Guam to the extreme

New Jobs Hooray!!

rebretto — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:01:00 GMT

Hello hello everybody

Well things have been quite mixed of late as you can all imagine. Lots of ups and downs. I have been working in some different departments over the last 10 days, which have brought me some different experiences and increased knowledge of resort operations. And of course for those of you that don't know it, Rach and I have broken up.

As part of the internship program that we have undertaken at PIC we are given either 2 or 4 weeks of electives based on either 6 or 12 month contracts. We are able to select any department in the entire resort to work in and so I chose to work with sales and marketing because I really enjoyed those units at university. But after a few days I felt that I was gaining a fairly decent understanding of whats going on and I was getting a bit bored. So I was able to talk to Jojo in Human Resources and got a transfer into guest services for the second week of my elective. While in sales I was able to do some site inspections at some other hotels which was awesome. Some of the other hotels have really cool rooms. I was able to get a look at the presidential sweet at the Westin resort which blew my mind. Walls made of marble, massive king beds, spas overlooking the ocean, it was like a full sized apartment for a millionaire. Crazy. Marriot wasn't that impressive, it really needs a make over or something.

Sunday was my first day working in Guest services, and it was pretty fun. I don't start until like 3 pm each day, so its kinda likeonly workin a half day. I got my first tip, yay, even though it was only $1, fully stoked about that. Apparently when we are really busy most of the guys in guest services make about $20 a day in tips, that would be just cherry. The job is mostly greeting guests on arrival, valet parking, delivering packages and delivering luggage to rooms.

Some new clubmates arrived on the weekend so there was alot of partying going on. But unfortunately it wasn't me doing the partying, as I wasn't really in the mood for it yet. The new guys seem pretty cool, they are all from California and 2 of them were friends before they moved here which will make it much easier to settle in. They have been out and about every night since they have been they got here so I think they are havin alot of fun.

Have been windsurfing alot lately and learning to sail. It is so much fun and the best part is that when you are practising alot in your off time, management is happy that your trying to learn and get better to teach the guests better. So then the next day they give you like a big thankyou in the morning meeting in front of all the clubmates. Hows that, getiin thanked for going windsurfing and sailing.....in paradise. Great job.

So as you can see there are plenty of ups and downs at the moment. But Im still havin fun and thats what matters the most. Miss you all. See you in January.

Rebretto

Dreaming of Down Under

rebretto — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:55:00 GMT

Well its official. I really really want a meat pie or a sausage roll and some twisties. Oh man that'd be the sweetest. And hopefully this weekend I will get my hands on a nice meat pie. It turns out that there is a liqour store near by named Stanlees that is owned by an Australian guy named, well Stan, go figure. Apparentley the last Australians went there to hang out and watch the NRL grand final last year and Stan served up some meat pies mash potatoe and peas. So that is what Kerry and I are planning to do this Sunday.

Speaking of Australians, on Saturday I got the oppurtunity to represent PIC at a hotel trade show for the on island military personnel and there just happened to be a few Aussies in attendance. Great to hear those accents and its always funny to be so sure that no one else understands what you are talkin about when you talk about, well almost anything. Kerry and I were also invited to dinner by one of the Aussie couples. I look forward to it as she said that she would cook us a 'good aussie meal', probably roast or somethin or hopefully a family meat pie.

Welll it turns out that work didn't really slow down for too long. We did get a couple of quiet weeks with very few guests through the week and then masses of locals visiting for the weekends. However the problem was that we were bored with work through the week because there was nothing to do and then on the weekends we would have all these problems with controlling the locals and the visiting military personnel who tend to live by there own rules. Last Saturday was apparentley the worst that we have seen of this as we had a group of 400 locals here for a function. Pretty sweet for me as I was at the trade show, but there were accounts from many of the clubmates that it was the worst day that they have ever worked here. Lucky old me, I went back to my room for a nap.

I am just getting over a slight cold which derailed me from my new morning exercise regime. It has become a priority to manage this little 'ET' belly that I have developed. How embarrasing is this, I have a couple of Korean friends that occassionally rub my belly for good luck like Buddha. They have a real good sense of humour those Koreans, always smiling and laughing. That is until I belt them up the back of the head for making fun of me, whos laughin now. Just jokin. We are all pretty close around here so poking fun is just normal and I am used to that from my mates anyway. Thanks Turk, Mose and Tyler for preparing me for all this.

