Melisa - The Emirates Chapter

The last post of this blog..

2010-10-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry again if I haven't updated the blog, for lets say more than 2 years! The main reason being is that we have been told its against company policy to have blogs online about the company. I've been thinking about starting a separate blog one day that is slightly more anonymous, but we'll see..

I am still in the job 3 years later and still having an awesome time overall! Have now visited 40 countries and still more to come throughout my life. I am truly grateful for the experience.

I'll post the address if ever I make a new blog.

Peace and love - Melisa

I'm baaack!! :)

2008-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Out of offical boredom at home while on my reserve month, I remembered that I have totally abandoned my blog and possibly dissapointed my regular readers out there! SORRY!!!

And now I have 4-5 months worth of goss to catch up on!! Tsk Tsk.. Just have a look at the list on the right of this page to see all the places I've flown to so far. Actually looking at it myself I'm suprised to see all the wonderful places I've experienced only in the last few months! :)

I love photographs, so I'll have to make up a little slide album again next time I log in for you to see :) From Helicopter rides over Niagara Falls in Canada to Scottish castles, Thai Buddahs, New Zealand mountains and Mauritian beaches :) Me and 8000+ other crew really are blessed to get paid to be in all of these places around the world!

This month I am currently on reserve, meaning on call/standby for work when someone calls in sick or not turn up for a flight. This occurs every 7 months as we have this bidding system where we are all placed into one of 7 groups, which rotates every month from lowest (reserve) to highest spot (where you get all the flight you request for). Every month we get to put in about 5 requests(bids) for where we want to go or to have certain days off or to avoid flying to certain regions. Usually we get everything we want when we are second top bid, then top bid about 50% of want we want, weird ey? When I was second top bid in Febuaray I finally got to go home to Brisbane for the first (and only) time since I moved to Dubai. It was great to see my family and friends again and seeing them again made me miss them even more! The flight to Brisbane is a nine day trip away from Dubai and is the longest trip on our roster. We fly to Singapore first and stay there for 24 hrs, then fly to Brisbane and stay there for 48 hours, then fly to Auckland, New Zealand and straight back to Brisbane and stay another 48 hours there, and 24 hours again in Singapore before heading back to Dubai. So being from Brisbane, its awesome having 4 days there!!!

So anything exciting or crazy happen yet while working? - Yes!! This job definately tests your patience, fitness and emotions! ok, mental as well during breifing as we all usually get quite nervous before being tested on our safety and first aid before every single flight. Some Pursers try to make your life hard and ask many difficult questions, but most are not so bad and they'll ask questions from a senario booklet they're given to ask us. Cause if you don't know your stuff, you get kick off the flight into trouble..

Earlier this month I was on my first day of standby, Airport standby from 6am-9am. I got pulled out to fly the Bangkok/Sydney/Auckland trip and I was really excited to get this trip on standby and because I had never been to Thailand before. I jumped up and down at the duty control desk when I was told and I quickly grabbed my cabin bag to head into briefing which was already half way done. We then all headed off to go out to the aircraft, and I remember chatting with the crew about wanting to go out once in Bangkok while we were doing the cabin preperations.. Boarded, took off as usual and started the lunch service as usual.. but towards the end of giving the meal trays to everyone, I looked up towards the back galley and could see a small crowd gathering in the back galley and the purser and a few crew speed walking up and down the isles. Finally one crew came to me and whispered in my ear that a man had collapsed and was unconcious but still breathing.. a few seconds after that, a P.A was made asking the passengers if there were a doctor on board. I started walking backwards with my cart up the aile looking at everyone seeing if anyone would respond, and suddenly a female to my left in her seat said to me she was an Emirates nurse, so I quicky said "We need you" and brought her to the back galley, where I also saw the casualty for the first time as well. The Purser asked her for ID which I should've asked earlier, so I ran back to grab her handbag and handed it over. After about 10 minutes (didn't stay in the back galley and continued with the service so the man wouldn't be over crowded and there were still people to feed),one of the crew whispered into my ear we were going to divert to Mumbai, India and that we had 20 minutes to clear and secure the cabin. Now 20 minutes might sound long to you, but try with 6 crew to get 310 people to stop eating, to clear up all of their trays and make sure everyone is strapped into their seats and the cabin safe for landing. We were extremely stressed out at this point and were running like Chickens with their heads chopped off to be ready on time to land! The cabin pressure felt really weird at this stage too cause we had to drop down from 38000 feet quite quickly and dump fuel over the sea to lighten the weight of the aircraft for landing.. But amazingly we did it, and the man was taken away in an ambulance with a sea of Indians around the Ambulance vehicle.. We found out the next day that the man had survived, which was good to hear.. but he shouldnt have been flying in the first place as he recently had multiple operations, as well as diabetic and a partial neck breather on top of that.. But the crew were awesome in dealing with the situation, and our first aid training had come of great use..

