Spark Panda

3 Months at the new job~

So because i’ve got a whole evening alone to myself at home i thought i’d write up my thoughts and feelings of my new life as British Airways Flight Attendant living in London.

Training for the job was by far, and still is, the best part of the job i’ve experienced so far. The trainers made it so much fun, and my course, 23 people i think it was, were all absolutely awesome. We spent loads of time outside training with each other too which was a nice bonus, so i made some good friends before i had even started flying! 

So on the 6th April i graduated from the training academy and on the 9th April i had my first flight on BA to Hamburg in Germany. It was a pretty easy flight and i got to sit in the cockpit of the A320 for take off and landing. It would have been better if i could have done this on the 777 or a 747 as i got to do it in a 320 when i worked at EasyJet :P But nonetheless, it was still nifty.. Their view alone makes me want to be a Pilot :P

Since then i’ve been all over the world, mostly America, but to name a few destinations i’ve had the pleasure of flying to and staying in.. Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Nairobi.. the list goes on and carries on getting bigger! My favourite destination so far is a tie up between Denver and Las Vegas. Denver is such a pretty little place, and is really quirky (and has a Taco Bell 2 mins walk from our hotel). Vegas on the other hand is hot, beautiful at night, fun to walk around.. can’t decide! 

One thing that disappoints me a bit, but i knew would happen, is that the flights themselves are a lot less fun than at EasyJet. The crew are more focused on customer service and high class standards and it’s taking some getting used to from the cheeky banter and laughs at EZY. However most of the crew i have flown with have been great, and downroute are a lot of fun to be with. My last flight to Vegas i had a fantastic crew. 

One annoying bit right now is that i’m only 20, and with drinking age being 21 in America, i have to miss out on going out in the evening, which most of the crew do. But, thats a little thing, and i’ve only got to put up with it for another 5 months anyway :P

Another bug bare is the wage.. I took home just over £1,200 this month.. which would be a nice wage.. If i didn’t live in London. It’s EXTREMELY hard to live on this wage with the prices of London. I did a budget sheet today and after i’ve taken off everything that needs paying for next month, i only have just over £150 left over for casual spending for the month.. hardly anything really. It seriously makes me consider whether this job is worth it.

With the job i also had to move to London.. which, hasn’t been as great as i hoped. I got a houseshare with 4 other crew who were on my training course date and they’re nice people, but i just don’t really share anything in common with any of them, except being gay :P We’ve moved to our brand new house now, which is a bonus, but still, i’m not all that sure on it. Also London in general is not as great as i hoped it would be. But its only been a few months, i’ll give it some more time and see what happens. Been hoping to get along to more London furmeets too, but i’m never rostered a Saturday off when they’re on so i’ve only been to one so far haha.

I think the one thing i’ve learnt about myself the most in the last 3 months is that i really am not British :P I don’t really like living here, i wanna move out the country. More specifically, i want to move to the US. I love everything about it, and i feel like i’m more at home when im downroute over there than i am here. Things i like fit in more over there, my best friends live over there too. Gets me down sometimes that i can’t hang with them or anything for like, a year at a time, but hey, makes the moments special.

Anyway, thats enough writing. If you’ve managed to read this far, well done, I commend you :P

Roll on MFF! 16/11/2012 <3