Can I Take Your Order?

After 2 weeks of job hunting, I'm unfortunately, still unemployed. My bank account is steadily decreasing and my phone isn't ringing. What am I doing wrong? Well, nothing, I hope.

This silly economic recession that I brushed aside until I found myself unemployed has prompted me to make a return to my former career of choice... yup, I'm going to be a waitress once again. Actually, I shouldn't say that, considering I have only begun applying to restaurants and there is a chance that maybe they are drastically slowing down hiring as well. However, I have the neccessary experience and open availability, so I just might find myself employed soon. Why do I dislike waitressing? Well, in Australia, I loved it. Spend the day at the beach, work all night, meet great people. It's different at home though. My friends and family all work days where as I'd more than likely find myself working nights and there goes my social life that is already nearly non-existent. Not to mention, not having weekends off would be quite tragic. The pay sucks. However you make up for that in tips. But tips are cash. I spend cash. I've been doing so well with eating healthy, but I know that's out the door as soon as I find better tasting options, primarily deep fried. Oh dear.

Sometimes you just gotta do, what you've gotta do.

My names Krysta, and I'll be your server today.

I Need A Job!

I'm trying so hard to keep on top of being optimistic. That's who I am. Things can be going horribly wrong, but I'll still put a happy face and love life, because things are never THAT bad.

Lately it's been a bit harder to keep a positive attitude. I'm trying, I really am, but I have so many bills that I need to pay, I'd do anything to move out of my mom's house, and I can't find a job. I've been looking, trust me. I've applied to every position that I'm qualified for, and all I can do is wait until somebody calls back. I hate this waiting game. Still no word from Emirates either. I'm trying to not think about that, at all, but that one email is going to change my life... whether it's good news or bad. If it's good news, then I'm hired. I'll have landed my dream job, move away, pay off my debt and live happily ever after... or something like that. If it's bad news, then I'm back to square one. I need to find a job here in the meantime to save up enough for a damage deposit, and once I've done that I'm off to Calgary.... where I'll attempt to find something to pay the bills and save a little extra to jet away on weekends with my flight attendant husband.

It's not all bad. It's times like these that make you appreciate when times are good. It's not the first time I've struggled financially, and I'm almost sure it won't be the last. At least when the time comes that I do make enough money to live comfortably, I'll appreciate it so much more than I would have had I never had to stress over money, or how I'd pay the bills, or live off of 2 minute noodles for months.

It's just a rough patch, but with chocolate and a good attitude, I'm going to get through it.

Boring, Boring, Boring...

I'm still unemployed... I've applied to every office posting in the paper, although they are few and far between these days. Serves me right I suppose. I was the one who complained about hearing about the stupid recession and was convinced that it wouldn't affect me one bit. My bad.

It's not even the money that I miss, although it's definately a necessary thing to fight the debt I've accumulated... I miss leaving my house with a purpose every day. Work was my social life, as sad as that is. I've been going to the gym every single day out of boredem. I may be jobless, but I'll be in great shape by the time I finally find work!

The Sky is the Limit!

This weekend I headed back to Vancouver for day 3 of the Emirates interview process. I almost didn't go, due to my current financial situation and the fact that I am now unemployed. In the end, I decided it was worth a shot. I flew out from Calgary at 11 pm on Friday night, exhausted from my final day of work, relieved that I'd survived my first time driving to Calgary, and then panicked as I watched flights being cancelled, one by one, due to high winds (up to 192 km/hour). First off, I was flying standby, so it was nerve wracking enough hoping I'd get on the flight. If mine ended up being cancelled, my chances of flying out at all would be significantly lower. Luckily, my flight wasn't among the cancellations, and I set off on an extremely turbulent journey to Vancouver. I finally arrived at the hotel at 1 am, dropped my stuff, and crawled into bed.

