So, this is the first port day where I actually know more of what I'm doing. I worked this morning, only one kid was there for the longest time, and he got there an hour after I opened. I'm slowly but surely getting better at SuperMario. I played that for a while this morning when noone else was there. It picked up eventually, we only had two (the one boy left) when Natalie and I took them to lunch. Then, I came to Juneau. Lots of comments and emails
Answering some of your comments Amy! Yes, I've had a few foreign kids, many from Canada, China, Puerto Rico and all over the states! I've been able to speak french to some of them!
Your comment about Harry's first day of Hogwarts made me very happy! Speaking of Harry Potter, I've made friends with the librarian, her name is Jenn and she and I are a lot alike. She's on pottermore as well (yes, I'm going to check out COS as soon as I can), and happens to have been sorted into Slytherin and has no idea how! Quite a few people actually know about Pottermore, which makes me feel better about being so crazy about it. :)
Hhmm... I need questions to go on more right now, but kind of wanted to write a blog in real time instead over the course of several breaks over several days! I might do a little souvenir shopping while I'm in Juneau, or maybe I'll leave that for next week (hoping I don't work the same day again).
Post questions so I might check tomorrow and answer them over the next week.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
July 9 and 10
July 9, 2012
Last night was our intro night! We did activities to help us get to know everyone, like make an All About Me poster, play apples to apples, and of course SuperMario. They seemed to enjoy it, but only a few were there in time for the making of the posters, so today when they finished their drawing of a ship, I asked those who hadn’t already made a poster to make one, they liked that idea because we tape them
up on the wall!
Today is going a LOT better than last Monday. I had breakfast with Natalie and a few other people then we had a lot of kids come for morning session and stay mostly the whole time. After a long lunch with Natalie and Ashley, Natalie and I walked around and talked some before I went back to Club HAL. This afternoon we had about 20 or so kids at a time. Some already didn’t want to leave when their parents came to pick them up early. We definitely have two artists in our group this week, one is a cartoonist and she made a really good penguin out of model magic. Another drew this amazing landscape for his ship in the ship-drawing contest this afternoon. I’m so glad they’re enjoying coming to see us as much as I love having them come. Again, some of the littlest ones have attached themselves to me, sitting in my lap when we’re both out during a game, sitting next to me during activities, etc. I’ve learned most of their names now, a few I still have trouble with of course, mainly because they’ve only come once or not stayed for more than one activity.
July 10, 2012
The kids loved our spy night last night, but they’re not very good at finding things. Ashley and I hid clues and answers all around the room and it took them ages to find them, sometimes even with our helpful hints. But at least they had fun. I wonder if all ships do the same theme nights; I know that other ships do different things for theme nights, different activities and such. Well, I guess I shall learn when I get on my next ship.
Because it was formal night and I wanted to go out with Ashley and Natalie, I ended up borrowing a dress from Ashley. We went to the show: Ballroom Blitz, Ashley and I only got to see the last 20 minutes or so because we had to wait for all our kids to sign out and I had to run around and change clothes. What I saw was pretty cool though; I love all the tech work that goes into these shows!
After the show, Ashley and I went dancing for over an hour in the club on board. So much fun! We were just having a good time, not caring how ridiculous we may have looked. Ashley normally doesn’t go out, but she went out because it was formal night and because it was hour-back night (meaning we reach Alaska).
This morning the kids were waiting right by the door at 9, strangely enough, they
haven’t tugged and banged on the door to get let in before it was time; they just stand patiently and wait. For a minute Ashley and I thought that we wouldn’t have anyone come right away and we’d get a chance to play SuperMario. This group is really good about taking turns though; I’m very grateful for that because last week, the kids were rather possessive of the game and didn’t play anything else.
After lunch with Ashley, Natalie and Jenn (the librarian), we started to see the small icebergs in the water as we got into Tracy Arm. Sadly, for the second week in a row, I didn’t get to see the glacier. Ashley and I helped with the tweens cooking class again after. It took a little longer than last week because there were a lot more kids in attendance. We were out by 4:45 though and went on deck to see whatever we could. The waterfalls are gorgeous, sometimes the water falls straight off the side of a mountain because of a cliff, other times it’s a slow stream; I saw one that had actually tunneled under a lot of snow in it’s path. We saw some puffins too, from very far away; they were black dots moving around and streaks of white as they tried to fly across the water.
Tonight was ‘Brave the Night’ theme, which (on this ship) is basically a series of team challenge activities. They make up a team flag, a team cheer, do wall-sits, unscramble words, do some Eye-Q riddles (example: the word sand is written inside a square. The answer is sandbox), and slurp jello through a straw. Even though some were skeptical about some of the activities, they still participated and now love them and want to do them again. One group is actually going to do the Human Knot as part of the talent show!
I work tomorrow morning through lunch, then I get to go to Juneau for the afternoon! Yay for internet and hopefully the ability to post all this I’ve been writing!
Last night was our intro night! We did activities to help us get to know everyone, like make an All About Me poster, play apples to apples, and of course SuperMario. They seemed to enjoy it, but only a few were there in time for the making of the posters, so today when they finished their drawing of a ship, I asked those who hadn’t already made a poster to make one, they liked that idea because we tape them
up on the wall!
Today is going a LOT better than last Monday. I had breakfast with Natalie and a few other people then we had a lot of kids come for morning session and stay mostly the whole time. After a long lunch with Natalie and Ashley, Natalie and I walked around and talked some before I went back to Club HAL. This afternoon we had about 20 or so kids at a time. Some already didn’t want to leave when their parents came to pick them up early. We definitely have two artists in our group this week, one is a cartoonist and she made a really good penguin out of model magic. Another drew this amazing landscape for his ship in the ship-drawing contest this afternoon. I’m so glad they’re enjoying coming to see us as much as I love having them come. Again, some of the littlest ones have attached themselves to me, sitting in my lap when we’re both out during a game, sitting next to me during activities, etc. I’ve learned most of their names now, a few I still have trouble with of course, mainly because they’ve only come once or not stayed for more than one activity.
July 10, 2012
The kids loved our spy night last night, but they’re not very good at finding things. Ashley and I hid clues and answers all around the room and it took them ages to find them, sometimes even with our helpful hints. But at least they had fun. I wonder if all ships do the same theme nights; I know that other ships do different things for theme nights, different activities and such. Well, I guess I shall learn when I get on my next ship.
Because it was formal night and I wanted to go out with Ashley and Natalie, I ended up borrowing a dress from Ashley. We went to the show: Ballroom Blitz, Ashley and I only got to see the last 20 minutes or so because we had to wait for all our kids to sign out and I had to run around and change clothes. What I saw was pretty cool though; I love all the tech work that goes into these shows!
After the show, Ashley and I went dancing for over an hour in the club on board. So much fun! We were just having a good time, not caring how ridiculous we may have looked. Ashley normally doesn’t go out, but she went out because it was formal night and because it was hour-back night (meaning we reach Alaska).
