So all good things must come to an end and with June over it was time to start the next month's roster...on reserve. Reserve basically involves sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring to let you know what flight someone has called in sick for, well you get the picture.
I managed to get a Newcastle flight which was short, sweet and COLD!! I couldn't believe it is July and only 10 degrees celcius!! Crew were awesome and it was nice to have a flight were the passengers said their "pleases" and "thankyou's". Yes in this job those are very few and far between. Whatever happened to manners?? Well that is a whole other blog!! With it being so rainy and cold I did what all girls do in this weather, an indoor activity...shopping!!
Next was a few days back in Dubai and wishing to get a Brisbane flight...no such luck. I did however manage to get a Singapore/Melbourne which was just what I needed. Was rostered as a Grade 1 (Business class) so also worked the whole trip of 5 days in Business. I never want to work Economy again!!! Was just a nice change from the chaos in Economy. The highlight was definitely Melbourne as I got to catch up with my little brother Carl and my best friend Boo. Was so nice to come back to reality and spend time with the people who mean the most to me, even if the time there was short. Saying goodbye was not a highlight but hoping to get another Melbourne next month.
The next was a succession of small disasters. Emirates is in the process of moving all its operations to a new facility and with this process is alot of "trial runs" to make sure when they move full time all the problems are ironed out. So naturally wo gets airport standby during the "trial" run...well me of course.
On airport Standby from midnight to 4am I was pleased to be called out immediatley. Not for anything spetacular but a short layover to Colombo. Well this is were the story starts of how operations didn't run so smoothly during this trial and of course I had to be apart of the mini disaster!! Firstly my luggage couldn't be located, then I was taken to the wrong aircraft. Finally both my Luggage and I were on the plane only for the Captain to realise scheduling had dispatched too many crew. Apparently 2 of the crew onboard were marked as no shows, another glitch in the technical systems at the new HQ so I was taken off the flight to go back to HQ's. Of course they couldn't find my luggage as it was put in the wrong section of the cargo hold and all the luggage had to be taken off until they located my bag!! I should imagine the Captain was well pissed as the flight was now so delayed for no apparent reason other than the systems were not working as far as dispatching crew was concerned.
Finally back to HQ with luggage in tow I was sent home. Next was a series of home standbys not getting pulled out. Finally after 2 weeks of no flights I complained to my manager and was rostered a New York trip. YAY!!!
New York was great. It was my first Ultra Long haul flight so got to experience the Crew Rest Compartment. This is a space for crew to rest during flight. It is basically beds so you can sleep in the upper compartment of the plane. The flight itself was 4 hours and as soon as we landed in NY went out shopping and seeing the sights. I love NY!! I was suppose to catch up with Fifi but time didn't permit so hopefully next time??
With only 24 hours in NY and the 13 hour flight back I was well exhausted once returning to Dubai. Finally the month was over and my next standby flight had been allocated..I was off to Houston. Another killer flight (17 hours) but after not working for 2 weeks I can't complain.
After 5 days off in Dubai it was well and truly time to leave again. I'm not sure whether it is the essence of the job that makes me want to leave Dubai every few days or the fact that it is such a crazy town you need a break from it every so often??
I was super excited my next trip was to Milan. It was going to be great to catch up with friends and also one of my batch mates Nichola was on the flight with me and I couldn't wait to show her around. We were lucky to be on a 2 day layover so plenty of time to do everything and recover!! Most flights with Emirates only give crew 24 hour layovers as most destinations they fly daily :( We had beautiful weather the first day and Nic and I just wandered around seeing the sights. It did however start to rain in the late afternoon so I took Nic to my favourite wine bar to drink wine and eat tapas...I love this place!! That night we went clubbing with Cynthia and Daniela to "The Club" which was overstuffed with beautiful people due to the fact it was raining and it is one of the few indoor clubs in Milan during summer. Next day was down to Navigli and back to the wine bar to meet up with Mike and Carrie. I really miss Milan...can't wait to come back soon
My next flight was to be Vienna but at the last minute I was pulled from the flight and told I was flying to Hamburg, Germany instead. The flight turned out to be great and the hotel in Hamburg is amazing. You even get the mini bar for free!! Time there was spent mostly eating schnitzel and drinking beer and of course the odd bit of shopping.
Next stop was suppose to be Milan again but due to my flight being late getting back into Dubai from Hamburg I wasn't legal to operate the flight. Emirates has rules or legalities as they call them in place to ensure you are rested enough to operate the flight...I apparently wasn't so I got my Milan flight taken off me and given an extra day off and a turnaround...YUCK!! I was really disappointed as I wanted to catch up with Cyn and Dan again plus it was men's fashion week!! Damn it!!