I woke up Saturday morning, got myself all prettied up and walked to the Sheraton, where interviews were being held. As more and more applicants showed up, we cheerfully greeted those who we'd met the week prior, congratulating eachother on making it to the 3rd day. There were about 40 of us in total, which was half of the number from the second interview, and way less than the 220 from day one. The 2 ladies conducting the interviews were Aussies, which made for a fun day. We watched videos, asked questions about the company, and participated in more group discussions. We were sent for lunch and upon our return we each found a folded piece of paper with our numbers on it. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I grabbed mine, and watched as others celebrated making it to the next stage, or quietly left the room. I finally worked up the courage to open mine, expecting to see "Unfortunately...". I was stunned to see "Congratulations..." and I probably checked 5 times just to be sure. Wooo hooo! Things got all reality TV-ish. People were crying, everybody was hugging, dreams were shattered, and the 15 of us that remained patiently waited for the rest to leave before we showed our excitement on making it further.

We headed back into the room for more group interviews, a personality test, and 2 more applicants were sent home. The 13 of us remaining were congratulated on making it to the final interview phase, which would be held on Sunday. Finally, around 6 pm we were sent on our way. I was so overcome with excitement and happiness that I didn't even care that my shoes were causing my poor feet immense pain, or that I couldn't afford a decent meal. I just went back to my hotel room, admired the 20th floor view, and called it an early night.

Sunday morning, I woke up, did my hair, did my makeup, dressed in my most professional attire, and decided that I looked the part. I was in a great mood, nothing would bring me down. That was, until, I opened the blinds. Expecting to see another beautiful day in the beautiful city, I instead watched as the rain poured down. Well great, I don't own an umbrella and I have to walk 5 blocks to my interview. Luckily, upon checkout my hotel was nice enough to let me borrow an umbrella for the day, and so I set off for my final interview. It was like a typical interview.. questions about your resume, situational questions from prior experience, and I tried not to let my nerves get the best of me. Honestly, I was shocked on day one when they invited me back, and here I was, at the final interview. I had no idea how I'd made it this far when there were other hopefuls who I'd been sure were perfect, and more qualified than myself. I decided not to bother with trying to understand it, and once I'd finished the interview, I headed to Sears Portrait Studio to have my photos taken. These photos are sent back to Dubai, and therefore must be flawless. Hair tied back, makeup perfect. They convinced me to wear red lipstick, and despite the fact that they said I looked great, I'd seen for myself, and I looked ridiculous. Oh well, if that's what it takes!

After everything was done, I happily walked back to my hotel, unphased by the pouring rain. I'm trying not to get too excited because there is still a huge chance that nothing will happen. I could get an email saying "Thanks for the effort, but you are never leaving Red Deer". Okay, maybe not in those words, but I'm still trying to act as if nothing happened, and go on with my day to day life until I hear back. That said, I'd really, really love to move to Dubai.

A Little Lyric Inspiration...

Cause when push comes to shove you taste what you're made of,

You might bend til you break, cause it's all you can take.

On your knees you look up, decide you've had enough,

You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off,

Then you stand.

-Rascal Flatts

Adventures in Vancouver..

Last night I returned from an awesome 35 hours in Vancouver... amazing how much you can do in such a short period of time! We left Red Deer at 5 am Saturday morning and headed to the airport. I had my fingers crossed that there would be room for me on the flight, as I was flying standby. I was in luck, and handed a boarding pass! Despite the plane being almost completely full, I somehow managed to have an entire row to myself. My mom, who had paid full fare, was stuck between 2 old men, so I was nice and shared my row.

We arrived in Vancouver and we sleepily headed to our hotel, where we checked in, I got prettied up, and then headed to the Emirates Open House... along with 220 other hopefuls. I was given #75 and sent to a room to fill out 3 sheets of scenario questions. 2 hours later, I finally was called in for an interview. Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous. I answered a few simple questions and was invited back for a second interview the next day. Woo hoo! Round one, successful!

