And another (how lucky!)

I figure that since this is the time when there's a lot of new information, posting a bit more than predicted isn't going to hurt. So orientation is finally done, and let me say, the third day was a doozy.

I know I referred to previous orientation as brainwashing, but they were nothing compared to this one. Maybe it's because we had a different person doing the... orienting? This was the food and beverage one so someone from the head of restaurants was doing the talking. I have to say, I'm kind of surprised the title wasn't "Fitter, Happier, More Productive". This guy had more catchphrases than The Simpsons. Some standouts:
"The Right People in the Right Position." (repeated by far the most of any slogan)
"Consistency Breeds Strength" (This one just sounded REALLY Orwellian to me)
"The Talent You've Got with the Skills You're Taught!" (I was watching for his teeth to sparkle after this one. I was disappointed)
"You'll know the standards and you'll LIKE THEM"

Keep in mind he repeated these and a few others numerous times throughout the 4-ish hours he was talking.

You have to give credit to this guy, I guess. I couldn't do what he was doing. I could not spout off all that utter hogwash in total earnestness and without a hint of irony in my voice. I really don't think I could keep my lips from cracking into a wry grin or my eyes from rolling sardonically. Especially not week after week.

And to answer Richard's question: personally I think I have been spoiled by Laurier. There are more girls than guys here I think, but not to the proportion I've become used to, and a surprising number of them are taken already. We'll see what happens in the next couple weeks though, when the 150 new people arrive.

Some interesting statistics: During a busy summer day, up to 16,000 people will come to the Lake. Last year the first snow of the year was June 16th (I still don't quite believe that one). After the next couple weeks there will be 850 people working here.

I went into the Deli today after taking a walk on the lake shore for a bit. I talked to the girl who's going to be training me tomorrow, and she admitted that she hasn't walked around the lake since August. That seems to enforce something I was thinking about as I came in on the bus here- basically, that there are 3 stages of reaction to this area. When you first get here you're absolutely awestruck. I'm at that point still. I hope I can keep it up all summer. But it seems that, like everything else I guess, you get used to it and then you don't really see it anymore. That seems like such a sad state. The primary reason for being here should be the location. If you forget it... then you're just working. And of course, the third level is that mythical status of having lived here for so long that you have a deep intimacy with the mountains and appreciate them on a deeper level than everyone else. I wonder if that Parks Canada guy from feels like that.

I was listening to OK Computer on my walk around the lake. It's always special when you are in a situation where a song applies directly to what you are seeing. This was one of them. The last song, "The Tourist", was written by the guitar player while he was sitting on a bench in Paris, watching tour groups shuffle around and trying to see everything in 45 minutes. The chorus just goes "Hey man...slow down...idiot...slow down...". It really applies to this area.

Remember how I said that 16,000 people will come up to the lake in a single summer day? Well, the hotel only has 550 rooms and 850 employees. Even assuming that every single room is filled with 4 people (HIGHLY unlikely) that's only about 3000 people. Meaning 12,000 people show up that aren't even staying here for a night-tour groups on their way to Calgary or Banff, I guess. I don't feel like I'll even see 1/10th of the things to see in this place by the time I leave. Hell, 1/10th is a very generous estimate. Seems like such a waste to come up here, say "what a pretty lake" and leave. Maybe I'm asking too much of people. It's not like 16,000 people can become explore this whole area everyday either. I suppose that's the challenge of national parks...turning natural places into tourist traps, but also being dedicated to preserving it and trying to get people to respect them.

As another sidenote, though clever capitalism may have cheated me out of 5 bucks at the airport, I honestly feel like some people here are getting a much rawer deal. Specifically, the so-called "gold rooms" that we got a tour of yesterday. These are rooms with all sorts of special amenities, their own private lounge and all that...but honestly, I don't see the worth. It's one of those status things, I guess. We got a tour of a room... it's 900 bucks a night or something. And I couldn't see much that to differentiate it from any other hotel room. I suppose it had gold coloured carpet, but I don't know what that's worth. It had one queen sized bed, a chair and a TV. It was pretty small. Sure it had a view of the lake but so do half the rooms in the hotel. Amazing what people will pay for.

