So I've taken a lot of random videos during the last four months and never do anything with them as they generally take ages to upload. So it's raining, I have the day off and I have been searching through my files and uploading the bits and pieces that I find. If anyone is interested then you can find them over...
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Friday 16 August 2013
Initiations, pre-service, big changes all around!
As usual it's been a bit crazy and I've kept thinking to myself that I need to update and then would find something else to do. So here's some of the stuff that's been keeping me busy....
Pre-Service Test
I always said that I would do my pre-service test as soon as I could... well that never happened and I went from being quite organised to just being in an utter state of doom over it. To get into service you need to first do a written test, which asks questions about service standards and testing your food and drink knowledge. Doesn't seem that difficult but it involves learning what is in every pub blend, cocktail, whisky flights, testing your knowledge on the wines we sell... and then knowing all the components and ingredients for the lunch, dinner and children's menu. I got all of the drinks learnt pretty easily (no surprise there) but just couldn't get my brain to switch on at all when it came to learning the menu. Meanwhile, people that had arrived after me were doing their tests and got dates to go into training before me... the whole thing was pissing me off and I eventually sat up until 5am one night and got it all learnt. I also told everyone the day before that if I didn't do it the next day they could punch me in the face, so that was motivation. I am useless at studying, I've always been a last minute crammer, that's the only time I can get my head around things! So the next day I went into work and then one of our managers pulled me aside and was like "DO IT!!!" No pressure or anything. Went for my break, had a wee last minute revision and then went off to do my test. Then got really impatient about hearing how I did as the managers were having a meeting and no one was free to mark it. Eventually it finished, but still wasn't marked and I was due to finish my shift so one of the managers marked it for me then and there. And I passed, yayyyyy. I will begin my service training at the end of September and I wish it was sooner as podium is driving me a bit crazy at the moment. Over four months of the same stuff is pretty tedious and more than anything, I cannot stand seating shifts. There is a "greeter" who checks the guests in, then the "assigner" decides which table to put them on, a ticket is printed with the guests name and table number and any important info that the server should know. Then the seater takes the ticket, pages the guest and assembles their party, brings them into the restaurant, hands menus and leaves the ticket for the server. It's not particularly busy right now so it can really draaaagggggg by. I'm always volunteering for any other job, whether its taking over as chippy filler or bussing tables, just to have something to do. And I have a 1pm-9pm seating shift on Monday.... the joys.....
Apartment changes!
So most of my roommates are on college programmes and they were all gradually finishing up and leaving. When 50% or more of your roommates leave, housing will usually contact you to say they will move you. You then get put in with other people that have been living here for a while (usually with a similar arrival date), and then they make your apartment nice for a whole bunch of new people to move in. They sent an email saying I was being moved on the 6th of August and would need to be completely moved that day. Then with a couple days notice they sent another email saying the move was cancelled... then I had no idea what to expect. My German friend has recently turned 21 and needed to move out of her wellness apartment into an over 21 apartment and by sheer luck she got moved in with me! Yayyyy!!! So now there is us two, my actual roommate and three empty beds at the moment. It's nice to have a familiar face around here, we don't work together so we're not in each others faces all the time but we can chat and stuff. I was really getting on with the others though so it was a bit sad to see them go.
Initiation!
Initiations for Lasses were on Monday. Can't give out details but it was a lot of fun, disgusting at times and I don't remember anything after the actual initiations were over and we went to the bar. Woke up on my sofa the next day with practically no hangover which is pretty amazing but luckily I had the Tuesday off anyway. Not a bad thing when my hair was solid with dried in maple syrup, coloured bright purple and full of glitter. Will get my shirt on Monday and find out my Lasses name :) Cannot wait!!!
Allllllllllll of the new people!
At the moment I don't really know many people from the arrival groups and they are getting here every couple of weeks so it literally feels like you've got to know the last lot and then another big group show up! Had a group arrive on Tuesday so we had a throw in for them last night. Heard nothing of the throw in chat cos there was so many of us and we couldn't hear unless you were at the front but I'll get to meet them eventually.
Four month anniversary
Four months... a third into my programme! Didn't go over the top for our anniversary, due mostly to our pathetic podium wages, so the UK lot went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner on the 9th which is our actual anniversary and then two days later we went for dinner at House of Blues with a couple of Canadians. Both were mega tasty meals, stuffed!
Nights out.
The usual, Thursdays, occasionally Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays if I've still got money left over :) Tuesdays are for sleeping lol!
Park life.
Haven't really been to the parks recently, we've gone sunbathing at resorts (finally checked out Art of Animation and Caribbean Beach Club) but I've only been to a park once since my last post and that was just a couple of hours at Epcot one morning before going sunbathing. It puts me off when it's so busy and the lines are so long, when I know if I go when it's quiet I can get a lot more done. Feeling rather down and in a bit of a weird funk at the moment so I think I need to make a pilgrimage to Magic Kingdom and cheer myself up again.
Royal Baby Fever
Feels like the baby was born agessss ago now but we had a lot of excitement about everything at the UK pavilion and a couple of days later we had a massive group photo taken in the morning, followed by a sort of baby shower, where people brought in stuff for a pot luck lunch. Something a bit different!