This morning the kids were waiting right by the door at 9, strangely enough, they
haven’t tugged and banged on the door to get let in before it was time; they just stand patiently and wait. For a minute Ashley and I thought that we wouldn’t have anyone come right away and we’d get a chance to play SuperMario. This group is really good about taking turns though; I’m very grateful for that because last week, the kids were rather possessive of the game and didn’t play anything else.
After lunch with Ashley, Natalie and Jenn (the librarian), we started to see the small icebergs in the water as we got into Tracy Arm. Sadly, for the second week in a row, I didn’t get to see the glacier. Ashley and I helped with the tweens cooking class again after. It took a little longer than last week because there were a lot more kids in attendance. We were out by 4:45 though and went on deck to see whatever we could. The waterfalls are gorgeous, sometimes the water falls straight off the side of a mountain because of a cliff, other times it’s a slow stream; I saw one that had actually tunneled under a lot of snow in it’s path. We saw some puffins too, from very far away; they were black dots moving around and streaks of white as they tried to fly across the water.
Tonight was ‘Brave the Night’ theme, which (on this ship) is basically a series of team challenge activities. They make up a team flag, a team cheer, do wall-sits, unscramble words, do some Eye-Q riddles (example: the word sand is written inside a square. The answer is sandbox), and slurp jello through a straw. Even though some were skeptical about some of the activities, they still participated and now love them and want to do them again. One group is actually going to do the Human Knot as part of the talent show!
I work tomorrow morning through lunch, then I get to go to Juneau for the afternoon! Yay for internet and hopefully the ability to post all this I’ve been writing!
July 7 and 8
July 7, 2012
Some parents are just plain mean. We had a dance party last night for all the kids at the Northern Lights (club area). It was on the schedule, on the sign-in sheet for where to pick the kids up, AND we left a note on the door to remind them. 10 o’clock is our sign-out time; after that, we consider it after-hours care and we should be informed early if we’re wanted to do that. One parent last night did not come to the Northern Lights at 10 (or earlier, because parents were invited too.) The four youth staff waited with two girls, calling the room phone with no answer. Finally, at 10:15, we decided just that one of us should go back up to Club HAL with the girls, and charge the parents with after-hours care, and warn them against being late a third time (three strikes and the kids can’t come to Club HAL anymore.) So, I volunteered. One of the sisters (they’re both named Maria) started crying and I did my best to comfort her. We ended up sitting in the big video game chairs in the room for a while. Finally, the whole family came up to Club HAL. The mother got mad at ME for not being in Club HAL at 10 for her to pick up the girls! I explained to her the rules and she proceeded to tell me that she was at the room at 10 and we weren’t so she’s not late. She was very unpleasant to talk to, wouldn’t let me get a word in, and the whole family was just standing there watching us as I tried to explain that it was on the schedule, a sign on the door and the sign-in sheet; ALL three noted that the pick up at 10 was to be in the Northern Lights. The mother refused to listen. She came in today as if everything was fine.
On to happier things now! I’m almost finished with my first week of cruise ship life! The last new-crew thing I have to do is go to an immigration meeting tomorrow at 5:45 AM. All the kids are sad that the week is almost over, they love coming to hang out with us, even the ones who were skeptical on Sunday have started coming to see us every chance they get. I think that shows we’re doing a good job. This afternoon is the talent show (every week that there are over 100 kids, we put on a talent show) and it should be entertaining with the group skits and dances. One of our kids is showcasing his ability to solve a rubix cube in under 2 minutes! A few other talents are singing, gymnastics and dancing. Tonight is Victoria night. Me and Jordan get off tonight; turns out that the two movie nights are so relaxed that one person from each age group gets the night off, it just so happens that tonight we’re stopping in Victoria, so I might go explore for a little bit there (the ship is there for a total of 4 hours only if we stay on schedule, which rarely happens).
It’s back to Seattle in the morning! I’ll get up for Immigration meeting at 5:45, then have the day free until 3 or so for Club HAL meetings with the new passengers. I’m going to miss my group of kids, they’re pretty awesome!
July 8, 2012
Victoria is a really pretty place, it kind of reminded me of Aix, but not so packed in a small space. There’s big buildings and grassy areas. The sun was gorgeous when we arrived, pulling in next to the Norwegian Pearl and the Star Princess. I didn’t take picture because we were trying to figure out what to do. I ended up going with Steven and Jordan and we met up with Dave, the Australian DJ we had lunch with in Juneau. We took a cab to town and walked around a bit before going to a restaurant. We stayed there for over an hour chatting, drinking and eating before going somewhere else where a lot of other crew members were. We hung out with them until it was time to get back to the ship. Crew has to be back 30 minutes before the passengers do, which is good I guess because that way we don’t have to worry about being late because of all the passengers trying to get on at the same time we are.
This morning, the new-crew and disembarking crew went through immigration at 5:45. Well, it was supposed to be at 5:45. I got to the room we were supposed to meet in and only one person was there. Slowly other people came, but by 6 only half of the people were there, so they started calling rooms. We got to the gangway and it wasn’t even open yet at 6:15. Finally, we got off and went through the building. I got my passport back, only to have to give it away again as they made sure I was who I said I was. Then it was back to the ship. I got up before 6 just to have my passport scanned, which took less than a minute, 5 if you count the walking to/from the ship.
This week is going to be pretty crazy, judging by the open house today. There are 78 tweens on board and a good number of them came to see us this afternoon. Some parents though, one set of parents brought their sleeping 2-year-old claiming she was 3, asked for something for her to lay down on and a blanket, and then tried to leave her with us. We weren’t actually open for kids this afternoon, just registration! Those parents were not happy.
I rediscovered the library today! I think I have a new favorite place on board. There are comfy chairs, and it’s rather quiet and there’s a good view. The only downside is that I have to be in uniform, but I can deal with that if I don’t have to sit on my bed (making me sleepy) or on a hard chair in the dark in my room while Jordan naps.
We have a new member of Youth Staff on board! Her name is Natalie and she seems pretty cool. I might now have someone to hang out with now. She’s done a few cruises before, during summers so she knows the main stuff I don’t know and I know more about this particular ship and our Club HAL better than her, so we balance out in knowledge of stuff. She’s also suggested we take an excursion together since we both have Ketchikan and Sitka days off (we’re both working Juneau- me morning and her afternoon). By the way, she also told me that excursions, aside from helicopter rides are free for us, as long as we sign up beforehand and get the times worked out and everything. How awesome is that!?
We left Seattle today, I was in the library where there are a lot of windows so I know what the city looks like from the ship now, which is nice because in my room a lot of the time, I forget that things are happening off the ship, that there is pretty stuff outside that I can look at. Round two of Alaska starts now! YAY! This time I know more of what I’m doing. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to post all this until Juneau afternoon because I’m having trouble with the internet card I bought.
