Induction Day

Today was my first official day as an employee of Emirates Airline... "Induction Day". I was so worried that I'd sleep in and miss the bus at 6:30 am, but I ended up waking up every hour the entire night. I had such a hard time falling back asleep that I finally got up at 4 am and decided to start getting ready rather than lying restless in bed. I hopped into the shower where I quickly washed my hair, shivering the entire time. In order to have a hot shower here, you need to flick the switch outside of the washroom that says "Water Heater On". I hope that I will remember that for next time. Ryan called at 5 am as he'd promised... my very own wake up call. Fortunately, I was already awake so I was able to talk to him a few minutes longer. His phone bill is about to increase significantly, but I guess he's saving money by not going on weekly dates... not to mention, he is likely eating far more healthy without my negative dietary influences. After a few minutes of conversation, he was off to the gym as I applied layers of makeup... or so it seemed. The "less is more" when it comes to makeup thing really doesn't apply to flight attendants. Foundation, blush, and mascara are mandatory, and soon I'll have to accept the fact that red lipstick is also a part of the uniform. Bright red. I haven't reached that stage yet, so I put on the basics, pulled my hair back into the almightly flight attendant bun, and headed downstairs to wait for the bus. I was surprised and excited to find about 10 other people sitting in the lobby also waiting for the bus. I didn't realize that so many of us were all in the same apartment building, so it was a bit of a relief. We chatted away excitedly, and I met a girl from Argentina, Ireland, and Australia. Our bus finally arrived and we soon realized that we wouldn't all fit on just one. We tried cramming into it, but the driver made half of the people get out, and we drove away with 1/4 of the seats empty. We were quite confused, but glad that we weren't the ones left behind. We pulled up to another crew accomodation building and more people got on the bus before we proceeded to drive in circles for 30 minutes. At least it felt like it. We finally arrived at Emirates Training College, hopped off the bus, and stood for about 5 minutes before the driver told us to get back onboard and we continued to drive in circles. It felt like an hour, but we eventually reached Emirates Headquarters and were met inside and directed upstairs. It was a day of paperwork, as we filled out various medical and HR documents, signed our official contracts, met our Ab Initio training groups (I'm batch 1459... and I'm told that I'll get to know my group members so well in the next 6 weeks that they may as well be family) and listened to hours of talks covering everything from fire safety to acceptable image standards. We also recieved a pay advance, which is greatly needed at this point. I have been living off of snacks for a few days and I'm looking forward to buying groceries. I'm still struggling with converting the currency from Dirhams to Canadian Dollars, but I'm sure I'll understand eventually. If not, I get paid in Dirhams so I might as well get used to shopping in them as well!

It was a long day and the effects of jet lag were felt among the entire group. During our fire safety presentation, we caught several people struggling to stay awake, and even took a picture of our new friend, Dan, from New Zealand as he slept with his mouth wide open. It's going to be a long, tough 6 1/2 weeks.

At 4 pm we were finally done, and free to go home. I was happy to discover that my flatmate Marsha was home, and we introduced ourselves and talked for awhile. She has been here for nearly 3 years, and she is super nice. She gave me the run down on training, the pros and cons of the job, and became my best friend when she gave me the password for wireless internet.... Finally!! I proceeded to spend the next hour sending emails, catching up on Facebook, and being my usual nerdy self. Ryan called me at 6 pm, just as he was waking up to get ready for work. This time difference is so confusing sometimes. We talked for awhile before he realized that he was going to be late for work, yet again, so I let him go and ventured out of my room, where Marsha and her friend were eating pasta and were kind enough to share. Although I've been invited to several parties, I'm settling in for what is sure to be an early night... I'm exhausted! Friday here is the same as Sunday in Canada, thus no training. It feels like a great day for the beach!