The Rose and Crown, study and Cowboys (yee hah!)

Well, I'm now done with Chippie and podium. I start food running tomorrow and it is disturbing how much I'm looking forward to it. It's not just the fact I'll be getting closer to becoming a server, it's not all about the money, I'm really excited to be doing something different. On Tuesday I'm bar training which is worrying because I can't pull a pint to save my life! Still, guess I'll learn.

Last night was the last night at Pleasure Island so a group of people went to PI. The other half of us went to Cowboys. I was in the latter group. Cowboys is a nightclub that plays jazzed up country music. All the regulars seem to know the dances so we all line danced to various songs. The dances were really tricky, they involved alot of turns and if you didn't move fast enough, you got trampled underfoot. The only one of us with any kind of skill line dancing seemed to be Colin who is apparently born with rubber legs! The guy is really good. Still, everyone tried which I thought was amazing. I gave it a good go but due to the fact I'm rhythm retarded, I didn't do too well. On the way home, we stopped off at McDonalds but the line was really long so we went to Wendys instead. It was weird to be eating a burger at 3.30am. The hours I keep out here are crazy!

Today was my day off and Lauren P asked me to help her with her menu learning. I let her borrow my study cards and we went to The Rose and Crown for lunch. It was so much easier to actually see the items we have to spiel to the guests. We ordered stuff we were having difficulty with and then we dissected it. It was hysterical, we were poking around going "right, well, this has this green stuff and then the pork is topped with this...." It was a brilliant way to learn though and I'm now pretty confident that I can picture any menu item and describe it. Lauren P is also ready to spiel to managers. We spoke to Jamie but to my surprise, Lauren (one of the most confident girls I know), just seemed to lose all confidence when faced with a manager. It was annoying because she KNOWS it, we've been working on it all day and she can spiel any item to me with no problem but she seems to get tied up trying to describe everything to other people. It's almost like she's convinced herself she's not going to do well and therefore she doesn't. It was almost painful to watch because I know she knows it and if she relaxes a bit, she'll do really well. I'll head over there in a minute and cheer her up.

Right, well, it's getting late (again!) and I'm at work tomorrow as a food runner (yeah!!). Talk to you soon!

Spiels, Pleasure Island and packages from home

Hey Guys,

It's been a really busy few days and I'm really sorry I haven't updated in a while. I only have fifteen minutes to do this as my bus is due soon so here goes.

I spent my last two days off learning the menu until I felt comfortable spieling any item. Then when I got into work, I went into the kitchen to find a chef to spiel to. I found all three head chefs and asked who was available and they got me to do all three at once right there and then in the kitchen with everyone staring! It was pretty nerve racking. Bill and Brandon smiled encouragingly at me whenever I caught their eye but Amber was just expressionless. I couldn't read her reactions at all and her stone faced expression really scared me. I'm not sure she knows how intimidating she can be. Still, I got to the end and answered the questions set to me and they told me I'd passed. YES! I then spieled to Yvette one of the managers and she passed me too. I now have a date for service (28th!) Brilliant! I feel like the fun starts now. I'm really looking forward to getting to know our guests and entertaining the kids with my magic tricks (because, after all, kids is what I'm qualified in!) It's gonna be great!

I worked in Chippie last night from 4pm to 12.30am! It was a long shift but I had a great closing team (Rhys and Lynda) and we all had fun and time passed really quickly. Sometimes Chippie isn't completely soul crushing. Sometimes....

I went out to Pleasure Island after work one evening. They're closing all the nightclubs there soon so we wanted to go and check them out before they vanish forever. It was a really good night. we were at PI until 2am when they kicked us out so they could close, then we carried on to IHOP (International House of Pancakes). Only in America can you sit eating pancakes in a crowded restaurant at 4am! We walked back from there and I finally got to bed around 5.30am! It was excellent!

I just got a phonecall from the main desk here at the Commons. I have a package (Yay!) so I'm off to pick that up.

Bye for now.

Training, flattery and hurricane season

I've gotta be quick, I'm out the door in a few minutes and I'm not even in costume yet!

Anyway, I've completed all my podium training now and I've sat the test at the end. It wasn't difficult as your trainer is right next to you with the answers if you're unsure. I had my two days off and I went to MK (Magic Kingdom) and EPCOT. I swear, I was even more tired after my days off than I am when I'm working! It was fun though.

I now have six days of training in the Chippie. That's the fish and chipshop here at EPCOT. You have to wear the "dead jellyfish" hat which I hate with a passion but the time really flies by. I'll be learning the till today which would be great if I could talk. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked up a sore throat and blocked nose from somewhere. Still, it will pass.

A bit of advice for any Brits coming over. Don't think that because it LOOK'S like Lemsip, it does the same thing. I took something similar to Lemsip and it made me really drowsy. Luckily I was off to bed anyway but I could have taken it before work accidentally!

I had a scary moment yesterday. Marcel, one of the managers, asked to see me. I was so afriad I'd done something wrong. You can get terminated ("termed") for stuff so easily over here. I actually thought, "what if I didn't smile at a guest or something? Or what if I didn't close the ice bucket all the way?" Luckily, it wasn't for any of those reasons. Marcel has asked if I want to train as assignor which is basically the supervisor of the restuarant. I was flattered but I can't help wondering why he's chosen me. I've only been here for a couple of weeks. Marcel went on the ask if I was also interested in being a GT (General Teller). That is the person in charge of all the money taken by the UK pavillion in a day. It's a huge responsibility and I'm once again wondering why he chose me. Still, I said I'd give it a go and he's going to arrange training for me. He really shifted himself because I checked my shifts this morning and BANG! I have three days of assignor training coming up!

One last thing to tell you. Hurricane Fay is on her way out here! At the moment it's just a Tropical Storm and everyone's keeping an eye on it. It should hit land on Tuesday or Wednesday but it's no biggie. Disney is one of the safest places to be during a hurricane. In fact, the local people head for shelter at the themeparks. It looks like the Florida keys will get the brunt of it. We might possibly get some bad weather but nothing more unusual than the storms we get practically every afternoon. I'll keep you updated on it though.

Right, I've gotta run. I need to catch the bus. Till next time then!

PS. Please keep the comments coming! I like knowing people are reading this!