Flying Solo

I just realised it's been three weeks since my last blog. How very remiss of me.

My main excuse is that for the past three weeks I have been training to be a coordinator of the guest services ilk. I have been working for just over a month now, and today was my first day out of training. There sure is a lot to learn.

My first week of training involved being sat in a room for 8 hours of the day going through the standard operating procedures, which needless to say was not my wildest week ever. Week 2 was computer systems training, so physically learning how to do all the bits and bobs I need to know how to do. That was a lot of information to take in in one go, but brought back a lot of memories of 5 years ago when I was a "vacation planner" (read: ticket salesperson) for the Mouse. When and when not to void, rules for upgrading a ticket, and why you should never ever mistender a voucher. Beheadings will follow.

Week 3 - last week - we were put on the frontline with actual guests, putting into practice what we had learned and trying to interact with somewhat stressed out tourists AT THE SAME TIME!! With a practical and written final at the end of the week (really! I had to do an exam!). I needed to get 95% to pass, so the pressure was on a bit. I was slightly concerned about how I would handle going back to a customer service position, but as it turned out it was like I never left. With the exception of a couple of difficult situations, I really enjoyed it.

I still miss my old job. My friend Ed, who is still there, thinks I'm bonkers, but when you take a 60% pay cut and have to wear polyester to work every day in 35-degree heat (95F for the American-minded), your nice little office job with no clocking in or out, Diet Coke Corner and the ability to choose what to wear every day seems very appealing indeed.

But it's not like I didn't appreciate my job. I did moan about it occasionally, but I knew full well what I had. And although I knew what I was giving up, I don't think I realised it would be quite this hard.

Anyway, final was passed (98.5%, thanks very much!) and today was my first day by myself. A bit nervewracking, but I survived, and made it a whole 7 hours without anyone screaming at me. Needed a bit of help here and there, but everyone at work is very nice and will give you a hand if you're stuck. Just trying to apply what I've learned over the past two years and be better at my job because of it. I did get in a bit of a stress on Friday when I made a few mistakes, but sucked it up and pulled it together.

Now it's just time to see how good an impression I can make!

A Very British Affair...only with more vicars

So there was a wedding back home on Friday. I don't know whether you heard about it, as it was a small, quiet affair.

After months of resisting Royal Wedding fever, when it came to the day, I realised I would regret it if I wasn't a part of it. So when 5am came about...I got up, brewed a cup of Yorkshire Tea in my Yorkshire mug (which my roommate got for me as a leaving present - it says 'You can take the lass out of Yorkshire, but you can't take the Yorkshire out of the lass'), and donned the standard 'eccentric English person' headgear.

As for the wedding itself...I really enjoyed it, and I realised something as I watched it. I was never anti-wedding, it was just the American coverage that really got on my nerves - it felt like the American media were gatecrashing a party that had nothing to do with them (apologies to my American friends - but I never said it was rational!). But when I watched on the TV (BBC America, of course, so I could watch the same program I would have got chez moi - if I'd had to listen to a Diana comparison every 10 seconds [as opposed to the BBC's every 10 minutes - sigh], I would have shot myself) I felt extremely proud of my country and all the pomp and circumstance and ridiculousness that we can put on, dating back centuries and barely changing at all.

Personal highlights for me were as follows:

• Prince Harry, who was clearly about to piss himself laughing at a number of points through the ceremony. I really wish I could have heard that best man speech.
• When Rowan Williams (the Archbishop of Canterbury, or 'Him with the Beard') pronounced William & Kate man and wife and you could hear the crowd roar its approval outside - and Kate grinned.
• Rowan Williams himself, who surely has the best wedding voice ever.
• The horse that fell over and then ran around without a rider for ten minutes.
• The Queen deciding to attend the wedding dressed as Big Bird.
• Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, who clearly decided to get dressed in the dark.
• Elton John blatantly not knowing the words to any of the hymns.
• The seriously miserable looking flower girl, especially on the balcony. Priceless.
• And of course, the kiss. Not the first one, but the second one. They just looked really happy, and let's face it, that's what you want at a wedding!

All in all it was what we do best - a load of ceremonial tosh, but very enjoyable and colourful tosh. I do have a question though - how many vicars does it take to do one wedding? I'm sure there were at least 4 at various points in the ceremony. Still, when you're the future Queen and King of the United Kingdom, I guess you get whatever you want.

Unfortunately, the happy event did have the rather unhappy side effect of making me cripplingly homesick. In a world where it costs me 40% of my paycheck to fill up my car and my prescriptions are starting to cost me hundreds of dollars each, reminders of the best bits of home caused some big emotions to well up.

But overall, I think Newsweek said it best: "In a world gone to hell...thank God, a wedding." It was just really nice, despite my earlier moans, to have the world united in happiness about something for a change. More of the same please!