WAT Summer 2015

It all started with a 'Hey, why not go Work and Travel USA for your summer break?'

And so, I did.

I went through Speedwing as my agent. To know more about the programme, click here.

There were a few S.O.P before actually getting to participate in the WAT.

As the U.S government are afraid that Malaysians will breach the contract and stay longer that we intend to ( or jump aeroplane in cantonese ), we're required to buy the plane ticket back and also prove that we're still an undergraduate student ( that's one of the requirement, to be an undergraduate student). So it was stressful because honestly, I don't know much about the States and there is actually no particular place in the State that I would want to visit, except, probably Hawaii. So I bought Hawaii as my return flight.

With the WAT programme, we applied for J1 visa which allows you to work no more than 3 months in the States and travel for not more than 1 month. So the maximum time period you're allowed to stay in the States is 4 months.

There are two seasons to choose from which is Summer (May 15-September15) or Winter (November 15-March 15)

If you're wondering about having to go through an agent, first of all, it's not easy to look for your own job, unless you have contacts or have jobs already secured. Plus, getting the working visa is not easy especially with the recent terrorist attacks.

I paid that much, but in return, I don't have to worry about finding a job, finding a place to stay, making an appointment with the U.S embassy etc.

Before going to the States, I was having my finals, so with the agent, everything was so much more easy and convenient. They brief you, and tell you when to go for the interview and all that.

There were a few places to choose from for working, like in theme parks or national park. I chose Yellowstone National Park for the reason that I had friends who worked there before and also, I love the outdoors much more than the city. Little did I know that, YNP is America's  first national park and it is breathtakingly beautiful and stunning! If you're someone that loves the outdoor a lot, this is the place to be.

I was actually in a very big dilemma. I wanted to work for that full 3 months and also, travel for that full 1 month, but by doing that, I'll be skipping a month of classes. I went into my YOLO mode and bought the return flight from Hawaii on the 2nd of October.

When I went for the interview with the U.S international coordinator, that is when you get to try and hopefully get the job you want. I went for server assistant and got the job because I was lucky. I was the first 5 person to be interviewed and usually, majority of the people would get room attendents. My batch, I think only two out of all the people got the server assistant job. So, BE EARLY. The best job, honestly, in my opinion, would be server. You earn the most money and asians being asians, with our Malaysian currency so much weaker, what better right?


During the interview session, I met this other girl and we decided to go together and would later end up as room mates. Later, I met my colleague who also went for the interview. Together with her friend, the four of us travelled together. So, if you're afraid of going alone, make friends during the interview and travel together. It's safer and you get to save a lot more on accommodation before reaching YNP.

We bought the tickets together and had a 9 hour layover in Japan. We changed RM to Yen beforehand, left our luggage in Narita Airport and went hunting for ramen.

We visited the shrine.

We saw hangers in a box outside a store and when we went to enquire about it, apparently, it's free for anyone to take. So...

we took. LOL

Our next layover was in Denver before arriving at Bozeman.  The total flight duration was 35 hours with the layover. It was crazy. I felt like a walking zombie only to crash again at every flight. The only thing I'm really glad of having is my eye mask and my neck pillow.

Upon, reaching Bozeman, we checked in at the inn, and went to search for food.

We shared this among the four of us. Before working, everything was so expensive, especially inUSD. 10 dollar per person is almost like RM40 per person then. Now, with the decreasing MYR, it's worse. After that night, we bought our dinner from Walmart LOL.

First hiking boots. USD160. This is really good hiking boots and I thank God I invested in this. This is super useful for me because I hike a lot, and we have to pass through streams. This prevents me from getting blister and lower risk of twisting my ankle.

Our really cheap and good dinner the next day.

We stayed in Bozeman for two nights. The Yellowstone bus came and pick us up the next day. And this is the day where they allocate us to different villages to work. My friends that was in YNP on previous years ask me to try and get allocated to Canyon Village and avoid Grant Village. But, 90% of the Malaysians got placed in Grant Village, LOL. The busiest village would be Old Faithful. The reason being is, everywhere is really far away from Grant Village, so to get to places without a car is very inconvenient, you'd have to hitch hike or get a ride from friends that have cars.

