I can't believe I have already been here for an entire week! I am still waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up.

My first couple of days here were a little bit stressful to say the least. When I first arrived here I wasn't even able to check into the hotel because they had only booked it under my roommates name, and she had missed her flight and wouldn't arrive for another two days. Luckily I was able to call and change the reservation and was checked in around 7pm (i first arrived around 5:30) I tried to stay awake as long as possible to start adjusting to the time, but fell asleep around 8:30. The first couple of days I woke up around 3am every night no matter what. After about the 4th day, though, I was pretty adjusted to the time change. The time change ended up being to my advantage though and for once in my life had no problem waking up in the morning. My next dilemma was on Monday morning I found out there was an ID card that I was supposed to have before I got here and through mis-communications I hadnt gotten it. So on Monday and Tuesday I was running around Honolulu frantically trying to get everything done so I will have it by the time I board the ship. Although I would have obviously rather been at the beach it worked out because it forced me to figure out how to easily get around the island and where everything is. And I got everything done for it and should have my ID in plenty of time (what a relief!)

There are two other people here with me now, my roommate Mary and a guy named Terry. They are both really nice and we are all getting along well and helping each other out. The two of them didn't get here till Tuesday and Wednesday so we didn't start really training until Thursday. Our trainer is amazing! Her name is Andrea and she has been incredibly helpful. She grew up in Hawaii then worked in Seattle for a while and has been back in honolulu for about 4 years now. She knows a lot about being on the ship and we are finally getting all of our questions answered. She also knows a lot about massage and the products we have to sell and we are learning so much! Next week we will train a few more days and then start working at the spa in the HHV! I'm a little anxious about actually massaging guests there, but I'm also excited to start making some money. It will also be nice to get some experience here before we start on the ship.

So after Mon and Tues everything was great! Mary finally got here so I had someone to walk around with and talk to. We went out to dinner as soon as she got here. We couldn't believe how many stores the strip has! We have been comparing Chanel, Louis Vatton, and Coach stores to McDonald's because they are every where here! (and don't get your hopes up Kayla just cause they have so many doesn't mean I'm buying you a purse ) They also have a ton of other great stores here ... I won't be surprised if I'm broke at the end of my contract. There are a ton of tourist in this area so the strip is usually really packed with people, so it's always lit up and there are tiki torches lining a lot of it. Also, the beach is right along the strip so, usually we walk down the strip and have dinner then walk back along the beach, it is sooo amazing here. A friend of mine from Lakeside lived here last year for a semester and gave me the info of his really close friend he is really nice and let me tag along with him and his friends the past couple of nights.

Although it has been a lot of fun here on the island this week and I'm sure I will enjoy the next couple of weeks, I am dying to get on the ship! Living in a hotel with no microwave is getting old already. Also a lot of people have been saying the other islands are a lot nicer than Oahu, just because there aren't a thousand peole and bulidings everywhere. We are supposed to leave on the 4th of December and it just cannot get here soon enough. The ship I will be on is just a Hawaiin cruise, it will stop at five different islands, staying over night in Maui and Kauai. We only get one and a half days off a week, but Andrea said our manager on the ship is really awesome and will most likely stagger our days off so we get to visit a different island each week.

I think that is mostly everything thats been going on so far. I will try to update this a little more so there isn't sooo much to read at one time.

I'm really missing everyone at home, and I hope everyone has a great thanksgiving this week! <3