If There Are No Photos...It Never Happened

Let's face it, most days I change time zones more than I change underwear. There are times when I go to fill in my weekly calendar, to record the events of a past week, and there are entire days that, due to travel, simply never happened. It's weird. Without my iPhone, camera, and weekly planner, I'd be lost! So with no further ado, I present my week in pictures. In my book, if there are no photos, then it never happened!

I hung out with my pal, Georgina, at the Dubai Sailing Club Beach, where her and her parents are members. Yes, we did have to drink with with our pinkies out the entire day!



One of my friends from Fort Lauderdale, Victoria, recently moved to Dubai and also began working for Emirates. It's been super fun to have a familiar face over here! Last week we met up with another American for drinks, and basically just did 'Merican things!

I traveled this week, once again, to the east coast of Australia, this time to the city of Brisbane. Three other crew members and I spent the day exploring the VERY hilly city, via bicycle. Bicycling helmets are strictly enforced in Brisbane, but who wouldn't wanna rock one when you look as cool as me in one?! And as for the sweet basket on the front, I had to ask for that specially!

 

The next day I traveled, for the first time, to Singapore. Another flight attendant and I spent the day walking around the city, which is seriously the cleanest city I've ever been in! We checked out lots of really cool gardens and city landmarks before finally giving into our exhaustion and calling it a day.

In Front Of The Singapore Flyer



 

And yesterday afternoon I arrived safely back into Dubai, where I met up with friends for a late dinner. At least I think I did...we didn't take any pictures :)

 

Have a great week!

It's Pronounced MelBORN...

This week's trip was a bit of a long one! I was gone for a total of five days, visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Melbourne, Australia, back to Kuala Lumpur, and finally heading home to Dubai.

I was extremely exhausted when we reached KL on the first day, however, I forced myself to stay up for several hours in order to have a proper night's rest. Two other flight attendants and I went into the area known as Little China Town, where the roads were lines with street vendors selling everything from fake name brand purses to copy watches. I bought a few Christmas presents and may or may not be the new proud owner of slightly fuzzy versions of  Water For Elephants and Burlesque.

The next day we flew to Melbourne, and after a great night's sleep I met up with Erica and Helen, two of my favorite Disney friends. Side note, layovers are 100 times more fun when I get to meet up with friends, and have my own personal tour guide(s) for the city I am visiting. We started off the day with an awesome brunch at a local pub/cafe. After devouring a delicious avocado and poached egg on sourdough, we walked around the city for a bit. Melbourne is an incredibly artistic community. The alleyways are all filled with awesome graffiti, talented musicians seem to be found on every street corner, and in one specific case we witnessed a man creating living art.....er something artsy like that.

Live Art In Melbourne....Pelicans Dine Free At This All You Can Eat Bread and French Fry Buffet


Our next stop after brunch was to Luna Park, Melbourne's most famous theme park which has been in operation for 100 years! Judging by the amount of jostling that occurred while riding the largest wooden roller coaster in the park, the exact same rides have also been in operation for 100 years. Having the slight fear that the ride could split into two at any given moment, actually made the entire experience that much more fun!

Erica, Helen, and I at the Entrance To Luna Park.
 

The next stop on the Tour de Melbourne was to the St. Kilda Breakwater Wildlife Area, where, word on the street is, some wild penguins make a daily appearance. Apparently ,they were vacationing with the 'roos from Sydney, cause they certainly never showed their little tuxedod selves to us! Regardless, it was a great walk by the sea, and it was a cool view of the city!


The Girls and I....And Melbourne, Boats, and Water

Before we all parted ways, we ended the day by sipping some apple cider, and splitting a basket of french fries at a riverfront pub. Yum! It was a great day of site seeing, and was SO fun to catch up with Erica and Helen after nearly two years of separation!

 

The last day of the trip was spent back in Malaysia. I had been warned throughout my entire trip to be careful in Kuala Lumpur, as a common crime trend there involves motor cyclist speeding by the sidewalks, grabbing purses (often dragging the purse holder as well), and then speeding away. This girl is NOT a fan of becoming a statistic, so when another crew member and I decided to go on a short walk to see the famous Twin Towers, I was careful to bring only as many accessories as I could stuff into my bra. I knew all those years of practicing with socks would pay off one day!  

 

Fitting Two of the World's Largest Towers and Myself  Into The Same Picture...NOT An Easy Task

We landed back into Dubai yesterday afternoon, and I think it's safe to say this five day trip wore me out! I laid down at 5:30 p.m. for a short cat nap...and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 A.M. this morning. Well, I'm off to gather more nuts and berries....

