Have a Whale of a Day

It definitely didn't take me long to get the hang of all the procedures and such at the gift store. I worked the last few days and met a lot of people. For the most part I work with people who are either older or younger than me. I can name maybe two who are my age. I wish there were more college students actually working with me. The people I live with make up for the social interaction I don't get at work. My only struggle at work is that I don't speak Spanish. EVERYONE speaks Spanish!! My coworkers and the guests, even my manager will be speaking at me in Spanish. I'm always paranoid, wondering if they are all talking about me! HAHA! I need to start learning some basic vocabulary, so when the guests ask me a question I can help. I've encountered one couple where my three years of French came in handy. The other major group of people that visit SeaWorld are from England. Almost every guest who comes in has an English accent, (other than the Spanish speaking guests of course.)
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting my Aunt Lorraine and Auntie Debbie at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. What a beautiful place!! Outside her patio were giraffes, wildebeest, gazelle, and other safari creatures. Disney really does go all out. The three of us had dinner at their signature restaurant, Jiko. It was delicious. Today was another day working the Wild Creations counter. It was slow again today in the park, I'm anxious for it to pick up, time might go buy a little faster. My favorite part of the night is after 6pm. A DJ comes and places music right outside our store, his show is called After Dark. Tons of guests gather right at our door to dance and sing with the show. Its funny to watch all the little ones, (and the adults) have a dance off. Plus the SeaWorld employees inside the store like to get jiggy with it too. HAHA. Time moves a lot faster with the DJ going. Tomorrow is another regular shift but on Monday I have my first internship class. The Professionalism class runs from 9am-11am. I'm glad to have something to break up the workweek. I'll post what I learned after my shift Monday. Have a Whale of Day.

Okay, so I know I still look like a complete dweeb, but I do think the smaller shorts and a darker shirt make the whole outfit look a little better. I had to post this to redeem myself after I posted the last uniform photo. To be fair, we all look like dweebs, and it could be worse, the Aquatica shirts aren't solid, they have bubbles and fish all over them. I'm grateful I don't have to wear a shower curtain pattern on my shirt, so for all of you laughing at me, it could be worse! Haha!

First Day

Today I worked the Wild Creations counter, aka Build-A-Bear Seaworld style. This job was a lot of fun. This job has a lot of interaction with the customer, mainly with children. I will take any chance I get to work with children throughout this internship, and luckily I am scheduled to stuff animals for few more shifts. The process is very cute, the customer chooses an animal "skin" and we stuff it with our nifty fluff machine. Once we've stuffed their alligator, killer whale, koala bear, or other creature you can pick out a star make a wish and stuff it inside, sorta like heart for your animal. The outfits and accessories are endless to purchase for extra. We print out a birth certificate and give them a home shaped box. The process is nearly the same as Build a Bear, but with SeaWorld theme animals. I was easy to train according to my fellow coworkers. Donna, my main trainer, said I will fit in just fine; shes a very nice lady. Everyone's first question for me was if I had any cash handling or retail experience. They were all happily surprised to hear I have extensive training. The worst part of the day was being let out 3 hours early, as happy as I was to get home and watch Glee, its unfortunate I'm losing that pay. Sorry today's post wasn't very exciting, but nothing real epic happened today. Hopefully Thursday's shift will have a bit more edge! Haha. Have a good week everyone!

Memorial Day Weekend

Very luckily I did not have to work this weekend. Instead I enjoyed some theme park hopping and a bit of exploring with friends. I have been very fortunate to make such good friends with such great people. Saturday a group of us ventured over to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Miraculously we hit every major ride at least once without waiting in crazy long lines. We had lapped the Island of Adventure and eaten lunch all before noon. I would like to go back to Universal at some point this summer and go to City Walk. There are a lot of dance clubs and restaurants there, its very similar to Downtown Disney. A fun night out is in the plans at some point. Another miracle that happened this weekend was that I cooked an authentic Italian meal for me and my friends! It was delicious. Mom, you should be proud! Before dinner, yesterday was just a lazy day. Slept in and went to the pool. I'm accruing quite the tan! Today was fun as well. SeaWorld developed a water park called Aquatica in 2008, a few of us went there this morning. Again, no lines! After a shower and some lunch, Adam, one of my neighbors and new friends drove us to Walmart. I felt right at home, when there's nothing to do in NH, head to Wally World! Haha. Adam generously drove his roommate, Joe, around to find an AT&T store and in our travels we stumbled upon Celebration, Fl. It was a quaint little downtown area, that reminded me much of Naples Fl. Just less ritzy! We stopped for Ice Cream and Adam got some Hummus, plus we saw and alligator in the pond! I love gators, thank goodness I had my camera! I wish we had a pond here at the apartments with gators, I think they are such cool animals. As you can see in the photo, he is a little guy, he definitely could have fit in a kiddie pool on my patio! Finally home after that 4 hour adventure to Walmart, having a bite to eat and waiting for The Real Housewives of New Jersey to air. Tomorrow is the first day of work, running the register at Friends of the Wild, (I think before my first day was today, but its really tomorrow.) Goodnight, and don't forget to tune in to Jersey tonight! It's supposed to be a good episode! ;)