After getting over the fact I had missed the chance to see copious amounts of beautiful men all in the one place oh and Cyn and Dan of course ;) I prepared for my flight to Paris. I've never been to Paris before and it lived up to every expectation. It really is the city of love and I kept thinking how perfect this place would be to visit with your honey ahhhh. Back to reality was when I paid 5euro for a coke. That's the equivalent to $10 aussie dollars...ouch!! Did all the tourist things such as Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Notredam, Louvre, Pont Neuf and the Eiffel Tower. Highlight was definitely seeing the Eiffel tower light up, Beautiful!!
Last flight for June was to London Heathrow. This flight is hard work due to the passengers always wanting something so I was exhausted when I arrived. I did however catch the tube into Picadilly to visit Save, a friend I met in Dubai while he was on vacation and we went for dinner. That is probably one of the best things about this job. Being able to catch up with friends and family who are dotted all over the world whom you might not normally ever see again.
Next month's roster isn't nearly as glamorous as I am on Standby :( Oh well it is only for a month and hopefully I get some nice flights...fingers crossed.
With 5 days off it was time to get all the essential things done one is required to do in life. Like cleaning, washing, ironing and of course partying. With all the girls that I had become friends with during training also in Dubai (due to the fact we had all been given time off to get our Visa's to allow us to enter the United States), plus my flatmates (which bonding time was of course required) we decided to make the most of it and to hit the nightlife of Dubai relentlessly.
I have to say being female in Dubai has it's advantages. Of course you have to take anything at face value but in a city of users and abusers I decided 2 can play at this game!! Most men in this city are usually out with money to blow and like the company of fun girls so they don't look, well like a group of guys I guess. With Don Perignon champagne flowing as if it is water you'd be stupid to say no. This is what it is like to go out in Dubai. You rarely spend a cent...if you do more fool you I say. I guess your wondering for all this what is expected in return. Honestly nothing. Play nice and give them your phone number if you want otherwise the beauty of the job is there is always a flight to catch the next day and you must get home!!
So it was to no surprise when after one of our nights out we decided to recover at one of the hotel pools and a group of guys from the UK (here in Dubai for a stag week) offered never ending Moet to prevent us from becoming thirsty in the Desert heat. Nice group of guys actually and invited us to continue the party at Buddah Bar that night. So being obliging..we did.
The night was fun with great company, continuous drinks flowing and food at your fingertips. The biggest bottle of Moet I had ever seen was opened which just proves Dubai is a city of over indulgence and extremes. So a typical night out in Dubai I guess until my flatmate Val and I met this hilarious gay guy. Extremely eccentric but so funny you couldn't help but like him. The bar was preparing to close and not ready to go home the gay guy who we shall call Al invited us to an after party at "The Palace". Thinking immediately this was some underground gay day club I asked..."Where is The Palace"? Al changed the topic with his witty humour and then moments later said.."Shall we?" and off we went.
Waiting outside the bar for his driver to arrive (which is also very normal here in Dubai by the way) I asked again if we were going to another club. "No, to a friends place" was the answer and with that the car arrived and we all jumped in. Driving there laughing and chatting I finally realised that "The Palace" was just that when we pulled up to huge gates boarded with security and boom gates. I was trying not to freak out as everyone else seemed oblivious to what was happening, until we winded down the long driveway and passed a helicopter!! That's when I asked "Whose F%^%ing Palace is this"?
The response was of course.."The Sheik's son's". Right of course. The night turned into a very bizarre evening. With butlers on every possible corner of the palace ready to obliged to your every whim. All the Sheiks woman, both wives and keeps (keeps are woman basically paid just to be there because they are beautiful but not Muslim. Western culture has another name for this!!)
Once we arrived Al who was supposedly gay suddenly wasn't and his explanation to this was "if I didn't play gay initially would you have trusted me like you did"? Good point...sneaky bastard!! The novelty of the place soon wore off and Al offered us to come back on the weekend for a yacht party. I responded politely that I was flying (this usually always works) but of course Al's response was "Just give me your staff number and your roster will be changed tomorrow" I bet it will and when you ask for a favour back that I won't be obliging to I'll get shitty turn around flights for the rest of my days!!! No thanks.
With that a cab was ordered and we left. Just a normal night out I guess?? Not!!
