Things are getting better!

So I can't even break down the last week because it has been such a blur... I am having the time of my life learning the skills I will need to use in the friendly skies.

We are starting to learn our evacuation drills and aircraft information. It has been pretty awesome so far. I had a test yesterday and I passed with a hundred!

We also did a Security Self Defense day. It was pretty intense. We talked about what happened on 9-11 and it was a little difficult to talk about. We listened to a recording from one of the FAs who was able to get in touch with reservations and it was very hard to listen to. But we learned how to defend ourselves and I hope that I never will have to use these skills.

I'm not even sure what to think anymore because I have been so busy. It is a lot to cram in to four weeks :)

But I'll update soon and hopefully I'll be flying with you all after the 17th!

FA Training! I made it!

So after all of the fun happenings over the past couple weeks I was able to finally go to training! I arrived Sunday night and checked into my hotel. It is unfortunately in the bad side of college park. But other than the fact I can not safely leave the hotel it is going well.


Sunday -

I arrived earlier than my roommate. I went up in the room to discover only one real bed, the other was a rollaway. I decided first come first serve... but this came back to get me later on. I went downstairs and got to know some of the people from the class ahead of me. When I got back my roommate arrived. She was understanding and said that she would have done the same thing, so I didn't feel so bad. But I did not get any sleep in that bed... There is a bright light that shines right in the window and there were some crazy people out in the parking lot all night... including a drug dealer, hookers, and a car break in! My hotel is also conveniently located within walking distance of a bar and a strip club!

Day 1 - Orientation -

After getting hardly any sleep the night before my alarm clock went off at 6:00. I got ready and went downstairs for my "hot breakfast" which is a joke! Having toast and a waffle machine apparently qualifies as a hot breakfast. My hotel also features a state of the art fitness center where none of the equipment is working! I got on the shuttle to the training center and although I was tired I was excited as can be! It was just an orientation and it felt like the longest day of my life. By the end of the day I was so exhausted but I had to stay up because it would be my only opportunity to have a shuttle to the grocery store until next Monday. After that I called it an early night and tried to go to sleep as my roommate stayed up all night studying.

Day 2 - My first day of class!

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach but I still was able to pull it together and make it to class. I passed my first test with flying colors, although some of my classmates weren't as lucky. But we have an opportunity to retake one test. It was another long day, but we received our FAMs and we learned how to bring them up to date. We also received our first homework assignment. When I got home I relaxed ordered pizza and wings, did my homework, and called it a night.... I have a feeling when I start I'll be a "slam clicker"

Day 3-

Today was awesome! I learned how to do the "safety dance." We also had a pilot come in and teach us about how the aircraft works. It was very interesting. We also learned about our policies on guests with disabilities. My classmates who failed their test did their retakes and unfortunately one did not pass so she was sent home. It was a wake up call for a lot of my classmates. But I am still pretty confident. I know I can get through this... I just have to apply myself...

Well the "free WiFi" at this hotel sucks so I will try to keep up with my blog... but there are no guarantees...

Good News and Bad News

Last week was just a mess. I talked to two different people and one said there would be no more classes this month, and the other said that there would be. I explained the situation with my passport and they went ahead and moved my class to the 23rd. I was a little disappointed, but I was very relieved that I would still be able to go.

After that was taken care of you will never believe what arrived on my doorstep Saturday afternoon... My Passport! The person from the Passport Agency told me Tuesday! I wasn't sure if I wanted to be happy or mad. I am glad that I received it early so I don't have that added stress this week. But I am a little upset that I would have been able to go. I know I did the right thing though because I had no way of knowing if it would come earlier then they said... especially after it came later then I was originally told.

So I am now set to leave this Sunday, and I am really excited! I am packed, I have my passport, so now I can just relax for a few days. :)

I Hate the Passport People!

So my passport, which I paid an outrageous amount to expedite, was supposed to come today. I checked the status on the status checker online and it still wasn't up so I was worried and called. I was put on hold for thirty minutes only to discover that I will be receiving my passport one day after my training starts!

I am pissed!

So because the regular amount of time for a passport is supposed to take about 3 weeks I am pissed that I had to pay an extra 75 dollars. I understand that because the expedited ones are running behind the regular ones would be too, but don't have your workers saying 2 weeks door to door if you can't guarantee it. They could have just as easily said 2-3 weeks door to door.

So now I can not go to training which really pisses me off. Because I've heard that XYZ is only having two classes this month and they aren't sure when they will have more. I was in the second class. If I miss out on this job and end up with a passport that I don't even need, that caused me to miss out on this job.... I will be beyond pissed off!

But I will still try to see the sunny side of things and be happy that I have more time to study my information packet. But hopefully I will get to use that knowledge.

Less Than a Week to Go

I have been extremely busy packing and going through things to get rid of. I am such a pack rat and my mom wanted me to go through my stuff and downsize since I won't be here as often. Asking a pack rat to downsize is cruel. But as I go through most of this stuff my thoughts are going "I haven't seen it or used it in years so I guess I don't really need it."

I have also been trying to decide what to bring with me for the month. As silly as it sounds I packed an entire suitcase full of food! They don't provide meals so I wanted to go prepared. I figured I would take away the stress of grocery shopping, and save money by not eating at the local restaurants. But seeing as how I have an entire months food in one suitcase, you can imagine it is not the healthiest food, but when I die I will be well preserved. I still will have to go to buy a few things like laundry detergent and cold foods. But now I know I won't go overboard.