Yet again, I'm glad I came this week. Tomorrow training will be only with Lauren and myself. There are like 10 people starting next week though. It'll be nice to be getting a bit more one-on-one training, not in a group. It certainly doesn't look like this place lets you relax once things get going, but there's also a lot more people on than anywhere I've been... I think it's 8 people during the highest period of overlap. Pretty crazy.

But I will find out how things work tomorrow. Out of the frying pan...

Stay Frosty
Trevor

Orientation (special bonus post)

Of the many things mountain air purportedly does, improving memory does not seem to be one of them, as I was certain that my final day of orientation today was starting at 8, but it would appear it is actually at 9. So to occupy the time I will go over my first two days of orientation. It will be a good chance to introduce some of the people I hope will be recurring characters in this little adventure.

I'm quite glad to have arrived this week. My orientation group is only about 15 people as opposed to the 80 for next week, and so far we seem to be getting along. The overwhelming majority of the group is from Ontario, and I think the rest are all Albertans. The notables of the orientation group:

Drew: As I said before, he and I are getting along quite well. Definitely a better roommate than at UP.
Owen: From Toronto, Owen is most likely too cool for his own good. Definitely has the whole indie-hipster thing down. But he's not obnoxious about it, and certainly keeps the action going. He's in polisci/philosophy too, and is in stewarding along with Drew.
Nick: Owen's roommate. I'm not positive where he's from. He's a fairly calm guy but he's got a good sense of humour. He and Owen seem to get along well too. He's working the front (not Conceirge, but around there)
Bianca: From Toronto. She met Drew and Owen on the way up, on the bus I suppose. She's working housekeeping. Just slightly on the outgoing side, she is in the odd position of having not yet seen her roommates, as one has left for a month's vacation and the others seem to work just the right shifts so that they are never in teh apartment together.
Meredith: From Ottawa, I believe. Doesn't talk a whole lot, but has a pretty friendly personality. I guess she's pretty athletic or something because yesterday I saw her setting up a rope from two trees and practicing balancing along it. Definitely got a lot farther than I would have. I think she's housekeeping too.
Lauren: Also working in the deli, from Guelph. Either the shyest person in existence, or she doesn't like me that much. So far I've been lucky to get a monosyballic response out of her. Naturally she's the one I'm working with. Teamwork!
There are a few others, such as two girls working banquets who seem to stick to themselves and a few returning or older guys who seem to just want to get on to work.

After my previous post, the aforementioned group and I went to the employee pub. Smart move, Fairmont. I bet half the wages they pay out go right back into this place. It's dingy and smokey. According to Arnt and Josh, the busiest nights are Monday (Fresh Meat night, when all the new recruits invariably check the place out. We were identified right away, not just because we weren't recognized, but because we were there at 10:30, when most people don't show up until midnight or so), Thursday (payday) and Saturday (just because). They had MuchMusic playing on the TVs on mute, and the completely unrelated music up quite loud. For some reason that made me laugh. There are 3 pool tables, and apparantly it gets pretty competitive. Despite it being one of the busy nights, it really didn't seem that busy. Drew and I left a little early, but man did the sound level outside go up around 3 am (when the place closes). Apparently this is a problem, as it is a regular thing and might affect the wildlife. Probably going back next monday to meet all the newbies.

Orientation itself has been pretty boring. Standard corporate brainwashing, basically- trying to get us all rah-rah-rah about working for Fairmont. The first day, at least. The second day was pretty cool, because the second half of it was a presentation by Parks Canada on the actual area we're living in. Bear safety, hiking safety, information about wildlife and such. The guy was a really good speaker, and he actually managed to get me fairly excited about going out hiking around here. Even here, that's a bit of a feat.

After that I got a bit of a tour of the deli with Lauren. We're both going to be working a lot. I only have monday off this week. Oye. And working here seems like it'll be pretty busy.

