Saturday, July 31, 2010

Day 4 and Miami (day 5)

On thurday it was my first day by myself opening and closing he Boiler (inthe mornig I went for a swim and watched a DVD - got to love free time :D. Too bad the pool makes my hair feel like horse hair. Nasty cholrine). I was a little nervous because I remembered how hard it was to remember everything for when I had to do all the Pzza shop stuff.

However, somehow I actually managed to remember almost everything without asking for help!

In fact the only thing I stuffed up on was that I pulled the food from the main warmers and set it up under the front warmers too early. The chef told me to put it all back. XD The thing abou this is that I kind of was woering mysef if it was okay to do that. The day before we hd put things out a litteearl, but I couldn't remember what time exactly.
Anyway, apart from that, I was good! I even figured out how to re-stock everything. :D

There are new rules about the meal plan for that place though and so I am once again confused about it!

I was working with this one girl for most of the night. It was strange because it was almost as if she had been there less time than me! She was practically doing everything I asked her to do, and agreed with me on eveything. I felt almost as if I was in charge?

At close I cleaned everything and was like speedy gonzales! I cleaned everything as thoroughly as I possibly could, only to look at the clock and realist only 20mins had gone by. 40mins to do what, exactly? :/
I had to go to the manager and get her to assess me. Apart from one spot (which I had seen myself but thought it was a stain since I couldn't get it off) which she pointed to which I tried to explain I couldn't get off (only to use my fingernail and find it came off easy...ooops) it was all good :)
She asked when I finished, I said 11, and then she decided to give me more tasks to do!
The day prior we must have done everything reeeeeally slowly so that we didn't have to do extra work. But anyway.
I ended up helping with 2 drink coolers.
The first was the girl's who was working wih me, and then I was at a loss to what to do since we had finished that and the manager was busy talking to guests for ages.
Then I saw this other girl who had a lot of drinks to fill, so I wentover to help her.
She was from China, and we had a nice conversation whilst doing that.
I learnt some strange new things. Like that little bottles of water are in a diff place to the other drinks, and large bottles of water are not even inside! lol! I was like.....what? How would a newbie know that? Good thing there are helpful people around. :)

I liked my manager though, she is nice. :)


Yesterday (friday) I got up at 3am (after getting back to the apartment at 12.30am XD)
I got ready and then went to Walgreens.
Can't say I liked being there at 3.40am by myself....
So I stayed under good lighting and I txted /called the people I was meant to be going with.
A random black cat slunk by. It kind of made me wonder how superstitious I was. ...but then I reasoned that I love black cats and horses, so it was nothing to worry about.
It was so quiet and I had this sinking feeling that maybe I had been pranked?
However, at about 3.50am I noticed that still no-one was to be found, and that an unusally large amount of people at 3.50am were walking the opposite direction to where I was.
So I followed them
...only to find that the party bus was where they were going!

Soooooo glad I followed them. That would have been bad if I had been left behind from being at the wrong place. Sure, I could have gone back and gotten soem sleep, but I would have missed out on so much!

The party bus was not the scary thing I had heard rumours of. Possibly it was a different bus?
Anyway, it was just a giant bus with a toilet at the back and a tv. It also had a good sound system (that was up too loud the entire trip!)
We had so many people, and 3 (almost) full buses!
Apparantly this is a popular trip and doesn't happen often! So I was glad I managed to get involved.

They played some -interesting- music on the way down. Some was good, some was fun (they played a song about arriving in Miami when we were doing so, for instance). The movie choices were strager though. There was this AI film which was very loud and the little boy's screeching prevented me from sleeping. I would be dozing off only to be woken by something like "MOMMY!"

Miami is a beautiful place with palm trees everywhere. It has all these (what looks like) islands everywhere, with piers and boats. Its very peaceful (the part I saw, anyway... not the city) and I could understand why people would want to live there.

The first thing we did when we were dropped off was go to the BEACH!

I do not remember the last time I went to the beach and actually went swimming! With the arctic coldness that is Wellington's beaches, I avoided it.

The sand was white (preeeeeetty!), but it was not soft and powdery unfortunatley!

There we umbrellas and seats everywhere along the waterfront. We dumped our stuff under an umbrella....only to get this guy coem up to us telling us that it was $12 to rent an umbrella!
Really? You have to pay to rent an umbrella?
So much for kind generosity, no?
You also had to pay for the seats, but we decided against them.

So after paying for our umbrella a few of us went into the sea, including myself.