As far as clothes go.... I have no clue what I want to bring, I mean it was snowing about two weeks ago in Atlanta but now it is warm out. I'm not sure if I should pack for cold or warm weather or for both. And although training is business attire, I'll have days where I might want to go out and do something and then I need gym clothes because there is a fitness center at the hotel. But what I am most excited about is the indoor heated pool and whirlpool!

Another major worry that I have is that I am going to fail at this. I'm sure I have a slight advantage over some because I haven't been out of school for very long. But it has been awhile since I've been in an actual classroom. I did my senior year of high school online, complete with open book tests. And my one semester of college I took plenty of online courses and rarely showed up for the regular classes. So I have a feeling this is going to be a real challenge. But once I get through it, I know it will be worth it.

I can't wait until I can get started. I am still reviewing the packet they gave me with my terminalogy and airport codes. Most of it is common sense. But some of it is a little confussing. Where on earth did they come up with RSW for Fort Myers, or HPN for White Plains? And everyone says that those should be the ones I will remember because they are so weird... but most of the others are common sense so I get to those and think wtf?

I am still waiting for my stupid passport. It will be two weeks tomorrow and I was told 2 weeks. What worries me is you can check your status online and it can't even find me. They cashed the check so they better send me a passport. It's enough to make a girl go crazy.

It's Officially Official!

I have been cleared for training! I leave on the 15th and start class on the 16th!!! I am so excited! Now I just need to figure out what all I want to bring with me :)

What a day!

Friday I went back to ATL for processing and what a day! I was so nervous that I only slept for about an hour the night before. I got to the airport and had issue with TSA because the suit I was wearing had a built in top and they kept telling me to remove my jacket and I couldn't and they were really starting to get mad at me even when I was showing them it was attached. So finally I just asked if they would like me to remove my shirt, and they shut up pretty quick.

My plane left at a reasonable time. I was lucky the middle seat was empty on the flight but in the aisle was this annoying pax that felt the need to keep touching my arm and when he slept he snored. But it wasn't a normal snore, it sounded like he couldn't breath because he was gasping for air. I also was around a lot of sneezing sick people which reminded me to add Airborne to my list of things I want to keep in my rollabord.

We hit bad weather in GA and had to circle the airport once before landing. There was a lot of traffic coming in so I was still sitting on the plane in taxi when I was supposed to be boarding the shuttle. I was worried so I ran the dreaded call button and asked the FA if she could call someone to let them know that I was late, because I forgot the numbers at home. She not only told me who to call but handed me her phone to use. I thought it was very nice of her. I got in touch with my recruiter and she said not to worry that another shuttle would come.

I waited out in the cold and there were two other people. I wasn't sure if they were waiting for the shuttle so I just kept to myself because I was tired and lacking caffeine. Eventually the shuttle came and it turns out they were in my group. They turned out to be very nice.

We waited for what seems like forever at the clinic to get started. First they gave me a drug screening and also checked my urine for protein, blood, and sugar. I had to fill out a really long form about my previous medical history. And then they weighed me and measured my height. According to them I grew, I was about 5'6.

I did an eye exam. Then I was put in a waiting room where they did my blood pressure and was told to strip down and put a gown on. It was taking awhile so a nurse came in and gave me orange juice and pretzels. When the doctor finally came she seemed very nice. She did a lot of normal things but the weirdest thing was when she told me to turn my head and cough. I always thought that was a guy thing. But who knows? The strangest part was that no one, including the guys had this happen to them.

After that I went back to physical therapy and I had to walk between two tables to show I could fit in the isles. I had to pull back something really heavy, lift a 40 pound suitcase over my head. Show I have the arm span to work the emergency exits, and push this huge heavy cart and then pull it back to me. Everyone said pulling it was hard, but for me it was the pushing. Then they took my blood pressure again.

I have no clue if we actually passed or not. We were still waiting so me and one girl wanted to grab something to eat. The driver said there was a Wendy's just down the street, so we decided to go. It was sprinkling and very cold outside, but we made it there with hardly any trouble. After we ate it was pouring so when we made it back to the clinic we were soaked.

We took the shuttle over to the training center and filled out our paperwork for a background check. We filled out our I-9 forms and they made sure we had passports, or a receipt for one. After that we went for fingerprinting and uniform fittings.

The women's uniforms had a lot of choices a pant outfit, skirt outfit, two different dresses, and different cardigans and scarves. I tried on the two dresses. There was one I knew I wanted with gold buttons up the front of it. I tried it on and if I do say so myself, I looked hot! I tried the other dress that was a little more plain and simple and it looked adorable on me. So I chose the two dresses. I've got the sexy, and the sweet and innocent.(:
I chose both the square and rectangle scarf and a nice black trench coat. They also ordered our rollabords. We also got a study guide for training! I'll know more when all the information comes back!

We took a shuttle back to the airport and went ahead through security. We had a lot of time before the flight so we grabbed a snack and headed over to the terminal. We found out our flight had been moved so we went to the new gate and there was a plane boarding going to Indianapolis. They closed the gate and it started with only a couple people asking to board, and then it turned into a long line. It delayed our flight and finally I was able to go home! I slept most of the flight home because I was exhausted. We hit some turbulence over the gulf that woke me up and then I made it to the airport.

I went home and went to bed. Although I don't actually remember going to bed.