Dear reader,
It’s sure been a while since the blog was updated: 2021 and the beginning of 2022 have been busy to the extent that I couldn’t find much energy to be creative.
At the start of this year I decided to take a break from blogging about food, coffee culture and travel. The blogging years between 2015-2020 have been so pleasant : for instance writing about how good chocolate tastes is almost as good as eating it ;) I will continue to post about these topics in a shorter format through instagram @safframe_
This is not the end though my friends because the blog will focus on interviews and career path writing. Why so? Well I’ve been interested in biographies for quite some time: when reading about someone else’s life path you can sometimes draw parallels with your own experiences, become inspired or learn something new. During interviews in the field of HR and social work I learned about candidates’ professional and social situations. Thus interviewing became something I truly enjoy and the reactions following portrait #1 encouraged me to keep up the work.
Before continuing on this path it seems appropriate that I introduce myself first because the focus on this blog has rather been about what I do instead of who I am. Let’s go!
Who is behind Safframé?
Hello, it’s Arame here : I grew up in the Flemish part of Belgium in a bilingual Dutch-French speaking family. From a young age languages and writing have been a passion, after high school the learning path had to continue so I chose to study history at the Brussels university VUB.
Living an international life has always inspired me: when visitors from the UK, Holland, Africa or the US came to the family home this felt like the highlight of the year. Through conversations with visitors and family members the term ‘moving abroad’ started to sound increasingly interesting.
After almost 3 years of work experience in my home country I moved to The Netherlands for 18 months. The Low countries were a nice cultural fit : one of the things I really appreciated was how easy it became to connect with people.
I embarked on a second odyssey several years later. Berlin became home for about five months in 2019. The city taught me to be more cool and creative – although I rarely dressed in black ;)
Something not everyone knows is that I’m a lyrical soprano – with stage fright – if you’re interested in a concerto you’ll have to sneak into my living room. Good luck!
It was around 2003 that I had a first singing lesson : African polyphony in Brussels. The words ‘natural voice’ in the lesson’s description convinced me. I did not want to sing ‘lalalaaa’ in a rigid way next to the teacher and their piano and luckily that didn’t happen. As pupils we were taught traditional songs from Congo and some blues music from the US. We expanded our vocal range through harmonizing with higher and lower voices. Collective singing classes can be great for socializing as well.
Around 2010 and later I learned folk songs from Europe at workshops throughout Flanders. This year’s challenge is to give classical singing a try to see what else my vocal cords can handle.
Thanks & Take care,
Arame
Safframé 