Last night Owen, Drew, Nick and I walked down to Lake Louise (the town...er...hamlet, technically). We picked up some groceries and decided to go to the restaurant. It's funny because everything seems like a splurge since the Bean is 2.50. But damned if that wasn't a tasty burger.

Anyways, I need to get back to the REAL orientation time. I'll update this again after some actual deli time.

Stay Frosty,
Trevor

Arrival

Just to warn you, this is going to be a long post, despite being here only slightly more than 24 hours. I will to start from the beginning.

The airport and flight were uneventful, though this is probably a good thing. No movie or anything, as the plane was about as small as they get these days. 20 rows of 6 seats each, all in a single cabin. I just read for a bit and listened to music for the rest of the flight. Of course, as soon as we got into the air they wheel out the cart of food to buy. Being the savvy consumer I am, I naturally decline to buy their average-looking sandwiches or their rather expensive cans of pop. I figure I'll wait until I get to the airport.

Most of the flight was over clouds, so there really wasn't much to see. But it cleared up as we got over Alberta, probably at the border with Saskatchewan. As you can imagine, it was not much more interesting than the clouds, with the exception of there being a slightly varieted brown, as opposed to endless white. As we approached Calgary, the plane started turning and lo and behold, the rockies seemed to explode out of the flat prairies. I think you will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't find those things impressive. The adjective everyone uses is "majestic", but once that word entered my head, that annoying part of my mind that demands the most appropriate descriptor went off. Majestic usually implies age, calmness, and power. The rockies certainly are dramatic and I suppose that would fit for "power", but really in geographic terms the Rockies are a rather young mountain range. That would in fact be why they are so stark and dramatic- the elements haven't had as much time to wear them down.

So using the imagery of their relative youth, I would say the Rockies are like very beautiful, but very insecure teenage girls, who clamour for attention with their shocking angles and contrast to the surroundings. Thankfully, most teenage girls are not NEARLY as effective as the Rockies at grabbing your eye and making you want to do nothing more than stare. That would be a nightmare for social dynamics.

So, arriving at the airport, I get my bags without hassle (and surprisingly quickly) and find the terminal for the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle isn't there, but they have an empty room that I can wheel my bags into while I go and get something to eat. After wandering around for a while, I finally find the food court. Only after sitting down to eat do I realize that I just paid $11 for lunch, and lunch on the plane would have amounted to 7 dollars for virtually the same thing. Aiports are kind of like movie theatres that way.

Capitalism: 1 Trevor: 0

Anyways, I walked around a little more before heading back to the shuttle meeting area. Calgary is a pretty cool airport, actually. Lots of sculptures, little waterfalls, stuff like that. About half an hour before departure, I sat down at the meeting place and waited. There was one family waiting for a cab, or a friend or something, in also in the same area. They had this little girl who spent about 20 minutes running in a circle through the two sets of revolving doors. I thought to myself that it was tiring just to watch her. Then I realized that I'm really not old enough to be thinking things like that.

The shuttle was only occupied by 4 people, myself included. There was an older man who sat at the front and chatted to the driver- he sounded like he'd done this before. He was dropped off first, in some smaller hotel in Banff (the city). The other two were a guy and a girl together, probably a bit older than me and they were going to Lake Louise too, but the town instead of the hotel. I talked to them a bit, and they were from Halifax, going out to work in the bakery in town, and they said they were staying until halloween, and later if they could. Who knows, I might see them on a trip into town. They seemed like pretty cool people.

On the ride up, I got to get a much closer view of those preening, vain hunks of rock. And they're even more impressive when you get up close. The colours especially make for very asthetically appealing sights, as they start with the deep green of the various evergreen trees at their bases, and eventually get too steep and rocky to support them, so they turn to a dark gray that varies with the different kinds of rock and their exposure to the elements. And of course, their peaks were a pristine white, reflecting the sun and complimenting the clear blue sky in a way that clouds just can't pull off. The streams along the side of the road were sort of teal green. They almost looked unnatural, but I guess it's because they're actually clean.