I’m sorry if my blogs are getting confusing, I’m updating quickly during my breaks throughout the day rather than at the end of the day because I know I’ll forget stuff or be too tired to type it all out at once. Please let me know if it gets too confusing and I’ll try to figure out a new way of doing it.
Almost time for work now! A bientôt!
Some parents are just plain mean. We had a dance party last night for all the kids at the Northern Lights (club area). It was on the schedule, on the sign-in sheet for where to pick the kids up, AND we left a note on the door to remind them. 10 o’clock is our sign-out time; after that, we consider it after-hours care and we should be informed early if we’re wanted to do that. One parent last night did not come to the Northern Lights at 10 (or earlier, because parents were invited too.) The four youth staff waited with two girls, calling the room phone with no answer. Finally, at 10:15, we decided just that one of us should go back up to Club HAL with the girls, and charge the parents with after-hours care, and warn them against being late a third time (three strikes and the kids can’t come to Club HAL anymore.) So, I volunteered. One of the sisters (they’re both named Maria) started crying and I did my best to comfort her. We ended up sitting in the big video game chairs in the room for a while. Finally, the whole family came up to Club HAL. The mother got mad at ME for not being in Club HAL at 10 for her to pick up the girls! I explained to her the rules and she proceeded to tell me that she was at the room at 10 and we weren’t so she’s not late. She was very unpleasant to talk to, wouldn’t let me get a word in, and the whole family was just standing there watching us as I tried to explain that it was on the schedule, a sign on the door and the sign-in sheet; ALL three noted that the pick up at 10 was to be in the Northern Lights. The mother refused to listen. She came in today as if everything was fine.
On to happier things now! I’m almost finished with my first week of cruise ship life! The last new-crew thing I have to do is go to an immigration meeting tomorrow at 5:45 AM. All the kids are sad that the week is almost over, they love coming to hang out with us, even the ones who were skeptical on Sunday have started coming to see us every chance they get. I think that shows we’re doing a good job. This afternoon is the talent show (every week that there are over 100 kids, we put on a talent show) and it should be entertaining with the group skits and dances. One of our kids is showcasing his ability to solve a rubix cube in under 2 minutes! A few other talents are singing, gymnastics and dancing. Tonight is Victoria night. Me and Jordan get off tonight; turns out that the two movie nights are so relaxed that one person from each age group gets the night off, it just so happens that tonight we’re stopping in Victoria, so I might go explore for a little bit there (the ship is there for a total of 4 hours only if we stay on schedule, which rarely happens).
It’s back to Seattle in the morning! I’ll get up for Immigration meeting at 5:45, then have the day free until 3 or so for Club HAL meetings with the new passengers. I’m going to miss my group of kids, they’re pretty awesome!
July 8, 2012
Victoria is a really pretty place, it kind of reminded me of Aix, but not so packed in a small space. There’s big buildings and grassy areas. The sun was gorgeous when we arrived, pulling in next to the Norwegian Pearl and the Star Princess. I didn’t take picture because we were trying to figure out what to do. I ended up going with Steven and Jordan and we met up with Dave, the Australian DJ we had lunch with in Juneau. We took a cab to town and walked around a bit before going to a restaurant. We stayed there for over an hour chatting, drinking and eating before going somewhere else where a lot of other crew members were. We hung out with them until it was time to get back to the ship. Crew has to be back 30 minutes before the passengers do, which is good I guess because that way we don’t have to worry about being late because of all the passengers trying to get on at the same time we are.
This morning, the new-crew and disembarking crew went through immigration at 5:45. Well, it was supposed to be at 5:45. I got to the room we were supposed to meet in and only one person was there. Slowly other people came, but by 6 only half of the people were there, so they started calling rooms. We got to the gangway and it wasn’t even open yet at 6:15. Finally, we got off and went through the building. I got my passport back, only to have to give it away again as they made sure I was who I said I was. Then it was back to the ship. I got up before 6 just to have my passport scanned, which took less than a minute, 5 if you count the walking to/from the ship.
This week is going to be pretty crazy, judging by the open house today. There are 78 tweens on board and a good number of them came to see us this afternoon. Some parents though, one set of parents brought their sleeping 2-year-old claiming she was 3, asked for something for her to lay down on and a blanket, and then tried to leave her with us. We weren’t actually open for kids this afternoon, just registration! Those parents were not happy.
I rediscovered the library today! I think I have a new favorite place on board. There are comfy chairs, and it’s rather quiet and there’s a good view. The only downside is that I have to be in uniform, but I can deal with that if I don’t have to sit on my bed (making me sleepy) or on a hard chair in the dark in my room while Jordan naps.
We have a new member of Youth Staff on board! Her name is Natalie and she seems pretty cool. I might now have someone to hang out with now. She’s done a few cruises before, during summers so she knows the main stuff I don’t know and I know more about this particular ship and our Club HAL better than her, so we balance out in knowledge of stuff. She’s also suggested we take an excursion together since we both have Ketchikan and Sitka days off (we’re both working Juneau- me morning and her afternoon). By the way, she also told me that excursions, aside from helicopter rides are free for us, as long as we sign up beforehand and get the times worked out and everything. How awesome is that!?
We left Seattle today, I was in the library where there are a lot of windows so I know what the city looks like from the ship now, which is nice because in my room a lot of the time, I forget that things are happening off the ship, that there is pretty stuff outside that I can look at. Round two of Alaska starts now! YAY! This time I know more of what I’m doing. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to post all this until Juneau afternoon because I’m having trouble with the internet card I bought.
I’m sorry if my blogs are getting confusing, I’m updating quickly during my breaks throughout the day rather than at the end of the day because I know I’ll forget stuff or be too tired to type it all out at once. Please let me know if it gets too confusing and I’ll try to figure out a new way of doing it.
Almost time for work now! A bientôt!
first time in Sitka
Sitka:
I really think I’d be very willing to work every port-day afternoon. That would give me the morning to do some souvenir shopping and get the free internet with purchase of hot chocolate, and I wouldn’t be so bored when I get back to the ship. I might ask Karyn about that next week.
Anyway, Sitka is a small town; there are quite a few souvenir shops which I visited today. One of them had earrings like I like that I bought in Hendersonville. They’re the same brand as ones I have already and in all colors and styles! I’m very excited about this! I also bought a notebook/journal. Somehow I managed to make it here without any paper on which to write. Now I can leave notes for my roommate, take notes for myself during the day, etc. I found the post office here too, so I definitely know I can at least mail postcards from here. I also was told where there was internet. After my first trip to Sitka, I went back to the ship for lunch and to grab my laptop so I could get some stuff done before final call at 3 for crew to return to the ship. I bought a really good hot chocolate for 2.22 and got to post the last two blogs, check email and Face book. In the last four days, I’d managed to collect almost 40 emails in one of my three accounts! I was only there for about 15 minutes because I was worried about getting back to the ship (I’d caught the last tender leaving the ship with passengers).