It was BEAUTIFUL! The water wa amazingly see through. There were no waves. No sudden deep drops. No seeweed everywhere.
The only things around us were FISH! ..and they were harmless fish so we didn't worry about them.
The pelicans were having a feed though! That's right, I was swimming near pelicans! So cool!

The arcitecture of the buildings around us ws very nice. A good backdrop. :)

We stayed in the sea for goodess knows how long, but it was fun!

My fav moment though was when a fish jumped out of the water and smacked Christian in the face! That was one very funny moment. :P I personally wish it had gone in his mouth though, THAT would have really been funny!

After that we went to find somewhere to have lunch.

It was pbvious that the econmy was not booming down there. We had al lthese desperate people trying to get us to eat at their establishment.
It was a good thing for us though.
We were going to settle on a place called Jonny Rocket, but then this place that looked posh offered us free drinks, appetisers, desserts and 20% off our mains.
We were sold... yup!

Although I could not drink, I observed that the drinks there were in the most MASSIVE glasses!
I wanted a frozen daquiri, but they wouldn't make a non-alc version. :'(

I learnt a very random thing whislt waiting for the food.

In Puerto Rico, they believe that if you can tie a cherry stem in your mouth with only your tongue, you are a good kisser. I did not try, but the guy from PR did, and it was amazing. I was like...woah.
Of course then the french guy was picked on because you know the rumour that the french are supposed to be good kissers?
Eventually he took up the challenge to try. It took him a while but he got there in the end. lol. Proved his manliness, huh?

So maybe this is a good test to get any guy you are interested in to try before you decide to go further...? ;)

Anyway so that was fun, and the food was nice. Our waiter was nice too. Charming, almost.
The bill was bigger than we explected because there were all these things added, like a donation to something and GST and the gratuity (tip). However, with all those free things my total still only came to $16. So I thought it wasn't too bad. ...but that experience doesn't really make me want to eat out very often. It feels a little sneaky to me.

One of the girls came shopping with me after. It took us ages to find the sort of thing we wanted, but it was enjoyable. I really didn't like all the people trying to get us to eat at their place whilst we were walking, but you just have to say "I've eaten" and walk off.

I got a pretty blue convertable skirt, a bracelet and a top with wings on the back.

Later, we went back to see what the others were up to and grab the rest of my things.
I got there to find that they had been abandoned under the umbrella!
What the? Who would leave someone's stuff there just waiting for it to be stolen!? It's not like it was heavy, and they woud have felt worse from the guilt if it had been stolen. It would have been so easy for someone to have taken it!
Thank goodness they didn't!
Maybe black cats are good luck for me?

Chaffing, is not fun though. It always seems to happen to me after being at the beach. Darn you, sand.

Then we wanted to wait somewhere cool whilst we waited for the bus to come. We found a place and my friend got a milkshake. We were wandering around for a while only to turn around and find that the others in the group were behind us, filming! Gaaaaaah.

When it was nearly 6pm we went to the bus. The trip home was good, but can't say I likedthe choice of movie. At least it was a good reason to sleep. It's really not comfy to sleep sitting though!

At our rest stop I saw I was a little burnt (hey, I managed to get by al lthis time without getting burnt, so I'm impressed).
This morning though I notice the burn has disappeared! I must not have gotten very burnt then. That, and it was only 2 small spots that I must have missed with the sunscreen. :)

Today I have my 2nd day off and I'm not entirely sure on the plans.
Eventually I'm planning to put the rest of my photos up (been slack lately, I know) but I'll prolly hang out with Michael doing goondess knows what.

Right now know I'm going to get myself organsied, and go get some new costumes! The trip in itself will take an hour, even if the getting of new costumes takes only a few mins. :/

Talk to ya'll soon!
Everyone loves free time. :D

xx

By the way - thanks to everyone who has offered to help me move apartments. Very kind of you :)

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Day 3 - the Broiler

Aloha,

I'm super duper tired because I got home late and then my room mate has been packing allllll night because she leaves today. (not to mention I have to get up at like 3.20am tomorrow morning too........)

I have to leave and get ready in a minute because I have plans before work this afternoon.

So I'll make this quick.

Yesterday I worked at this place called the Broiler which basically has home cooked meals and roast dinners. Luckily, it is much easier to open and close than pizza!

Today I once again have to be by myself. So I way paying as much attention as I could yesterday so today wouldn't be as stressful.

Since it was easier than pizza (though in the rushes and when the chef dissappeared it got a little crazy) it wasn't too bad. I got more of a chance to speak with guests.