I'm off to bed now, il write again soon! :)

Sorry everyone!!

2008-02-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

I know.. I haven't posted here for almost 3 months now!! Yes, I've been busy/slack! I promise I'll write on here soon.. Been flying for 3 months now and overall its been great!! :) Have had some not-so-great moments too, but you'll have that in any job you're in.. So to keep me motivated - I remind myself that the benefits far outweigh the negatives! Thankyou to all of you who have writen lovely comments as well :)

Off to Zurich - Not! Now go to Vienna! :)

2007-12-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I had set my alarm to wake up at 5am to get ready for my flight to Zurich. I had set another alarm at 5.05am to make sure I woke up, but no.. I managed to fall asleep again! Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because at 5.15am my phone rang and it was duty control telling me my flight has been changed from Zurich to Vienna instead and my pick up 20mins after my original time.. The weather was going to be nearly the same and the layover there was also 24 hours, so I didn't have to repack at least. The reason for the swap was because of language requirements.. I don't know how that worked because on the Vienna flight we didn't have any German speaking crew on the flight..

The flight was full both ways and I was lucky to fly with one girl who started training the same 3 groups as me and one other girl from my Venice flight. As soon as we arrived into Vienna we went out to sightsee.. There weren't so many attractions, but it is such a beautiful place to walk around in. The weather was cold, 0 degrees Celsius but not snowing. All the stores were warm and had warm lighting, and there were a lot of lights decorating the streets. This is the first time I have felt the ambiance of a cold winter Christmas, and it does make it that bit more special. We also went to the Christmas night markets and inside this Cathedral and Palace. Afterwards I had a hot bubble bath when I got home and slept in a super soft bed. Then in the morning I had an all American breakfast which was definitely American sized! I then went out for a walk, but came back too late to the hotel and almost got into big trouble for not being down in the lobby early enough! The SFS even made me go to the flight deck to apologize to the Captian! Yikes!! But they were nice about it. On this trip I fell over twice on the street! The first time I did the splits and smashed my knee on the ground, and now I have a huge bruise on my knee. The second time was on the way back to the hotel before pick up time, and I slipped and fell on my butt along a crosswalk!! My legs are sooo sore now, from falling over and from flying. I noticed I have huge dark veins on my thighs now from flying, and I've only just started!! I really have to be careful now otherwise they will turn into Varicose veins.. :( Flying really does have an effect on your body without even realizing..

