I realized that I always speak about animation but I haven’t mentioned how I got to it. And it’s already my fifth season in animation this year. So how did everything begin?
Beginning of my animation
When I was a kid, I went for holidays with my parents to the hotels with animation. I always liked to dance minidisco and I always took my brother with me even if he wasn’t so excited like me. During these holidays with animation, I decided that I’ll try to work as an animator in the future. The years were passing and in winter 2012/2013 I started to search for a job in animation. I sent many CVs but because I was able to work just for three months during the summer season, I got refused by many agencies. Nevertheless, I didn’t give up, I was sure that the right offer would appear. And indeed it did. I accepted the job offer in Kos, Greece, I bought a flight ticket and after finishing my bachelor’s degree I was ready for a new adventure.
Arrival to Kos
When I arrived to Kos, to the hotel where I was supposed to work and when I saw the accommodation where I was supposed to live for three months, I wasn’t really sure I can survive it. Then I was told that I need to change the hotel. I didn’t feel very happy about all these things. Thank God, the hotel changing was the best thing that could happen. I was showed a nice apartment on the beach that I shared with three more animators. We had a terrace with the sea view, I got also a bicycle for going to the hotel and back. I felt like everything started to take the right direction.
Getting into animation
The first week in the hotel was my training and I started to have an idea what the animation is about. I was showed how to do different activities, how to dance minidisco, how to help during the evening programme. I also helped to create some choreographies for the dance shows. During the lunch breaks we were also cleaning, organizing things, preparing everything for the current high season, including rehearsing all the dances. Very soon I realized that it’s not easy to work in animation but on the other hand you have so much fun – with other animators or with the guests. Nevertheless, during my first season I was a bit shy, I hated doing guest contact which is practically “just” talking with the guests and it’s also the most important part of animation. I also found out that kids’ animation is not for me. I wasn’t really ready for working with kids. I always tried to avoid them because I didn’t know how to act or how to talk to them.
First season
My first animation season was amazing. I had great colleagues, I met many people, I visited many new places. Even if sometimes I was really tired and didn’t feel like smiling on other people, I didn’t give up. I tried to enjoy the season as much as I could. At the end, I could feel that it was an unforgettable experience that helped me to move on in my life. The end, when I had to leave, was very sad. During three months, I spent 24 hours per day with my colleagues and I just couldn’t imagine to be without them. It was hard but it made me stronger and I am really glad for that.
Fear, desire, excitement
After my first season in animation, I wouldn’t even imagine that I would do animation for upcoming four seasons. When I decided to work in animation, my friends asked if I am not scared to go abroad alone, to go to the place where I don’t actually know anybody, to share apartment with totally unknown person. Of course, I was scared but my desire to go abroad was much stronger and I had to fight my fear because I wanted to experience something new. Even if I didn’t know what to expect, I was excited about it. My excitement from the first season continued and that’s why I decided to work in animation again.
Different animation
In the summer 2014 I went for four months to Peloponnese, Greece. The animation there was different – actually it’s different in every hotel. We had different activities, the team was bigger, we were even divided into two kind of separated departments – miniclub animators and fitness & sports animators (me and one more person). It was soft animation where we didn’t do guest contact during the day just in the evening. We never asked people to join our activities, if they were interested, they joined.
Second season
During the second season I didn’t visit many places because the hotel was quite separated from the rest of the world and it was hard to get somewhere without a car. That’s why we usually spent our days off together on the beach in the village nearby. Few times we had also beach party with the fire. We were trying to enjoy the season as much as we could and we had much fun together.
Sad end
After three months in Peloponnese I started to realize that my time there is getting to the end. I knew that it won’t be easy to leave but I didn’t expect, actually none of us expected that it will end differently. Two weeks before I was supposed to finish we were told that three of us have to leave because they don’t need so many animators anymore. Our agency tried to solve the problem and they sent each of us to different hotel. I was sent to Chalkidiki where I had to travel by three buses for 13 hours. My emotions were mixed. I was very sad that I had to leave my colleagues so quickly, I couldn’t really imagine working in another place for next two weeks. But I tried to take it as a new challenge even if it was very hard. When I look back now, I can see that it was a good experience for me, it taught me a lot.
First time in Thessaloniki
When I finished the season in Chalkidiki, I had the opportunity to visit Thessaloniki for the first time because I had a flight from there. I couldn’t see much that time but it had another advantage. My friend that I met in the hotel in Chalkidiki was living there and at least I could leave a bag with my things there. Why? I left it there at the beginning of October 2014 because I already knew that in January 2015 I will come back to do my Erasmus in Thessaloniki.
Blog’s start and third season
During my Erasmus I started to write this blog – at the beginning it was called “Thesserasmus story” but when I decided to continue writing, I changed the name for “Lucie’s world”. After I finished my Erasmus, I went to Corfu to work in animation again. That was my third season in animation in Greece. I think I don’t need to tell you more about that season and the following seasons because you have already been informed about that.
The last thing I want to tell you is that if you’re thinking about working in animation, I would just tell you “Do it!”. It’s an amazing opportunity to travel, to meet people from all around the world, to improve the languages, to grow… It’s not easy. It’s actually a hard job. But it’s worth trying it. You won’t regret. Ever.
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