Weekend in the Windy City!

By Renee Van Der Watt

Recruitment season is well underway with many from Cape Town, Durban and Joburg awaiting interviews. Our presentations have had great turnouts and the hunt for enthusiastic servers and chefs continues.

This last weekend it was Port Elizabeth's turn to show us what they got! It has been a decade since I last saw PE and it was more beautiful than I remembered. 

I landed Thursday after a quick flight on which was seriously the smallest plane I have flown in. Tiffany and I hit the streets to spread the excitement about our program.. Chatting to all the potential recruits at the restaurants can get tiring but Port Elizabeth has a great vibe and we even had a group of servers at Spur in The Boardwalk dance as we left. How could you not love your job when you get to meet new people and experience the atmosphere of another city at the same time. 

After a long day it was time for some relaxation and a good sleep before the second round of marketing. For those of you who haven't heard of Brighton Lodge in Summerstrand, this B&B is exquisite! Service was great and my room felt like home away from home but with hotel luxuries. It's just a stones throw away from the beachfront and walking distance to the new casino. I might just have to bring myself out here for a weekend away in the summer. Needless to say I was energized and ready to go the next morning.

Friday was another fun day out and Saturday's presentation at the Beach Hotel was a complete success. A sea of interested faces welcomed me and the information session seemed to generate even more enthusiasm. To everyone that came out, I hope you had as good a time as I did.

International travel is great too but I am loving my South African Workaway experience! 

I must just say a big thank you to Tiffany Ally. We made a great 'Windy City' team!

 Port Elizabeth I'll see you soon for interviews.

The Summer Season...

By Andre Smith

So the summer season has come, which meant that things are slowing down at work and all the international staff have returned home. It was hard to say goodbye to some good friends that I’ve made over the season.

I’ve now moved into my own apartment and started building a home here in the US. I was just thinking the other day how natural it is now living here and how easy it was to settle in.

So as the title mentioned we’re in the “Summer Season”… Work at Addison Reserve is still busy and hasn’t slowed down much, but very happy to be there and enjoy going to work every day. We have an amazing team and are currently in the process of planning for next season.  We’ve got some fun events and parties planned for the members in the works..…

As an ex-member of the Workaway team in South Africa, I’m still following the recruitment process and getting excited to meet all the new recruits that will be joining us this year. It really is a life changing experience!

A negative of the summer season in Florida is that it’s the rainy season too, but still very hot and humid. The weather is much like that in Joburg with the afternoon showers and thunderstorms. The past few weeks we’ve been blanketed by cloud and tropical rains as Tropical Storm Andrea passed through. Everyone is just hoping that it’s not a sign an over active storm season here.

The summer season is also time to take a break and have days off to have some fun. I have no fixed plans yet, but think a trip to South Beach is way overdue and I need to work on a tan. Being pale in the sunshine state is not cool… so hoping to post some details soon.