Recap of a Monstrous Yet Fulfilling Week

The name of my blog's URL is so appropriate - every time I remember to check my blog or to update is always when I should be sleeping (it's 1:55am now).

I desperately wanted to post many, many blogs this past week, and it just so happened to be the busiest week of the school year for me. I'm so happy and grateful it's over. Three more finals (in 2 weeks), and I'm leaving for europe in less than 3 weeks. :D :/ Thrilling, with a side of apprehension.

Several highlights from this past week:
1. Accomplishing a linguistics presentation, french film group project, three papers, one quiz, an interview (me, as the interviewer), a dress rehearsal + chorus concert, and greek test. I believe that was all. Sigh...I can breathe finally!

2. My self-defense class. Saturdays at the Baptist College Dorms. It's free, and there are only three - five girls usually. It's really good! I only really went to one physical class so far, but I already learned some practical/doable moves that would hopefully work should the opportunity arise (I say it like I'm looking for a fight...I'm not really. No, really I'm not; although when I was waiting in the dark at a bus stop the other night on campus, I thought to myself: who's around me, could i take them? i think so - it would be fun to try...but that's such a foolish thought.) This class is making me want to take a martial arts class. Perhaps I should get in touch with my Okinawan roots more! I definitely should.

3. Got a new phone finally :) For about six months I was using a super cheap one (it was probably worth $20 tops) because the speakers of my better one (that was the color of Cinnamon-Red) died on me, so I couldn't hear anything.
Now, I have a very cute, sorta goofy looking phone, the Samsung Reclaim w/ Sprint. 40% of the casing was supposedly made from bio-plastic materials made from corn. (Whatever that means.) And the boxing was made out of recycled material, and the ink used in the manual was soy-based. The phone's gimmick is being environmentally friendly, but technologically savvy. I think it's more than a gimmick (and many reviews agree). I love it! I'm just praying to God that I don't worship my two new electronic devices (camera + phone), but that they don't break, get stolen, lost, etc. I'm so unlucky with electronics to the point that I think God's telling me something. Anyways, I can text much faster! I can also i.m on my phone w/ yahoo/aim...i got onto a Data Plan w/ mike on sprint, so the price is pretty reasonable, and that means i get internet on my phone - not really necessary, but since he has a blackberry now (which is a data phone i think), it wouldn't cost more for me to have a data plan either, so why not? Also, this could help me when I'm in transit before getting to London, and when returning to hawaii. Those layovers (esp. in Minneapolis) are going to be LONG and possibly murderous.

4. Now that my projects are out of the way, I can focus on Europe planning again. :D I borrowed about 15 books from Kaimuki library this past thursday on these countries, and a few of them were 2010 editions (and I was the first to borrow them) - Go Kaimuki Library! I pray that the libraries of Hawaii continue to get money because they're so important. I can't even imagine what our state would be like if we didn't have any libraries. That would be terrible, that's all i know. I have such library pride after working at one I guess.
>Europe for Dummies is especially practical and interesting :)

5. Registration for next semester: my ideal class schedule would include TIM 301 (The Legal Environment of the Travel Industry), French 331 (Survey of French Literature), Accounting 201 (not because i want to, but because it's required of my major :/ ), and Hula/Chant Ensemble 1 (there are only 25 seats available, in each of the 2 classes; it's really popular - i hope i can get it!) Crap! That's only 11 credits - I need at least one more to be full-time...I might take Religion, but I was hoping to take that in another semester where I could devote more time to reading the material. eeeh, i gotta figure something out. [It sucks cause I'll most likely be interning at around 12-15 hours a week, but I won't get credit for the internship till spring, which is when i finish the internship].

6. Speaking of internships....
So, the HR manager of Starwood (the company that owns the Moana Lani Spa, and like 1,000 hotels around the world) got back to "me" and said the spa director & manager wanted me to intern there. The reason i put "me" like so is cause the HR person addressed the email to "me" like this: "Aloha Anna" -------- WTF?! How unprofessional is that? What if it really is addressed to someone else - how heartbreaking is that to get that congratulations email, but be told later that it's not meant for you?

Here's where it gets a little more complicated...
For one of my TIM 100 assignments, we had to interview someone in the Travel Industry who we admire (and who's in a supervisory position). Russell Chun, GM of Queen Kapi'olani Hotel was our guest speaker for that class the week before the project was due. I was calling many different hotels asking for a manager i could interview, but none got back to me (i left messages for EVERY single one). Anyway, Russell Chun blew me away during his presentation. He has been in the industry for most of his life. He studied pre-med at UH back in the day, but ended up working in the travel industry, and also ended up all over the world - most of the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, etc. And the cool part was that he talked about the fact that one point in his career he became a Christian, and he became a missionary to Malaysia for 15 years!! He and his wife (and others) started a school for kids of all faiths, and he said even in his kindergarten class, there were 1200 students, 5% or less were Christians. The families who were of other faiths felt safe sending their kids there because they knew they would take care of them and not discriminate against their religions. I thought this was so cool. It's sad though cause he got kicked out of the country because of this (he said he actually knew the people in charge of that immigration issue and they let him stay for a pretty long time, but after a while, they had to kick him out respectfully). Anyways, Russell Chun was a pleasure to interview. What I anticipated would be a 20 minute interview ended up being a 60 minute interview, and he was actually interviewing me for a good portion of it! It was an interview for me in disguise, because i did talk about the various places i've worked at, what i like and look for in a job, and what i can't stand...I felt pretty open and comfortable talking to him about lots of things, and he's also very open. What I really valued was his encouragement and belief in me. He said things like, "You seem very mature for your age," and "I like what I see in you...you could make it far in this industry." He said he could tell I belong in a 5-star hotel, etc. The HR person who interviewed me originally told me this too (that I seem more "Royal Hawaiian" material than "Sheraton," which is more loud and animated - something I wish I was!) It's super encouraging, especially when I feel uncertain about my major.
Anyways, at the end of the interview, he picked up his phone and called the HR person in charge of the Trump International Towers in Waikiki and recommended me for an internship at Front Office. He said, if not there, then Halekulani (hello, La Mer Restaurant - the only 5 star restaurant in Hawaii). He has so many connections because he's been in the industry for so long. Also, he said out of the thousand(s) of people he's had to interview throughout his career, he's only been wrong 10 (or less) times, so people trust his recommendations. I have yet to hear back from Trump Towers, but it's still super flattering and encouraging for a professional, a GM, to basically tell me that I'm worth it, that I could do this. He says when he hires someone, he looks at their eyes and listens to what's on their heart rather than looking at a resume (which I gave to him, too). I have the entire interview on film, on my computer now, so I have proof of all this! haha. It was also really nice of him to tell me to let him know where I end up, and if I need help.

...He also recommended me to NOT work at a spa for my first interview. He said I have to be strategic, and I should work in the Front office (which was my first choice anyway) so the executives can see me. This industry is ALL about networking as I've been told a million times. I know most industries are, though, so I can't complain. But, this situation makes me very confused. Should I accept the spa position (provided it's even addressed to me), should i call Halekulani or Trump?
I'm meeting with my Internship adviser tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to sort through some decisions.


Okalie dokalie...sleepytimeisnow....that was lame.

:)