JAPAN

Here are some pictures from Japan. This is going to be a short post a) because I am sick as a dog and b) because I have so much stuff to do before tomorrow, a.k.a. GRADUATION DAY!!! As soon as I get back to Dallas tomorrow night or the next day I will give more details on the past couple of weeks including the trip to Japan, my final exams, my last training flight and graduation. Happy Halloween!!!

JAPAN

I will be in Japan for the next couple of days. Updates are on the way.

I PASSED!!!

TK is finally over and after a long day of testing and excitement, we are all back safely to the compound, minus two people. Sadly we did lose two of our group today and it was hard for all of us to get past it and pull ourselves together. But we had to move on because we still had two more exams ahead of us. Lots of tears at the beginning, yet lots of happiness and applause at the end.

I had a complete success on my first two exams: oxygen and door evacuations. I aced all three doors we were given and didn't have to use any retakes. The last two were written exams and I got a perfect score on both. 100's all the way across baby!!! In addition to testing we were able to put on the orange jumpsuits and jump down an actual airplane slide one by one. It was a little scary but I made it down with no bruises or bumps...minus the spider bite I woke up with this morning on my face. More on that later.

The best part about the whole day however, is that once you complete TK and return back to the campus, you finally get to wear your uniform and everything that goes along with it. So from now on we will be in uniform from head to toe. We can't even go out and celebrate tonight because we have our second training flight in the morning, bright and early. I will be with one other girl from my class and we are headed to glorious, Newark, New Jersey (sense the sarcasm). :) Chicago is supposed to get some nasty weather tomorrow so we might be overnighting it up in NJ if delays continue. But our international flight is next week and we are either going to Amsterdam or Tokyo! I can't wait!!!

Emergency Training (TK)

For the past week and a half my mind has been overloaded with evacuation commands, CPR techniques and door/overwing exit operating procedures. We have watched numerous crash videos, attended long, tiring lectures, and evacuated six different types of aircrafts. Tomorrow is our testing day. It is a series of four seperate exams...2 P.C.s, one open-book, and one closed-book exam. It is the most intense day of our entire 6 week training. If we fail any of the exams were are sent home immediately, no questions asked. This is it...do or die, pass or fail. End of the line.

"Brace, Brace, Brace!"

Normalcy

October 9th, Tuesday

So I borrowed my friend's car yesterday so I could escape from the confines of the chain-linked fences that surround the campus I so unreluctantly call "home." I was on a mission with one goal in mind...find a nail salon! As I drove around the neighborhood I finally spotted a nail salon on the other side of the street. Just like Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde I quickly "flipped a bitch" to reach my destination and sped to the flashing lights of the Triple A nail salon. Finally some normalcy in my life...or so I thought.

Apparently nail salons in Chicago don't know the meaning of Solar Pink and White nails. The end result was a 45 min manicure followed by sucky, thin, white tips. And what is even more sad is that while I was in the nail salon, of all places, I began to miss home for the first time since I have been here. Well I have missed home, and Peanut of course, but I have been so busy and stressed that there really isn't any time to think about home. But as I sat by myself in that lonely salon, with the "Hey there Delila" song playing over the speaker(reminding me of my friend Becca and how much I miss her) and staring out the window, tears began to fill my eyes and I had to hold back my emotions for fear of a random outburst in front of the nail lady. Needless to say I felt sad for the remainder of the evening...that is until the quasi-party in my room. :)

There is always something going on in my room. It seems to be the hangout for not only my classmates but friends of mine from the other classes as well. And speaking of class, we started our emergency training this week. So far we have spent the past two days in a classroom setting while the entire class was on the verge of narcolepsy throughout both days. However today was more hands on and we are actually CPR certified now. So if you ever feel the need to collapse for no reason or just simple would like me to perform the heimlich maneuver (which is actually referred to as the abdominal thrust now because Dr. Heimlich got tired of getting sued everytime the maneuver went arye) I can now perform it with full confidence. More on TK later (Emergency Training).

October 9th, Tuesday

It is now the beginning of my fourth week at the United Training Center. I have made it through two quizzes and one practical thus far, with flying colors.

Quiz 1- 100%

Quiz 2- 100%

PA and Demo Exam- 96%

All those late night study sessions and sleepless nights in college must have paid off because I am still in that “school mode” that has allowed me to succeed under these brutal training conditions. The first week was excruciatingly long but I made it through and it is getting easier by the day. My classmates are all so awesome and we have formed some amazing friendships over the past couple of weeks.

Last weekend I went to a penthouse party with Will and some others from our group. It was a fun time and I had a chance to experience the nightlife in downtown Chicago. The weekend before that I spent the whole day on Sunday with Daneka, Ilya, and Thom in downtown walking around and enjoying the beautiful sunny afternoon. We went to Millennium Park, Navy Pier, Chinatown, and Logan Square.

In Chinatown we ate at this amazing Vietnamese restaurant and then stopped in a lovely little bakery for some sweets. At one point we entered into what we thought was a decent grocery store but we were quickly bombarded with the sights and smells of what could only be described as raunchy. Open containers of raw fish lined the inside of the store as well as a bucket of what I presume was a type of seafood but looked like little round balls of curry-covered intestines. Nasty!

This weekend I spent Friday night at the local bar around the corner. The San Francisco class arrived last week so a couple peeps from my class hung out with them and gave them all the juicy details of the training program. Then we made our way to the gay bar called Hunter’s. It was a good time and we concluded the night around 2:00 a.m. and made our way back to the compound.

Saturday night a bunch of us girls, had a girl’s night out and hit up some clubs in the city. I won’t divulge too many secrets from the night but who knew driving home could be so hilarious. Sarah and I were laughing uncontrollably for no apparent reason (I was later told). At one point I almost peed myself I was laughing so hard. However Sunday morning went surprisingly smooth considering the antics from the previous night. The weekend came to a close with a big group of my classmates packed into my room for a fun-filled social gathering. In the words of Monica from Friends “I am always the hostess.” Or something like that. Our room seems to draw people in and never let them out. It’s where the party’s at.

I started TK or Emergency Training week yesterday…but more on that in a separate note. Have a wonderful week!