 

Have a great week, everyone! 

Russian Roulette and Safe Skydiving

After spending a grand total of 24 hours in the city of Moscow, Russia one sentence pretty much sums up my experience, "Moscow...where the weather and people are cold!"

Now, maybe that's a bit of a generalization, but compared with the friendly faces I had just encountered in Germany last week, the majority of passersby on the street just seemed downright angry. Maybe it was because they were cold. I would have been more than happy to ask them what they were all so upset about, however, English is not widely spoken in their neck of the woods, and they definitely weren't too happy about me speaking it to them with my speedy northern American accent. Despite the overall lack of smiling faces and English signage, I still ventured out into the city with the crew and attempted to take in the local sites.

I use the word attempted because after taking a ten minute shuttle bus and completing a thirty minute walk, we approached the famous Red Square, only to the discover that a sold out festival was taking place inside the area. This resulted in our only views of the Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed, a landmark that I've always thought of as the real life Candy Land, coming from slight glimpses I was able to catch from slits in the tall barricades. Unfortunately, the only photo I have of the cathedral comes from a dinky post card, courtesy of the hotel gift shop. Here's hoping for better luck next time...



The Amazing Photo I SHOULD Have Taken In Front of St. Basil's Cathedral

Although we never made it inside the actual Red Square, we were still able to see the surrounding area, which was filled with loads of really cool historical landmarks and buildings with amazing architecture. Naturally, I did my fair share of whining about the cold, however, it was actually nice to stand outside in September without sweating, unlike some places (ya, Dubai, I'm talking about YOU)!

Outside The Red Square (St. Basil's in the distant background).

I landed back into Dubai late last night, and after a quick sleep, I met up with my friend Rajeev for another adventure. Today's quest led us to iFly, an indoor skydiving simulator. I've actually already been real life skydiving back in 2010, so perhaps I did this whole thing in reverse order, but, as I'm sure you've probably noticed, I've always been a little unconventional! It was somewhat similar to skydiving, as in I had the same amount of saliva being violently flung all over my eyelids, and in both experiences the wind just perfectly caught my already chubby cheeks, giving the illusion that my face was, in fact, just as wide as it was long! Real life skydiving had a much cooler free falling feeling, however, it also came with the slight chance that I could die. The skydiving simulator felt more like I was just standing in front of the world's most powerful fan, however, it was in a fairly controlled and safe environment. Life is all about give and take, folks. :)

Inside the Skydiving Simulator

"Life is an adventure, not a predicament." -James Broughton



Have a great week!

I've Come From A Land Down Under

G'day Mate! Just returned home from one of my best layovers to date: Sydney, Australia! Visiting Australia has always been a dream of mine, but in recent years it has become more of a priority since meeting one of my best friends while interning at Walt Disney World, Dean, who was born, raised, and currently lives in Sydney.

Dean, being the awesome friend that he is, took off an entire day of work upon hearing the news that I'd be gracing his city with my presence, and planned a jam packed day of adventure and site seeing. We started off our day with breakfast at a cute little cafe close to my hotel. As all world travelers know, days of non stop adventure are only successful if you begin them with a carb overload. Therefore I had no other choice, but to indulge in one of the world's largest slices of banana bread known to mankind. Yep, it was delicious!

After breakfast we headed down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where we stood and admired the 440 feet high structure safely from the ground...and then decided to connect a bunch of harnesses onto ourselves and scurry to the top of the bridge that is famously nicknamed "The Coathanger." Before I continue, let me explain a little something...I have a very real fear of heights, now I know, I know, what a ridiculous statement for someone who spends the majority of her time well above 30,000 feet. For whatever reason, airplanes don't bother me, it's roofs, cliffs, the clear plastic step out box on the observation deck of the Sears Tower, and things with ledges I could fall off of that freak me out! And yes, bridges just so happen to fit into this category as well.

So after arriving at the bridge climbing facility, Dean and I were issued grey full body suits (grey in order to camouflage ourselves with the bridge, and minimize distractions to drivers on the bridge), and instructed to remove jewelery, hair pins, and anything else that could do some serious damage if dropped from the top of the bridge onto innocent pedestrians below. Usually, one bridge climbing leader takes up groups of twelve people at a time, however, since Dean and I are international celebrities were the only ones who registered for the 9:40 A.M. session, our small but mighty group consisted of just the two of us.

The climb was not nearly as scary as I had planned it out to be in my head! We were hooked to safety harnesses throughout the entire trek, and actually spent much more time walking on an enclosed slope than actually climbing up steep stairs. Despite the strong winds that greeted us at the top, the view of Sydney was incridible. We were able to see the entire harbor, the Sydney Opera House, and most importantly, the building where Dean works! Fear of heights, you are dead to me!