I seem to remember Amy asking questions about the other new girl in Youth Staff. Her name is Erica, she’s from Phoenix Arizona. She’d been on a Princess cruise a few years ago to Alaska, so she knows the ports and all that already. She spent last summer in London with a large group of people from her school, taking two classes and doing an internship. She actually had applied for Disney first, and had interviews with them, but they told her that she needed more camp experience. The next day, Holland America called her (about a week before they called me). She’s on this ship for three months, leaving right before it heads to New Zealand. She has no idea what ship she’ll be on next or where it will go. She, like everyone else I told, was amazed that I’m only on this one for four weeks, and I’ve already been assigned a second contract and know where it’s going. Apparently the first contract is typically as long as the rest of them. Mine is easily the shortest, followed by Steven (one of the piano players). He’s here for six weeks because he’s still has a year left at college and this is just his summer job.
I can tell that we’re cruising again, have been for about an hour and a half (they certainly don’t leave much time between last call for guests and leaving port). The ship is rocking again and I can hear waves hitting outside. I think we’re going pretty fast, not as fast as we’ll be going tomorrow afternoon though apparently. There is an unrealistic goal in getting from Ketchikan to Victoria; it was scheduled like that because that’s how long it took in perfect conditions. There are only a few hours in Victoria, and some of that is taken away by our late arrival. A lot of people say that they should switch the amount of time spent in those two ports, that we should have just a few hours in the morning in Ketchikan, cruise the rest of the day and night and get to Victoria earlier in the day.
Tonight was board games night in the Tween Room of Club HAL. After our hour of free time, we got out the board games and cards and began to play. The kids had scrabble, chess, connect four, and a pack of cards/spoons out right away, and we never really switched from there. I had to switch games after the first game of scrabble though, because across the room the kids playing spoons had started throwing cards around at each other, and blaming each other for things. One of my girls asked me to intervene. So, I went over and tried to get them to stop. They wanted to test me when I said everyone holding cards can not throw them; they dropped the cards. I picked them up and walked away. It took a few minutes before they realized I’d tricked them, then I made them promise not to throw things (they were starting to go for the shoes!) before giving back the cards and sitting down with them to make sure they behaved. After that, they did, I had to give one of the boys a look because he started acting mischievous, but he stopped. He even admitted when he ripped one of the spoons out of one of the girls’ hand. I was proud of him for that and thanked him for it.
I was going to go to a show with Cheyan, but it is formal night all over the ship and I realized I didn’t have anything to wear, so I figured I’d make it an early night since I do have Port Day shift at 8 tomorrow morning! Ashley was kind enough to tell me to call her if I need anything tomorrow :) I’m glad she doesn’t have to leave for another week, I think we work well together, she organizes and I get the kids excited about activities. There’s a new girl coming on Sunday named Natalie, so that’ll help a bit with the craziness, so Karyn can spend time with her parents since they’ll be here and she’s been crazy-busy taking care of all her Coordinator stuff and the teenagers.
July 6, 2012
Today was port day at Ketchikan. I started work at 8:00 this morning and only just got back to my room (it’s a bit after 4). That wasn’t supposed to be how my day went though. Apparently Ketchikan is a different type of port day (great thing for someone to tell me BEFORE I work) as we’re only at the port from 8 to 12 noon; Club HAL closes at 12 then reopens at 1. Good to know that this port day we don’t take the kids down to lunch like we have the last two port days. I didn’t know. So, when parents asked me, I used what I’d observed from the last two days and told them that we’d be open until 4, thinking that one of the other girls would come take over for me at 12, like has been the case the last few days. How wrong I was. I called the one room number I know (Ashley and Erica), but no answer. By the time someone came in, it was 12:20. Jordan explained to me and I called Karyn to let her know about my mistake (it is my first week, I should be allowed a mistake or two, right?). She told me to take them to get burgers and stuff by the Lido pool, the other girls were down eating at the buffet and they should help me. Erica and I ended up getting their food and I sat with them while they ate. Then, we got back to the room 5 minutes early, so I ran downstairs to grab a slice of pizza and hot chocolate (which I only just found this morning!). 10 minutes, record eating time for me.
It was a busy afternoon with a free tag/ball game outside, an ice cream eating contest on the Lido deck, and a rehearsal of the skit they’re doing for the talent show.
Hm, I just realized that I don’t think I’ve really talked about what a (normal) ‘Port Day’ is. For the passengers it’s a day on shore, for Club HAL it’s a day of combined groups led by just one of the Youth Staff. The kids and tweens are together for these days and the youth staff divide the day up into two sessions (so we’ll at least have some time to go ashore if we’d like to that day). The first is 8-12; the second is 12-4. The 12-4 session includes taking the kids down to lunch (since the parents might be ashore, but I think a good many of the parents still sign their kids out and take them to lunch themselves.) It’s pretty much free time, there are no scheduled activities and we can decide what to do ourselves. It’s kind of odd having the younger kids because I don’t know them. Having such a variety in a group (3-12) with just me looking after them, hoping they have fun, is odd as well now that I’ve gotten used to only having the 8-12 year olds.
I really think I’d be very willing to work every port-day afternoon. That would give me the morning to do some souvenir shopping and get the free internet with purchase of hot chocolate, and I wouldn’t be so bored when I get back to the ship. I might ask Karyn about that next week.
Anyway, Sitka is a small town; there are quite a few souvenir shops which I visited today. One of them had earrings like I like that I bought in Hendersonville. They’re the same brand as ones I have already and in all colors and styles! I’m very excited about this! I also bought a notebook/journal. Somehow I managed to make it here without any paper on which to write. Now I can leave notes for my roommate, take notes for myself during the day, etc. I found the post office here too, so I definitely know I can at least mail postcards from here. I also was told where there was internet. After my first trip to Sitka, I went back to the ship for lunch and to grab my laptop so I could get some stuff done before final call at 3 for crew to return to the ship. I bought a really good hot chocolate for 2.22 and got to post the last two blogs, check email and Face book. In the last four days, I’d managed to collect almost 40 emails in one of my three accounts! I was only there for about 15 minutes because I was worried about getting back to the ship (I’d caught the last tender leaving the ship with passengers).
I seem to remember Amy asking questions about the other new girl in Youth Staff. Her name is Erica, she’s from Phoenix Arizona. She’d been on a Princess cruise a few years ago to Alaska, so she knows the ports and all that already. She spent last summer in London with a large group of people from her school, taking two classes and doing an internship. She actually had applied for Disney first, and had interviews with them, but they told her that she needed more camp experience. The next day, Holland America called her (about a week before they called me). She’s on this ship for three months, leaving right before it heads to New Zealand. She has no idea what ship she’ll be on next or where it will go. She, like everyone else I told, was amazed that I’m only on this one for four weeks, and I’ve already been assigned a second contract and know where it’s going. Apparently the first contract is typically as long as the rest of them. Mine is easily the shortest, followed by Steven (one of the piano players). He’s here for six weeks because he’s still has a year left at college and this is just his summer job.