There was this one lady who only spoke spanish. So I attempted to help her with the little amount of spanish I remember. She gets what I'm meaning but it takes a while and she looks a little unsure. Then after several minutes of this, I find out the guy one away from her speaks spanish and had just been standing there the whole time. Gee, thaaaaanks. He tok over after a while whihc I was graeful for, but I just thought it was almost like he was amused watching me hence he didn't speak out sooner.

I had fun interacting with a little guy about his star wars t-shirt. He was all shy and it was so cute. :P

OK. Soooooo tired.
..but I have to get ready.

In summary though, yesterday wasn't too bad, and I hope today I can cope ok by myself. Remembering where everything is stocked is the hardest thing probably.


That's all folks!
xx

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Day 2, and you're by yourself!

Hello everyone!

Yesterday was the first non "trainee" day at the pizza shop, which means I was left totally and utterly to myself.
Although I asked a gazillion questions (I can never remember what comes with chips and what with breadsticks, for instance) it was better than the day before.
I think because I got to experience a lot more guest interaction. I was serving people most of the time up until close.

Most of the guests last night were very lovely, and one of the older lasdies even called me a sweetheart. :)
I love being allowed (and encouraged) to comment on people's attire/buttons and striking random conversations with them.

I was a little inspired by the girl who worked with me who was really good at asking people about their day and having fun convos with them!
My favourite things to comment on were the little girls who were dressed up as princesses, they are so cute!
There were these two girls, both dressed up as Jasmine, for instance. I started talking to them, and found out that their fav princesses were actually Cinderella and Belle! So of course I asked, "why did you decide to dress up as Jasmine then?" Their response was "because I was that last year". Wow. I didn't quite know what to say to that one... Suggestions? Simulations, anyone?

Also there was this lady who had a "happy birthday" pin on her bag. I asked if it was her birthday(she might have left it on by accident?), and she lit up replying with a "yes!". Of course then I wished her a "happy birthday!" and she walked off with a smile and thanked me.

Little things like that make the shifts so much more enjoyable!

I found out yesterday there were these pre-break meetings. They pretty much go around asking everyone to describe magic moments. Yesterday they had food as "bribes" but I think that might have been a one off.
I was thinking about mentioning the day before when I had *just* gotten off the bus in my costume and a guest asked me where somthing was. Of course I had no idea but tried to help him as much as I could. He proceeded to thank me profusely, even though I thought I hadn't really done much.
I have no idea if it would have counted as a magic moment, but the guest was much less stressed and happier after his encounter with me. I guess if you are just polite and try your best, most people will be happy about that.
In any case I didn't have to offer a story becuase I got free food since I was a newbie. :)

The kitchen still is a maze to me. I got lost several times. I kept being asked to do tasks, and in my mind I could see where it was, but I couldn't find it in reality! At least the chefs in the "hot line" (I actually found out what in the world people meant when they said this. I thought I had to ring a number but it just meant the helpful chefs in this area who will help you) were nice.

I got to press the yellow button too! (woo!) It's for when someone has an allergy. I have no idea why I was excited to do that, but I guess since it was the first time and I actually remembered what to do. ;)

Oh, random thing!
A cast member who I worked with last night (actually a few of them) invited me to Miami this friday!? The transport is $20 and since I have the day off I thought, sure why not? I mean the idea is to experience as much as possible. I like travel, and I would have nice people to go with.
My other friends work that day so I'd be lonered anyway. Though...I don't think I'll be getting much sleep thursday night because I finish work at 11pm (I guess on good point is that it's not 12 like the pizza one) and then have to get this other bus at 4am (it's a 3hour drive and we want the most amount of time as we can to explore the place).
Then again, who needs sleep when they are on the ICP? I mean really? Why would you even want to sleep, right?

In not so fun news, apparantly people were talking abou me behind the scenes, about how I was "fully trained" and probably shouldn't be so lost.

Well I'm so sorry if I got a whirlwind tour in day one and cannot remember the thousand things I was told.
I was annoyed by that.
I know we aren't supposed to show our thoughts in front of guests but it was hard knowing that people where being kind of harsh towards me. It actually made me forget even more things to be honest. I just felt they were treating me as if I was stupid.
I am a human, I cannot remember everything. I know I ask lots of questions but its because I'd prefer I get things right. I can't believe they expect me to remember everything!
Once I get the hang of things though, I am one of the most effiecient and smiley people around!
I'll show them.


Then, attached to that, I was left to close front all by myself. I tried my best but I didn't really know what I was doing and had to ask this poor girl who tried to help me as much as she could. I felt bad though because she was trying to clean up what she needed to and must have gotten annoyed at me.
Then when it came to the spoilage sheet I looked at it and seriously wanted to cry. Ounces and pounds? Are you kidding me? I have no idea what a pound or an ounce even looks like!