The closer we got to Lake Louise, I caught a flash of something on the roadside, but I shrugged it off as a white rock. But sure enough, the further into the mountains and the higher up the shuttle went, the more I saw. Snow. And here I'd hoped I was done with this stuff, but it just kept increasing. By the time we pulled up, there were still very sizeable drifts lining the road. In a way though, it works. It makes your field of vision in the right places go white-green-gray-white-blue. It looks very pretty.

So I got to the hotel, and the driver and I took my bags and dropped them on the threshold to the walk around the hotel. I know I'm supposed to find "colleague services" but I can't see anything like that. I ask one of the valets there, and get directed to the lobby, where they call some people over to pick me up. I have to wait for a while, and get a good look around the front of the hotel. I get to know the valets too- one of them was an aussie, and I think one of them was from Stratford or something like that. But they were pretty friendly and we chatted while I waited. One of them offered to give me a ride in a valet car, but I figured since they already called someone I might as well wait- plus I wouldn't want to make any trouble when I hadn't even been there an hour.

Eventually my ride shows up in a green atv-type machine and we load it up and head off to colleague services. I get checked in, get my room number and key and head off to the residences. The driver helps me to my room and finally, I arrive.

My room...well, perhaps it is best to give the general idea of these residences. Picture a university res, since the rooms are a lot like that. Apartment style, a common room with a small TV, some remarkably comfy couches and a chair, and a hallway leading to two bedrooms, a bathroom, and two closets. The kitchen is not exactly stocked. The oven doesn't work (I don't think anyone's does, at least that's what I get from talking to people) and there is a stove with 3 burners and only one sink. We have a toaster oven and a toaster, but that's about it. Not having a microwave alters your relationship to food, I find.

Going into the bedroom, you will see the key difference between this place and a university res. Namely, in a university res, there are things like a cleaning staff or at the very least a don to make you clean up when you leave. Not that I had stuff everywhere, but cleanliness was not exactly laudable. My room is set up as such: Upon entering the door, there are two closets to the left. To the right, there is a bed that consists of little more than a pair of mattresses on the floor, and going further one will find something of a makeshift divider created by two dressers, one facing the first bed and the other facing the other direction. My roomate has the same setup as me, pretty much, except he has a little nighttable. Whether that was there when he got here or he brought it, I haven't asked yet.

My roomate's name is Drew, he's 19 and from outside Hamilton. He'll be working washing dishes, for about the same time I will be here. He's going to start at Guelph for science next year. He's a good guy; I think we'll get along well. He seems to be an easy-going, yet affable type. Not quiet, but hardly boisterous. He got there about half an hour before I did. In the other bedroom are Arnt and Josh, both of whom have been here about 2 mounts. Arnt works basically cleaning the lobby and other front areas of the hotel. He works the nightshift but still seems to be up fairly often. Maybe he's a polyphasic sleeper or something- even today he's gone to Banff to shop. Josh is working the same job as Drew. I haven't seen them too much yet but they gave a pretty good lowdown on the "unofficial" side of working here, I guess you would call it.

After getting somewhat unpacked, Drew and I went back down to CS and got our uniforms. You can really tell that I'm going to be in the front and he's not- he basically has plain blue coveralls and that's about it. I have a shirt, pants, and aprons to keep track of. And I really have to keep track of them- they told me if I lose a pair of pants it costs $71! So I'm definitely being careful with them. Luckily I don't have to wash any of my uniform, I just bring it back to them and get fresh clothes. Less laundry is always a good thing.

At that point, Drew and I were both getting pretty tired, since it had been a long day for both of us. We crashed at about 10 after watching some TV (full cable package at this place- nice!)

I managed to get up pretty early today. Our first orientation wasn't until one, but I was up a bit after eight. The shower is... small, but seems to work otherwise. I finished unpacking, had an english muffin for breakfast and just relaxed for a bit. I think I spent ten minutes just looking at the mountains outside the window. I might complain about the general cleanliness, but you can't argue with the view from here. I fixed myself some soup for lunch. This soup, I should note, was designed to be microwaved and came in this little cup you could drink it from. It actually didn't even have directions for how to make it otherwise (yes, I know, soup is not difficult to make otherwise. But they usually have directions for it anyways! It was like they were demanding microwaving). Of course, I don't HAVE a microwave. So I had to pour it out, stovetop it, and pour it back in. Take THAT, demands of modern technology!

