1 Month in and the Festive Season rolls on...

By Andre Smith

Since my last blog, I have made the long haul trip to my new home in Delray Beach, Florida at Addison Reserve.

The day came to finally depart for the US. I couldn’t contain the excitement at the new beginning of my life in the US. The flight is a killer. This is the ninth time I have flown to the US and I dread the flight from OR Tambo to JFK… 17 hours long. Thank goodness I was able to get a comfy exit row seat with the extra legroom. This allowed me to sprawl out and get many hours of sleep.

 

 

I eventually arrived the next afternoon in sunny, warm and humid Florida. This weather takes a long time to adjust to. I’m finally starting to feel comfortable, but mostly thanks to air-conditioning.

 

 

It was great to get back to work and see familiar faces. Took a few days to settle back in, but now we’re well into the season and the Christmas holidays are upon us. Work has been very busy in general with thanksgiving the opening season party, all the golf events, bat mitzvahs and now the Christmas holidays.

Some other good news is that I bought my own car and now I have wheels to get around. It makes life a lot easier in Florida as everything is spread out.  I haven’t had a chance yet to get down to South Beach, but that will definitely happen in January once we’ve got through the craziness of the holidays.

 

Next step will be apartment hunting as I start to build a life here in the US. Details to follow…

I also got to experience a great American Tradition, Sunday Football. I chaperoned a group of members to my first football game at the Miami Dolphins Stadium. I was a good experience, but the game is difficult to follow, but I’m getting the hang of it. It definitely does not compare to Rugby, which I much prefer.

 

 

Our Xmas tree is up in our apartment and is starting to fill up with pressies. It’s tough to be away from home for the holidays, but when you’re with a group of people who are in the same boat, we all come together to celebrate. I’m looking forward to spending time with my adopted American Family and Xmas day with my housemates and the rest of the South Africans.

 

 

Back to work now… busy, busy, busy. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Living in the sunshine of Florida!

By Nasiphi Sobahle

Here we are, in sunny Florida, for a month now, WOW, it’s amazing how much time flies, it was just yesterday when we were in South Africa, all stressed about our visa interviews at the consulate but the most amazing part was anticipating our Departure dates…

 

It was just yesterday when we landed at JFK international Airport, Just the other day when we felt the pressure and information overload in our new work places… but look at us now !!!

 

Here is what the Workaway participants, from different country clubs have to say about living in the sunshine of Florida thus far….

FLORIDA IS …

…“Amazing, the club is an awesome club to work at, everyone is so friendly and helpful, I am loving every minute of this experience, thank you Workaway”_Jacqui Goodman – Mariner Sands

…”a state with a beauty of the restorative kind”_ Nolwandle Ngwenya – Gleneagles

…”beautiful and serene” _ Kirsty Bethwaite – Windsor

…” has been more than a dream, I have learned and seen things from a whole new perspective” _ Inga Songelwa – Mirasol

Everyone of us seems to be having the time of our lives in this place and we have Workaway to thank for all their hard work in making sure we were  selected in our respective clubs, I speak for many when I say, we are truly grateful, in fact… beyond GREATEFUL !!

 

 

And to wrap it up, I say FLORIDA IS :

“ A bucket full of fun, laughter, song and a great bunch of people whom you learn to call family”

My adventures!

By Cameron Smith

Hi I’m Cameron Smith. I’m 22 years of age. I’m currently studying BA Criminology through UNISA. I’m fond of sport and video games. It’s my first time entering the Workaway program. I’m going to the BallenIsles golf resort. I hope you enjoy my blog as I take you through my adventures.

The love of my life! My oldest brothers daughter, Mikayla, she is two years old.

 

My room! Very messy, I agree. But my parents are moving houses at the end of the year, so I decided to clear out my room so that they don’t have to pack up and move too much of my stuff. Good enough excuse?

 

A bath of clothes! Well during my clean out I thought I would get rid and donate all of the clothes I won’t be taking with me to America and won’t wear again. It’s amazing how many clothes you actually have in your cupboard and how many of them you don’t even wear!

 

 

Packed my whole life into one shoe box, all of the things that made memories and memories I would like to keep hold of. Huge mission!

 

After that huge clean out of my room I manage to pack one bag so far!

I have arrived in Florida and it has been a tiresome journey. I’ve landed up with some amazing house mates they have made me feel very welcome at home. The first few nights away from home were tough, as I said the people I’m with have really made my stay here welcome and eased the home sickness. Things can only get better from here, I started work and the staff at the country club I am with are really nice and helpful. When I start to explore the area more I will post some pictures of my adventures and the friends which I will make.

 

Until then…

From the Cape of Good Hope to the Sunshine State...

By Andre Smith

Well, the last few months at Workaway have kept me very busy with coordinating everyone through the consulate to get their visa. This is probably one of the most stressful parts of the whole recruitment process as each participant’s fate lies in the hands of a consular officer who will decide their future.

This season was successful in everyone getting their visa. Considering that we sent through over 450 applicants at just 3 consulates in South Africa.

Whilst this whole process was taking place I was anxiously awaiting to hear my fate about whether I would get to go to the US again. I was fortunate enough this past season to work for a country club that made a permanent offer of employment to me, which would mean moving to the US fulltime.

After a long wait and with document’s being sent back and forth, my petition was finally approved. I too had to go through the process of going to the consulate to get my visa approved, which was quite nerve wrecking as the interview with the officer could go either way.