I can tell that we’re cruising again, have been for about an hour and a half (they certainly don’t leave much time between last call for guests and leaving port). The ship is rocking again and I can hear waves hitting outside. I think we’re going pretty fast, not as fast as we’ll be going tomorrow afternoon though apparently. There is an unrealistic goal in getting from Ketchikan to Victoria; it was scheduled like that because that’s how long it took in perfect conditions. There are only a few hours in Victoria, and some of that is taken away by our late arrival. A lot of people say that they should switch the amount of time spent in those two ports, that we should have just a few hours in the morning in Ketchikan, cruise the rest of the day and night and get to Victoria earlier in the day.
Tonight was board games night in the Tween Room of Club HAL. After our hour of free time, we got out the board games and cards and began to play. The kids had scrabble, chess, connect four, and a pack of cards/spoons out right away, and we never really switched from there. I had to switch games after the first game of scrabble though, because across the room the kids playing spoons had started throwing cards around at each other, and blaming each other for things. One of my girls asked me to intervene. So, I went over and tried to get them to stop. They wanted to test me when I said everyone holding cards can not throw them; they dropped the cards. I picked them up and walked away. It took a few minutes before they realized I’d tricked them, then I made them promise not to throw things (they were starting to go for the shoes!) before giving back the cards and sitting down with them to make sure they behaved. After that, they did, I had to give one of the boys a look because he started acting mischievous, but he stopped. He even admitted when he ripped one of the spoons out of one of the girls’ hand. I was proud of him for that and thanked him for it.
I was going to go to a show with Cheyan, but it is formal night all over the ship and I realized I didn’t have anything to wear, so I figured I’d make it an early night since I do have Port Day shift at 8 tomorrow morning! Ashley was kind enough to tell me to call her if I need anything tomorrow :) I’m glad she doesn’t have to leave for another week, I think we work well together, she organizes and I get the kids excited about activities. There’s a new girl coming on Sunday named Natalie, so that’ll help a bit with the craziness, so Karyn can spend time with her parents since they’ll be here and she’s been crazy-busy taking care of all her Coordinator stuff and the teenagers.
July 6, 2012
Today was port day at Ketchikan. I started work at 8:00 this morning and only just got back to my room (it’s a bit after 4). That wasn’t supposed to be how my day went though. Apparently Ketchikan is a different type of port day (great thing for someone to tell me BEFORE I work) as we’re only at the port from 8 to 12 noon; Club HAL closes at 12 then reopens at 1. Good to know that this port day we don’t take the kids down to lunch like we have the last two port days. I didn’t know. So, when parents asked me, I used what I’d observed from the last two days and told them that we’d be open until 4, thinking that one of the other girls would come take over for me at 12, like has been the case the last few days. How wrong I was. I called the one room number I know (Ashley and Erica), but no answer. By the time someone came in, it was 12:20. Jordan explained to me and I called Karyn to let her know about my mistake (it is my first week, I should be allowed a mistake or two, right?). She told me to take them to get burgers and stuff by the Lido pool, the other girls were down eating at the buffet and they should help me. Erica and I ended up getting their food and I sat with them while they ate. Then, we got back to the room 5 minutes early, so I ran downstairs to grab a slice of pizza and hot chocolate (which I only just found this morning!). 10 minutes, record eating time for me.
It was a busy afternoon with a free tag/ball game outside, an ice cream eating contest on the Lido deck, and a rehearsal of the skit they’re doing for the talent show.
Hm, I just realized that I don’t think I’ve really talked about what a (normal) ‘Port Day’ is. For the passengers it’s a day on shore, for Club HAL it’s a day of combined groups led by just one of the Youth Staff. The kids and tweens are together for these days and the youth staff divide the day up into two sessions (so we’ll at least have some time to go ashore if we’d like to that day). The first is 8-12; the second is 12-4. The 12-4 session includes taking the kids down to lunch (since the parents might be ashore, but I think a good many of the parents still sign their kids out and take them to lunch themselves.) It’s pretty much free time, there are no scheduled activities and we can decide what to do ourselves. It’s kind of odd having the younger kids because I don’t know them. Having such a variety in a group (3-12) with just me looking after them, hoping they have fun, is odd as well now that I’ve gotten used to only having the 8-12 year olds.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
more new-ness
July 3 & 4
Okay, God’s creation never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I saw a baby whale jumping out of the water, today I saw snow-capped mountains in the summer, mini-icebergs and a few eagles. We’re on a scenic cruise through Tracy Arm, which is rather narrow; the land isn’t really that far from the ship! It is so cool, I think I’m as excited as the kids are about it because during our ice cream time, we all sat at the window, staring at the mountains, icebergs and waterfalls.
I love hanging out with these kids, they’re so much fun! They’re most all excited about any activity we do, and always want me and Ashley to play the game with them! They’re so eager to learn more games too. Their enthusiasm kept me going yesterday when I was exhausted, and it’s making my day today all the more amazing now that I can appreciate it. We’ve done lots of active things today, and even more are to come tonight as we have our “brave the night” (survivor) challenge! I’m so glad that I’m finally figuring things out now and getting used to everything, I’m still learning though and it might be a long process as I don’t have a whole lot of spare time to do stuff.
The kids loved “Brave the night” activities, they had so much fun coming up with team names, flags, chants and getting points doing stuff like drinking jello through a straw, doing cryptograms, and getting a hula hoop around the circle. Afterwards, Ashley and I decided to hang out and see if it was true that we could see fireworks from Juneau. So, we stood around outside, and watched a whale and other cruise ships! We saw the whale breathe a lot, and jump twice out of the water! It was really exciting. Sadly, there were no fireworks. It’s the first port day, but we have an emergency drill at 10:30. So, I’m going to port after that.
One really good thing about Youth Staff uniforms is that we are provided with all sorts of gear. Sweaters, windbreakers and there are big orange puffy coats for us to use when we take the kids to the sports deck on a sea day! I surprisingly like the windbreaker-probably because it’s not bright orange like the shirt, it is navy with two small orange stripes down the arms.
I’m slowly getting used to this, but next week will be better because I won’t have to stop my regular job to do new-crew stuff.
We made it to Alaska and I’m going ashore this afternoon to explore and get some stuff. I was scheduled to work, but Jordan, my roommate wanted another day off, so we switched what port day to work. The Youth Staff has been understaffed the past few weeks, we’re still down at least one, which isn’t good, so we’re hoping to get at least two new people (my roommate is supposed to be leaving Sunday). We have 180 or so kids this week on board and most of them come to at least some of the activities. Next week, I think I heard someone say that there will be over 200!