Here are the pics from Vienna :)

My first Layover and operational flight

2007-11-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

So my first ever layover was in Venice, Italy, and it is a pretty city indeed. Wasn't as colorful and romantic as I thought it would be because it was cold, cloudy and raining, but I would love to go back there during the summer time. I was not able to go on my gondola boat ride either, but we did catch a small ferry along the main canal into Roma station/area in Venice. Almost the entire crew and flight deck went out altogether to sight see, but we ended up losing most of the group when me, and two other crew Rami and Shae were taking photos and everyone had just suddenly disappeared! We spend about 30-40 mins searching the area for them, but they were no where to be seen. So we were getting worried about being lost on how to get back to our hotel afterwards, but luckily we kept a letter from the hotel in our handbag that had the address on there. And after dinner when walking back to catch the ferry we bumped into some of the group again :)

The flight on the way to Venice had light loads, which was great for me because it was my first operational flight. For the first time I was assigned to a door "R4" on the airbus aircraft and was responsible for most of the last cabin of economy. The Purser spent some time with me so I could practice opening and closing the door, and the door was soooo much heavier than it was in training college, I really had to pull really hard to get it closed. During the flight I pretty much jumped into doing everything so I could practice more on all parts of the service. On the way back though the flight was more intense as it was 100% full and there were a few problems with the aircraft which made us taxi back into the gate after departing because of some fuel indicator light in the flight deck not working. Then in the back galley there was a water leakage, so water was splashing everywhere and we had to shut off the main water valve. Although it was a full flight, all the passengers were pretty much behaved.. I did cry after the main meal service because I had made some small mistakes and some of the crew were talking to me in a frustrated and bossy way.. But in the end it was because they were feeling stressed and me being the new one not understanding some of the things they were telling me to do.. When I was crying though the Purser said that I was doing an excellent job, that I'm involving myself in everything and people who have been working there for years make mistakes all the time so I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Hearing that did make me feel alot better, as well as eating some chocolate Ice-cream, hehehe :)

Here are some of the pics of Venice.. Venice felt like an weathered fishing community with old but interesting buildings.. It felt so nice to smell crisp cold clean air with the smell of grass and seeing the lush green grass and tress to and from the airport and hotel. It was a nice change from the heat sand and dust of Dubai and for the first time I actually enjoyed the cold weather :)

MY 2nd Supi (training) Flight

2007-11-16T07:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had my second supi flight to Karachi, Pakistan.. The flight each way was just under two hours with a one hour on ground in KHI. Again, it was a busy flight and everything had to be completed in about one hour before top of decent into KHI and DXB. We were short of crew and our SFS (senior flight Steward) never turned up! So a lovely girl from Business class had to be our SFS for the flight and she did a great job. Now for those not flying you are probably wondering what a SFS does.. Well the order of command on a flight is 1. Captain 2. First officer, 3. Purser (who is the head of the cabin and cabin crew on the flight. The purser usually stays at the front of the cabin). 4. SFS (2nd in charge of the cabin under the purser. Usually stays at the back galley and is the galley operator there. Us economy crew report to the SFS most of the time. 5. Cabin crew etc etc...

This time I didn't get to go into the cockpit and I was positioned at one of the back jumpseats, but not assigned to a door yet.. Now those not flying yet again are probably wondering what I mean by that.. So in simple terms, each and every door in an aircraft is looked after by one cabin crew member, who is responsible for guarding that door and operating it in an emergency. Also the door position you are assigned to allocates what area of the cabin you are responsible for looking after as well..

Anyways, back to the KHI flight.. again I just jumped right into the service again, doing the main meal carts, clearance, hot towels, securing, distributing toys to the kids etc.. its good to get your hands dirty right away during your supi flights, so when you do your first operational flight, you know a little bit more of what you are doing compared to if you only just observe. Tomorrow I am on standby from 6am-6pm at home, so basically I have to wait by the phone at home for 12 hours to be called out for a flight (if someone calls in sick). So I have no idea where I'll be at tomorrow, and again I am nervous because this will be my first operational flight! Fingers crossed its a layover!

