In which there was a massive zit outbreak...

I know, not the most appealing title out there, but a very evocative one about what has been happening in my life lately. Incidentally, I have noticed that my blog is strewn with apologies and broken promises of more frequent posts... *sigh* Stupid busy body that I am! I am really sorry and I promise that, should I finally manage to stop stressing out over every little thing, I WILL post more often!

Okay, now down to business...

I have been the worst blogger ever of late, due to an accumulation of unpleasant and stressful circumstances... which is why the numerous zit outbreaks. Stress does that to me, sadly.
First off, I had all four of my finals in very close succession, and I also started to work for Air Canada again. I was deliriously happy to work for them again until... I found out most of my shifts started at 3 a.m. I am not a morning person and these horrid morning shifts have caused me to be very sleep deprived. I have been stressed over exams, sleep deprived and stressed over Christmas shopping for the past three weeks, almost relentlessly. My very first days off were yesterday and today. Needless to say, I had reached such a low in energy that I had to be carried to my bedroom and did not find the strength in me to change clothes for two days. But I am all better now (though I still wake up ludicrously early due to habit)...

Wow - that summed things up pretty quickly...

My exams went, if not well, certainly OK. The last exam, especially, made me rather happy, as it was a multiple choice exam that reminded me of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." What I mean by that is, in the show, all questions worth less than 500$ have one riddiculous option out of four. It was the same with this exam. The question would have an excerpt of a novel we had read and ask "what is the significance of this passage?" Three options were serious, though they did not necessarily all fit the bill (and one could easily eliminate the right answer) and one answer was often out of the blue, for example "d) That Anthony Hopkins should play the main character if this was adapted into a movie" - probably a fair answer, but certainly not objective enough to be the answer to a multiple choice (and certainly not the explanation of a particular passage! ^_^ ) In all honesty, that exam was the one that scared me the most, because I did not really know what to expect. I have never had a literature exam be entirely multiple choice (I am so used to essay questions through which I can bullsh*t my way...) so I was pertrified of what kind of difficult questions the professor might ask... It turns out that all one needed to have done was read the texts and attended class, really. I think the fact that the prof is pregnant, and probably not in the mood to write and correct exams forever over Christmas break caused her to write such a nice exam (a good way to finish off my finals, really!).

As for work with Air Canada, it is still a challenge, and still fun. However, I forgot that Winter brings along issues that the airport does not have to deal with in summer... Flight cancellations!!! Well, flights do get cancelled in the summer too, but there was a snowstorm on the east coast of the USA that caused both New York airports, Boston, Newark, Fort Worth and other airports in the surrounding area to be entirely closed... tons of stranded passengers were at the airport and there was little we could do to help them because NOTHING else flew out there... Working on the Transborder (in other words, the American) side of the airport, I got to experience the unpleasantness of this situation first hand and I feel truly sorry for the passengers that had a weekend or business trip and that were stuck until it was too late and they could just go home...

Additionally, my 3 a.m. shifts were really difficult to cope with. I started by spending all-nighters and then just heading to work. Then I proceeded to nap afternoons and be ready to leave at night. Then, on Christmas (yes, I worked through Christmas Eve, Christmas and for pretty much all of the holidays - merry Christmas to me...) I slept from when I got home to when I had to get to work and was STILL overtired... I truly think I was overworked and sleep deprived, because my only days off so far had been my exam dates (which are, to say the least, not exactly relaxing or favouring recuperation from a hard week's work...). Here's proof that I was overworked: I sleep talked! Michael witnessed it all and recounted the sleep talking to me, though I barely (if at all) recall dreaming or talking to him in my sleep.

The first sleep talk I did was when Michael came to wake me up from my nap. I asked him solemnly (like I do to passengers at the airport - I suppose I dreamt I was checking him in at work): "What's your final destination in the United-States?" As Michael did not give me a straight up answer, I repeated my question several times, apparently getting more and more frustrated by the minute...

The second sleep talk that went on, I apparently said: "Tied up elves."
Michael asked me: "Why are the elves tied up?"
Me: "Because they activated it!"
Michael: "Activated what?"
Me: "Christmas!!!"
...
Me: "I feel sorry for the vegetables..."
Michael: "Why?"
Me: "Because they are being sacrificed so we will not get eaten..."

What the hell was I dreaming?! O.o Seriously?! I vaguely remember saying some of this stuff, especially after Michael recounted it to me, but I cannot for the life of me remember what I dreamt... *sigh* Too bad... though I do think that the nonsense I have been blurting out in my sleep is a sure sign of overtiredness...

And now for some passenger anecdotes!

