Happy Birthday :)

12-2-11

So I mentioned the my people thing… and it’s weird, a month ago I was crying about you guys…and in about another month I may be shedding a few more tears as I leave-who woulda thought? Just a short story about how much a simple thing can change your whole day and outlook on an experience…

The crew mess-where we eat everyday is run by the extremely chipper, singing and kind Manny from the Philippines. Since the very first day I arrived, he’s known me by name and told me to smile every time I walked by (which by the way-is an automatic mood changer) we quickly became friends and now I look forward to going to the crew mess just to see him smiling, or singing…he sings a lot too and is pretty good, that always brightens my day. Not only does he sing, but he finds me bananas and yogurt from a secret hiding space in the back because he knows how much I love them! The night before my birthday, I walked into the mess around 10 after work and he reminded me that I would be 21 in a few hours (I had actually forgotten that my birthday was the next day-but I did remember that I was 23 and NOT 21-I am so much more mature than 21 haha)…I corrected him with the fact that I am turning 24! But anyways…we talked a little, and out of no where he pulls a bottle of 2003 Shiraz and hands it to me as my present. I forgot my birthday was even coming up and someone had the heart to give me a present… this just made me really happy, so I thought I’d share-happy birthday to me …and to Levar, my birthday buddy J

A little bit of WORK...

11-20-12

Work…

Everyone reading this blog is probably starting to think that I am a resident on the ship rather than crew! So… I figured I’d let you guys in on a little bit of my daily stuff and the people I work with.  Turns out…that eventually, you find people, that slowly become “your people” everywhere-all different kinds, and people that hold a different purpose in your life…but nevertheless, I’ve found a few of them ;) (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, refer back to the “my people” post)

I work mostly in F&B (food and Beverage) Administration….with 3 extremely entertaining bosses- Ludovic the F&B Manager from France, Executive Chef Peter from Germany and Bruno Senior Restaurant Manager from Portugal…along with them I semi report to the Beverage Manager Marinela from Bulgaria and Hotel Stores Manager Mateo from England/South Africa- so as you can see there is a pretty wide cultural range here. It’s been quite interesting getting to understand the different cultural quirks and personalities…morning meetings are sometimes very entertaining. My job-along with Kari who is a former Auburn grad as well (War Eagle!) is basically organizing, communicating and running the F&B show lol. No-but seriously, anything and everything that goes on behind the scenes in our department goes through the F&B Admin-so that’s all restaurant reservations, special restaurant events, private events, last minute orders (which we get a lot of), monthly onboard calendar-this is my “baby”-I am in charge of making sure this it is always correct and updated for all events going on in the ship whether that be in enrichment, conferences, f&b, bars, youth, spa, port of call-you name it. I handle a lot of the planning that goes on before these events can ever happen or be approved to happen…and then I’m in charge or creating all special menu designs. I also work alongside the editors on all the daily, weekly and monthly newsletters that go out to the guests…so I get to do a little creative writing too J It may not sound like a lot-but somehow your days fly by full of things to do-and my bosses, well I also do whatever they ask/tell/want/need for that day at that time-which can also change at the drop of a hat. A really fun part of my job is food tastings J before all new menus or interviews with a chef-I get to taste food that I could never afford…I’m just sayinJ

One morning before work... 

Me & my roomie after morning meeting! (It was a little sunny) 

After a food tasting in Tides on Deck 12 

I’m loving work, it’s extremely detail oriented and I get to make lists! Some of you know my obsession with making and crossing off items on a list. So that’s it…in a nutshell, there’s a lot more, but I don’t want to bore you. but yes-besides all my adventures which I literally squeeze into my day, I am working, jussstt incase you were wondering.