Answering questions time from my fellow blog readers: Money - I didn't bring enough when I came here, In fact I am broke!! Only have enough money to eat at the moment till payday comes again at the end of the month. When you first arrive here, you are given an advance of 2500dhs, where 2000dhs is salary deducted, 1000dhs each pay. We get paid once a month. Obviously during training you only get the basic salary (the amount on your contracts), then with deduction from your advance plus telephone and vaccinations, it doesn't leave you with much at all. So if you are joining EK crew soon, my advice is to save up and bring as much money as you can so you can live comfortable.

2nd question: Nails - I seriously have no nails and would love to get acrylics, but many have advised to try and avoid it as when you are working in the galley (the aircraft kitchen), nails can get very easily broken there.. So give it a go if you want..

3rd question: Accommodation - I love my location, at the center of Dubai. My building is older than the others, but it has features that the newer ones on my street don't have, which is a balcony, windows that open and a large living room. But others have been placed in apartments that are far from everything, and even though they are nice and new, getting a cab and going to the groceries are quite a task for them without owning a car..

4th question: Uniform - we get two jackets, 4 bottoms (skirts and pants, you must have at least one of each style. eg. if you fly into Saudi Arabia you must wear pants as they find the skirt to revealing), and 4-5 tops. One belt, one hat, 4 tabbards (aprons), one cardigan (but can only wear it under the jacket), and one pair of heels and one pair of flat cabin shoes. I'm glad we get to wear flat shoes in the cabin as its much more comfortable to work in.

Ok thats all the questions I'll answer for now! :) Till next time - mwah!

My very first flight!

2007-11-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

It is now 4.30am and I only just got home about 1.5 hours ago from my first flight as cabin crew! It was a good experience...a busy one too. The most exciting part was when we got to stay in the cockpit for take-off and landing on the B777-300ER aircraft :) The view is much different from the front and felt much more smoother than if you were sitting in the aircraft from the wing backwards.

I was together with my batchmate Assia, so it was good that we were able to be nervous together, but as soon as we told the crew that it was our Supi flight, they made us feel comfortable and welcome. During the service in the cabin, we pretty much jumped right into it and did the main meal carts with the clearance etc.. Although when standing in back galley everyone was zooming around doing their thing, and me and Assia were a bit confused on how we could help. The flight overall was good but really busy.. From DXB to Istanbul it was about 4.5 hours, and we were on ground for about 1 hour or less in IST - We didn't even step out of the aircraft. When the whole service had been completed we were standing in the back galley quickly eating our dinner, quickly shoving it into my mouth in 10 minutes. There wasn't much time to rest at all!

Next flight will be a turnaround to Karachi on Thursday.. Apparently that is a really quick flight there and back on the Airbus fleet. Until till then, I'm just going to rest and study! Ciao!

Finished with training - Yiihaaaa! :)

2007-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

Finally Finished with training!! What a relief!! The last two weeks we have been doing service training and there were so many things to remember, but it was enjoyable :) I really will miss my batchmates, because we have become family over the past 6 weeks and now we will be off around the world at different times.. So of course after our graduation ceremony we celebrated!! The day after a whole lot of us went and did a desert safari, where we drove in a landcruiser really fast on these steep sand dunes in the desert, and ate delicious food, rode on a camel and had photos with a Falcon and in local dress (the Abaya and Dishdash). We had a lot of Fun and its really worth doing if you are visiting Dubai. Not really recomended if you get motion sickness cause i felt dizzy for a little while...lol

On Monday will be my first Supernumeray (training) flight to Istanbul, Turkey. I am really nervous about it, but at least I will be together with one of my classmates Assia. Then my second supi flight will be going to Karachi, Pakistan. Both of those flights are turnarounds, where I land then come straight back to Dubai.

Here are some pics from graduation and service training :)

Finished with First Aid.. Now onto Service

2007-10-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

First of all I want to say Thankyou to all of you who leave me lovely comments of support here on this blog! I would like to individually Thank each of you,but as you can imagine I am really busy at the moment.. And Hi to all of you who regularly read my blog as well :)

Last week I finished off my one week First Response training and I found this to be the most enjoyable subject so far :) More so because we had wonderful trainers who made it interesting, and especially Wayne who kept us laughing all the time. It was a lot more practical as well, and I find it easier to learn something practically over the theory side of things. The other two groups said their training was boring, but for us is was a lot of fun! The trainers you get really do make a big difference in how enjoyable the class is.