I got a passenger at around 6 a.m. on my third day at work. He was traveling business class, and I can honestly say I do not think I have ever met more arrogant a person. He marched to my counter and demanded I check him in along with his six family members... which was okay, that is what I am there for anyway. But then he went into a major tirade about how much he hated that the flight for Florida was so early and that he thought it was unacceptable that he had to fly out at such a time. I politely refrained from telling him that I had to leave my house at 2 a.m. in order to be at the airport at 3. But then the guy called someone on his cell phone and went into a loud obnoxious rant about how long I was taking (I had to enter each and everyone's passport information, as they were going to the USA, which takes a while). He was saying loudly things along the lines of "No, I am still at the stupid counter! I've been standing at this counter for half and hour! This is going to take us longer than driving here!!" I can guarantee you, dear reader, it took me - at most! - ten minutes to check them all in (actually, make that five, because I am good at what I do). So the guy was making a fuss about ten minutes. Then, we went to weigh his bags. His adorable five-year-old son asks "Daddy, why do they have to weigh the bags?" I was about to answer when the father says aggressively "Because they like making our lives more difficult, that's why!" Thank you, sir. A nice day to you too... That sort of major jerk is the type that will really ruin your day at the airport, especially when they show up before sunrise.

The other anecdote is about a guy whose stupidity I could not believe. In order to go to the USA, you have to fill out a customs declaration form. This one guy filled out the form at my counter and thought out loud as he answered. I could not help but stare incredulously as he answered... To "address where you will be staying in the USA" he put down his Montreal address. An understandable mistake, but it gets worse from here... To "passeport delivered by (country)" he answered "Yes." He actually asked me if this meant whether his passeport was delivered here in Canada. I said yes, and he wrote down exactly that. Then, to "state" (as in "state where you will be staying in the USA") he put down "Single"... he actually thought they were asking for his marital status!!! And, finally, the cherry on the sundae; to "I am bringing; ... disease vectors, cellular cultures, snails" he checked off "yes." His reasonning behind this one? "Oh, well, I will be bringing my cellular phone with me... So I guess that I should check yes..." *facepalm* I think this guy made me lose faith in humanity.

However, on the day after boxing day, some of my faith in mankind was renewed. One guy who had flown over from Halifax and was supposed to head to New York was, obviously, stranded due to the fact that his destination airport was closed to all air traffic. So, he asked me whether I was quite sure that there was no way he was getting to New York that day. When I answered yes, he beamed at me and told me that was exactly what he was hoping to hear and that he now had the opportunity to visit Montreal and especially the Old Port. I gave him some sight-seeing advice, he made me so happy! Thank you, awesome passenger!!

In other news, Christmas was wonderful!! This year was really very special to me. In good German fashion, we celebrated not on Christmas day, but on Christmas Eve (which is the best way to do it, after all *wink*). My grandparents and my aunt had come over all the way from Germany to celebrate with us. My father and step-mother also came over to my mother's house and, for the first time in years, I had my whole family together on Christmas Eve!!! I cannot begin to describe how special that was and how much this meant to me. I cannot even remember when the last time was when we were all together... It was great and I will cherish the memory of this Christmas for a very long time!
--- and on a little side note, I got an awesome umbrella from Michael (the hilt of it is that of a katana and you can strap the umbrella to your back... It is called an "umbrella for the civilized, but discontented." Watch it, commuters! Here I come! ^_^), as well as fluffy killer rabbit with pointy teeth slippers (you know the ones: the rabbit from Monthy Python's Holy Grail is now a nice decoration for my feet... I have named the slippers, respectively, Flopsy and Mopsy...). I also got a manga from my brother, which made me really happy, and a beautiful polynesian pearl and some money from my parents. My dad also got Michael and me one of those small electrical grills that you plug into your kitchen wall to use in our apartment! Yay! This was really a wonderful Christmas (slightly ruined by the next day 3 a.m. shift, but otherwise good...)

And finally, as I am desperately trying to wrap up this post and keep it short (I am so hopeless!), I have to let you all know that we are slowly slipping into a promising New Year. Aside from the Savoy shows, I will also be modeling for Dr. Sketchy (it is an event called "Temptation" look it up on the Dr. Sketchy Montreal website!), and auditioning for Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus... among many other good things. So I am really looking forward to 2011, as it feels like it will be an even better year than the last!

And with that, dear readers, I shall leave you and get ready for work again. I wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and hope you have a very Happy New Year with much love, health and happiness. And overall, have a happy holiday season!!

P.S. I nearly forgot! Michael cleaned up our room and the rest of the apartment! I want the world to know that he is awesome and takes good care of me! He gets full credit for tidying up (as I was too exhausted to move a muscle when I got home from work). Michael cleaned up really nicely and really impressed my mum when she came to visit. My aunt also loved the apartment, I think she may be tempted to move in with us, lol. Anyways, thank you, my love, for all your hard work!!