After the interview I went to meet my mom for lunch. I was in a happy "I got a second interview, I'm in beautiful Vancouver, it's 30 degrees warmer than home" kind of mood, not really paying attention to where I was going, and found myself completely lost. There I was in downtown Vancouver, surrounded by nothing familiar, walking in painfully uncomfortable high heels. I should probably mention, I had a map of the area in my purse. My Blackberry also is equipped with GPS. That said, there is something about being lost that I love. The thrill of new places that you wouldn't have seen otherwise, the satisfaction when you finally find your way, and it usually makes for good stories. I probably got lost in nearly every Australian city at least once. Eventually, I found my way and met my mom who shook her head at my stupidity.

We met up with Phil, a guy we'd met in Mexico a few weeks ago who happens to live in the city. He drove us around Stanley Park and gave us commentary as he acted as our tour guide. He was very accomodating, even willing to pull over when I'd suddenly yell "STOP!" and then paitiently wait as I'd jump out of the truck and take pictures of the surroundings. We drove down Beach Ave, where I was giddy over the sight of the ocean. Amazing how many times I've seen it, even lived steps from it in Queensland, but it never ceases to amaze me. Phil had plans for the evening, so he brought us back to our hotel, where I slipped on some much more comfortable shoes and jeans and headed out to do some shopping! I'm currently financially.. well, poor. So while my mom whipped out her credit card, I window shopped and wished. By dinner we were exhausted. We headed to a restaurant near our hotel, ate some good food, and headed back to our room. We could have fell asleep right then, but we decided that since we were in Vancouver, we might as well enjoy it. So we headed to the 42nd floor of our hotel, where they have a revolving restaurant overlooking the city. I grabbed a table by the window and we sat having a couple of drinks overlooking the amazing city at night. Definately worth the exhaustion.

The next morning, I woke up, got ready, grabbed something to eat and headed back to the hotel where the interviews were being held. This time it was a group interview. Easy stuff, but you really have to stand out to make it to the next level, and I'm not sure how I measured up. Some people were obvious leaders, very talkative, while others were quiet and didn't have much to contribute to the discussions. I was somewhere in the middle. I'm not getting too excited, because I think that maybe my Emirate journey is ending before it has begun. But it was worth a try, a good experience, and hey, who knows what might happen!

This time I paid attention to where I was, and found my mom at a crepes cafe. Mmm, crepes. We wandered down Robson street awhile longer, and then met up with my friend Andy, who had just moved from Red Deer a few months earlier. OH! We walked by a candy store and I (of course) insisted on going in, and we were rewarded to find FRUIT TINGLES! For those of you who haven't heard me complain about how much I miss them, Fruit Tingles are these candies that my mom and I got addicted to in Australia. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I ate a pack of them every day the entire year. Needless to say, we were ecstatic, and bought 14 packs. They also had Tim Tams, Caramello Koalas, and all sorts of great Aussie treats. After spending a huge chunk of money, we proceeded to walk down the beach, take a ferry to Granville Island, watch Andy dance in front of a huge group of people watching live music, and sample amazing fresh salmon. The day went by so fast and before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport. Before we called our taxi we made sure to pick up a piece of pizza by the slice. The weekend was complete. We got lost in the Vancouver airport, ran into somebody we knew, and finally flew home. Great, random weekend in an amazing city.

Meant to Fly...

I don't want to jinx this... but luckily few of my friends know that this blog exists and I'm sure even fewer would take the time to read it.

This weekend I'm flying to Vancouver (cheap flight thanks to Bryan!) to try my luck at a Recruitment Open House for Emirates Airline. That's a big deal, by the way. I realize how competitive the job is and that maybe I stand a 2% chances, and therefore I'm not getting my hopes up, but still, you never know if you don't try... right?!

I've worked really, really hard towards this for a really, really long time. And now that I'm back from a year of travelling and "Finding myself" or something cliche like that, I'm confident that I'm ready for the challenge. Whether it be now or 3 years from now, Emirates or Westjet, I promise you that one day I'll call myself a flight attendant.

Wish me luck?