After our climb, it was time to refuel again, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a local Australian pub before taking a short ferry ride across the harbor, and ended up at Wild Life Sydney, a zoo featuring a wide array of native Australian creatures. We saw wallabies, wombats, crocodiles, and my personal favorite, Koalas. Unfortunately, the Kangaroo exhibit was temporarily closed for "refurbishments." Suspiciously enough, the gift shop was running a special on Kangaroo jerky.... The best part of Wild Life Sydney? Being able to speak Steve Irwin style for an entire two hours! Right, Dean?

After hanging out with the koalas, who just so happened to be in the midst of their mating season (with every lustful stare I went into a slight panic that Sir Treehugger was about to leap off his branch and have his way with my golden locks), we drove down to the famous Bondhi Beach. It's currently winter in Australia, but that didn't stop up from ending our fabulous day with ice cream cones on the beach =)

September cover of Knock Knees Weekly

The only thing on the Sydney Itinerary that did not get crossed off was me taking Dean's car for a whirl on the left side of the road. Although he was completely willing to turn over the keys (I really have no idea why), I decided that due to rush hour traffic coupled with the fact that I'm not exactly a great driver on the right side of the road, I'd go ahead and skip that little activity. All in all, first trip to Australia=a success!

 

And now a word from Grief Watch 2012. This past week marked the sixth month anniversary since we lost mom. If found, please return to...I kid, I kid. It wasn't a horrible day, but I noticed, and she was on my mind more than usual that day. Part of me is really proud of how well we've all done in the past six months. Part of me is just really, really sad that six months have passed since I woke up to an email from my mom. The email was in response to me telling her I had lost the slip of paper that had my current address written on it. She shared with me this vital information that, being the great mom was was, she had filed away. She then wrote, "Little girl, didn't I ever teach you to memorize your own address? Have a good day, pumpkin!"

Always the care taker.

 

Part of me is mad, but a bigger part than that is just really grateful. Grateful for all the mom love I do have in my life, like my aunts and my mom's close friends who continue to send me emails to check on me. And my friends' moms from all over the world, many of whom I've never met, sending me sweet notes, homemade pillows, tea sets, angel necklaces, and most recently an authentic Australian bracelet (thanks, Mrs. Morgan), just to let me know they are thinking of me. I'm grateful for all my friends and family who let me cry and reminisce as much as I want to. Grateful for all the signs that my mom continues to give me, just to let me still know she's around, like my hotel room number I was assigned on the night of her six month anniversary, 1415 (her cell phone was ***-***-3114, mine was ***-***-3115). Overall, the past six months have made me realize just how cool it was that I got to spend 24 years being raised by someone who seeped kindness, loved everyone, and just overall excelled at life, and despite how many more "six months" go by, I STILL get the priviledge of calling her my mom! And for that, I think I will be forever grateful!

 

Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Germany Take One

As I write this post on the backside of a Dusseldorf city map, while sitting on a random park bench a few miles from my hotel, I think it's safe to say that I have never felt like I belonged in a foreign country as much as I have here in Germany.I know, I know my family has been residing in the land  of the free for well over 100 years now. However, I do know we still have cousins over here because I've seen at least 50 people who look exactly like my brother Chad and me. A couple people that I saw so closely resembled us that I actually waited until they finished their beer, and secretively stuck their DNA covered mug into my purse in order to use for future testing... I kid, I kid. But seriously, everywhere I look, blond hair, blue eyed tall people! It feels like I'm at a family reunion over here!

The best way to describe Germany is that it's quaint. The local food, the cobblestone streets lined with pubs, the kind and friendly people (minus the hormone enraged, slightly drunk 20 something lad  I encountered last night who "casually" bumped into me and did a full blow ass grab. He was too friendly...), it's just simple here, and I love it!

I was luckily placed on this trip with a German captain who is very familiar with the Dusseldorf area. Last night he offered to take the crew out for dinner, drinks, and a short tour of the the city. Since guten tag is the extent of my German language, I jumped at the opportunity to see the city with a local. As our hotel is located quite a ways from any city center, we hopped on the metro, then the subway, and finally reached an area known as old town Dusseldorf. As we were climbing the stairs from the subway, we heard loud music pumping out of the nearby pubs, and upon reaching street level, it appeared that a huge street party festival was taking place. Much to my surprise the captain informed me that, nope, it was just a typical Wednesday night for these Germans!



