour to get there by bus. And most of the time, there's only one bus scheduled per hour. So by the time I got back from my shopping trip, it was already 9:30pm and I still have to get ready. So I left my dorms at around 10pm. And it was a 30 minute walk to my friend's friend's house where the party was happening. And to be honest, I kind of felt like I was in a horror movie because it was dark. And I was walking by myself which is not recommended, by the way. But I had no idea when or if the bus was going to show and I didn't want to get there even later, which didn't quite work out because it took me another hour until I finally arrived at the party.

Why you may ask? Well, because Google Maps is incompetent. It led me into dark and creepy forest which added to my impression of living a horror movie. And trust me guys, I felt utterly uncomfortable. It was so dark even my torch wasn't a big help. And whenever I stepped on a branch or heard leaves rustling, I flinched. And on top of that the whole time I heard voices and laughter So knew the party must be close, but I couldn't quite figure out how to get there because there was a fence separating the houses and the forest. And honestly guys, I don't know why Google Maps led me there, they can seriously expect people to climb over a fence to get to their destination. And if so, we should really reconsider using Google Maps in the future. Now that I think of it, that would be a good topic for my next article.

But let's continue the story. Eventually, I decided to leave the creepy forest and head back to the street and go from there. I looked up the car road on Google Maps, and it gave me completely different directions. But at least this time, it didn't leave me into a forest.

It was close to midnight when I got to the party. But luckily, the party was still in motion. I kind of felt under dressed though, because most of the people there really put a lot of thought into their costumes. So, my friend who was dressed up as Harley Quinn even got hair extensions, and someone else was dressed up as Rose from the Tales of Phantasia video game. So, compared to that, my outfit was pretty basic. But luckily, it wasn't a competition.

I've never been to a house party before in the States, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I had a great time. And personally, I like it a lot more than clubs, because you can actually have a conversation with people there. But I guess that's a matter of preference.

But the party, in fact, wasn't my first Halloween experience. The week before we were filming a Bigfoot movie. And it was again set in a forest. And my character was the only one out of three teenagers who wasn't killed by Bigfoot. The Bigfoot costume was so realistic. At one point, the actor snuck up on me from behind, and I screamed like a baby. That was a little cruel. But apart from that incident, the team was amazing. I found Marcus Watkins, the director of the movie on Facebook, and he told me about all the different movies he has coming up, and that they are always looking for new actors to work with. Sadly, I'm not going to be here for much longer, but I'm definitely going to make the best out of the time I have left here. Some advice for you guys, if you're an actress, or a model who's looking for paid or unpaid work in the United States, definitely check out various Facebook groups. It's a great app to use to connect with people. And I found most of the directors, actors and photographers I worked with on Facebook.

While I love being on set, there's one thing I really really don't like. And that's the waiting. And I had a lot of waiting to do that day. And on top of that it was freezing. The cold definitely caught me off guard and I was just wearing a light jacket and a jean which given the low temperatures and the amount of time we spent waiting around out in the cold wasn't a very well thought through choice of clothing. But thankfully, one of the other actors noticed my suffering and offered to let me wait in his car. He was my lifesaver that day, because he was also the one who gave me a ride back home after the filming was done. That's one thing that continues to surprise me here in Raleigh. People are so friendly and eager to help even if they don't know you at all. Sometimes it doesn't feel like living in the capital of North Carolina, but rather like living in a small village where everybody knows everyone, which is a whole new experience for me.

We spend a lot of time on set, shooting five different scenes. So when we finished it was way past midnight, and I was starving. And I wasn't the only one. So two of the other actors and me decided to grab a bite to eat before heading home. So we decided to go to Waffle House, and it was actually my first time there. And apparently this was the only restaurant that was open at 1 am in the night. And even though I'm usually not a huge fan of fast food, I loved it. Yes, the fact that I was really hungry might have played into that perception. But still, if you ever need to get food at 1 am in the morning, Waffle House is a good place to check out.

It was also really interesting to connect with other actors and hear about their experiences in the industry, especially because I don't know that much about how the industry works here in the United States. There's still a lot of things I don't know yet. And I'm still learning about how to best start off my acting career in the United States. But I think I feel like I'm on the right track now.

In addition to working on my acting career, I've also been eager to get back into modeling but schoolwork and other stuff have just made that impossible for the first months. But now I finally had some free time to connect with photographers and set up photoshoots. And you might have seen some of it on Instagram and you can look forward to new content in the next few days. I just love collaborating with other creatives in the industry because most of the time you don't end up doing the shoot you planned but somehow it still always works out and the results are awesome. The Runaway Bride shoot for example, was originally supposed to be a picnic in the park kind of photoshoot. But because we had to delay the shooting the sun was already setting when we got to the park, but by thinking on our feet, we decided to take advantage of the dim lighting and melancholic evening atmosphere, and we ended up getting some pretty amazing shots despite the less than optimal lighting conditions. So yeah, that is something I definitely love about the creative industry and working with other creatives. It is a lot of fun, and you always learn something new about the industry.

So, if you are a model listening right now, I would definitely recommend checking out the different parks in the Raleigh area if you want to do an outdoor photoshoot. But if you want to have a clean background for plain and simple portraits or fashion photoshoots check out NC State's Centennial Campus. They have white walls and brick walls there. So the background is definitely not going to distract from you. And you can try out different outfits, accessories, facial expressions, and whatnot. And another advantage: It's less packed than the city center, so you won't have to be afraid of having any spectators which I know from personal experience can make you feel pretty uncomfortable. Also, if you're thinking about doing a casual more on the sporty side outfit, try Raleigh Union Station and more specifically 'Barcelona Wine Bar'. There's a derelict wall that makes for a great background for that.

I'm always really excited about showing you guys the different locations I explore both when modeling or traveling. So I'm going to put the links to the locations I just mentioned in the description of this episode. I hope these are helpful for any photographers, models, actors or other creatives who are listening right now. And if you have any specific questions about any of the locations, how I got started looking for photographers, or literally everything else you want to know, drop me a DM on Instagram on beccy_schdn or beccyontour_ and I'd be happy to help.

Quite frankly, guys, it's getting more and more difficult to summarize everything that's happening here at NC State in one episode. And while I'm talking I'm pretty sure there's a whole lot I haven't talked about yet, but I try my best to keep you up to date on Instagram as well so that if you're considering studying, working or traveling in the United States, you are well prepared and know what to expect.

That being said, without revealing too much you can look forward to a very fascinating guest next week, actress Sandi Sullivan, who I met at the premiere of the theater production of Stephen King's Misery at Raleigh Little Theater. I'm already really excited to hear about her experiences in the acting industry, and I cannot wait to share them with you. I hope you're looking forward to next week.

But for now, greetings from the other side of the ocean and have a great rest of the week. Bye bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai