Week Two and Still Have a Job!!

Man, I love my job. I really thought that it had hit me but I realized that I don't think it ever will. I'm so lucky to have a job that I've always wanted to do and that I completely love. Through these last two weeks, I've realized that this is absolutely something that I want to pursue and eventually make my career.

Over the past few days I've been getting to do a lot more! I got to do what's called a "slap" which is basically giving the whale the position of where to do the behavior. I was on stage and slapped for bows. The next second I had 3 huge killer whales jumping out of the water in front of me about 3 feet away. It was so cool.

We've also been getting to do a lot of play times with the whales. The whales love to eat ice and jello, get sprayed with the hose, watch us go under water and play around with them, etc. That's usually my favorite part of the day. I, and the other apprentices, love making up new fun things to do with the whales. I love when they are all at the glass watching us wondering what we're going to do next. 

I already got scuba certified but I had to get "SeaWorld Scuba Certified". It was really cool to go to the bottom of the pool and look at the gate and see Tikara just staring at me wondering what the hell I was doing at the bottom of her pool. 

I have really loved getting to know the whale's personalities. They are all so surprisingly different and fun in their own separate ways. Tikara is still my favorite right now though :) She's such a sweet little girl (well maybe not little) and is always watching us to see what the heck we are doing. 

The other day I got to go out into the crowd during the show and I was talking to this one kid who told me "That's what I want to do! I want your job!". It really hit home with me because I saw so much of myself in that kid. When I was young, I was the one in awe of the trainers, asking them what I needed to do to get their job. I just told him to do it and to never get up if that's what he really wanted to do. I think that moment will always stick with me.

The seasonal crew and I have really gotten close. I am lucky to really like all of the people I work with. I'm glad since we spend so much time at work together! We are planning a dinner tomorrow night so that'll be really fun to hang out with each other outside of work.

Again, I just can't believe how lucky I am to have this great experience. Yes it's a lot of hard work, yes I come home exhausted, yes I work long days, but dammit I love it. I have such a blast when I'm there, I spend all day with 5 killer whales and a whole crew of fun people and great trainers. I can hardly call this a job. I am living my dream...

Man I'm Having Fun!!

So today ended my sixth day as a Killer Whale Apprentice Trainer and wow, I can't believe that this is my job! My days start early and last long but the entire time I am in awe that I am living my dream. 

The past few days have been a lot of fun! I am trying to keep up and learn more so that I am better able to help out around the pool. I'm getting to know the staff better and everyone's so much fun! They are all very fun, nice, and helpful in trying to get me caught up. As far as getting around San Antonio, I know how to get from my house to SeaWorld and back and that's it. Haha. Thank God for my GPS. But the city is a lot more hilly than I thought which makes for really nice scenery. It's a really clean city. What I DON'T like is that there are no sno-ball stands and no Qdoba's :(. I think I'll be okay though :D

Saturday I had New Employee Orientation. I was the only Animal Trainer in the class so it was fun to talk to everyone else about what I get to do. We got to do a tour of the park and I finally got my uniform, name tag, and belt! We get to put whatever we want under our name on our nametag, so I put "LSU Tiger". Gotta rep that BR!! (Sorry about the backwards picture!)

Sunday was a really fun day because I was in my first Shamu show ever. There's a part where a few trainers stand on a bridge at the back of the pool and clap to the song. So I got to go up and the camera came on us and I could see myself and the other trainers on the big screen and wow. I just smiled from ear to ear because I just couldn't believe that I was there. Yea it wasn't a really big part in the show, but dreaming of this for 16 years and then seeing myself up there, it's a big deal for me. 

Today was a little more laid back because we don't have any shows so we got to have a lot more sessions with the whales and a couple play times with them. We got to dance with big stuffed animals in front of them and then jump in the pool next to them and throw them fish. Very surreal to be 3ft from an 8,000lb whale!!!

So it feels good to learn more and more every day and be allowed to help out more. I'm excited to learn and contribute even more! Miss all you guys back in BR!!

P.S. - I misspelled the names of the whales in an earlier post so here are the corrections:

Boys - Kyuquot, Tuar, and Keet

Girls - Takara and Unna

Day 3!!!

Well, it FINALLY feels real. Yesterday I got to experience my first show and wow, just wow. So interesting to be on this side of it. Halfway through the show I just thought wow, I'm here, how incredible. 

After the show kids asked for me to take pictures with them which I thought was funny/cool since yesterday was only my second day. Haha.

Yesterday as I was going down steps I tripped and twisted my ankle. Takara came up to the glass and just stared at me and started nodding her head up and down. Then she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue and I did the same back to her. Such an amazing experience to have that one on one interaction. I totally forgot about my ankle haha!

Yesterday I also made my first real friend besides my roommate (he doesn't count). Haha. Darcy and I seem like we're going to get along great. She has been there for a while and we joke around with each other a lot. So I'm looking forward to having a friend there!

Today was a really fun day because again we had shows but we also got to have fun with the whales. We fed them ice and squirted them with hoses and gave them some toys. The whole staff that was there also jumped in the pool and had fun too. Really great day. 

Every day it feels better to be able to do a little more and contribute a greater amount. I hate standing there as the other apprentices run around crazy. Haha. But I'll get the hang of it and be able to help a lot too. Can't wait for my next day!!