Finally time for my first layover...Manila here i come. The time there was only 24 hours but I made the most of it. One of the crew, Anna was from Manila and offered to show us around and take us clubbing. So after the 8.5 hour flight and arriving at midnight we decided to meet 20 mins later dressed and ready to party!!.
It was such a great time for my first layover. Anna and her husband took a group of us out to a restaurant for a quick bite then clubbing. Very fun. The night ended at 6am after another food frenzy at a local cafe and I crawled into bed. I felt as though I had only just hit the pillow when my alarm went off and it was time to venture out and hit the shops. Manila, like Bangkok is known for it's cheap knockoffs so to the shops was a must. I managed to buy a coach knockoff bag, could have bought more but with no cash this was not an option :( I did however have enough money to buy a few dvd's..knockoffs again but of reasonable quality for viewing when I get back to Dubai as I have no TV!!
After flying back to Dubai from Manila which was hilarious as we were so bored due to all the passengers sleeping and soooo tired due to no sleep we decided to play charades in the galley. Once back in Dubai I had 5 days off!! I love this job!!
With training out of the way I was eager to get started in my new profession. One slight hiccup though. With all the influx of new employees Emirates weren't able to keep up with all the necessary documentation that went with being able to fly eg licencing. So I had a week of doing nothing while waiting for my licence to be processed.
Finally with licence processed it was time to do my first 2 supernumerary flights (supy) or training flights. These 2 flights are designed to get you introduced to the whole process and basically view your fellow crew members in action. The highlight to these flights is you get to sit in the cockpit for takeoff and landing. YEAH!!
My first flight was to Bombay, India and the next to Alexandria, Egypt. Both were turnarounds which is all you get for supy flights. Turnaround means flying there and straight back again. You don't even get off the plane. No real dramas as they aren't the greatest of destinations anyway.
After my supy flights I received the end of the months roster. Due to the fact that rosters are published at the end of the previous month and I had graduated in the middle of the month I wasn't allocated set flights so was put on CU's which is trolley dolley jargon for wait for it..."Can Use" meaning I was on standby of a sorts. FUN!!...NOT!!
My first operational flight I was designated airport standby. This means being packed and ready to be sent absolutely anywhere. A little concerning when this was my first flight as a real flight attendant. I ended up getting called for another turnaround...Dacca. The flight had already boarded and they were waiting for me. So you can imagine nervous enough and having to walk on board through all the seats of passengers looking at me as they knew the flight couldn't leave without me. Oh well. It turned out to be an okay flight. I think in these early days any flight is still exciting.
After that was another series of standby duties which ended up being another series of turnaround flights. By the end of the month I was pretty much over turnarounds and prayed my roster for June was going to at least have a layover somewhere fun. I was rewarded and with only 1 turnaround my life as a flight attendant was looking up. June's roster included Manila, Milan, Vienna, Milan again, Bangkok and Milan again. The beautiful thing about having such great flights is there are so many people who will want to swap other fantastic destinations for yours. Ahh the joys of eswap. This is a system Emirates has in place so you can swap your flights with other cabin crew members. With this little tool I was able to swap my Bangkok for a Paris and my third Milan flight for a London Heathrow....very excited!!!
Suited up in my best corporate attire I was ready and rearing for the first day of training. Only to realise it was an induction day...boring. The day consisted of several talks but the most fun bit was of course being isssued with our uniforms and suitcases!!
I did however finally get to meet in person my 2 aquaintances who I had met over the internet while researching life with Emirates via a cabin crew forum...Kelly and Meng!! Was so nice to finally meet them in person and even more exciting as for the next 6 weeks we would be in the same abinitio (training group).
After a very long day of talks I was exhausted but ready for Day 2. Grooming and time to put on the Emirates uniform.
So after farewelling Mum, Rich, Dad, Wendy and Bron, formally know as the family off at the airport I boarded my first ever Emirates flight. This time as a passenger, soon to be many flights onboard as cabin crew.
I was quite anxious to reach Dubai but managed to patiently sit the 14 hour journey watching as many of the inflight movies as possible. Once arriving in the land of sand it soon became apparent who were new joiners to Emirates as we were all greeted and guided through the airport by the Marhaba greeting team. Very nice as that meant no waiting in line at passport control..love it!!
Tiredness soon turned to anxious excitment as I chatted to Nichola and Raylene, also new Emirates crew about what we expected next. Next was a few general paperwork things and the collection of our passports from the Emirates HR representitive in order to get our UAE residence visa. No turning back now!! Then we were given a brown envelope with our new land line telephone number and a 3 letter code depicting what building would be our new residence. Hoping desperately to get somewhere on the famous Sheikh Zayed Road I was to learn I wasn't so fortunate and was placed somewhere called Al Fattan Building about 20 mins from SZR (Sheikh Zayed Road). Bummer!!
