Summer of 1990

Okay so here it goes. How I landed a job on a cruise ship.

Not sure what happened here. 

 

This is how it all went down. I was nearing the end of my Sophomore year of college in 1990 and my boss informed me that I needed to get out of town, do something, see the world. It just so happened that my cousin was in Oklahoma visiting from California and he just happened to mention that one of his co-pilots daughter had gone to Hawaii to work on a cruise ship....what......say no more....sign me up.....I'm outta here. With a tad more determination the next thing I knew I was on an American Airlines flight headed to Honolulu. Goodbye, Oklahoma. My journal dates, May 30, 1990.

 First things first. Where would I stay. I had already devised a plan that I would stay at the YWCA in Honolulu. As I am writing this I'm wondering to myself, how did I get there. My journal keeps referring to buses and how I had come to despise bus rides. Well I certainly do not remember what happened when I arrived but I do remember calling my mom and dad, crying. I was homesick. I thought to myself, what in the world had I done. I was strong and held it together and made my way to the YWCA.  I would soon find out that there's a lot of odd people in this world. The stay didn't last and before long, after a move to a cheap hotel on Waikiki Beach, a lot of sightseeing and eating all the pineapple I could possibly get my hands on I found myself at the American-Hawaii headquarters talking my way through an interview. Boom, I was hired. After a physical and drug test I was soon sitting in the Union Hall waiting for my name to be called. I didn't know what was about to happen but soon I was about to become an United States Merchant Marine, sailing the high seas of the Pacific Ocean.

That's me doing a life boat drill. I was in charge that seems a little strange to me now.

 It was a little windy don't laugh at the hair.

 Stay tuned......as I continue to share pictures and funny stories of my summer cruising the Hawaiian Islands.

I still can't believe my mom let me do this.