That First Day is a Doosey!!

Wow, so I completed my first day and I didn't get fired! What an accomplishment :D

S0 my day started at 5:45am. I got up and put on "business casual" clothes. Is it sad that I had to ask what that meant? I don't have my uniform yet because my Orientation is on Saturday so I got to wear pants. San Antonio + Pants = Suck!

I got to the park and met Katie at Security. Since I got the job, I couldn't believe it. I figured that once I started, I'd be like wow, I'm here. But no. I walk in and see these five whales in one of the back pools and I say to myself, wow, I still don't believe it. Haha. 

So I learn to do "breakout" which is getting the fish which have thawed overnight and putting them into each whales' buckets in the correct amounts. It's....A LOT....of fish! So after we put the fish in the correct buckets, the buckets had to go in the freezer and everything had to be thoroughly cleaned. 

Then I got to watch breakfast for the whales whose names are: Ky, Keet, Tuar (the boys), Una, and Tikara (the girls). After breakfast they cleaned their teeth and then got urine samples from Una which Katie then threw to me. I now can check holding Killer Whale urine of my Bucket List. 

After that, I got to put on my Shamu wetsuit for the first time!!!! I got in the pool to do a couple dives to the bottom in the back pools and clean the class in the main show pool. It was 52 degrees. Yowzas!! They tell me I'll get used to it, I dunno about that :)

While we were doing a feeding we had a PR come in which is like a personalized back stage tour. This one was for Injured Iraq War Vets which was really cool. They got to get real close to the whales in the back pool, learn some behavioral stuff, and take pictures with them. 

The park hasn't opened for summer schedule yet so we're still closed M-W. On the closed days, we do educational shows for local schools. It's a short show with just a few breaches (jumps), and other normal tricks. The kids LOVED it and went ballistic. Haha. Really cool to hear them all scream except when I realized that I was as giddy as them to watch this simple show. Haha.

After that we had lunch and then did the main show rehearsal. It was really interesting to watchthe Entertainment aspect of the show. Watching the trainers talk to the Entertainment staff about the timing with the songs and if the songs worked with the tricks and stuff. Really cool to see that side of it. 

By 3:30 I was EXHAUSTED. Apparently, being in a wetsuit all day in 80 degree temperatures will do that to you. Haha. 

So I had a really amazing time. I can't believe I get to go back tomorrow!!!

SeeeaaaWoooorllld, I'm Heeeeereee!

So after an excruciating wait during the semester and an annoying Facebook countdown, I am finally here! 

I left around 11:30 with a very sad family helping me pack. The drive was pretty easy. Had a packed car full of my belongings, two sleeping puppies in the back, and hit some traffic early right after Lafayette. I got here around 7:15 to a tall, bald man and a beautiful golden retriever nicely welcoming me to their house.

Sadie and Boomer immediately fell in love with Scott and Riley and thought that a backyard was just simply amazing. We moved all of my stuff into my new room and I started getting a little settled. Couldn't unpack too much because I'm going to get my furniture today. 

We relaxed for a little bit and played with the puppies and then Scott's girlfriend Amy came over. She also works at SeaWorld at the Shamu show so I talked to her about what I should and shouldn't do on my first day. 

All in all, I think this is gonna work out great. I, and the dogs, really like Scott and Riley. The house is way too nice for us so we're going to have to keep it real clean! It was really weird; I was sitting on the couch watching TV with Scott and Amy and I was like, wait, I'm not leaving here tonight, I'm actually here to work at SeaWorld. Wow. I still don't think it will hit me until I'm right next to a whale. Haha. 

Today I will hear on which day I start so I'm very excited for that. Scott and I are going to tour the town and get some furniture. 

You for Scuba?

Sooo Jake Berman is FINALLY scuba certified! It was a long, boring drive to Panama City where I stayed at a janky Red Roof Inn but man, what a fun trip!

I got there Thursday night amidst a group of bikers (it ended up being Biker Week, kind of scary). Checked into my hotel at 10pm and prepared for the next day. 

On Saturday we went to a place called Vortex Springs in Ponce de Leon which was a natural spring with about 150ft caverns. The water was crystal clear and 68 degrees. Lots of really cool fish, eel, and neat caves to explore. The deepest I got was about 40ft so nothing too special but it was still a cool place to go dive!

There were some other people there, about 20 of us, a lot of sheriffs, and EMS people getting re-certified. My diving buddy was a guy named Austin. 

I spent the rest of Friday evening reading Econ and eating delish Chinese food!

Saturday morning started out early, arriving at the docks at 6:30am to go about 30 minutes out into the Gulf to scuba on a sunken bridge. Very, very, very cool. It was really weird first jumping out into the ocean. Very different from a pool. Hard to get used to the waves, how deep it was, not being able to see the bottom. We made two separate dives. The first dive I made it to about 50ft and the second one I stood on the bottom and I was at 70ft!!

It was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done. There were schools and schools of fish, Grouper and Barracuda. The bridge was full of coral with all sorts of interesting fish on it. It was so great. 

The countdown is at 7 days! WOW. I cannot believe in a week I'll be moving to San Antonio. Too bad I have 4 finals before then :( Come oooon Thursday evening!