service in the sky

Last week was week 5 of flight attendant training...international service week. We focused mainly on international customer service standards such as: how to serve/cook a meal, set up a dessert cart, which carts can be opened on the ground, duty free sales, etc. For the most part, it was a breeze. We had later report times, fewer tests, and light material. I will say though, there is much more that goes into service at 35,000ft than you would expect. But, we all needed a bit of a break so we were grateful to slow things down a bit. Unfortunately, this week will not look the same. We will be covering the rest of the widebody aircrafts in our fleet. As I mentioned in week 4, I'm not a huge fan of aircraft specific training, although it will probably be better than the dull less interesting material covered last week. I'll keep you posted though.

In other news, we had a wine tasting and catered dinner off campus on Wednesday which was a welcome change to our monotonous schedule. The food was delicious and real which is the polar opposite of the 'food' I am able to eat and store at the hotel (i.e. cereal, oatmeal, and protein bars).

Saturday, we had our second training flight which focused specifically on customer service. I flew with two other trainees to Fort Lauderdale and back. It was a quick and easy trip that offered so much insight into what work will really be like when we're finished with training. On the first leg, I worked in First Class and had amazing customer interactions. The customers and crew were encouraging and excited to have us onboard which made the experience all the more exciting. On the flight back to Atlanta, the captain made us stay seated for the majority of the flight due to turbulence which prevented us from doing a full beverage service. Thankfully, the turbulence lightened up with enough time for us to do a water and snack walkthrough. Overall, the flight was really fun and a good reminder of what I'll be doing in a few short weeks.

Since my flight landed back in Atlanta at 1:25pm, I was able to run to another gate and hop on a flight home to surprise mom for Mother's Day! Being in Birmingham with my parents, Kelly, and Tucker was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate me for this last bit of training. I was able to go to church with my parents which was more of a blessing than I can explain. The sermon focused on the cross and Christian womanhood since it was Mother's Day. It was a beautiful reminder of not only my purpose here at training (to be intentional in sharing the gospel with coworkers) but more specifically, my role as a woman. Praise God for creating distinct gender roles that we are intended to glorify him through.

It was a busy but blessed week. May 24th doesn't seem that far off anymore. Here's to finishing training and getting back home so I can spend much needed time with my Birmingham crew :)