Weekend in the Windy City!

By Renee Van Der Watt

Recruitment season is well underway with many from Cape Town, Durban and Joburg awaiting interviews. Our presentations have had great turnouts and the hunt for enthusiastic servers and chefs continues.

This last weekend it was Port Elizabeth's turn to show us what they got! It has been a decade since I last saw PE and it was more beautiful than I remembered. 

I landed Thursday after a quick flight on which was seriously the smallest plane I have flown in. Tiffany and I hit the streets to spread the excitement about our program.. Chatting to all the potential recruits at the restaurants can get tiring but Port Elizabeth has a great vibe and we even had a group of servers at Spur in The Boardwalk dance as we left. How could you not love your job when you get to meet new people and experience the atmosphere of another city at the same time. 

After a long day it was time for some relaxation and a good sleep before the second round of marketing. For those of you who haven't heard of Brighton Lodge in Summerstrand, this B&B is exquisite! Service was great and my room felt like home away from home but with hotel luxuries. It's just a stones throw away from the beachfront and walking distance to the new casino. I might just have to bring myself out here for a weekend away in the summer. Needless to say I was energized and ready to go the next morning.

Friday was another fun day out and Saturday's presentation at the Beach Hotel was a complete success. A sea of interested faces welcomed me and the information session seemed to generate even more enthusiasm. To everyone that came out, I hope you had as good a time as I did.

International travel is great too but I am loving my South African Workaway experience! 

I must just say a big thank you to Tiffany Ally. We made a great 'Windy City' team!

 Port Elizabeth I'll see you soon for interviews.

The Summer Season...

By Andre Smith

So the summer season has come, which meant that things are slowing down at work and all the international staff have returned home. It was hard to say goodbye to some good friends that I’ve made over the season.

I’ve now moved into my own apartment and started building a home here in the US. I was just thinking the other day how natural it is now living here and how easy it was to settle in.

So as the title mentioned we’re in the “Summer Season”… Work at Addison Reserve is still busy and hasn’t slowed down much, but very happy to be there and enjoy going to work every day. We have an amazing team and are currently in the process of planning for next season.  We’ve got some fun events and parties planned for the members in the works..…

As an ex-member of the Workaway team in South Africa, I’m still following the recruitment process and getting excited to meet all the new recruits that will be joining us this year. It really is a life changing experience!

A negative of the summer season in Florida is that it’s the rainy season too, but still very hot and humid. The weather is much like that in Joburg with the afternoon showers and thunderstorms. The past few weeks we’ve been blanketed by cloud and tropical rains as Tropical Storm Andrea passed through. Everyone is just hoping that it’s not a sign an over active storm season here.

The summer season is also time to take a break and have days off to have some fun. I have no fixed plans yet, but think a trip to South Beach is way overdue and I need to work on a tan. Being pale in the sunshine state is not cool… so hoping to post some details soon.

Meeting new people!

By Jasper Burger

It has been awesome this month of May as I have been going around all over Gauteng recruiting and meeting some real fantastic people, especially at the Hotel and Chef academies I saw some real passion for the industry and that Gauteng has no shortage of good people to work in top establishments.

Also Golf Academies with some real talented sportsman and cool people all around. It has been fun up to this point recruiting and I am sure that’s not going to change. There was a good turnout at the Johannesburg presentation with quality people showing up and it was fun catching up with the returners reminiscing about our time spent in the USA was also a trip down memory lane. Interviews were great  this week and I am looking forward to it and getting to know applicants a bit better.

 

 

That being said the realization that this is only the beginning makes me excited and enthusiastic about the next few months of recruiting and meeting new people. When you all get on the plane to go to Florida, now that’s going to be a whole new level of excitement for all of us.

My Travels!

By Nivedna Sewchurran

Being on the Workaway program brings great opportunities for work experience, as well as travel. Since this is my 8th season with Workaway, I have had the chance to not only meet great people, but also got the opportunity to travel in and around the U.S.A.

From Las Vegas, Nevada, to the crystal clear waters of Key West, dozens of waterfalls in North Carolina, and let’s not forget the thrill of The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia. There is so much to see, so much to do, these are just some things that I got up to.

