The train from Seattle to Montana takes about 14 hours, assuming there are no delays (which Amtrak often has), but it arrives by 8 a.m., so you can get a really good nap.

Last year, things didn't go well with Amanda, the new manager, starting from the moment she forgot to pick me up from the train station. (I don't remember if I told this story or not). I waited for about 40 minutes or so. She knew my number, but I didn't know hers. I sat there, waited, and then started walking. The station is at the entrance to West Glacier—the very town where everyone headed for a second job, as well as for groceries or a drink after work. It was about a 10-minute bike ride from Apgar to West Glacier. Or about 3-4 km, if I'm not mistaken. I walked to the park entrance and explained the situation to the rangers. They let me through, even though visitors usually pay for park entry (but not employees). The rangers at the entrance already recognize the employees by face, and they have a special sticker on their cars. Anyway, when I reached the shortcut through the woods where there was a sign saying 1.6 miles left to Apgar, Amanda called and told me to stay where I was. I texted her that I had already passed the park entrance. Amanda arrived and picked me up. By that moment, of course, I was slightly angry at her because she had overslept, damn it.

This year, I texted her several times saying I was arriving at such and such time. You won't forget, right? I arrived, and she wasn't there again. I sat and waited. I was thinking about walking again, but as soon as I texted, Tim, the brother of Brian (the restaurant owner), arrived.

By the way, I told Mihaela that I was arriving only the next morning, so after the traditional selfie at the dorm, I rushed to the second floor and unceremoniously burst into her room to surprise her, just like she did last year. Friends, it's worth living for moments like these! When you meet those you've wanted to see for so long, and then you just grab her and drag her all over the place to reminisce about everything.

What has changed?

Of course, you immediately feel a certain emptiness in your soul because there is almost no one here—or rather, only Mihaela, Mike, Shanice, Fabian, and Kedisha from last year are here. The latter three are guys from Jamaica (I don't remember if I talked about them last year). Last summer, I returned here and only Carlos was here, who was later fired (as it turned out later), and Weldon, who was also fired, while the others arrived gradually.

Mihaela, who finished her studies earlier, was already here. And together we waited for the Turner sisters, as well as anyone else who could somehow dilute the boredom at the beginning of the season.

The kitchen in the restaurant has changed a lot. Mike, with whom we had friction last year, arrived here much earlier and made changes to the layout of the tables and shelves, which were now where they were supposed to be (well, in the places I was used to since the 1st season). And even before that, the management invested funds and installed a new hood with shelves, which made the kitchen look completely different:

This is how the kitchen looked before 2016.

And this is how it looked in 2016:

I was given the same room as last year, at the beginning of the year. Let me remind you that at the end of last season, I moved to the second floor to 211 and lived right across from my original room from the first season, but at the beginning of the 2nd season, just like this summer, I was placed in 115. By the way, that was a little story. As soon as I got my visa, I immediately wrote to Amanda and asked her to put me in room 211, where I spent the rest of the 2015 season, since this room is similar to that very "my favorite" one from the first season, and in general, it is large, spacious, and comfortable. In short, I got used to it. As for 115, it is smaller because the bathroom there is 2.5 times larger than in other rooms, as it is supposedly for people with disabilities. This is reflected not only in the size of the room as a whole but also in the handrails almost all over the room in the necessary places. Of course, this didn't bother anyone, but rooms 114 and 115 were, of course, smaller due to the enlarged bathroom (let me remind you that we have shared bathrooms between two rooms in the dorm).

So, what am I getting at? I asked Amanda to put me in that very room 211 because I loved it, to which she replied that the second floor is becoming completely female, so it's impossible. Then I asked for my room 115 back, to which she replied that she had already assigned the rooms and neighbors, but didn't know which one I got. In short, typical difficult Amanda.

Although upon arrival I still got room 115, and Amanda noted that she gave me the 115 "that you asked for." At least something.

In general, there were many changes, but they were minor. They were felt gradually. Over time. It was the beginning of a new season, and then we understood that it would be very fun here as always, and also that we would have to fight for our rights again and, so to speak, for our place in the sun. We've been through it before—we know.

But returning here is still a special event. It's already like a second home, where the Wi-Fi password is still "donotgivetoaziz", and on the wall of my old room, this famous phrase remains, which Weldon wrote on the kitchen board a long time ago, and it became historical for many employees of this place:

Well, I already put up the stickers, of course. Out of boredom.

But back then, in 2014, the point was that I was constantly "jumping" on the line, saving the guys during rush hours, and I did it so often that Weldon constantly said that "Azizus saves." And many "old-timers" still remember this story, and after that, the name Azizus stuck to me :)

It is worth returning to places where not only friends are waiting for you, but also what you once left behind as your own mark. So that people don't just remember you, but even newcomers ask: "Who is this guy Azizus and why does he save?" Don't you want to leave a mark in the history of the establishment where you work, even if temporarily... Even if for a few seasons?

And how, actually, without the most important photo of this place :)