The good news is that my visa was approved and I am now preparing to depart for the US. I was all prepared to leaving this past Saturday, Nov 3. Unfortunately due to the destruction of Hurricane Sandy and the over 12000 delayed flights, I am now flying just a week later.

So the bonus is another week of vacation, before the madness of the season begins. I’ve made the most of getting out and enjoying all the things that I will miss whilst away.

Today I spent it relaxing in Blouberg looking back at the iconic view of Table Mountain and soaking up a bit of the “African” culture at Moyo enjoying a group of African dancers jiving to the beat.

 

 

Nowhere else in the world will you get to experience what we have here in our beautiful land. This is something you only appreciate when it’s not on your doorstep.

 

 

As I now finalize my last few things here and say goodbye to family and friends, I can not stop thinking about what an amazing opportunity lies ahead and the new chapter of my life is written. Some of which I will get to share with you.

...Expectations made into reality...

By Nasiphi Sobahle

Greetings from the Sunny side of FLORIDA, VERO BEACH!!!

Oh, where do I begin when I have so much to say, so much to write about, from the beginning I guess.

Ever heard of expectations made into reality?

 

That is definitely Windsor Country Club &The Capri (Apartment Complex).

I must say, this is my second week in Vero Beach & I am still in awe, I’m still amazed about so many things, as much as I have been to the USA before, this all feels so new, so different and most of all, so AMAZING!!

Arriving at the Capri was beyond the word awesome, I was amazed by the warm welcome we received from the managers of the apartment complex ( Teressa& David Blair) who had everything ready & organized for us by the time we arrived, we were taken to our allocated rooms, one could swear we were like kids given candy, that was the excitement we all had, the place is amazing, the amenities being the Bonus.

 

We were given the weekend to recover from the Jet leg.

The welcome at Windsor Country Club was also a good one, everyone was so friendly and all we were ready for was a Great Season in this club.

 

We have a GREAT management team training us and the most amazing part about our job is how much “TEAMWORK” is practiced and emphasized in this department.

I speak for many when I say “expectations made into reality”, it keeps getting better, something to learn everyday.

...Mixed emotions to the unknown...

By Nasiphi Sobahle

It was a Wednesday morning where a group of young South African Individuals were about to finally be on a plane to the land of the free, the land of the brave and you can imagine how each and every one was feeling.

 

We met at O.R Tambo Int’l airport and all one could see was a group of Eager individuals, ready to embark on a journey of Growth in their career fields, it couldn’t get more exciting.

We experienced so many emotions, all at once, for some, it was a virgin step to American soil and some, like me, were over the moon to be returning to the land of Great Opportunities, we looked forward to reuniting with friends that we left in the USA before.

I guess it all sank in real good when the plane took off at 20.25pm sharp (Oct 17 2012), from this point, there was no turning back.

The thought of being on a plane for 16hrs was alone daunting, however, the best part of the long flight was… in that amount of time we managed to make friends, learn about our diverse cultures and hopefully we managed to impact into each other the spirit of “UBUNTU” that even though we are separated by borders, we are all derived from the same soil.

We were family by the time we landed at JFK, and that alone made our flight a good one J

 

Taking off from JFK was the last lap to complete our 22hr flight as we were going to be flying to our final destination, FLORIDA…

This is where the mixed emotions kicked right back, it was all coming to Reality, all we were left to do was to assure ourselves that we will have an amazing time in Florida, as we are all away from home, creating a happy medium in our surroundings and of course being the Best that we can be in the workplace.

We are yet to find out if all our expectations were met.

Waiting to depart!

By Jean-Pierre Crozier

So, since this is my first Blog, I thought I would tell you a little a bit about myself, how I came about WorkAway and how I have found the experience so far.

My name is Jean-Pierre but almost everyone calls me JP. I am 21 and heard about WorkAway through a friend of mine that went last year. I never expected things to go so fast as they have. In hasn’t even been three months and I am getting ready to depart!

Going overseas has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and thanks to WorkAway, I can now achieve this dream.

Visa Application and Appointment  

I had Orientation on the 8th September and, to my great shock, was told my DS 160 online application had to be in four days later for review. I went home and started filling it in, thinking it would be a quick process. Was I wrong!!! It took me nearly two hours to finally complete and submit it.
On the 14thSeptember I got the phone call to from WorkAway to say that I could now sign and submit my DS 160 as well as make the appointment. A few days later, I got the email confirming my consulate appointment time (you are never seen at the time given). After a three hour wait, I was interviewed and my Visa was approved. The whole process took ten minutes.

Probably one of the best things WorkAway has encouraged me to do was get a haircut! The above photo was the original one taken for my Visa but I was told that my hair was to long and that I shouldn’t be smiling.

The result below brings one situation to my mind: POLICE FILE!!!

The US Consulate in Tokai

Well, my departure is the 27th October and I cannot wait. I honestly have to say that the wait to depart is a much worse torture than the wait to get everything done that needs to be done.
Here it is! After all the hard work, the one document that says I can now legally travel into the United States of America!

Good luck to all who still has their Visa appointments and to everyone who didn’t go this year but is considering it? I would definitely say WorkAway is the company to go through! They make it easy, providing step by step information and above all else make it as stress free as I can imagine it gets.