I'm leaving today!
In fact I've already left.
Currently, I'm sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair at Denver International Airport.
Here's a quick recap of what's been happening...
A month ago I didn't know if I was going to get a job on a cruise liner. It's crazy how fast things have happened since then. I flew out to Miami for an interview with Carnival and talked to Disney Cruise Line in the same week. It was pretty exciting. After deciding to go with Disney, things slowed down though. I was told to wait. Wait to pass the background check, wait to get a Dr's appointment for the physical and then wait to get a date of departure.
Then about two weeks ago, Disney sent me a note saying that I was good to go.
July 7th! Woo hoo! I will be flying to Orlando, training for a few days and shipping out on July 11th. Four and a half months out in the Caribbean and Bahamas...yes.
A day after that, I received an email from Holland America Line. They needed someone for a short two week cruise. I was super excited about this. Originally this is the Line that I wanted to go with. The only cruise I've been on was with HA and it's what really sparked my interest in doing this to begin with. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I hesitated. I got over it pretty quickly though and accepted!
So that's what I'm doing right now :) My final destination today is Vancouver, Canada. I'll be taking a taxi from the airport to the Cruise Terminal. My ship, the Zuiderdam, will be embarking at 5pm this afternoon for Alaska. My contract is for two 7-day cruises that will make a couple of stops in places like Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. In addition to that, we'll be spending a few days floating around Glacier Bay.
Needless to say, I'm incredibly excited. I have no idea what to expect as far as my actual job goes, or schedules or anything really. But just the thought of being in Alaska is enough to make me want to bounce.
So that's that boys and girls.
On an entirely different subject, I'd like to mention how much I love airports.
People are super fun to watch. I play this game where I try to figure out where people are going and why. You can almost always tell what the purpose of a trip is. For example, this time of year families travel for mainly two reasons. They're either on vacation and going somewhere vacation-y or they're visiting family. What the parents act like is what gives it away. I was sitting by a family of five. The mother was super stressed because the kids were being obnoxious and the dad looked like a zombie. Granted, it was 5am. But even so, I kept observing until I heard the dad tell the mom, “Your sister better behave herself...grumble grumble.” Families who are going to Disneyland or a hiking trip act differently. I love trying to read people like this though. You can pin point those who are traveling for business, they've done this so many times that they look bored out of their mind. The groups of kids going to a team sporting event (that one's easy), the couples holding hands and giggling, the two guys wearing fishing hats and carrying five tons worth of camping gear, the older couples talking quietly with colorful presents peeking out of their bags, kids coming home from college, groups of guys in camo...the fun really never ends. If you pay attention you can find out a lot about these people and their lives.
Sometimes you don't even have to pay attention. Currently, there's a man sitting in the chair right in front of me. He's been talking to his mother on the phone for the past 30 minutes. His wife is pregnant - they just found out it's a boy - he wants to name him Joshua but she (the wife) doesn't know - she's filipino and has only spent a small amount of time in the US - he wanted her to learn how to drive before getting pregnant but she doesn't really want to and he's frustrated about that – the mother sends him a lot of forwards and he wants actual emails – he travels a lot – he just bought an Ipad and really likes it – etc etc etc
My flight is boarding. Peace out.
No comments:
Post a Comment