Just drop my wings into the mail already!!

A very quick update:

We did our official "get signed off on the legal FAA stuff" flight yesterday and it was a very good day for me and my two classmates--we passed it all easily, and had a lot of fun doing it.

Today we had the day off--and slept in. Later, I took my roomies to the mall and dropped them off, ran a couple of errands, then came back and packed my car up for my trip home on Thursday afternoon.

Tomorrow, we tour the place where the Crew Schedulers work, then meet with the Union reps and have our graduation rehearsal. One of my roomies' father and brother are flying in from California, so we plan on going to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner--then to Freddie's across the street for a few drinks. On Thursday, we have graduation in the morning, then do some Human Resources stuff in the afternoon, then we are done.

Enough already! We are ready to go home! I don't need the ceremony--I just want my life back!! Drop my wings into the mail, so I can go home!

I keed, I keed!

Nerds in Narita

Konichiwa from Narita! We had a great flight over yesterday--on the 777--I worked in coach going over and had a blast with the other Flight Attendants. They showed all of us soooo much, and did a great job with our passengers, and we all had a fun flight.

We arrived around 3:30 p.m. which was 1:3o in the morning for us--I was exhausted and ready to go to sleep right away. One of the Flight Attendants reminded us, "Do NOT touch the bed!" So, after checking into the hotel, which is near the airport (I can see it out of my window) most of us took a quick shower and met downstairs for a drink.

The little cafeteria in the hotel is for crews only, I think...it has a little cheaper menu items than the regular restaurant--I had chicken teriyaki. There is a beer dispensing machine that, after you pay the cashier, you just put your cold mug under the spout and press a button. The machine picks up the glass, turns it to a perfect angle, and pours a beer. Then, it straightens it up and dispenses one last "splurt" to leave a foamy head. And, it was a pretty good little beer--but I don't drink much beer, so, I only had a half of one.














































Then we headed into town. With the exception of the airport, there are no ATMs that take our American ATM cards. And, the place we were going didn't take credit cards. Fortunately, there was a change machine at the hotel, which gave yens for dollars. I only had $20 on me--and had a few yen to go out with. But, I'll know next time to get cash at the airport, and not count on the hotel to have an ATM machine for overseas cards.

We ended up at a place called "The Cage." This is a karaoke bar that is not much bigger than my hotel room! Other crews from other airlines showed up--we partied with a FedEx crew and a Qantas crew. (FedEx=no fun, Qantas="Oh no, we're gonna get in trouble here!") One of our Flight Attendants, John, loves to sing karaoke...and he did--well as all the other people that were there. I am the only one in the joint, besides the "Master" that didn't sing. (The Master is the bartender.) Here he is wearing a Captain's hat from the now defunct Aloha Airlines.























John with Frieda, a lady that works there and her job is to sing songs with people when they want her to....

Hector crooning a Billy Joel tune....

John and "Vinam, the Phenom"

John goofing while Vinam channels Frank Sinatra with his rendition of "My Way."

Jonas met his fashion twin half a world away!













And this is Keelan. My precious, precious Keelan. He really got into his song...


























We all had fun, and took a taxi back to the hotel where I fell asleep immediately, after being awake for 34 hours.

And, this morning is quiet for me. We have a 2:30 bus to the airport....most of my classmates have gone off to the Temple for a little touring today. Instead of the sight seeing, I ordered room service and am watching the Charlie Gibson on the news. Add a nap before my shower, and that sounds like a very good plan for me!

There is a god....

We have our Internet back as of tonight...hallelujah!!

Tomorrow, I am going to Tokyo on my international training flight, along with 4 other classmates. I am very excited about it! I am glad to have an opportunity to put all the stuff we have been learning for the last 5 weeks together and to practical use...excited to get flying again...and excited to be going to Japan for the first time!

Some of my classmates are planning a full calendar for the 25 hours we will be there. They have plans to go to a karoake bar near the hotel after we arrive, and get up early the next morning and go to the Shinto Temple. I know myself enough to know I won't get up early enough to get back early enough to get ready to fly for 14 hours. (I also know my classmates and figure after a night at the karoake bar, they will sleep in late and not make it to the Temple the next day before going back to the airport to go home! ) So, my shopping may be limited to the airport...and that's okay--for now!

My Tokyo plans include a nice dinner with a couple of adult beverages and a big old bathtub to soak in (since all we have here at the Training Center is a teeny shower stall) and sleeping in....just what this old gal needs this week.

When we get back from Japan, it will be Friday. We have Saturday off, with a big test on Sunday; followed by our final exam on Monday; followed by actual flights on Tuesday with an instructor. Graduation is Thursday, and I'll drive home that afternoon--and hopefully get home late that night/early Friday morning to my own bed. It seems so close--and so far away....it can't come soon enough!

Cruel, cruel world!

It's a cruel, cruel world out there! We have been without Internet access for the last week in the Training Center! Oh, we can get the company's website, no problemo, but no outside sites. I have been suffering withdrawal symptoms like crazy! I am up this morning to get my "fix"!

Norm flew in yesterday to visit--I picked him up from the airport after my last class. We headed out to a terrrifc restaurant called Wildfire. Our dinners were delicious, the service was great, and the atmosphere was like an old dinner club. We loved it! Mostly though, I just enjoyed being with him. We were happy to find out that this small chain of eight steakhouses has a location that is not far from where we live...so, we plan on going back very soon!

I have spent the last two weeks getting up at 0415 each morning--and I have the opportunity to sleep in today in this gorgeous bed here at the Marriott Schaumberg, next to my snoozing man, and I am wide awake. Don't know if it's because of the excitement of checking my e-mail and getting online that has me up early, or the new bad habit of getting up so darn early. I'm gonna hope it is the Internet addiction being served!