Fourth of July!! I did see fireworks, but not in the normal sense, but I’ll explain that in a bit. I woke up at normal time and went to breakfast, sitting alone because no one else apparently goes to breakfast on port days. Then, I ended up hanging out in my room and walking around Lido deck until time for the new-crew emergency drill. Finally that was over with, and I could go with Erica and Ashley to shore! We were on our way somewhere when the parade started, it was pretty excellent timing actually because I had just left a store and there was the parade. We watched the whole thing, and were joined by two guys who are musicians on the ship (also new-crew), and an Australian guy who also works on the ship (but I forget what his job is). We’ve talked to the two musicians a few times before and since they’re new too we had stuff to talk about. We all went to lunch together (except for Ashley, who opted out of lunch in favor of hanging out at a place that had internet). It was pretty fun, I got to know Nick and Steven better. Steven actually studied abroad last spring, in Florence, so we had lots to talk about since it’s an experience that not everyone can relate to. Everyone else got food at a crab place, but Steven and I found something else and brought it to the table- they had picnic tables set up under tarps outside. Lunch lasted about an hour and a half, Erica and I ended up going to Wal-Mart (a 20 minute shuttle ride) to get some supplies, and then came back to the ship just as it started raining. We did more of our online training activities, getting those over with when we had time since we’re likely to forget about them because of their lack of deadline. Haha.
The Club HAL team (Karyn, Ashley, Jordan, Erica and me) helped decorate a room for Fourth of July before heading up to work. We watched Cars 2, the kids were rather antsy though so I had to keep them quiet and make sure they weren’t getting out games and stuff.
Finally, 10 o’clock came. I’d made plans with Ashley to go see a show! It’s called Garage Band and it was really cool. All sorts of moving stage pieces, trapdoors, backdrops, etc (yes, my techie side kicked in at times). They had a general story line using all sorts of songs including ‘Life is a Highway’ and ‘Car Wash.’ I enjoyed it. At the end, ‘fireworks’ took place, stage fireworks, but since we haven’t had any actual ones, I figured that stage ones would have to suffice.
It’s been a great day. I can’t wait for Sitka tomorrow! I’ll actually get a chance to explore instead of shopping the whole time. There’s a different way of getting off tomorrow because there’s no dock, so it should be interesting. Apparently crew is only allowed to go out after all the excursion groups leave, which may be around 10 o’clock, then we have to be back by 2:30. I really either need to buy an internet card or find somewhere with free internet soon so everyone can hear about all this!
Okay, God’s creation never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday I saw a baby whale jumping out of the water, today I saw snow-capped mountains in the summer, mini-icebergs and a few eagles. We’re on a scenic cruise through Tracy Arm, which is rather narrow; the land isn’t really that far from the ship! It is so cool, I think I’m as excited as the kids are about it because during our ice cream time, we all sat at the window, staring at the mountains, icebergs and waterfalls.
I love hanging out with these kids, they’re so much fun! They’re most all excited about any activity we do, and always want me and Ashley to play the game with them! They’re so eager to learn more games too. Their enthusiasm kept me going yesterday when I was exhausted, and it’s making my day today all the more amazing now that I can appreciate it. We’ve done lots of active things today, and even more are to come tonight as we have our “brave the night” (survivor) challenge! I’m so glad that I’m finally figuring things out now and getting used to everything, I’m still learning though and it might be a long process as I don’t have a whole lot of spare time to do stuff.
The kids loved “Brave the night” activities, they had so much fun coming up with team names, flags, chants and getting points doing stuff like drinking jello through a straw, doing cryptograms, and getting a hula hoop around the circle. Afterwards, Ashley and I decided to hang out and see if it was true that we could see fireworks from Juneau. So, we stood around outside, and watched a whale and other cruise ships! We saw the whale breathe a lot, and jump twice out of the water! It was really exciting. Sadly, there were no fireworks. It’s the first port day, but we have an emergency drill at 10:30. So, I’m going to port after that.
One really good thing about Youth Staff uniforms is that we are provided with all sorts of gear. Sweaters, windbreakers and there are big orange puffy coats for us to use when we take the kids to the sports deck on a sea day! I surprisingly like the windbreaker-probably because it’s not bright orange like the shirt, it is navy with two small orange stripes down the arms.
I’m slowly getting used to this, but next week will be better because I won’t have to stop my regular job to do new-crew stuff.
We made it to Alaska and I’m going ashore this afternoon to explore and get some stuff. I was scheduled to work, but Jordan, my roommate wanted another day off, so we switched what port day to work. The Youth Staff has been understaffed the past few weeks, we’re still down at least one, which isn’t good, so we’re hoping to get at least two new people (my roommate is supposed to be leaving Sunday). We have 180 or so kids this week on board and most of them come to at least some of the activities. Next week, I think I heard someone say that there will be over 200!
Fourth of July!! I did see fireworks, but not in the normal sense, but I’ll explain that in a bit. I woke up at normal time and went to breakfast, sitting alone because no one else apparently goes to breakfast on port days. Then, I ended up hanging out in my room and walking around Lido deck until time for the new-crew emergency drill. Finally that was over with, and I could go with Erica and Ashley to shore! We were on our way somewhere when the parade started, it was pretty excellent timing actually because I had just left a store and there was the parade. We watched the whole thing, and were joined by two guys who are musicians on the ship (also new-crew), and an Australian guy who also works on the ship (but I forget what his job is). We’ve talked to the two musicians a few times before and since they’re new too we had stuff to talk about. We all went to lunch together (except for Ashley, who opted out of lunch in favor of hanging out at a place that had internet). It was pretty fun, I got to know Nick and Steven better. Steven actually studied abroad last spring, in Florence, so we had lots to talk about since it’s an experience that not everyone can relate to. Everyone else got food at a crab place, but Steven and I found something else and brought it to the table- they had picnic tables set up under tarps outside. Lunch lasted about an hour and a half, Erica and I ended up going to Wal-Mart (a 20 minute shuttle ride) to get some supplies, and then came back to the ship just as it started raining. We did more of our online training activities, getting those over with when we had time since we’re likely to forget about them because of their lack of deadline. Haha.
The Club HAL team (Karyn, Ashley, Jordan, Erica and me) helped decorate a room for Fourth of July before heading up to work. We watched Cars 2, the kids were rather antsy though so I had to keep them quiet and make sure they weren’t getting out games and stuff.
Finally, 10 o’clock came. I’d made plans with Ashley to go see a show! It’s called Garage Band and it was really cool. All sorts of moving stage pieces, trapdoors, backdrops, etc (yes, my techie side kicked in at times). They had a general story line using all sorts of songs including ‘Life is a Highway’ and ‘Car Wash.’ I enjoyed it. At the end, ‘fireworks’ took place, stage fireworks, but since we haven’t had any actual ones, I figured that stage ones would have to suffice.
It’s been a great day. I can’t wait for Sitka tomorrow! I’ll actually get a chance to explore instead of shopping the whole time. There’s a different way of getting off tomorrow because there’s no dock, so it should be interesting. Apparently crew is only allowed to go out after all the excursion groups leave, which may be around 10 o’clock, then we have to be back by 2:30. I really either need to buy an internet card or find somewhere with free internet soon so everyone can hear about all this!
First Days
July 1 and 2
Life on a ship is insane. I’ve had a crazy two days and they’re not even over yet! It seems like weeks ago that I was flying out from Charlotte.
