Hey everyone!
Sorry I haven’t been on here for a while, I have been so incredibly busy and my internet isn’t set up yet so it’s been difficult to get online for a variety of reasons.
In short: I LOVE HAWAII! This is the first time I’ve ever been to the islands, but I know even if I move away, it won’t be my last. It is such an incredibly beautiful place, with plumeria bushes everywhere and the ocean across the street from my condo. Every night the sunset is like something you’d see on a postcard, and there’s always a nice cool breeze. There are turtles sunbathing on the beach, and you can see whales along the coastline. There are small yellow love birds everywhere, and bright green geckos scurrying around. It is so incredible.
Work has been busy and exhausting, but I have learned more in these past three weeks than I’ve learned throughout my three years in college. Granted, my degree provided me with the foundations of hospitality knowledge, but actually being out in the field is a whole new ball game. I spent my first two weeks completing “New Manager Orientation,” a series of meetings scheduled with the department heads and even the General Manager, giving me the opportunity to build connections from the get go. I was so thankful for this because it’s the first time I’ve moved away from home, and really didn’t know a single person out here. It has also helped me to understand what kind of relationship my department (Rooms) has with the others, such as Engineering, F&B, Banquets, and so on. I spent my next week training with the Housekeeping team, who I am spending the first six months of my rotation with. I had never been exposed to Housekeeping before, and this was one of the biggest eye-openers in my life. I always respected guest room attendants, but actually training to do what they do was phenomenal. The amount of sweat and oftentimes, tears that go into their job is amazing. The work is absolutely backbreaking and more often than not, very thankless. The women are incredible and I have even more respect for them than I did before.
It’s really great having my own place, paying my own bills, doing my own laundry (and no, I’m not being sarcastic). I’ll be the first to admit that after a 10 or 11 hour workday the last thing I want to do is throw some clothes in the laundry or file paperwork, but I am thankful I have the opportunity to do these things now. I have never had those responsibilities before and I really think they have helped me to mature quickly and given me the freedom to appreciate things a little bit more.
The most interesting thing to me about my leaving is how insightful this move has been, on many levels. I cannot believe the contrast between the people and the overall lifetstyle here, versus Vegas. I couldn’t wait to get out of Vegas, and now looking at the city as an outsider, I am SOOOOO grateful I’m away from it. The people there are relentless, aggressive, selfish and conniving. It is such a hardened, “what’s in it for me?” way to live and I despise that I was sucked into it for so long. Only a handful of people have sent me a text saying “how’s everything going?!” and a few of those weren’t even people I expected to hear from, but I’m glad I did. Other than that, my move to Hawaii has definitely confirmed who my real friends are and who I plan to keep connections with. Liking my Facebook status doesn’t mean you care, it means you want other people to see you’re "keeping in touch." I do miss a few people very much, and can’t wait to see them again.
That’s all for now, I’ll update again once I have a more reliable internet connection. If anyone has Skype let me know because I’d love to chat!
I really am living in paradise.
