27/6-2015
I'm finally lying down in my bed after a very hectic day.
First of all I flew in the tiniest airplane I've ever set foot in. When I arrived to Hamburg, I expected to see the agent happily waiting for me. Instead I was greeted by... no one. I walked around the arrival area for one hour, before I heard an announcement over the speakers – in German, mind you – and all I understood was the name of my ship and information in terminal 2. I am convinced I looked like a lost kid when I arrived at the information desk, asking about the previous announcement. The lady behind the counter pointed me in the direction of a group of 12 young Indian men, saying they were the one making the announcement for the agent supposed to pick them up. I joined them and after yet another 20 minutes, our agent finally arrived. We were then escorted to a mini bus, where 4 men were already waiting for us. I spent the next 1½-2 hours in said bus, as the only female, surrounded by 15 Indian men, one dutch man and our very German driver.
I slept as much as possible.
When we arrived to the port, I suddenly became very awake. This was it! I could see my ship waiting for me.
The entire embarkation process is something I can describe in one work: chaotic! Though somehow they all knew what they were doing. There were a lot of instructions; put your luggage here, stand there, come in here, give me your documentation, go wait there, talk to that guy, talk to this guy, wait for that guy, sign here, here and here. It took about 2 hours. And then back to get the luggage, bring it to the cabin, go get sheets, blanket and towels, say hi to this person and that and phew!
Luckily everyone seem very nice. My buddy (the one taking care of me and showing me how things work), is a very eccentric Bulgarian woman. My roommate is a young Brazilian woman. And they are both very nice to me, talking and joking and guiding me through the do's and don'ts. At 4 pm I had to attend a safety training meeting. It's a thing I have to do for the next week or so. Then I was left to myself for a few hours, which I spent unpacking and showering. I had to meet at work at 7 pm – no sweet mama here. The hour before I met was stressful. I hadn't gotten my uniform yet, because of a misunderstanding between my buddy and me, so we ended up running from one end to the other to get it done before meeting in. We had to skip dinner because of this and I could tell my buddy was annoyed at me. We made it in time to work though, and I got to meet my colleagues along with my boss. My boss is a very sweet Romanian woman, who send me (and my buddy) to go get dinner and take our time. I then got a tour of the shops they have on board and we're talking expensive stuff here! Swarovski, DKNY, Ray Ban, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana – you name it!
My boss then took me to the Crew Bar, got me a pepsi and sat me down to talk. She wanted to know more about me and why I had taken the job. After some time, she got me two bottles of water and send me to my cabin to relax with the words “I will see you tomorrow morning”.
And here I am, lying in my bed after a long long long day, trying to get used to the sounds of the ship. My cabin is in middle on the 5th floor, so I can barely feel the waves rocking the ship as we sail. I have so many new impressions that I need to process. It seems like people have very different opinions of the life on board. My buddy is now on her 7th contract (one contract is 7 months), and has been doing this for five years. She loves it and couldn't imagine herself doing anything else.
My roommate on the other hand is at the end of her first contract, and is just anxious to get home. I have a feeling that she won't be back. She appreciates the experience, but is not too happy about this entire thing.
Many of the people embarking today were old crew, which means they're either desperate, struggling for money or really like this life.
I think I will just have to make my own impression. Tomorrow will be yet another long day. We're at sea, so working hours are from 9am 'till midnight. I have the safety training at 8am and then on to the job.
No rest for the wicked.
I'm finally lying down in my bed after a very hectic day.
First of all I flew in the tiniest airplane I've ever set foot in. When I arrived to Hamburg, I expected to see the agent happily waiting for me. Instead I was greeted by... no one. I walked around the arrival area for one hour, before I heard an announcement over the speakers – in German, mind you – and all I understood was the name of my ship and information in terminal 2. I am convinced I looked like a lost kid when I arrived at the information desk, asking about the previous announcement. The lady behind the counter pointed me in the direction of a group of 12 young Indian men, saying they were the one making the announcement for the agent supposed to pick them up. I joined them and after yet another 20 minutes, our agent finally arrived. We were then escorted to a mini bus, where 4 men were already waiting for us. I spent the next 1½-2 hours in said bus, as the only female, surrounded by 15 Indian men, one dutch man and our very German driver.
I slept as much as possible.
When we arrived to the port, I suddenly became very awake. This was it! I could see my ship waiting for me.
The entire embarkation process is something I can describe in one work: chaotic! Though somehow they all knew what they were doing. There were a lot of instructions; put your luggage here, stand there, come in here, give me your documentation, go wait there, talk to that guy, talk to this guy, wait for that guy, sign here, here and here. It took about 2 hours. And then back to get the luggage, bring it to the cabin, go get sheets, blanket and towels, say hi to this person and that and phew!
Luckily everyone seem very nice. My buddy (the one taking care of me and showing me how things work), is a very eccentric Bulgarian woman. My roommate is a young Brazilian woman. And they are both very nice to me, talking and joking and guiding me through the do's and don'ts. At 4 pm I had to attend a safety training meeting. It's a thing I have to do for the next week or so. Then I was left to myself for a few hours, which I spent unpacking and showering. I had to meet at work at 7 pm – no sweet mama here. The hour before I met was stressful. I hadn't gotten my uniform yet, because of a misunderstanding between my buddy and me, so we ended up running from one end to the other to get it done before meeting in. We had to skip dinner because of this and I could tell my buddy was annoyed at me. We made it in time to work though, and I got to meet my colleagues along with my boss. My boss is a very sweet Romanian woman, who send me (and my buddy) to go get dinner and take our time. I then got a tour of the shops they have on board and we're talking expensive stuff here! Swarovski, DKNY, Ray Ban, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana – you name it!
My boss then took me to the Crew Bar, got me a pepsi and sat me down to talk. She wanted to know more about me and why I had taken the job. After some time, she got me two bottles of water and send me to my cabin to relax with the words “I will see you tomorrow morning”.
And here I am, lying in my bed after a long long long day, trying to get used to the sounds of the ship. My cabin is in middle on the 5th floor, so I can barely feel the waves rocking the ship as we sail. I have so many new impressions that I need to process. It seems like people have very different opinions of the life on board. My buddy is now on her 7th contract (one contract is 7 months), and has been doing this for five years. She loves it and couldn't imagine herself doing anything else.
My roommate on the other hand is at the end of her first contract, and is just anxious to get home. I have a feeling that she won't be back. She appreciates the experience, but is not too happy about this entire thing.
Many of the people embarking today were old crew, which means they're either desperate, struggling for money or really like this life.
I think I will just have to make my own impression. Tomorrow will be yet another long day. We're at sea, so working hours are from 9am 'till midnight. I have the safety training at 8am and then on to the job.
No rest for the wicked.
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