As it turned out it wasn't so bad..or so I kept telling myself. After the bus dropped me off at my new accomodation I was signed in by building security and taken to my new abode. HUGE was the first thought that crossed my mind. Empty but HUGE!!.
I soon discovered I had 2 flatmates. Charlene (Australian) who was currently home on leave and Valerie (Canadian) who was dashing out on a flight. My and Val's first interaction was a quick exchange of information followed by her giving me a quick run down on where the nearest supermarket was. Then suitcase in one hand she yelled "I'll leave the door to my room open, help yourself to the internet, you'll need it!" as she whirled out the door not to be seen for the next 3 days. I was officially in Dubai...on my own!!
Not sure where to start. Should I unpack?? Should I venture out and see my new surroundings?? I decided to do what any grown girl does...called Mum. Still very perplexed as what to do and knowing calling home would probably cost me my first born I hung up the phone and realised again...I'm in Dubai...crazy!!
Determined to stay awake so I didn't disrupt my sleep pattern I sifted through the paperwork we had been issued with and looked at the names of people in my class (known as abinitio) for training. Noticing I had 2 friends in my class, well aqauintances I had met online while researching the whole Emirates transition I felt a whole lot better.
I don't know what I managed to do all day but I managed to waste the whole day simply by exploring the building, unpacking my welcome pack (filled with staples to get me by for the next day or 2) and looking at my suitcase trying to get the motivation to unpack. I decided to prepare my clothes for the next day. The first day of training, pickup 6am!!
So the first night in my new apartment in my new bed, I'm going to try to sleep. Good night.
Well the time has finally arrived for my departure to Dubai. I am unexpectedly nervous, not about the flight or living in another country but about my luggage!!! I can't possibly think of what to take out and it is overweight!! Typical for a girl, I know but i can't even get my head around what to take out..of course i NEED it all!!You would think I would be good at this having done the leaving for overseas thing so many times, but this time for some reason is definitely the hardest. At the airport I will no doubt be a wreck as my parents, step-parents and 2 best friends will all be there to say goodbye. No one has ever really gone to the airport with me before and farewelled me..so it seems a bigger deal than usual.Just a few more hours and I will be off to Dubai...what lies ahead, well as they say...watch this space.
Waiting for the final approval from Emirates was so tedious. Every 10 seconds checking emails, too frightened to leave the phone...utterly ridiculous. So when in a situation like this, one must take it into their own hands. So the endless calls to Dubai began.I don't know what was more frustrating, waiting for Emirates to call or trying to get through on the phone only to be put through to someones message bank to discover their mailbox was full. After about 20 calls I finally spoke to someone who could help to see if my medical was ok and final approval granted.Finally Final Approval granted...just one hiccup, my DOJ had suddenly moved forward a week. I was leaving in 5 days!!! After an email enquiring as to my DOJ it was confirmed there had been a mix up and my DOJ was actually the 04/04/08. PHEW!!I am so excited to go...only 9 more sleeps!! I already have a bag packed!! Now it is time to catch up with family and friends, drink myself senseless with farewell beverages and simply enjoy the time I have at home until the 4th.
Why does life always happen in waves?? For the longest time there will be the lull only to be followed by hit after hit. Now these hits don't necessarily have to be negative. Positive hits also happen in life but like waves occur in succession of each other causing us sometimes to make impossible decisions.
On my return from Italy I attended a series of different interviews. Not only the one for Emirates but I was also invited to attend an interview for QCCA ( Qantas International). So I jetted down to Sydney to attend, along with 60 other hopefuls that day and went through the process of group tasks with lego, role playing and finally the panel interview. The wait after the morning session was just plain cruel as all 60 of us were going to receive a text message to say whether we were progressing onto the panel interview or not in the afternoon. Needless to say every time someone's phone quivered we all jumped, hearts pounding awaiting our fate.
Finally my phone buzzed and I sat there for a good 2 minutes unable to open the message for fear of what it said. Why is failure so scary?? Luckily CONGRATULATIONS glared back at me and I was off to complete my panel interview. I must say the QCCA interview was very friendly. During the times I was a bit stumped to come up with an experience that demonstrated what ever particular customer service skill, the two recruiters prompted me with suggestions that I may have come across therefor helping the old thought flow. It also probably helped immensely that the two recruiters I had my panel interview with, one frequently visited my hometown (Lismore) and the other was soon to depart on a cruise with my previous employer (Carnival). So general conversation sometimes took over the interview process as both recruiters were just as interested in my general life shall we say as my answers to the questions.