Our orientation was basically just a tour of the facilities that were directly for us- the computer room and the gym, the laundry services, the cafeteria (more on that later- yes there's more still) and a few other places that, odds are, I won't use too often. There were about 20 people or so in this group. The guy who drove me up to my room said there were about 80 people moving in next week. It's going to be rather crazy, he said.

After orientation, Drew and I headed back to the apartment for a bit, and dropped off the various papers we picked up. I took off my coat- don't let the rather large amount of snow fool you, it's really warm here! Then we decided to take a bit more of an informal tour, since we didn't see much of the actual hotel or anything on our orientation. Did I mention those mountains are amazing? Because...wow. Still amazing.

We went through the hotel proper for a bit, and I dropped into the deli briefly. I said hi to the guy who's going to be training me on thursday. The place is pretty nice. Pretty expensive. But that's to be expected, I'm sure.

Finally, we got around to see the lake. And really...it looks pretty much like the postcards. They don't have to embellish it. Of course, it's currently frozen and covered in snow, but I think it's the lake framed by the glacier and the mountains that gives you the effect, not just the lake itself. Suffice it say it was impressive.

After that, we went and got our cards that allow us to enter into the internet room and gym. It was early still, (about 5:20 I think) but we were both hungry so we went to The Bean.

The Bean is the cafeteria for the staff. I don't know why it's called that- it's not bean shaped, or bean coloured, and they don't seem to use beans that much. But regardless, I was pretty impressed. In one meal, I had: Curried chicken, couscous, carrots and zucchini, salad, a drink, and a rather tasty slice of cheesecake (And they all say that dinner is the worst meal here!). Pretty damn good for 2.50, and even better for free- as Josh told us earlier, and we discovered ourselves anyways, they don't really enforce paying for the meal. In fact it takes a fair bit of effort to actually do so- the guy who entered the meal and swiped your card wasn't even there, and he didn't seem to care that no one was paying. I don't know why they don't put the pay station at the front and just charge to get in. Oh well, works for me.

And that about raps this up. After dinner I came here and started writing this. Kudos to those of you who read all that, and for those tl:dr-ers, I don't blame you. This post was pretty much just descriptive- I had some musings and thoughts that I was going to put here, but as Arnt, succinctly put it, good conversation topics are rationed here. I guess blog material is the same.

I will probably update this on friday, after I've actually worked in the deli for a couple days. I still have two more days of orientation- but I get paid for these two. As always, feel free to send me and e-mail or leave a comment.

Stay frosty, (found one!)
Trevor

And so it begins

So this is the blog for me, during my time working at this place (see above) in the deli. That's right, I'm travelling 4 provinces west just to make more sandwiches.

Although it is a bit early, I am starting this blog now. I will try very hard to keep this updated, aiming for twice a week or so. Through this, I will regale my countless fans with the tales of my adventures in Lake Louise and surrounding area, and provide details (that I'm willing to detail, of course) of the various hijinks, hullabaloos and happenings of my time out west. Since I'll won't really have access to a computer very much out there (not taking a laptop, just going to use the employee internet room) this will be the primary mode of communication for me.

Give me strength for the first few weeks of computer withdrawl. It won't be pretty.


Currently at home, having just received official word this past afternoon. I'll be leaving in just under a week. Of course, first I have to get a hundred and one things done, not the least of which is the minor point of getting a plane ticket to Calgary, and of course this is all between stuff like my Grandma's memorial, the Laurier year-end party, and my last exam. I have a feeling that getting ready to go out there will be more stressful than being there and actually working.

But regardless, T-minus 6 days.

Searching for a sign-off gimmick;
Trevor


PS ALMOST FORGOT
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