Our group of six gathered in one of the outside seating areas, and the captain educated us on German beer drinking protocol. Basically, the servers come around with large trays filled with glasses of the local brew. If he sees your glass is empty, he'll replace it immediately and mark a tally on your coaster in order to keep track of your tab. When you've finished drinking, you simply place your coaster on top of your glass to notify the waiter that you are no longer drinking. Kinda nifty, eh?

Keeping Track of The Tab...German Style



Disclaimer: This girl is not a beer drinker, but I am a trooper! I tried one gulp of the dark disgusting liquid, and politely informed the waiter that I'd be sticking to my white wine.

The food was delicious! I had a schnitzel (think fried pork chop), but our entire group shared the generous portions. By the end of the evening I had tried, schnitzel with fried egg on top, fish fillet, sausage and mashed potatoes in a mushroom sauce, and creamed sour kraut. Yum! After we finished our meal, we wondered down by the river front, which reminded me slightly of the lake front in Chicago (minus all the bums). Around 1:30 AM local time, our exhausted tour group called it a day, and headed back to our hotel.

I am always one for an adventure, even if its a solo quest, however I am a realist. I had most of today free, which would have been ideal for hoping on the train and exploring more of the city. However, I am aware that I have a slight history of getting lost. It's not my fault, it's genetic.

Many moons ago, on a trip out of state trip to visit my aunt, my mom and I decided go on a shot walk around my aunt's block. Four hours and many miles later, we ended up at some poor soul's house, hot and slightly dehydrated in middle of no where Virginia, begging to use some random family' phone, and asking if there was any way they could spare a cold glass of lemonade to us weary travelers. Due to lacking a sense of direction, combined with all German signage and a non negotiable evening departure time, I opted to stick close to the hotel today.

There is not a ton of things to see and do in the area near the hotel we stay in, so after my morning workout at the hotel gym and my Starbucks coffee, I grabbed an area map and headed out on my own. As it turned out, the area is residential and there is not much more to see or do, but I had a great two hour walk checking out German houses and exchanging well wishes with fellow walkers, bicyclists, and joggers. Alas, ending up in this park :)

Yes, I did have a random passerby take this picture. It's cool though, we're cousins...probably.



And now for a random fact: I've always known my last name "Schutz" was very German, but for most of my life, I wasn't sure what it actually meant. Several months ago I was swim suit shopping in London, and as I was pulling up my bikini bottoms, I saw a clear plastic liner that read first in English "Sanitary Protection." It then listed, what appeared to be the same verbiage in several other languages. I immediately noticed blah blah blah Schutz. It was a 50/50 shot on whether my proud, bold, and strong family name meant sanitary or protection. I went with protection, and as the German speaking captain confirmed, I was correct! Wheh, Kelsey Sanitary...just doesn't have the same ring to it. Here's ther real kicker, APPARENTLY my family has been mispronouncing our last name for years! Schtuz (shoots) is actually Schutz (shuts) due to the lack of double dots over the U. I feel like my entire life has been a lie! I'll truly understand if you no longer consider me to be a credible individual and quit following my adventures on this here blog...Shuts and Scores.

Til next time folks,

Kelsey (if that's even my real name ) Schutz, Schütz, Shuts????

I Gradumacated!

This week's big event was my graduation ceremony. After successfully completing six months within the Emirates company, flight attendants are no longer considered to be on probationary status, and are promoted just one level above the very bottom of the totem pole.

As a result of some unforeseen circumstances (thanks, mom), I was unable to graduate with the group of friends I had been with since day one of Kelsey's life in Dubai. So, I was partially unexcited about the graduation ceremony because I only knew about 10 of the 150 people who were graduating with me. I also felt like the big "to do" was a bit unnecessary for a simple degree in tea and coffee.

The big day finally came this week, and it was actually nice to catch up the group I had finished my last week of training with. The best part of the day, however, was when my friend Rajeev surprised me by showing up at the graduation ceremony, even after I had assured all of my friends that their presence at the ceremony was 100% unnecessary. Despite my best attempts at not being super emotional, I legit almost teared up when I saw his happy self snapping pictures in the audience, just like a proud little parent!

As per usual, I have no idea what my future holds...career wise, relationship wise, living location, where I will eat dinner tonight, etc. And even though I think the whole graduation process was a bit silly,  I couldn't help but feel a little proud as my name was called and I strutted across the stage for my five seconds of glory. I felt proud that in just a little six months I was able to move overseas knowing no one, start a new job, make new friends, mourn the loss of my mom, and travel all over the globe without completely letting my cheese slip off the cracker. So call me crazy, but I think that is something to celebrate, at least a little bit. And we did....with cake :)





Yours Truly,

Kelsey Schutz, Bachelors of Tea and Coffee

And It's Been A Month...