We got to learn all sorts of things, from delivering babies, how to try and save lives, treat those with medical conditions and dealing with a death situation on board. Of course we are not doctors, but when you are thousands of feet in the air you are the first who can help in a medical emergency. And when we were tested on the last day, I got 100%in everything! Woohoo!!! :)

Now I'm currently learning about service, which takes up the last two weeks of our training. Information over load again, but looking forward to the day we finish and start flying! Just check out my roster, and if it doesn't change, my first layover will be in Venice Italy!! I always dreamed of going there and in a few weeks time it will come true!! This is now my motivator for when things get tough during service training.. :)

Here are some pics from 1st aid training.. Enjoy! :)

Half way there!

2007-10-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Finally finished with Safety and Emergency Procedures! Managed to pass all my exams for both the Airbus and Boeing Aircrafts :) Feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! Our trainers were pretty awesome and they wrote all nice things in my progress report :) They really monitor EVERYTHING you do! Who you interact with, your attitude, grooming and all the subject stuff too of course.

Today we did security training...how to pin and tie down aggressive passengers, dealing with Hijackers etc.. It was fun doing the physical stuff! During the theory parts I was falling asleep again! Only had a one day weekend and tomorrow we start on doing Aviation First Aid for one week. Hmmm if a medical emergency ever occurred on one of my flights, I hope there will be a doctor or nurse around to help!!

That pretty much it for now.. I have been going out a little bit during my time off (not much of it, but gotta make the most out of it!) And Dubai is quite an interesting place :) There are misconceptions about the East in the West..I can't speak for the whole region, but Dubai is a really modern multicultural place, with a real fusion of west and east put together :)

Cabin Crew Misconceptions... etc :)

2007-10-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Whoever says being a flight attendant is an easy job about pushing carts down an aisle are EXTREMLY WELL AND TRULY WRONG!!!!!!! The past week we have been training on Saftey and Emergency procedures on the Airbus fleet, and the amount of work, steps and saftey checks just for an aircraft to fly is amazing!!! It is far from just serving food thousands of feet in the air, in fact that is only just one part of everything you have to do from when the aircraft is parked at the airport till it reaches the other end/destination.

Since we have started SEP training, it has been long hours and once getting home, 3-4 hours worth of homework and study. Had a written test yesterday on General Safety and I was the first one in the class to finish and I got 100%! So happy with mysself!! On Sunday we will then have our A330/340 practical doors exam then on Monday a bigger writen test on everything we have learned so far..I'm quite nervous about, at the same time my brain and body needs a break so I'll study for it tomorrow and just rest for today (its the weekend here fri/sat).

The training college is just amazing! The building is really brand new and the flight simulators just blow your mind away! For a number of days we trained on the Airbus 330/340 simulator and we experienced turbulence, decompression, takeoff and crash landing, evacuation, fighting fires, arming/disarming doors and pretend service. It really looks like a real cabin inside, but a miniture version with a few rows of business class and economy. There are also slides attached and we got to slide down them once for practice. You can feel the heat burn up on your legs when you jump down those things!

We also trained on the slide/raft when there is a ditching (crashing on water). We had to jump into this swimming pool with our life vests on, learned about surviving out in the ocean and how to climb up in to the raft, which was really hard!! One girl couldnt do it, so the made her repeat the whole week of training for SEP's with another training group that started a week later than us.. poor thing..

Then we were taught how to fight a fire yesterday, and its suprising the statistics of how many people try to start a fire in the lavatories on aircrafts every week: 20 - 35 times a weeks!!!! And most of them are smokers who can't help themselves but to light up in the lavatory and think they can get away with it! The aircaft can burn down within mintutes and Kill everyone, but they don't care!!! So we were taught how to deal with these situations as well..

