Day 5 at the Charm Farm

Anyone that's ever been through Flight Attendant Training probably says the same thing when faced with the prospect of going through it again: "no way, please don't make me..." I certainly never intended to go through training again, but, I have also never been through a week like this before in my life! And it's ALL good!

Our trainers are so very polished, professional, knowledgeable and fun. They have to train to so many different levels. Some of my classmates have been in the industry and some haven't, and some have only lived in the US for a year, and English is a second language for them. So, I am sure training is challenging for the trainers, too!

There are four people in the class who are not native English speakers--they are from China, Argentina, Tunisia, and Morrocco. All have lived in the US for awhile and understand our strange language very well. Throw in aircraft terminology, and all the abbreviations used in the airline business--well, my head is spinning and I have been in this business for a long time--I can't imagine how they are doing it! But, they are!

My roommates are terrific, which is such a blessing, since we are literally together 24/7. They are in their 20's....one is from San Bernadino, California and the other is from New Castle, Delaware. Our class has 36 people in it--and they gave us "schedule" numbers: 1-36. My number is 15 and my roommates' numbers are 14 and 18. So, when the class is divided into 1-9, 10-18, etc...we are together. When we eat at the cafeteria, we are together. When we do our homework in our rooms, we are together. When we sleep, we are together. This morning, they have gone to the computer lab to finish an assignment, and I have a little time to myself in our room. While I wish there was a way I could have done this training from home, I cannot complain one bit about being here.

It snowed a lot yesterday...about 7 inches here in Chicago! After class yesterday, we took our first real break and went across the street to Freddie's Bar. "Across the street" is really quite a hike when you know that we are on the far side of the "campus" and the bar is on the way other side of this huge place. Since only the roads were cleared, and not the sidewalks, we had to walk in the snow to get there, which was no fun...my jeans and shoes were soaked by the time we got there...and I wasn't going to do it again, so when it was time to leave, I called for a $5 cab ride to go back to the Training Center.

Today we are going to the airport and the company hangar to "play" on airplanes. We have been studying narrow bodies and will spend all afternoon out there. Also, this week we had our first fitting for our uniforms and had a uniform regulation class yeserday. Our accessories: shoes, jewelry, even our lanyards, must be plain and conservative. Not even one bit of decoration.

And to my family and friends that I haven't been able to talk to this week--please know it is because I can't. There are very clear rules about where a cell phone can be used here...a breezeway between classes, the cafeteria and the only other place is our room. My roommates talk on their cells over each other, and it's just not my thing.

My laundry is in the dryer...I have to go and get that put away. I'll update when I can...