So then, pretty much everyone on here knows that I have recently started a full time job after graduating from University. The job is in an industry that is involved heavily in something that is pretty much booming and both simultaneously pissing people off and keeping people happy - that is, the Oil Industry. I'm working for a company called FUGRO a Dutch company with offices all over the world. There is no point in me going into great detail about the company, it isn't really very interesting for the majority of everyone, and if you want to know, then all the information is on their site. Put it this way, they are big. Really fucking big, and pretty much the company in their particular industry. So what am I going to be employed as? Basically I am a Hydrographic Surveyor (Wikipedia Link although my official title is just Surveyor. I will doing a few things - positioning of undersea platforms, pipeline inspection, pipe laying, rig moves to name but a few. It is gonna be ace. But enough about that, what have I been doing? Well last week, after a day's induction I headed off for my medical (passed) and my innoculations. After that, I was sent to a place called Europoort just outside Rotterdam, and is an industrial area the size of a city. I believe there are over 9000 ports in this particular area. The reason why I was there was due to a 3 day offshore survival course - including Fire Fighting, Helicopter Evacuation and Water Survival Training. The great thing about this place (Falck Nutec) was that they were all absolutly nuts, and that they all just wanted us to have fun and encouraged us to take pictures and videos as much as possible, which helped a hell of a lot. The first day of the training was the survival training. This involved us getting kitted up in survival suits, donning a life vest and jumping into a swimming pool with a simulated swell of 2m, heavy wins, and simulated rain. We were then given instructions on what to do. Swimming using the least conservative energy possible, creating safety circles and huddles, and climbing into survival craft. Unfortunatly, I do not have any pictures of me actually doing any of this (as I was in the water at the time) nor videos, but there are pictures of another group doing something similar. These pictures are taking in the small dock where the centre is, not in the pool. Survival Circle A crocodile. The purpose of this is so the group stays together and conserves as much energy as possible. That was the end of day one. After that, headed back to the hotel (Hotel De Beer) where out of one window I had a very busy water passage with barges. And the other side was a busy motorway and a very busy freight train line. But that was fine, seeing as the hotel and all my food was paid for :D. Oh, while I remember, from Schipol Airport in Amsterdam to Hotel De Beer was a
