Earning My Ears

I don't know where to begin with what I've learned or seen in the past three days that I've had training. Sunshine Seasons, the restaurant that I work in, is huge compared to what I was expecting to see. The stainless steel counters seem to go on forever and there are so many different rooms and coolers that I need to learn. It's much bigger than what I am used to, but a lot of the same concepts and practices carried over, which is making my training easier.

I work the front of the house and over the past few days I have been introduced on how most of the stations are run, how busing works, how to stock and close down for the day. It's a lot of information that has been thrown at me, but I think I've caught on pretty fast. Everyday I've had a different trainer and worked with different people, something that I'm not used to but I think I'll fit in with the crew. At every different station it is expected that I know what is served, the different portion sizes, and what every ingredient is in each. In order for me to pass my training, I have a one on one assessment with one of the head chefs and managers. I have a lot of studying to do over the next couple of nights, but I feel confident that I'll pass. Most trainees don't get left by themselves three hours into training because the trainer feels confident that they know what they're doing.

This is the first job that I've had that I've worked with this many people at any given time and it's amazing how well the kitchen is run with that many people moving around. Everyone is always doing something, there never seems to be chaos, and it seems like most people get along with one another. At any given point there are 50 people working in the kitchen and surrounding area. That's about 10 times more than I'm used to. I love watching the management side of it and the delegation that happens, especially during the closing hour. It's amazing how smoothly everything happens.

Not only do I work with more people, I get to work with people from around the World. One of my trainers is from Thailand. Another is from Haiti. There are multiple people from Puerto Rico and The Dominican Republic. I work with someone from Australia, Panama, Germany, China, and Canada. It's a lot different than small Germantown and I'm loving it. During our break, we all can sit in the break room and talk about the differences in how we grew up and traditions from where we are from. It's amazing.

Even though I'm still new to Sunshine Seasons, it feels like I've been there for a while. I walk in to punch in and people are asking me how my night was, how I'm doing. There are a few people that have taken me under their wing and it's nice to be able to have a couple people that I can turn to if I have questions or need someone to talk to about Disney life.

And to need the post, I got my Main Gate Entrance Pass today! Now I can go to the parks without having to explain to twenty bajillion people that I work for Disney and I haven't gotten my pass yet. And I got my Guest passes too! So people can come visit now!