Once again the wait for a simple yes or no began and like Emirates a medical had to be completed. With all the paperwork in order I now sat by the phone willing it to ring from either Airline. Ring it did..from both. So now I was juggling the decision....Qantas or Emirates...Emirates or Qantas???????????? Now I don't want to sound as though this is a poor me story as I feel extremely fortunate. Like I said in the opening sometimes these hits are positive but still a decision has to be made and when deciding what to wear of a morning sometimes can be tricky this was going to be hard!!
So after joining forums, emailing friends of friends in the industry and a bit of searching for "what do I really want out of all this" my heart settled on Emirates. I haven't heard as to whether my medical was ok with Emirates as yet so I am still waiting for the final nod of approval but have the tentative date of the 4th of April as my departure date...so more waiting. So as not to shoot myself in the foot I did accept the offer from QCCA to commence on the 10th March just in case Emirates decided at the last minute no. I mean you never can tell so better to be safe than sorry, could you imagine if I said no to QCCA then I didn't hear back from Emirates..no job with either. Not that that will happen. I am confident that I will be departing for Dubai in April, however until the plane ticket is in my hand I have to keep all avenues open.
Unexpectantly 2 weeks later I received a call from Emirates. Informed that should my medical be AOK I would be departing for Dubai on the 04/04/08. So excited. Once all paperwok was delivered by trusty email I made all the relevent appointments to complete my medical. A full week of tests, xrays and needles. Visits to the Dentist, Doctor, Radiologist and Audiologist finally completed the week long task. Now ready to email the relevant documents back I await the final stage of my pre-employment with Emirates.
Ready to begin my next journey after returning from beautiful Italy I decided Emirates Cabin Crew was the next adventure. So dressed in my knee length black skirt, business shirt , heels, red lipstick and armed with my resume and photos I took myself to the Emirates Open Assessment Day in Brisbane, Australia. On arrival there was a bevy of men and woman all appearing very professional and already looking like cabin crew. Sitting in Aviation Australia's lobby I struck up a conversation with a lovely girl named Kate. From here on in we would stick to each other like glue, as unlike the majority of the participants who seemed to know each other, we knew no one.
Finally all 140 of us were taken through the doors, sat down and given the briefing on Emirates and life in Dubai. After a general Q&A session we then 1 at a time presented ourselves to the recruiters Charity and Chelsea. Making the most of our 45 seconds and coming to the conclusion that presentation was the deciding factor of making it to the next round we once again waited in the lobby for the decision to be made. After all 140 of us had our initial interview we were shuffled back into the boardroom and now known as number 28 I was presented with a letter stating I was proceeding to the next round of interviews. Kate was proceeding too and we set off home to get prepared for a full day of interviews the next day.
The following day we had been cut down to 70 applicants. Split into 3 groups, each group waiting there turn to go in for a group interview session. Our first group interview was telling the group a series of things about the person sitting next to you followed by 1 at a time doing the reach test to see that we were tall enough for cabin crew. Then our group was split in two and each group had to come up with 5 new destinations Emirates should fly to and why. Once my group had come up with our 5 destinations a guy and girl had to present to the others. I was the presenter for my group and was surprisingly nervous. Once complete we then waited for the dreaded letter to see if we were going on to the next round. Kate and I were through!!
Much waiting around as the other groups completed the first round of interviews and we then proceeded to the 2nd round. We were given a scenario of an emergency situation and a list of things we could take off the plane. Listing the top 5 items from most essential to least we had to as a group come to a solid conclusion. Next was a game two truths and a lie were as the game suggests you tell the groups 2 truths about yourself and 1 lie. The group have to guess the lie. Once again it was the wait for the dreaded letter and thankfully both Kate and I made it.
Through this whole process we had been cut down from 70 to 30 applicants and we were asked to come in and complete a series of forms and a psych test. Told we had made it to the panel interview we had to choose a day, my day was in 4 days time so plenty of time to get my photos done. The panel interview was horrible and I really thought I had done badly. Leaving Avation Australia it was up to the final decision of the Sheik in Dubai and the wait of my future began. 3-6 weeks we were told, I don't think I'll cope!!
The next was a succession of small disasters. Emirates is in the process of moving all its operations to a new facility and with this process is alot of "trial runs" to make sure when they move full time all the problems are ironed out. So naturally wo gets airport standby during the "trial" run...well me of course.