I met Erica, the other new youth staff at breakfast Sunday. We ate and talked until the shuttle came to pick us up. We got through security and went to the ship; we had to take a steep ramp to get up onto it, I had trouble dragging my suitcase. Funny thing is that ramp is one of the least steep ones they have! Crazy.
New staff had to sit through meetings. Erica and I met our supervisor and she took us to our rooms (guest rooms they had available) then gave us a tour of the ship. She never took the same elevator/stairs twice, and half the time took shortcuts through crew areas, etc. I still have no idea where half the stuff she showed us is. We had a meeting at 10 that lasted until lunch. Then, I got to go up to Club HAL and help with open house stuff before doing our job with the fire drill on the ship (Club HAL has to make sure everyone under 13 has a colored wristband so we can help them meet up with the parents). I went back to my room to unpack some and met my roommate for a few minutes before she left again. We had another meeting with parents about Club HAL, and I was told that my roommate and I had to move. Our room was going to guest entertainers. So, I had to pack up all my just-unpacked stuff. Great. Then the watertight doors were closed and we couldn’t get the trolley down there, then the keys didn’t work…. Luckily, after all that, we had night work, which cheered me up and kept me awake.
This morning, another meeting, the last planned thing of our training, the only other thing we have to do is online stuff (on our own time). Lots of other little stuff happened until afternoon work, which was fun, I got to play supermario on the Wii. I can actually feel the ship rocking back and forth, but only if I’m not focused on something else. If nothing interesting is going on, I kind of doze off and start swaying with the ship; it only really gets to me when I’m not fully focused on it. If I want to, I can focus fully on the rocking, moving with each sway and watching everything slightly shift; it’s even more successful if I’m near a window to see outside, I watch the horizon slowly move up and down through the window. Focusing on it completely calms me, as does focusing on the kids!
Thus far, it has kind of been a horrible two days. I had to move, I’ve had a headache since I arrived in Seattle, I haven’t gotten enough sleep, and I really don’t fit in personality-wise with the other youth staff. I mean, Ashley the other tween counselor and I get along, but she kind of keeps to herself more so I can’t really talk to her.
I really didn’t know what to expect, but I don’t think this was it. I like it when I’m with the kids and have something to do, but other times when I’m lost (physically or occupationally), it’s not good.
So, after I typed all that, took a nap had dinner, and went to work for the night session, I was feeling quite a bit better. The headache had dulled to something I could ignore. So, I decided to walk around the outside deck on the deck Club HAL is on. It was around10:30 and the sun was just about finished setting. On one side was land (which I was very glad to see!) and the other just water, but straight ahead was a gorgeous sunset! I only took my compact camera (it was COLD!) so I have some okay pictures. That just reminded me one of the reasons why I wanted to get on a cruise ship-to see the world. God reminded me of that tonight, and He reminded me of just how small I am in His vast creation-even only on Earth. It was beautiful, even with the freezing cold and wind, I stayed out watching for about 15 minutes.
God has made me learn a lot, really quickly these last few days, and I’m still learning them. During my nap, when my headache was worst and I was seriously reconsidering my wanting to do this for a long period of time, God reminded me that He never gives us more than we can handle! So, He trusts that I can handle this, and if God trusts me with this, what reason could I possibly have to question it! :)
Life on a ship is insane. I’ve had a crazy two days and they’re not even over yet! It seems like weeks ago that I was flying out from Charlotte.
I met Erica, the other new youth staff at breakfast Sunday. We ate and talked until the shuttle came to pick us up. We got through security and went to the ship; we had to take a steep ramp to get up onto it, I had trouble dragging my suitcase. Funny thing is that ramp is one of the least steep ones they have! Crazy.
New staff had to sit through meetings. Erica and I met our supervisor and she took us to our rooms (guest rooms they had available) then gave us a tour of the ship. She never took the same elevator/stairs twice, and half the time took shortcuts through crew areas, etc. I still have no idea where half the stuff she showed us is. We had a meeting at 10 that lasted until lunch. Then, I got to go up to Club HAL and help with open house stuff before doing our job with the fire drill on the ship (Club HAL has to make sure everyone under 13 has a colored wristband so we can help them meet up with the parents). I went back to my room to unpack some and met my roommate for a few minutes before she left again. We had another meeting with parents about Club HAL, and I was told that my roommate and I had to move. Our room was going to guest entertainers. So, I had to pack up all my just-unpacked stuff. Great. Then the watertight doors were closed and we couldn’t get the trolley down there, then the keys didn’t work…. Luckily, after all that, we had night work, which cheered me up and kept me awake.
This morning, another meeting, the last planned thing of our training, the only other thing we have to do is online stuff (on our own time). Lots of other little stuff happened until afternoon work, which was fun, I got to play supermario on the Wii. I can actually feel the ship rocking back and forth, but only if I’m not focused on something else. If nothing interesting is going on, I kind of doze off and start swaying with the ship; it only really gets to me when I’m not fully focused on it. If I want to, I can focus fully on the rocking, moving with each sway and watching everything slightly shift; it’s even more successful if I’m near a window to see outside, I watch the horizon slowly move up and down through the window. Focusing on it completely calms me, as does focusing on the kids!
Thus far, it has kind of been a horrible two days. I had to move, I’ve had a headache since I arrived in Seattle, I haven’t gotten enough sleep, and I really don’t fit in personality-wise with the other youth staff. I mean, Ashley the other tween counselor and I get along, but she kind of keeps to herself more so I can’t really talk to her.
I really didn’t know what to expect, but I don’t think this was it. I like it when I’m with the kids and have something to do, but other times when I’m lost (physically or occupationally), it’s not good.
So, after I typed all that, took a nap had dinner, and went to work for the night session, I was feeling quite a bit better. The headache had dulled to something I could ignore. So, I decided to walk around the outside deck on the deck Club HAL is on. It was around10:30 and the sun was just about finished setting. On one side was land (which I was very glad to see!) and the other just water, but straight ahead was a gorgeous sunset! I only took my compact camera (it was COLD!) so I have some okay pictures. That just reminded me one of the reasons why I wanted to get on a cruise ship-to see the world. God reminded me of that tonight, and He reminded me of just how small I am in His vast creation-even only on Earth. It was beautiful, even with the freezing cold and wind, I stayed out watching for about 15 minutes.
God has made me learn a lot, really quickly these last few days, and I’m still learning them. During my nap, when my headache was worst and I was seriously reconsidering my wanting to do this for a long period of time, God reminded me that He never gives us more than we can handle! So, He trusts that I can handle this, and if God trusts me with this, what reason could I possibly have to question it! :)
Sunday, July 1, 2012
flying and lessons
Hello from Seattle!
God was looking out for me today. He made me wait, but things turned out okay.