So not only do you have the opportunity to work abroad, but also have fun while doing so. Being in the states, makes travel a little easier, so after a day of hard work at the country clubs you could always head to the beach to unwind, or travel down to Miami which is home to, South Beach, a beach like no other of course.

But also let’s not forget the theme parks, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, Disney, and SeaWorld. All of which makes you feel like a kid again.

It’s like a little reward after months of hard work at the country clubs, you get to indulge in a little VAY-K. All that hard work why not take a little time for yourself.

Jupiter Hills.....My Favourite!

By Nivedna Sewchurran

Workaway has been there for me from day one, and continues to be there today. When I was scared, to enter a new country by myself not knowing what to expect on the other side Workaway was there.

Going to my first club which was St Andrews was amazing, it was huge with 4 golf courses and over 2 thousand members. After my season was done there, I moved on to a much smaller club , being Boca Pointe, with just 1 golf course and membership being much older than my previous club. Over the seasons I moved around in search of my perfect club, and ended up at, I think might be the highest shoreline point in Florida, being Jupiter Hills Golf Club.

Jupiter Hills is like no other club I know. The membership is amazing. They are very curious of my background, family, desires, and truly concerned about me. The management team is more like family than bosses. They enjoy people with personality and encourage us to use it with the membership. Our food and beverage manager Andrew Zaino is not only the best at what he does, he is the most caring person you will ever meet. Our GM Atilla Kardas has a welcoming personality and allows us to do our jobs without micro - management. The culture established at the club is stellar and gives us a comfortable level not found in most clubs. So although I am so far away from my family and friends, Jupiter Hills is my home away from home!!   ~ Johnson~

And we're out of the starting blocks...

By Renee Van Der Watt

After four years in the USA I had mixed emotions about coming home, how things would have changed and where I would fit in but the last 6 months have been the start to the most exciting chapter in my life.

Not only am I planning my perfect South African wedding but also I am happy to be 'home' with my Workaway family as we start the new recruitment season.

And boy did we kick it off in style at Cape Town's first big presentation of 2013. We had a record number of keen applicants. The queues were long but the attitude was positive and the excitement is building. It's going to be a good season so if you haven't attended a presentation, our next is on June 8th. :)

Seeing all the new and smiling faces makes me think back to my first presentation 4 years ago. All the questions I had and nerves about whether or not I was good enough to grab that opportunity. Well, I worked hard and now I have memories that will last a lifetime. Never in a million years did I think I would see NYC, San Francisco, Washington DC and swim with dolphins in Key West, just to name a few.

Now that I'm back I'm off to explore the splendor that is South Africa. Where is my first stop you ask? Well wine tasting naturally! Vrede en Lust has amazing wines for every palette and the best part... it is free for couples. So why not take a loved one out to the amazing Franschoek wine valley.

LETS GET IT STARTED!

See all the newbies at first interviews...

The end of the season...

By Andre Smith

The 1^st of May brings a new start for me as I finally found a great apartment and will make the move from my very comfortable Workaway apartment into my own space. The apartment is in a great location, so getting very excited in building my new home here in the US.

At work we’ve started the slowdown with the seasonal members starting to make their way to their summer homes up north. We’ve still been busy though with events which included the End of Season party for the members. The theme was Wizard of Oz.

We transformed the entire clubhouse with décor and characters that took our members on a magical trip. I’ve attached some pics, which includes the look for the Main Dinning Room, which was setup as the Emerald City. Some of the staff dressed up in character to add to the ambiance of the evening.

It took a lot of work to get the setup done and breakdown went on into the wee hours of the next morning. The staff was exhausted, but in good spirits the next day knowing we pulled off such an awesome event.

This coming weekend we are hosting The Sport Legends dinner, which is a fundraiser event for charity. Everyone looks forward to working this, as there will be many big players and celebrities from the sports and broadcasting world in attendance. I will post some pics in my next blog.

As the season winds down for the members, it also winds down for the staff. In the next couple of weeks all the Workaway participants will make their way home or off to a new adventure at a country club up north. It’s going to be sad to say goodbye to everyone that I’ve come so close to the past season, but know that some will be back again in just a few months.

It would’ve been about this time for me to return to South Africa too to resume the recruitment season and get to meet and recruit all the new applicants for the upcoming season. I know the season will go well and I look forward in meeting all the new participants to join us.