Back in the US of A!

The time had finally come to head on back to the USA… bags were packed and it was finally sinking in that I was going to be back in Florida in about 24 hours

After an extremely long flight from Johannesburg to New York, I knew the worst was over.. after a 4 hour lay over it was time for another 3 hour flight to Ft Lauderdale but I Knew it was almost over… which just made it that much more exciting!!

Finally after the 24 hours of travelling I finally made it to my final destination in Jensen Beach. It was a real relief, to just sit down and relax for a few hours until all my friends came home from work. WOW… it was getting close to everybody getting home from work…Finally they arrived and I was so excited to see them all and catch up on all their experiences from up north and they were so interested to hear how South Africa was…

Being back at work was great… Seeing my American friend and all the members was very exciting. A few things changed over the summer but it felt like never left… There was no time to settle in it was straight back to where I left off last year, atleast it has not been too busy as of yet but it will soon be crazy with all families coming down for Christmas.

The Workaway party a few weeks was outstanding, seeing all the people from South Africa enjoying and having a good time in the USA..the past week we had our Christmas party its always such a good event because you get too really dress up and see all the people you work with and you get to have a good time with them, which does not happen very often!!!

MIAMI… yay…This is my first real fun adventure since I have been back, I cant wait for Monday as myself and a few friends will be taking a drive to have a nice party before work gets crazy in the weeks to come.

ITS really so amazing being back, I hope everybody is having a good time too.

Author: Tyrone Havenga

From SA to USA!

The time came for me to start packing and deciding what would I really need to take with me to the USA. I spent two day sorting through my clothes packing for summer weather even though it is winter in Florida; the weather is very much like the humid heat of Durban.

The day finally arrived to take the long 30-hour journey to Florida. First leg was from Cape Town to Johannesburg with a 6-hour layover. I then met up with a group of participants from Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. The excitement was brewing amongst us, but having done this trip many time before I knew that there still was a grueling 17-hour flight to New York.

After arriving at a very busy JFK, we made our way through immigration and customs to board the next flight to Ft. Lauderdale. It was a very chilly morning in New York with the skyline of Manhattan visible in the distance. Upon our flight to Florida we flew over Manhattan with the Statue of Liberty welcoming all to her shores.

After the long trip we finally arrived at our final destination and made our way to the apartments. What a relief to finally put my suitcases down and settle in.

The jet lag was a killer for the first few day with being exhausted by 9pm and wide awake at 5am. Getting up early gave me a chance to catch up on the news; well American news as there is very little focus on what is going on in the rest of the world unless it involves America.

The first 3 weeks at Addison Reserve have been hard work, but amazing at the same time. The club has just completed a $17 million dollar expansion and renovation with almost everything being replaced for new. A lot of time has been spent getting the club setup and training done for the restaurants. We’ve had a few soft opening allowing us all to go through the motions and fine-tune the details before opening the doors to the membership last week.

This past weekend we had the Opening Gala on both Friday and Saturday night. This involved a major setup and breakdown with us all working very hard. It was well worth the hard work after the positive response from all the membership.

I haven’t had much time to explore my new surrounding, but will definitely be making time in the New Year once we are in the swing of things.

Returning to the US and embarking on this new venture at Addison Reserve has been a great experience. I think I may have found a new home.

Author: Andre Smith

Having fun!!!

Having fun means so many different things to me, as it does to a lot of people.

To me it means the simple things in life - being with my friends, having a chat with family back home, even being on the phone with your "China" friend and still playing our "low blow game" and as usual she wins :)

Meeting new people in the oddest ways, picking something up off the floor, throwing it away only to realise the next day what it was and what you needed it for... Sitting by the pool with a friend, or even on the bus with all your mates laughing and joking... Simply things = having fun :)

There is always a bright side to life, you just have to find it. When you do, not only does life become more fun, but you learn to laugh at the simple things. You learn to take what life throws at you (Lemon = Tequila and Salt!!!) and you learn to smile. Here at Boca West, where I am working, they call it the "Boca Smile" and it has to be worn every day and is our most important work tool, and I agree, it really is, and when you learn that a smile never hurt anyone, you learn that life is more happy and fun :)

I was about to through away a stale box of cereal the other day, and as I lifted it I heard a "different" kind of noise when I shook the box. I opened it to reveal my friends had put a bunch of bottle caps in my stale cereal box. I burst out laughing and sent them the picture. As it goes it was even funnier as they had forgotten all about it.

Just another small thing making life fun :)

Author: Michelle Lowe