That might sound like a good thing, but it's not. Trust me.
Week one in Alaska is over. We flew into Juneau the weekend before last on a bright sunny...evening. (The sun doesn't set until almost ten this time of year.)
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| "Wow." Go ahead and say it. I said it too when I saw this. |
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| The shadow of our airplane on top of a cloud. Just for fun. |
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| Arial view of Juneau and the surrounding area. |
The rest of the week was nice with blue skies and warm temperatures. I've been told by Eric and by others here that I've been spoiled so far with the weather. Juneau is known for its rainy days, but I've only experienced a few of them. According to one of my co-workers, Juneau has four seasons: wet, wetter, wettest, and snowy.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Failing. Right.
Along with beautiful weather, week one was filled with lots of job training. While in Rexburg, I underwent CDL training to be able to drive a Greyhound-style bus and give tours to 50 or so tourists at a time. I went through additional training this past week because it soon became clear that I needed it. A lot of it. Let's just say I couldn't manage driving such a beast of a vehicle around the cramped streets of Juneau. And though it doesn't seem like such a big deal, to me and my exaggeration-prone mind, it was like the world was crumbling down.
You have to know me to understand why I say that. For the most part, I excel at a lot of things. I'm not bragging; I'm just saying that's the way it usually is. I've always been the straight-A student, the kind to take hard classes for fun (more so in high school than in college...I've gotten lazy), and I can usually pick up skills quickly (unless it's sewing or crocheting. Nope. Not for me.). From my training in Rexburg, I felt that I had a pretty good grasp on how to control a bus, but when I was put into unfamiliar territory that changed.
So like I said, it became clear to my employers that I needed extra training. While my coworkers were off giving tours to the first crew ships, I was shadowing the trainers and learning the terrain of Juneau. The most prominent emotion in the mix I've been feeling has been embarrassment. I've avoided certain conversations with coworkers here and family and friends back home to spare myself from having to explain about my momentary failures to drive a bus. I've cried/whined/irrationally reasoned with Eric about my embarrassment of having to be trained again. He's responded a few times with, "You too used to not failing."
This experience has reminded me of when I failed my state CNA test almost a year ago. After comforting me from 1,500 miles away over the phone, my dad said almost the same thing (paraphrased of course because my memory is about as perfect as a first kiss): "You've always passed everything you've done. Just think of it this way: you've got to fail sometime in your life." Not so warm-fuzzy comforting, but it's true. Humans fail. Humans don't pass CNA tests, and humans do things that make it necessary to be retrained.
This time around, my dad gave advice along the same lines though a little softer on the ears. This quote is from Heber J. Grant: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do so is increased."
And it's true. After more practice driving around Juneau, I was able to have a successful first day of driving/tour guiding yesterday. I gave tours to people from Australia, India, Singapore, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. All these people came to get a glimpse of this place I get to call home for a few months.
I truly feel fortunate to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Sometimes, it makes the rough days seem less rough.
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| That's Mount Roberts and downtown Juneau behind me. |
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| Isn't he darling? |
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