Being in Grant Village, I had my fair share of hitchhiking, and I got to admit, they were tiring and also exciting at the same time. I learnt to be grateful because people would go out of their way just so they can drop you where you wanted to be dropped. I'd had Americans, Chinese from China, Europeans picked me up and we shared a lot during the rides.

I also had friends who were stranded out there and were forced to overnight and seek shelter and once, I had to go around asking if anyone was willing to fetch my friend who were stranded out there and had a morning shift the next day.

One of the perks of being in Grant Village is that we have the best accommodation, hands down. Not only that, the restaurants I worked in, I hear a lot of compliments from the customer saying we have the best service and also food. Maybe because we have the least tourist visiting here, hence allowing us to give better service.

Accommodation

We got placed in the cabin upon arrival because there were no more space in the dorm. The dorm room's are bigger but partying in the cabin is so much more fun. Probably the only troublesome thing is, we don't get wifi out here and we had to drag all our laundry's to the lobby and the microwave (which will be confiscated soon ) were also in the lobby which were where all the dorms are located.

That's Yen, my room mate and I in front of our cabin on our first day of work. We were lucky because our cabin is situated really near the lobby, so we manage to connect to the wifi. And thus, this cabin became the 'lepak' place for Malaysians.

One of the questions I get asked a lot. "What's your REAL name?"  "...Char Lie." "No, like your REAL name. The one in your birth certificate."  "...Chin Char Lie"  "Oh, I meant your chinese name. You must have one."  "Yeah, I do. It's Char Lie"

The only 2 restaurants in Grant Village and my workplace

And this is the main dining hall where I worked. They chopped off all the trees so now, people actually get a clear view of the Yellowstone lake. Imagine the sunset and sunrise view. Gorgeous.

This is the other only restaurant in Grant Village where my room mate and most of the other Malaysians work at. The food here is pretty crappy, but they have seriously good view and the people that work there are like a family.

Employee Dining Room/EDR

This is our EDR. The only time we actually eat breakfast is when we have morning shift. But towards the end of the season, we try to wake up early every morning just so we can have breakfast, then go back and sleep. LOL We paid for it, so we wanted to make the most of it.

Lunch. The Americans are really very blessed. They have an extensive salad bar, cookies (everyday, and they are delicious!), all types of bread (bagel, rye, wheat, white, english muffin etc)  and also all types of cheese!! (even bleu cheese thank God and not the cheap kind of cheese we have here in Msia). I can't help but compare it with the staff meals I often have at Chilli's.

When I try to eat healthier. LOL

You can also request for box lunches in case you're going for a hike.

Breakfast

Camping
Actually, I didn't get to go camping a lot. I only went camping three times. And I don't even think I can count the first two one as camping. We drive to a spot,set up our tent, then cook and drink. That's all. I guess my definition of camping would be to actually hike in and set up tents.

On my last few weeks in YNP, I was really frustrated because I didn't get to go 'camping' for real. So, on one fine day, I told my friend, Kit that we're going camping tomorrow, I don't care. And so we did. After shift, we went by the campus services to get permits to camp but we didn't get it because all the spots were taken.

We looked at each other, he said it was up to me. If I still insist,  we would still go. So, we went. I was actually really lucky because by the time we dilly-dallied and decided to go, it was already 5pm. We went by the EDR to get some snack and as we were leaving, my friend chased after us and asked us where we were going and how. We told him we were going camping and by hitch-hiking. He offered to drop us there with his truck!!

It was a very last minute thing, we didn't do any research and my friend, Xin Yi had work at 8am the next day so we had to be very careful.

We decided we would set our tents 1 hour hike from the entrance and we had to set it deep inside because we didn't have permits and don't want to get into trouble with the park rangers. 1 hour from the entrance, we left our stuff in the spot and tied it with the base of the tent in case it rained as we wanted to walk deeper in.