Christmas in July
One of the full time staff invited us to her local British pub for their "Christmas in July" party.... one of the most random nights ever but bloody hilarious! Christmas decorations everywhere, performing Hillbillies, karaoke, lots of cider and a lot of dancing. Mad!
Pre-Service Test
I always said that I would do my pre-service test as soon as I could... well that never happened and I went from being quite organised to just being in an utter state of doom over it. To get into service you need to first do a written test, which asks questions about service standards and testing your food and drink knowledge. Doesn't seem that difficult but it involves learning what is in every pub blend, cocktail, whisky flights, testing your knowledge on the wines we sell... and then knowing all the components and ingredients for the lunch, dinner and children's menu. I got all of the drinks learnt pretty easily (no surprise there) but just couldn't get my brain to switch on at all when it came to learning the menu. Meanwhile, people that had arrived after me were doing their tests and got dates to go into training before me... the whole thing was pissing me off and I eventually sat up until 5am one night and got it all learnt. I also told everyone the day before that if I didn't do it the next day they could punch me in the face, so that was motivation. I am useless at studying, I've always been a last minute crammer, that's the only time I can get my head around things! So the next day I went into work and then one of our managers pulled me aside and was like "DO IT!!!" No pressure or anything. Went for my break, had a wee last minute revision and then went off to do my test. Then got really impatient about hearing how I did as the managers were having a meeting and no one was free to mark it. Eventually it finished, but still wasn't marked and I was due to finish my shift so one of the managers marked it for me then and there. And I passed, yayyyyy. I will begin my service training at the end of September and I wish it was sooner as podium is driving me a bit crazy at the moment. Over four months of the same stuff is pretty tedious and more than anything, I cannot stand seating shifts. There is a "greeter" who checks the guests in, then the "assigner" decides which table to put them on, a ticket is printed with the guests name and table number and any important info that the server should know. Then the seater takes the ticket, pages the guest and assembles their party, brings them into the restaurant, hands menus and leaves the ticket for the server. It's not particularly busy right now so it can really draaaagggggg by. I'm always volunteering for any other job, whether its taking over as chippy filler or bussing tables, just to have something to do. And I have a 1pm-9pm seating shift on Monday.... the joys.....
Apartment changes!
So most of my roommates are on college programmes and they were all gradually finishing up and leaving. When 50% or more of your roommates leave, housing will usually contact you to say they will move you. You then get put in with other people that have been living here for a while (usually with a similar arrival date), and then they make your apartment nice for a whole bunch of new people to move in. They sent an email saying I was being moved on the 6th of August and would need to be completely moved that day. Then with a couple days notice they sent another email saying the move was cancelled... then I had no idea what to expect. My German friend has recently turned 21 and needed to move out of her wellness apartment into an over 21 apartment and by sheer luck she got moved in with me! Yayyyy!!! So now there is us two, my actual roommate and three empty beds at the moment. It's nice to have a familiar face around here, we don't work together so we're not in each others faces all the time but we can chat and stuff. I was really getting on with the others though so it was a bit sad to see them go.
Initiation!
Initiations for Lasses were on Monday. Can't give out details but it was a lot of fun, disgusting at times and I don't remember anything after the actual initiations were over and we went to the bar. Woke up on my sofa the next day with practically no hangover which is pretty amazing but luckily I had the Tuesday off anyway. Not a bad thing when my hair was solid with dried in maple syrup, coloured bright purple and full of glitter. Will get my shirt on Monday and find out my Lasses name :) Cannot wait!!!
eeewwww
Allllllllllll of the new people!
At the moment I don't really know many people from the arrival groups and they are getting here every couple of weeks so it literally feels like you've got to know the last lot and then another big group show up! Had a group arrive on Tuesday so we had a throw in for them last night. Heard nothing of the throw in chat cos there was so many of us and we couldn't hear unless you were at the front but I'll get to meet them eventually.
Four month anniversary
Four months... a third into my programme! Didn't go over the top for our anniversary, due mostly to our pathetic podium wages, so the UK lot went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner on the 9th which is our actual anniversary and then two days later we went for dinner at House of Blues with a couple of Canadians. Both were mega tasty meals, stuffed!
Nights out.
The usual, Thursdays, occasionally Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays if I've still got money left over :) Tuesdays are for sleeping lol!
Park life.
Haven't really been to the parks recently, we've gone sunbathing at resorts (finally checked out Art of Animation and Caribbean Beach Club) but I've only been to a park once since my last post and that was just a couple of hours at Epcot one morning before going sunbathing. It puts me off when it's so busy and the lines are so long, when I know if I go when it's quiet I can get a lot more done. Feeling rather down and in a bit of a weird funk at the moment so I think I need to make a pilgrimage to Magic Kingdom and cheer myself up again.
Royal Baby Fever
Feels like the baby was born agessss ago now but we had a lot of excitement about everything at the UK pavilion and a couple of days later we had a massive group photo taken in the morning, followed by a sort of baby shower, where people brought in stuff for a pot luck lunch. Something a bit different!
Christmas in July
One of the full time staff invited us to her local British pub for their "Christmas in July" party.... one of the most random nights ever but bloody hilarious! Christmas decorations everywhere, performing Hillbillies, karaoke, lots of cider and a lot of dancing. Mad!
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