So many people have asked me for tips on getting the job as well.. You have to be well presented, have customer service/airline/hospitality experience behind you, although those in my group have come from all different backgrounds. During the interviews you need to be relaxed and happy yet professional and confident but not overbearing. I had been to so many Cabin crew interview so by the time I did this last interview for EK, I was already really relaxed and confident and over prepared with answers for all the questions they were going to throw at me. All the answers come from experience, so my last job as ground staff really helped me to gain that experience.

And another question I was asked was about how to take care of your skin.. well when we did the grooming class they taught us that we should wash, tone and moisterize the skin as well as exoflate or facial mask every so often as well. The EK grooming class was sponsored by Clinique, so we used all of those products...but you don't have to. And the RED lipstick.. well it is really bright and I'm still trying to get used to it. Most of the girls in training hate it! But its compulsory for Emirates to wear it.

I'm really happy and appreciative that I am here training for this job.. Emirates really have taken care of every little detail and really do spoil us with everything they give us :) They pay for the accomodation, most bills, transport etc.. then after 6 months our families are about to get cheap flights around the world.. You would be crazy not to take this job/opportunity!!!

Starting to settle in. Training getting intense

2007-10-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I don't really have much time to write here as I have a lot of homework to do and I am at a very expensive internet place..

Here are some pics to show you for the meantime :) Its my accomodation and training college.. Enjoy!

First Few days in Dubai..

2007-10-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Finally got some internet access!!! I really wanted to post all the new pics I have taken here in Dubai so far, but the pc doesnt have the camera memory card slip/socket that I need...

The flight from BNE to DXB via singapore was interesting.. On the first flight I was crying when walking on board and told one of the crew that I'm on my Cabin Crew joiners flight to Dubai.. She then later on introduced me to all the cabin crew in economy and I hung around the back galley for awhile chatting with all the crew. They kept on offering me drink after drink and were trying to get me drunk!! Haha they said its the tradition to get drunk on the first flight there, but I said there's no way that I want to arrive into Dubai looking bad!!! They also gave me cakes and Ice cream from Business class and it was interesting to hear them talk about the 'realities' of the job which I'm sure I'll experience once I start flying...

The second flight I just rested..then I arrived into Dubai at 6am on Saturday.. It was BOILING HOT when I stepped outside of the airport, and that was at 7.30 am!!!! There were actually two others from Brisbane who were on the same flights as me joining EK as well.. We also met about 5 other Aussies and one from Kenya who arrived at the same time.

We were then brought to our accomodation on a mini bus, and I got an apartment that is right in the middle of Sheik Zayed Road, which is basically the main road in the centre of Dubai. I got an old apartment building called Al Gahdier there were a few others in the same training batch as me who are on different floors in the building. I have an two bedroom apartment and I have yet to meet my flatmate!! She has been away, I think on annual leave but she did leave me a little note and 3 bottles of mineral water as she said the water is not safe to drink here. I then spent the whole day just staying in my apartment as I was jetlagged and had to unpack my belongings. There was also a welcome pack in the room consisting of some small basic foods like crakers, instant noodles and coffee and also pots, pans, cutlery, an ironing board, toilet paper etc..

On the Sunday orientation started.. The shuttle bus came by to pick us up at 0650 am to take us to the training college, which I must say is pretty amazing! Can't wait to post up the pics soon! The first day we had our uniform fitting, orientation talks etc.. It was quite a long day though, but its something I have to get more used to as all training days are going to be like that. There were 3 training groups all starting at the same time with about 18 people in each. We are combined for some classes and others we are just alone. There are soo many trainees walking around the training college as 3 batches of 18 start every week!!! So you can just image the MASSIVE amounts of recruiting Emirates have been doing!!!