There was no-one around so I was getting really frustrated, especially when I had told the manager (who was nice) at the meeting that I couldn't understand these measurements. I hated being stranded by myself trying to close by a certain time (pretty much the longer I took, the longer it was till I got to go home).

Eventually I got the girl I mentioned earlier to try and help me. She said that the ladle thing was 3 ounces, so to just count everything like that. That did help, but there were things in pounds that I couldn't do that for, so I was once again stuck.

I pretty much just had to ask all cast members and chefs who walked by for help. It was sort of humiliating because they expected me to do it all and know it all, but I couldn't.
In the end I did the best that I could. I didn't know what I was meant to clean, and they only told me about 1 or 2 things they would inspect me on. :(
I handed my spoilage sheet in (which had food all over it...lol) and then went to the center bar so that they could inspect what I had done.
The guy was mostly happy but I had missed a few spattered spots that I had somehow overlooked and then I hadn't cleaned the pizza oven, which I didn't realise I had to do because it was hot...

In any case I got out by about 12.10. So I think I did OK considering I was so stranded and in need of help.
I have no idea if I did the spoilage sheet right, but it would be nice if I have...?

I have a sore throat. Michael. I blame Michael. Yooooooou gave me your sore throat. Curse you I say! It better go away..


I think the Disney gods want to challenge me as much as they can.
Just keep poking me with a stick, ok? But don't poke too much because then I might fall off the wooden plank, and that probably wouldn't make you as happy as Captain Hook would be if I were Peter Pan.
Did anyone understand what I just said?

Anyway, related to that...

Today I am trained at another shop called the Broiler. That means lots more info....which is ok I guess, except I just got a txt and greeeat (smile and suck it up, yes?), more fun news.
One of the girls organising the Miami thing said "Ewwwwww" in regards to my shift time today. Apparantly I have to open and close. Joyous, another massive amount of information hurled at me! Most likely I'll be expected to know all of this tomorrow as well, because I will no longer be 'new.' Fun.


This morning I woke up and I had all these lovely messages from you guys and my NZ friends (it makes my day, please don't stop :) ).
Too bad it was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I found a letter addressed to me on the table.
It practically said that:
-> I have no choice but to move out of my apartment on Aug 2-4 (since the apartment will be empty as my flatmates are moving out).

I was like, noooooo.
a.) it's really annoying that I have to move so soon after getting here and settling in
b.) I'm going to be the new outsider all over again (and probably end up with the old crappy furniture, right after I got all the stuff here fixed!)
c.) I hate that I have no choice
d.) Couldn't they have thought about this before? Like I come from so far away and yet they decide to move me into an apartment with occupants that they -know- are leaving a few weeks later. Not cool.
e.) I have to move all my STUFF. Even my food. Help, someone?? Anyone? :(


I feel as if I just get used to things and then I'm grabbed and tossed somewhere else. It's very frustrating, is all I can say. ...and it better not be like this for too much longer because my patience does have a limit. I will complain to someone. I will write a letter. I will do something. I want for my time here to be more enjoyable and less stressful!

Ok.
...and on that note.

I am going to go for a swim and wash my hair before have to get ready for work.
Oh, and I might squeeze in time to eat? I actually find I don't eat too much here. Either because I forget to eat or I'm eally not hungry. The food I do eat, mostly I am forcing myself to.
Where has my craving for food gone? :S

xx

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

First Day of work

:/

I felt all nervous and uncomfortable for the -entire- shift. I also was mentally attacking myself because I think I accidentilly signed in too early. :/ ..and with the accident I had the other day (the bus driver was late, but I was meant to ge the bus after - so I ended up thinking I was meant to start at 8am, not 9am, and

Basically yesterday I felt very much like an outsider.
When I first came in there were nice people in the break room that I hung out with, but then as they left I was like...okay. People kept staring at me and didn't tlak to me at all.

Then I didn't know we had to bring a lock so we could put or stuff in lockers. So I put my things in the managers office. But I do't think my lock will fit those lockers, so I'm going to have to get hold of one asap. :/

There was a lot of info hurled at me yesterday.
I remembered quite a lot, but still had to ask a lot of questions.

The meal plans are something I didn't understand much in training (there are all these options you could choose and I could never remember what plan had what) but practically every 2nd customer was asking about them! I was freaking out!

I can't say I like kitchen stuff. I prefer customer interaction (even if they can't understand me) because you get to smile and talk to the guests.