Kerry has just gotten over a pretty nasty case of Bronchitis and not 1 but 2 middle ear infections. She was pretty messed up for a while but she has returned to form quite well and I think we will go and catch a movie and some dinner tonight as we have the day off together.

Missing everyone soo much. Can't wait to hear from you all. Please send me some photos if you have any cause I love to see you guys. Keep up the replies to my postings too.

Peace

Rebretto

Loving Guam

rebretto — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:57:00 GMT

Hello Hello

Everything is going absolutely awesome in Guam. I have settled in really well now and I am making some great friends. I really look forward to my one day off a week so that I can get out and chill with my new friends. I also look forward to my days off so that I can sleep in and grab a late and delicous buffet breakfast. But let me tell you, it isn't easy eating at an all you can eat buffet three meals a day, everyday. Well it is easy but it isnt easy to keep the weight off when there is all that delicous food in front of me everyday, and on top of that I can barely do any real exercise because of my dodgy knee. But thats my battle. Hahahaha.

So back to the new friends that I'm making in Crazy old Guam. Ok there is Phillip from Philadelphia, thats pretty funny hey, he is a clubmate which is the department I work in at the pool. Norisa who is from Japan and works in reservations, Jacob from Korea, who is a clunmate and is my room mate. Rodrigo, who is from Mexico City and works for the dinner show. Taylor is chamorrow which is the what the local people are called, and he is also a clubmate. And of course Kerry from Australia, who is easily my closest friend here. Of course I miss all my friends and family from back in Australia but it makes it alot easier to get past that when you can make new and interesting friends.

On my last day off Phillip, Taylor and Joe (who is also chammorow and a clubmate) went and caught a movie and went swimming at a really cool beach on the other side of the island. It was pretty funny because it only took us 10 minutes to get to the other side of the island. So we had a really long swim there before returning to PIC for a BBQ down on the beach. Its really cool because all along the beach there are these awesome BBQs and tables for random parties. So thats what we did, beach BBQ party. Pretty sweet way to spend my day off, I must say.

Work has been extremly busy ever since we arrived in July, but it is finally starting to slow down now. I am looking forward to working a little less and finally getting trained in some new areas. I cant wait to work in the Kids Klub and at the Marine Centre which is the beach. For the most part work is generally fun and I am starting to get along with all of my workmates more and more. With work slowing down I can hopefully keep this journal a bit more up to date as well.

Talk to you all soon, hopefully.

Now I have to get back to work.

Rebretto

Gallery: Waterpark at PIC

rebretto — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 11:23:00 GMT

Where I work

Warm welcomes and whether

rebretto — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:37:00 GMT

Kerry and I arrived in Guam at 4.35 am on Monday the 17th of July. Instant shock! It is actually quite warm here, and quite humid, so both swimming and sweating are abundant. I feels as though I'm rarely dry and it usually only occurrs inside. So far we have seen a fair bit of the south side of the island. On Wednesday a couple of Americans Hunter and Jake (fellow clubmates that live across the hall) hired a car and drove us around the coast pointing out the sights. It was really cool to see some of the small local Chamorrow villages. We also saw alot of Spanish era buildings, such as churches and housing etc. On the way home we stopped at a bar before heading over the road to what is known as 'Chamorrow village' where which is like a local market with lots of cool local gear. BBQ's are the traditional means of cooking here so there were plenty of them at the market. Behind Chamorrow village was a carnival with gambling games, so of course we had to try our hand at that for a little while which was great fun.

The next couple of days involved some orientation classes and several tours of the resort which is quite large. On Thursday our actual work training began. Wow. A hot hot sun coupled with long work hours and a uniform that consists of a pair of boardshorts and thongs (referred to as slippers over here) has lead to the early development of quite a decent tan for this summer. Eeeassshh my sholders are a bit tender at the moment, but I will buy a rashie tommorrow so that should fix that problem.

The employees here have been very welcoming and warm towards me and Kerry. We have been very lucky to greeted by so many nice people over the last week which has helped emmensely with the transition to such a strange new life. My roomate like several of the workers here is Korean. His name is Jacob and he is also an intern. His major is in exercise science/nutrition. Kerry also rooms with a Korean named Soo-Yeoung who has pretty good english.

Kerry is settling in ok but is quite tired from the long hours at work, as she has been given a few days in a row working until 11pm. She is also struggling with sharing a room and losing her personal time, but she will cope, she's strong.

Stay tuned, there is plenty more to come in the future.

Brett Morgan