Norm brought supplies for me on this visit...my battery charger for my camera, my mail, and (most importantly!) THREE People magazines! (Yeah, I subscribe--it's my thing--leave me alone!) I feel rejuvenated! Who needs a spa, when I can get more tidbits on Britney and Beyonce??

Training has been a whirlwind. We finished up the technical portion--the doors on all the airplanes, fire fighting, first aid, security--tons of stuff we had to memorize verbatim, plus the evacuation commands associated with each aircraft. It was a fun two weeks--if you're into pain! Now, we are back to focusing on service. This past Friday, we studied our First Class service--which is elegant, and consists of many elements. I volunteered to work in the galley--there is so much to learn and I want to know it all--and, overall, I did a pretty good job--no one was waiting for me to catch up to them. Au contraire, mon amie! Gallerina was right on time--and we all ate delicious First Class meals, served from our 747 training mock up. And, I'm fairly confident in saying that once I master this, the galley will be my favorite position. I felt right at home there, not overwhelmed--even though it was my first time. I know it will be more intense when real life happens, but, I'm ready for it. It was fun!

On Wednesday, we leave for our International training flights....drum roll....I am going to Narita (Tokyo) Japan! Woo-hoo! We have 25 hours there--and my plans are simple: sleep, eat, shop. I won't venture into the city of Tokyo with so little time--but, wonder if there are any markets near the airport? So, to my Flight Attendant friends out here in blogworld--where do you go when in NRT? What is a good buy? Any "seasoned" advice for a newbie? Also, I am hoping to work in the Business galley going over, and Coach galley coming back--what do you think/recommend? We'll be on the 777. (Not sure when I can get back online--I get my e-mails on my phone, so any comments that are posted, I'll get an e-mail and can read them that way.)

On the family front--my Dad is doing very, very well since his quadruple bypass surgery a few weeks ago. He is chompin' at the bit to be back up to speed! He sounds so good on the phone--and was actually "chatty" the last time I spoke with him. That is not his usual MO, but, I suspect he is going stir crazy at home, and he was just a captive audience that day!

My son has a new job--he's going to be lifeguarding at Ocean Breeze Water Park. Chase will be 18 in three weeks...and starts his training next week. I wish I could say that he wants this job so he can help families have a great, safe vacation--but, I suspect it has a little more to do with the laaaa-dies in bikinis....

Eleven days till graduation--and going back to "my life." It's starting to go by fast, now!

Spring came to me!

I arrived "home" to the Training Center this afternoon to find this stunning bouquet of tulips waiting for me! Norm is the sweetest man! Some days I wonder how I am so blessed with him in my life! I feel like I am the luckiest girl on the planet!

Friday Harbor, revisited....

Stew school was a lot, today...reviewed all the doors we have to arm/disarm/open, survival, ditching, and the slides and slide rafts. If you aren't in the business, it doesn't mean much, but if you know what I'm talking about, you know it was a busy, intense day. We started at 6:00 a.m....got back to our room at 4 p.m. and I took a three hour nap. Which explains being up this "late" (9:16 p.m.) and on my computer.

I spent a few minutes just perusing a few pictures on my computer...

Last year, Norm and I went to Seattle. We ended up there because we were unable to get to where we planned on going to--South America--using our airline benefits! Weather in the Northeast jammed the system on the days we wanted to travel, so we had to develop our "Plan B"! You gotta be really, really flexible to stomach standby travel!

Anyway, we went to Seattle, because it was just about the only place we could get to that the flights looked good and we wanted to go there.

We drove up to the San Juan Islands. Accessible only by ferry, these are beautiful jewels of islands about an hour north of Seattle. Here are just a few pictures of the gorgeous view from our hotel room in Friday Harbor, at the Friday Harbor House.

















This is the Anacortes Ferry that goes back and forth to the mainland.

It was a lovely few days, and I smile whenever I look at these pictures.

A little homesick tonight....

Norm sent me pictures of my long-awaited spring flowers--you can't really see all the long, lovely pink tulips very well....but, of course, by the time I get home on May 1st, they will all be gone. My backyard flowers are also blooming and look beautiful, too. Looking at these pictures literally made me burst into tears! (I'm done now!)

He also sent me pictures of my kitty cats--but for some reason, Blogger is being a little finicky...and I can't post them!

Here at Stew School, all is well. We have started the technical part of our training, which includes eight days of intense, verbatim and hands-on training. Saturday, I "work" a flight to MHT, and we have Sunday off. Having Sunday off simply means it is the day we'll spend jockeying for a washer and dryer, while studying our commands. Maybe I'll get to sleep in on my day off--since our school days are starting around 4 a.m. Ugh!

SAFTing, SASTing and a very long week!

Yesterday we learned all about serving in Business Class....SAFTing and SASTing our way through it. Uh, what's that? You aren't familiar with SAFTing? Well, it is Spoon And Fork Technique and Spoon And Spoon Technique, where one uses a spoon and fork together, like tongs to serve...bread, fruit, cheese...I guess an old dog CAN learn new tricks!

This week, we played on a 747 and a 777. I had never been on a 747, so that was way cool!

We are starting our 4th week tomorrow. And, to celebrate, we'll start with not one, but TWO quizzes!

Here are some pictures from this week:





Stefie, Kristian and Taneesha...my roommates. Well, Kristian is in our room so much, we refer to her as our "fourth roommate."












Remle, Ondreya, Kristine, Yao and Kristina--on our way to the hangar.















Claudia, Denise, Brandi, Cherie, Imed, and Steve












Aaron, Keelan (standing) Jonas and Emily on the 777











crew rest area on the 777













Next week, we start the intense part of the training (as if the last three weeks have been a cakewalk!!)