First flight: Charlotte to Memphis. I’d forgotten how friendly people in the US actually are, after doing all my flying in Europe. People TALK to one another on plane rides?! This was kind of a foreign concept to me until today. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. So, this flight had little (to no) Air Conditioning. It was HOT, and it smelled kind of gross. It was weird too, because it was the smallest plane I’ve been on. Ryanair and Easyjet both had bigger planes than this, more space AND more seats. The aisle was just big enough for me, as were the four seats in each row (two on each side of the plane). We were almost delayed because one seat had a broken seatbelt! Talk about a crazy start to the day!
Memphis: an hour behind, an hour and a half layover. Well, about half an hour of that was walking from one gate (the furthest one in A) to another (near the end of B!). I’m exaggerating; it was probably only 10 minutes. I was focused. Well, by the time I got to my gate, I was tired from all that walking (at least it was cool. Yes Dad, I just said that!), so I didn’t want to go far to eat. Let’s see, around my gate there were two bars and a BBQ place; it wasn’t worth it to go anywhere. Suddenly, I noticed that my flight was showing up on the monitors, and it said something about clearing seats. I didn’t know what that meant, so I just continued reading my book. I noticed a lot of people going up to the counter, everyone actually who was on the flight. So, I did too. Turns out, they’d overbooked the flight by 5 people. Guess who was one of the five? Yep, me. They kept asking for volunteers, offering A LOT of stuff to anyone who could give up their seat and stay the night. After 30 minutes, the flight was boarding, and I did not have a seat. Naturally, I couldn’t help but start crying as I was next to the desk and other people were being helped and I was kind of being ignored. I didn’t know what to do, so I just prayed. Turns out that the people being helped were giving up their seats. I got the last seat on that plane. One woman ended up having to stay in Memphis. Stressful.
The plane ride was fine, I sat next to a mother and daughter who were with the dad and 2 sons, going to visit family and see the area. They were really nice, and the mother, father and daughter all looked familiar (I didn’t see the sons). The daughter had a pizza and after eating a slice, wanted to share her mothers salad. The mother and I had been talking (about Seattle, why I was going, why they were going, etc), and she offered me the rest of the pizza if I wanted it. God really does look after me! :) I just read on my Kindle most of that flight, looked out the window a lot and listened to music, and talked to the mother and daughter. Sometime during the flight, a flight attendant made an announcement asking if anyone was a doctor and could help, and I found out through the father that someone on the plane had gotten sick. When we got to the airport, they had paramedics get on and take the person off.
So, Seattle airport. I made it to the baggage claim just fine, one of the first to get there actually. And I waited, and waited, and waited. No more bags came. I asked someone and she directed me to the questions area. I showed her my slip and she looked it up. Turns out, my bag made a side trip! It was coming in. So, I waited some more, another flight came in, my bag wasn’t there. Finally, a third plane came in and I found my bag (about 30 minutes later!) My bag had made a pit stop in Atlanta instead of coming straight to Seattle from Memphis. Interesting.
Anyway, I got to the shuttle area and mine finally came. Two other people were on it, turns out that they’re on the cruise too! They left their 4-year-old with family though, haha. It’s nice to actually see someone else here that’s on the same ship as I am!
Okay, I’ve written enough for now.
Thank you all for the prayers, I really could feel them working today. Now I just need to review what God taught me through all this today! :)
Tomorrow's my first day of a real job! I've decided to call it professional camp counselor, haha! We all know how much I love camp and working at camp! And my job is generally the same idea: camp counselor, for less time of the day of course, but still it's the perfect job for me!
God was looking out for me today. He made me wait, but things turned out okay.
First flight: Charlotte to Memphis. I’d forgotten how friendly people in the US actually are, after doing all my flying in Europe. People TALK to one another on plane rides?! This was kind of a foreign concept to me until today. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. So, this flight had little (to no) Air Conditioning. It was HOT, and it smelled kind of gross. It was weird too, because it was the smallest plane I’ve been on. Ryanair and Easyjet both had bigger planes than this, more space AND more seats. The aisle was just big enough for me, as were the four seats in each row (two on each side of the plane). We were almost delayed because one seat had a broken seatbelt! Talk about a crazy start to the day!
Memphis: an hour behind, an hour and a half layover. Well, about half an hour of that was walking from one gate (the furthest one in A) to another (near the end of B!). I’m exaggerating; it was probably only 10 minutes. I was focused. Well, by the time I got to my gate, I was tired from all that walking (at least it was cool. Yes Dad, I just said that!), so I didn’t want to go far to eat. Let’s see, around my gate there were two bars and a BBQ place; it wasn’t worth it to go anywhere. Suddenly, I noticed that my flight was showing up on the monitors, and it said something about clearing seats. I didn’t know what that meant, so I just continued reading my book. I noticed a lot of people going up to the counter, everyone actually who was on the flight. So, I did too. Turns out, they’d overbooked the flight by 5 people. Guess who was one of the five? Yep, me. They kept asking for volunteers, offering A LOT of stuff to anyone who could give up their seat and stay the night. After 30 minutes, the flight was boarding, and I did not have a seat. Naturally, I couldn’t help but start crying as I was next to the desk and other people were being helped and I was kind of being ignored. I didn’t know what to do, so I just prayed. Turns out that the people being helped were giving up their seats. I got the last seat on that plane. One woman ended up having to stay in Memphis. Stressful.
The plane ride was fine, I sat next to a mother and daughter who were with the dad and 2 sons, going to visit family and see the area. They were really nice, and the mother, father and daughter all looked familiar (I didn’t see the sons). The daughter had a pizza and after eating a slice, wanted to share her mothers salad. The mother and I had been talking (about Seattle, why I was going, why they were going, etc), and she offered me the rest of the pizza if I wanted it. God really does look after me! :) I just read on my Kindle most of that flight, looked out the window a lot and listened to music, and talked to the mother and daughter. Sometime during the flight, a flight attendant made an announcement asking if anyone was a doctor and could help, and I found out through the father that someone on the plane had gotten sick. When we got to the airport, they had paramedics get on and take the person off.
So, Seattle airport. I made it to the baggage claim just fine, one of the first to get there actually. And I waited, and waited, and waited. No more bags came. I asked someone and she directed me to the questions area. I showed her my slip and she looked it up. Turns out, my bag made a side trip! It was coming in. So, I waited some more, another flight came in, my bag wasn’t there. Finally, a third plane came in and I found my bag (about 30 minutes later!) My bag had made a pit stop in Atlanta instead of coming straight to Seattle from Memphis. Interesting.
Anyway, I got to the shuttle area and mine finally came. Two other people were on it, turns out that they’re on the cruise too! They left their 4-year-old with family though, haha. It’s nice to actually see someone else here that’s on the same ship as I am!
Okay, I’ve written enough for now.
Thank you all for the prayers, I really could feel them working today. Now I just need to review what God taught me through all this today! :)
Tomorrow's my first day of a real job! I've decided to call it professional camp counselor, haha! We all know how much I love camp and working at camp! And my job is generally the same idea: camp counselor, for less time of the day of course, but still it's the perfect job for me!
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