Karim Ramadan!

For most of my adult life I've probably glanced at my Hallmark calendar and noticed that printed on a specific date during one of the summer months were three simple words, First Of Ramadan. Never in my life had I paid those words attention, mostly because I had no idea what Ramadan was. This year, however, as I'm living in a Muslim country, July 20th rolled around and sh** got real! They took away my Starbucks during daylight hours!

Ok, ok so it's a little bit more meaningful than that. Ramadan is the 30 days each year in which Muslims observe strict fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is supposed to make them better understand suffering and become more peaceful. Personally it makes me grouchy, as NO ONE is allowed to drink or eat in public during daylight hours. Restaurants, such as my beloved Starbucks, located next door to my building, are open for take away only. People watching while sipping my Starbucks is the whole reason I pay for their overpriced coffee in the first place!

The upside to Ramadan is Iftar, the evening meal where Muslims break their fast. Obviously I'm not fasting, but it's kind of like a huge party when all the restaurants open and everyone is out on the streets again. It's been interesting to experience, and once again I'm learning something new about the Arab culture.

LA Layover Take 20

The week before my leave started I went to Los Angeles for yet another layover. Two of my friends from Spirit flew out to spend the two days with me. We had a great time catching up, eating too much, and biking the 40 mile route to Santa Monica.

The Journey Home

As soon as my flight landed from LA, I rushed to my apartment where I unpacked, repacked, showered and headed back to the airport. From Dubai I flew to Kuwait City, a place I was very thankful I did not get stranded! After Kuwait I flew to Washington DC in business class on United (flat bed seats, ahhhh). Once I landed in DC, I was slightly panicked as the sole United flight to STL was oversold. The gate agent was even bargaining with passengers to give up their seat in exchange for future flight vouchers. Just as I had pretty much decided I was stuck in DC for the day, my name was called for the approved standby list. Still NOT sure how that happened! When you find a penny, heads up on the sidewalk, do you ask why it's there or take it and run? Exactly!

10 Days, Illinois Style 

From the moment my dad picked me up from the airport, my visit home was jam packed. I had planned it that way, as there were so many people I wanted to see and things I wanted to do, I didn't want to waste a single minute! I had a huge cookout with family and friends (complete with a hayride and fireworks), watched Ice Age III at the drive in with my crazy nieces and friends, ate an amazing homemade spaghetti meal at my Aunt Traci's, went on bike rides and runs, cooked a ton (for my party of one standards at least), ran in a 10k race, attended Allison's baccalaureate party in Chicago, went boating, and tried to soak up as much family and friend time as possible in between. It was a GREAT visit home, just unlike any other visit home that I had ever had before.

I've been living away from home for the past six years, so I would pretty much say I have the whole coming back home for visits routine down pat. Big meals will be had, friends will be over, and a week long party will commence.

My mom's been gone five and a half months. As Forest Gump would say, "She's on vacation!" I miss our Skype conversations, waking up to her morning emails, and receiving random pieces of mail from her terribly, but I have had five months to get used to the sucky sucky truth that those things are no longer a part of my life here in Dubai.

What I have not had time to get used to is walking into my mom's dream house...and her not being there. Waking up every morning, and not hearing her cheery, "Mornin', Princess." No one cackling loudly as Dad and I watch late night reruns of King of Queens. Pulling into the driveway after midnight and all the lights in the house being turned off, as she is no longer up late working on one of her many miscellaneous projects. I've not had five months to adjust to her no longer being in the house, the house that she always made my home.

It was awesome to be surrounded by family and friends, and it was wonderful to be back for over a week, but it was hard. Really, really hard. I have faith that next time will be a little bit easier, and the time after that, just a little bit easier than the time before. This time though, I just really missed my mom. And I'm not quite sure how Heaven works, but I'm almost certain, she missed me too.

Mom and I Boating-Summer of 1990

"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse, and dreams of home." -Carl Burns

My mom, an avid newspaper clipper, had this quote taped to the inside cover of her 1999 planner.

Meanwhile In Dubai

I've been back in Dubai for four days now, and as nice as it was to be home, it's honestly nice to be back...which is a good sign, I think. So far I have done one flight to Cairo, Egypt, three loads of laundry, lots of sleeping, caught up with friends, and today I crossed a big one off the ol Dubai Bucket List....indoor snow skiing! Tis good to get back to a normal routine :)