Seaworld, manatees and the triple threat to Florida!

Hi everyone,

How you all doing? Here's a quick update for you!

Things here are going really well at the moment. I was seating the other day at the restaurant. That's when you show guests to their table. I got chatting to this absolutely amazing family. They were great! I was chatting to them for about half an hour and they were the nicest guests I've ever had, either here or back on the cruise ships. It was two adults and three kids (Zac, Matt and Katie) and they were just brilliant. I loved talking to them! We were laughing about the dumb guest comments I get and they asked all about England (which people NEVER seem to do) and they were just so friendly. Honestly, if all my guests were like that, I wouldn't need paying to do my job! I went to management and asked if we could do something nice for them so I ended up making them the "Table of the Day" and getting them free smoothies. I won't forget that family for a long time. Just the memory is making me smile.

A bit later in the day, I did the magic moment again with a little boy called William. He was six and very excited to be chosen. I gave him the Mickey wand and he was enthusiastically waving it around "directing" the fireworks. He was a little too enthusiastic because he ended up clopping this other guest on the head! She said, "excuse me! That hit me!" and then William's mother answered, "ease up, he's only a little kid and you're ruining his day!" I suggested we move to further along the deck and the mother said loudly, "yes, lets get you away from the frosty faced bitch woman!" I wanted to die! Poor William, it did ruin his moment, he was so subdued afterwards. When the guest had gone, I went to the other table and apologised profusely for them being hit in the head. They were actually really nice about it but I was upset it had happened to either guest. I'd been having such a nice day!

My signature magic trick is being copied. I have a thumb trick where I produce a red light from nowhere, throw it around and get rid of it. It's really effective. However, Nathan turned up to work today with the same thing. I thought it would ruin it (that's MY power!) but instead, Nathan and I have been throwing this ball of light across the restaurant and all the guests love it! We got alot of guest comments and at the end of the day, I was given two guest fanatic cards from two different people for entertaining the guests. They go on your record so its great to recieve those!

I used the I-Ride trolley again today. I caught the trolley from stop 41 which is just the other side of the premium outlets to stop 33 where Seaworld is. Cast members get a discount on the I-Ride, it only costs 25 cents! Excellent! I love the I-Ride, the trolleys are green and have smiling faces on the front. Ahhh, the little things!

I paid for a year pass at Seaworld. You can set up a direct debit from your paycheck so they're taking $20 a month which really helps to spread the cost. I LOVE Seaworld! I got to touch and feed stingrays and dolphins and I saw alligators and manatees. I watched the shows and I just had the most amazing day. I could easily spend the rest of my life in Seaworld, I'm such an animal nut! The ticket I chose also includes Aquatica, Seaworld's new waterpark so I have a year pass for there too!

I'm really excited about tomorrow because.....I'm swimming with manatees! I'm being collected really early in the morning to go by coach to Crystal River to snorkel with manatees. I can't believe it! I'm bouncing in my chair, I'm so excited! I saw some manatees today at Seaworld and I don't remember them being that big. That's a little scary. Still, they call them "gentle giants" so it should be okay. I'll get photos, even if I have to go without food for the next month! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Oh, trying to describe what a manatee is to Saori and Nami (my Japanese housemates) was so funny. I said they were like big cows with tails. Vikki was even worse. She said, "just think of a dolphin that's been sat on by a giant. They're like flat dolphins!"

We got a letter through the letterbox this morning. "Hurricane Preparedness" again! Gustav luckily missed us but Hanna looks like she's barrelling right for us. She's a category one at the moment and right behind her are tropical storms Ike and Josephine. They're calling it the "Triple Threat". No one is certain where Ike and Josephine are gonna hit yet though. I guess they were right about it being an active season. Whew!

Right, well, you're all up to date again for now. I will let you know how tomorrow goes as soon as I can!

Culinary Day

I had a day off yesterday so I made sure to get the heck out of the themeparks. I was just sick of guests and Disney in general so I caught the I-Ride trolley to the opposite end of International Drive and I spent the day getting on and off it at whatever looked interesting. International Drive is quite an interesting place. Obviously, it's all built up around the themeparks but there is more than enough to keep you from getting bored. I had lunch at the Ponderosa and looked at a few of the gift shops. I went out to the mall and I passed Sea World and Wonderworks. It was great to just relax and I went back to work today in a much better mood.

Today was my Culinary Day. That's a day everyone gets in which they work in the kitchen all day. It's a really great way to understand what goes on with preparing the food and how the kitchen really works. It also helps you to learn the menu because you get to prepare and taste the food you;ll be actively upselling to the guests. I started off in the pantry putting together the appetizers and desserts. It was hard to remember what sauce went with what or how much of one item you serve but I got it in the end. I also had the opportunity to try some of the items, such as the creme anglaise and the onion jam (both really nice). I worked all morning on various positions and then I was allowed to go upstairs to the chefs office to try some of the items. I really liked the pork in tamarind sauce and the cottage pie. I wasn't keen on the bangers and mash because the sausages didn't taste like English sausages. Still, I didn't HATE anything, I just preferred certain dishes. In the afternoon, I was preparing the main entrees and it was really hot. I was standing with my back to the ovens and I could feel the sweat rolling down my back. I have nothing but respect for the chefs that manage to work in that heat day in, day out! In the end, I couldn't stand the heat any longer so I volunteered to go into pot wash. I helped out there for twenty minutes and then the day was over.

The weird thing about Culinary Day is you either love it or hate it. I loved it. I enjoyed the break from the normal routine and I really felt I learnt alot. My roommate, Vikki was the other end of the spectrum. She hated it and was glad it was over.

I'm back on regular duty tomorrow. I think I'm seating but it's a six hour shift which is nothing! In fact, I have an easy week of it. I seem to be doing six hour shifts for a while. The only day I'm doing more is when I'm assigning.

I've started proper studying today. I really want to get into service so I've started looking at the menu and learning what I can. It's a little annoying as I know the menu is changing next month but I really want to start.

Anyway, it's getting late! It's already 1.45am and I want to study a bit before bed.