We took really long to set up the fire because we only had two lighter that we bought at the very last minute too. LOL

The next day, we had to wake up at 5am, walk out, and start hitch hiking back. All I could remember was that, it was really, really, really cold.

Oh, I also bought a hammock from amazon. I buy a lot of stuff from amazon because it's so cheap!! Especially books. I read a lot of Haruki Murakami, and I buy used book which cost me only 2 dollars!! Bring me back to the land of cheap books!

Usually people would recommend you to buy hammock from the brand ENO because they're really good and durable but I thought I wouldn't use it much so I bought my hammock from an unknown brand for about USD20, which is RM80+. It's now hanging at my balcony here in Malaysia. I used it a lot in YNP, and even slept on in when I go camping so I don't have to set up tents.

But cheap stuff, is cheap stuff. My hammock tore but after I sew it back, it was still good to use. LOL

White water rafting

My first time trying white water rafting and also I did cliff jumping! It took me a good 10 minutes and lots of coaxing before I could actually jump. Not bad for someone who's afraid of height.

4th of July

My friend, Lionel asked me to decorate his bike. Since there were only two other entries and three prizes to be given,  why not right? I got, not surprisingly, the last place (LOL, I only used 10 minutes to decorate) but still got a prize! yay!

The fourth of July is the American's Independence Day. I was lucky because I only worked breakfast that day so I followed my friends into town to party. There was a free music concert at town that ended with fireworks.

My birthday

I celebrated my birthday in the States, without my family and friends but I still feel so loved because the people here felt like family already.

I woke up the next day with a  big hangover because turning 21 is a big thing in the states. It's when you're finally legal to drink. I had a lot of different shots and I was vomitting the whole time the next day and could't get out of bed. Hence, the burnt toast my friend smuggled for me from the EDR.

Partying

We also partied a whole lot. I met a lot of people from everywhere, really. It's amazing how crazy you can form such tight bonds in just 3 months. The Thais came earlier than us, so they left earlier than us too, and when they left, it felt like a part of us left too. It wasn't the same without them. They were all crazy good cooks. I love my Thai friends a lot! The Taiwanese came in much later after us and so, they were the last to leave.

Since our room became the 'party' place, it reeks of alcohol most of the time.

My friend, Rachel didn't want to bring back the coffee machine so I took it and it's amazing!! I cook noodles and half boiled eggs(Americans find this so weird) in it! Serious lifesaver for Asians that cannot live without noodles haha.

She loves the noodle!!

Seriously, look at the perfect half boiled egg from the coffee machine. 

We tried cooking 'steamboat' because my American friends never had it before, that kind of eating style where everyone eats off the same pot.

And, it's so easy to get drunk because alcohol is so cheap there compared to Malaysia.


Talent Night
There was also talent night where you can showcase your talent. There were storytelling, dancing, singing. I was asked to be one of the judge because they needed someone 'nice'. Funny how things turns out because, I was the 'cruelest' LOL but all in all, the talent night was really fun!

The emcees and the judges.

Employee Appreciation Day

The managers were the ones serving us that day, and good food!!

Christmas in July
They actually decorated the lobby with christmas trees and ornament, it was really cool! And, to top it off, we got good food!!

Town

There were times where my friends would drive us to the town(which was a 2-3 hours drive) just to catch Jurrasic Park or for Thai food.

Hiking

My craziest hike was probably the 24 miles (about 38km) hike where it took us 7 hours to complete. I had morning shift the next day with blisters because I was wearing my sport shoes instead of hiking boots. Stupid decision.

When I'm not working, I hiked a lot. By the end of the 3 months, I completed the 100 miles hike club. These are just random hikes I went. Either tagging along my American friends or by hitchhiking.

The great Grand Prismatic.

 I was lucky to encounter a lot of different animals. Elks, bison, a mother bear and her 3 cubs, a wolf, coyote, marmot,

Bison and Elks are everywhere. And they taste, pretty good. LOL

This was actually off trail, also known as the Old Faithful Employee Bathtub and it's from the hot, boiling geyser water(on the left) flowing to the cold, running river water. So, it felt hot, cold, hot cold. Really amazing experience! We smelt like sulphur afterwards.

