Could ANYONE please tell me what to expect
See the middle east forum for loads and loads on what to expect. But broadly, you can look forward to:
-having your @rse groped by "people" from certain ethnic groups whenever you go out in a crowd, eg pub.
-being mistaken for a Russian ho if you end up living in Al Manazel (Bur Dubai) whenever you venture out on the streets.
-penalty points from crewing if you happen to be sick on a public holiday
-being telephoned at home after you call in sick to make sure you really are at home. Marked absent if you happen to be down at the clinic or chemist getting some flu pills or aspirins
-going to jail for having the wrong sort of aspirins in your bag
-Hitler-esque pursers and seniors who will enjoy writing reports on you
-24hr layovers with timings that really require you to have two nights sleep but do not allow it physiologically.
-just enough allowances to buy some noodles to boil in your room
-Certain ethnic groups who will try endlessly to "tune" you while in-flight and just as likely write you up for some "crime" if/when you knock them back
-Being called into the office on a day off to explain why you were reported (with the asistance of the purser) for "disrepecting" some local idiot who was being an absolute tw@t on the flight (oh, you have NO idea.....)
-Bag searches by the locals when you come back from trips away at 6am after a long long sector
-Lots of scratching and biting over petty tiffs between the 100+ different nationalities on the crews.
-no crew rest in-flight usually, because EK dutytime-limits are almost endless
-Smelly taxi drivers who will try to kill you on the roads
-Local imbeciles with no clue how to drive (other than fast) who will try to kill you on the roads
-A general lack of respect for you because you are a female (I presume)
-Heat. Extreme humidity. Both at the same time for about 6 months of the year which will leave you stuck indoors, literally.
-Sign-on at about midnight for half of the trips you do with sign-off at the end at around 0500-0800 depending on which one.
You can expect to...
-regularly feel like a crash-site due to working all night almost every time you go to work and not being allowed to close your eyes in-flight even when on your break (reports again...)
-try to develop a habit of being able to sleep at about 8pm so you can make it through the night flight ahead. eg Perth which is about 11-12 hrs, no extra crew. You are expected to be awake the entire flight which leaves about 3am or so. (pick-up just after midnight)
-try to sleep in the early evening before a night horror turn-around to some dodgy ****-pit of the world, despite having just got back from a horror which means you are enjoying the latest offering from Crewing... the "Combined Rest Day"!!! "Two-forOne!!" Get rested after one trip and before the next at the same time!
And to top it all off... you just missed out on Ramadan!!!
The good news (for you):
4 days layover in Brisbane, split by a shuttle to Auckland. This change was forced recently after 2 years or so of dodgy "waivers" which allowed a min rest 8 day trip.
There is SO much they forget to mention in the glossy brochures.
Enjoy.........