Livin' the dream.

Well, over the past couple of weeks we are finally starting to get settled here in Orange County. The initial hustle and bustle and uncertainty that marked the opening months here is being replaced by a real sense of belonging, and even security. Ironically enough though, I have loved the journey. I mean, coming here with nothing - no friends, job or accommodation and expecting to 'make it' in the middle of  an economic recession - was always going to be a tall task. So, to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and start actually living is such a blessing. Thank God for that.

Paul and I have just had our first week of work at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Hotel. The first day was an orientation day, so I didn't really expect much, except for maybe a couple of cheesy greeting excersises in some bland room deep in the heart of the human resources department. I couldn't have been more wrong. We were led through the main lobby of the hotel and ushered into a large, elegant-looking room, which sported a giant wooden table scattered with corporate-like leather seats that wouldn't have been out of place in Donald Trump's 'The Aprentice'. There were about eleven of us newbies altogether, and we were each designated a seat at the table. A friendly lady named Kea greeted us all and began her presentation, going through all the nooks and crannies, policies and procedures and so forth. I won't bore you with all of that. We were, however, allowed to grab complimentary drinks and goodies throughout her presentation to fight the boredom - which wasn't actually too bad anyway. The treats ranged from soft drink to starbucks coffee, chocolate brownies and muffins. Oh, and a complimentary lunch straight from the menu of one of the hotel's finest restaurants. Yum. For an orientation, the day couldn't have gone any better. Indeed, I could barely keep myself from grinning with quiet pleasure the entire time. Hehe.

Needless to say, Paul and I were pretty amped for the following day of actual work. It's amazing how much you actually desire to work after a month and a half's hiatus. Plus, we were working at a freakin' pimping hotel. We rocked up to work at 8.30am - right on time - put on our uniform (nike tee, khaki shorts) and headed for the pools. I expected to be shown the proverbial 'ropes' of the job right away, however through some miscommunication our supervisor was late, which gave us some time to chat with other staff and get their insight into working here. Everybody we talked to seemed really chill, in a good way. I could already tell this was going to be an epic summer. Our supervisor Ben finally showed up, and gave us the ins and outs, ups and downs on exactly what it means to be a 'recreation attendant' at the Hyatt hotel.

In a nutshell, our job throughout the summer is to delight people. We do this by maintaining the pool area, hand out fresh towels to guests, as well as to provide friendly chit-chat, really. On top of this, we are responsible for running 'Camp Hyatt' - the department of the hotel that entertains kids. This involves many strenuous activitis such as: playing with kids in the pool, building sandcastles down the beach, oh, and watching the occasional Disney movie. It's great. Nedless to say, we are loving our jobs thus far, and plan to give it 100 percent, and inquire if we can possibly work here after the summer, as our positions finish at the end of September. But we'll see.

Working here also has a number of pretty sweet benefits. Firstly, we get free food for working here. It's buffet-style too, so you ca just waltz on in, grab a plate full of fresh salad and veggies, sip on some fresh apple juice, and relax while watching the NBA playoffs (go the Celtics!). Another benefit is the discount we get on rooms. For friends and family, we enjoy roughly 70 percent off of the usual room price! Thats a hefty saving, considering that for just a standard room here is upwards of 300 bucks a night. Yikes. In addition, the people here are just great. Everybody is really nice, and obviouslt love working here. I figure that a positive work environment is truly an awesome benefit, and yet another reason why we love our jobs! Okay, spiel officially over. Woo!

So, in a very general conclusion, life has been just great of late. Our place is three houses from the ocean, we've been surfing everyday. Not only that, but we are in walking distance from our work, which is a 20ish minute beach-walk - hardly excruciating. Indeed work, as it is commonly called, doesn't even feel like work. In fact, sometimes its even more fun than no work! I never thought I'd say that, but there you go. Livin' the dream, livin' the dream, livin' the dream. Over and out.