Polecat Hot Spring. One of my favourite day!!

One of my probably most memorable moments is when we were watching the meteor shower. We would all lie down by the side of the road, and just watch the crazy amount of shooting stars. It's just plain amazing.

Travelling cost

Kuala Lumpur Airport -> Narita Airport ( Japan) -> Denver Airport -> Bozeman  USD806.28

Bozeman Airport -> Denver Airport -> Phoenix Airport  USD140 

Phoenix Airport -> SeaTac Airport( Seattle) USD128.10

SeaTac Airport (Seattle) -> San Francisco Airport USD90

San Francisco Airport -> Honolulu Airport (Hawaii) USD 326.26

Honolulu Airport -> Taipei Aiport(Taiwan) -> Kuala Lumpur Airport USD549
(USD25 for first baggage, USD35 for second baggage)

Total for flight : USD2429.64 which is about RM10,574.67. I had two baggage that needed to be checked in and my flight doesn't provide baggage allowance. I used skyscanner to buy all my flights.

I'll write about my accommodation costs at the next post.

But, all in all, I manage to take home about USD4000 after the 3 weeks of travelling to Grand Canyon, Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii so it's not too bad. I not only broke even, but brought back extra after all the travelling! I backpacked alone, so it's probably one of the three main reason why I manage to bring home $$.

The other main factor is that I got promoted from Server Assistant to Server, and it's really not easy to get promoted. Feel free to ask me personally. I'm not going to state the reason here.

Towards the end of the season when most of the Americans had to go back studying, that's when we get to pick up shifts and work more. I did a lot of side jobs, dishwashing, housekeeper, pantry. I was literally working 6 days a week, back to back shifts. It was really tiring, especially when it's so short-staffed everywhere but the money was really good. I was getting about USD1000+ every two weeks (we get paid every two weeks). I didn't even intend on saving and was buying a lot of stuff from Amazon.

Imagine if I did saved!

But not everyone brought back that amount of money. Some manage to break even, some brought back as little as USD10. For example, some of my friends chose not to work that much, but instead, choose to hike and explore more. In my case, towards the end of the season, I was just working and working and when I wasn't working, I was sleeping. It was mentally and physically exhausting.

I was working even the day before I left from 5am-4pm. I had to rush to pack up, clean my part of the room, do my laundry, etc etc, you get the drift. It was really hectic.

I also met a retired couple that I was serving in YNP who were really nice to offer me a place to stay in Seattle. They even offered to pick me up from the airport. Also, I met this guy who picked me and my friends up when we were hitchhiking. He offered to pick me up from the airport to Grand Canyon. I used very little when I was in Seattle and Grand Canyon. Moral of the story, it helps a lot to talk to the customer, and being a server, I had the platform and Americans really love to talk to their server. Completely different from Asian mentality.

When I was in Hawaii, coincidentally, a friend on mine that worked with my in YNP have hawaiian friends. So, learning to surf was free for me. And they were freaking awesome people that brought me to the hidden gems in Hawaii.

There were also the bad times. During the first few weeks there, I felt extremely lonely because I don't really know anyone and the wifi connection was really bad so face timing my family wasnhard. And, it was hard to fit in with the Americans and Europeans because we have different jokes and the language barrier.

Since Grant Village was so far from everywhere, and we were so new to the environment then, we didn't know what to do for the first few days, except work and hanging out at the lobby. Money was pretty shitty too because it was overstaffed and I was getting as little as 4 days work a week and each day, it was just one shift. ( We usually work 2 shifts in a day)

But, like everything else in life, it eventually gets easier. I learnt a lot from my 3 months working in YNP, met people of all different walks, and it would be nice too, if everyone could experience what I experienced! So feel  free to ask me any questions, enquiries. :) You can drop me a message at Facebook ( search for Chin Char Lie) or even email me at chincharlie2607@hotmail.com

Everyone have their own experience in YNP and this is mine.

I hope this post helps at least a bit on what WAT at Yellowstone is like. And if you do go to YNP, you're making a great choice!