The second day our group did the groomimg course and this was the first time we were able to wear our full Uniform! I was excited to wear the uniform as I've been dreaming about it for ages, and it finally had come true! In grooming class we learned about the uniform standards, how to cleanse and take care of our skin, how to put on make up and wear the uniform. We also got a lecture about healthy eating and fitness, then they measured our height and weight to make sure we were within the weight/height restrictions.. I think they were teaching in the nicest possible way to tell us - Don't get Fat and stay fit so you are fit to do the job! Its true though.. it is a physically and emotionally demanding job. We then went to have our ID pics taken and had a blood test.. I'm so sick of being jabbed with needles!!!!

Then today we spent the whole day at the medical clinic/hospital. We had talks from the welfare and medical clinic department. Then again had to do a urine test, other tests, vaccinations, blood test etc... So it was pretty full on!! They even gave us a talk about sex and diseases, drink spiking etc!!

My apartment is so quiet and its really depressing everytime I go back there. So I am quite happy to be busy all the time instead of just sitting in my room like a vegetable. I have no tv, microwave or toaster, so eventully I'll have to buy some applicances to keep me entertained. My fellow training friends have apartments with these appliances because their current flatmates have already set up the apartment with those items, but strangely my flatmate hasnt. My apartment is fully furnished and my flatmate had kept it really clean with South African Inspired decorations.

Hopefully I'll go on the net again tomorrow as I have an early finish.. I feel so disconnected from the world at the moment because I have no moblie connection and no internet at home...

Farewell Australia!

2007-09-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

Going to leave home for the airport now.. if feels so surreal and bitter sweet..

Love you mum and dad if you are reading this..

Love all of my friends here in Brisbane.. you know who you are :)

Dubai here I come!! :)

Wraping things up in Oz..

2007-09-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

I resigned from Virgin Blue approximately 2 weeks ago and only two days left to go before I leave for Dubai! Time has surely gone by fast!! Here are some pictures from my last day of work and some from a few months ago..

When I moved back to Australia just a little over 3 years ago, I was so set on becoming an international flight attendant! So I first took up a job as a waitress working in a restaurant (and felt like crap at first because I used to work on TV in the Philippines and went from having my makeup done and signing autographs to scraping peoples dirty plates and smelling like rotten food after work..) to gain some customer service experience and as a sales assistant in Bra's and Things. While working I studied for my Diploma in Tourism Management so I could get the education background behind me. When I graduated I was fortunate to get a job straight away as Ground Crew (guest services) for Virgin Blue Airlines in Brisbane. Overall I enjoyed the job and I was able to meet many wonderful people and staff. :) In between all of this, I had gone to over 11 interviews for various airlines applying to be Cabin crew.. With Emirates, it took me FOUR times until I finally got through, waiting patiently 6 months in between each interview! I never even passed the first round the first 3 times, so when I finally did manage to get through, I was so so so grateful to get past each stage of the recruitment process.. The difference between the first and last one.. well I gained a lot more work experience related to the role and the recruiters saw my determination because this is what I had wanted for such a long time!

And now I'm so happy I finally got there!! So for those who have tried and haven't got through - Don't give up!!! I really have learned the last three years that if you really want something, you have to be determined, passionate, patient and work hard, and believe me it really is so much more rewarding in the end!

2007-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm now officially on the count down in finishing off with Virgin Blue Airlines where I am Airport Ground Crew (Check-in), and my move over to Dubai on Sept 28, '07 to work for Emirates!! Can't wait! :) I've started to go through my belongings, throwing out so many things because I'm only allowed to bring 50kg!!! I'm sure I'll accumulate many clothes again as I've heard the shopping in Dubai is great!! And it will be shopping galore with my future trips to Asia! I find here in Australia things are a bit over priced and all the stores sell the same sort of things...

I'm new to this blogger site and new to blogging, so hopefully I'll keep at it :)