I only ever get one break regardless of the length of my shift (which is always 8.5 hours at the moment). That upsets me

I can't have a watch.

I have to do my hair up in more than just a ponytail.

The cap limits my vision.

Everything is in pounds and ounces! I'm so very lost!!! We have to write down spoliage but I have NO clue how much of everything I am recording!

I can't say everyone plays by the same rules...

I have to go alll the way to the break room (it's a maze going around the kitchen) to get a drink or go to the bathroom. I'm not allowed a water bottle. :'(

One of the cast members got cranky at me because there were these 2 guys who looked similar and ordered similar things and she was doing one guys order and I was doing another, and I think she repeated the order I was doing. :/ Oops..

We had to wait for the manager to inspect our cleaning and tell us we could go home. Except we were waiting about 20mins and she never came.

The bus was 30mins late. So I got back at 1.20am.
After working that long and freaking out for so long, I was upset that I had to wait an HOUR after my shift finished until I could get back, and 1.5hours until I got to my apartment.

There of course were some good things. I liked the guests. They were pretty nice on the whole.
One guest even said "Kimmie" to get my attention because I was focussing on another guest. That gave me a fright.

I have the same shift today, except I don't get help this time. Talk about nerve wracking.
I mean I picked up a lot yesterday, but there's a lot to remember.
..and then they move me to a diff shop after this shift, so I'm going to have to remember a whole new bunch of info. Gaaaaah. There are about 4 shops I am being put in too...

Anyway.
Enough with the negative.
It's pretty interesting being so independent. Scary at times. Lonely at times. ..but on the whole I'm enjoying the experience. I am glad I've got some nice people to hang out when I hav time (trying to find time to hang out with the diff schedules is going to be interesting...).

If you are a close friend and I haven't yet sent you something in the mail, feel free to send me your address and I might be able to send you something in my time off. Please reply too. I'm sure you all know how much a bad day can be made better with mail. :)


Random positive thing to look forward to:
If I'm still here, and sane, Hayley and I are going to try book Cinderella's Royal Table for April next year (you have to book 6months in advance because it's really popular). That would be a fun thing to do.

Right now I'm just like, agh! I can't wait until I get to change to Merch in 6months time!!! That, and, am I even going to survive this programme?! :S

I love and miss you guys!


xx
Uhm, where have the wonderful comments gone, everyone? ;)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Magic Kingdom and Nightastic!

Today I have my first day of work in my costume! Isn't that exciting/scary?! I start at 3.30pm though (finish at midnight...), so I got to sleep in after last night's activities, and I have a DVD to finish. ;)


Yesterday, I met Hayley at the Magic Kingdom bus at something like 4.30pm. The park was open until 11 so that gave us plenty of time to do all the main rides and explore a little.

It was still really hot by the time we got there (we had to get the monorail through the Contemporary to get to Magic Kingdom) so air con Merch shops were our friends. :P

I felt like an undercover guests when I was wandering around. I was also going around noticing all the things that our Traditions people would have been appauled by! Cast members not doing the Disney point, cast members talking negatively, not being approachable, not trying to get answers to questions ("let me find out") and instead just saying they don't know.
There were only one or two cast members that we mentally 'passed.' Isn't that shocking? :/
Some of those aren't even hard. The Disney point is pretty basic, for instance....
Thumbs up and pixie dust to the custodial guy who was drawing pictures on the pavement with his mop though! I was very impressed. He should get a raise. haha ;)


Now, I know the last time I went to Disney, was about 5years ago, but I felt -massive- in these rides! My legs felt quite cramped and I felt like I wasn't meant to ride. Have I grown or have I just forgotten the space allowance in some rides?

One thing I found really fascinating was the plans for some new rides!! One is based on the Little Mermaid and the other on Beauty and the Beast!!
I love both those movies. :D Unfortunately, they won't be avaliable for a few years yet, but here's some info if you are interested.

Here's a presentation about the expansions that he mentions will be up in 2012. Looks awesome!!!! I have to come back for it, that's for sure!

The Little Mermaid ride
..it might be something like this.

Here's the Beauty and the Beast Ride

Aren't they pretty looking?!

Anyway, back to yesterday.
Nightastic was pretty much the reason for coming, since it finishes sometime in mid-late August. The programme said it started at 9, but it was lying and it actually started at 10!!! The Electric Night Parade was on at that time instead, but I'm really sick of that parade and wanted to avoid it. The music is hypnotising....

So we went on Splash Mountain because Nightastic didn't appear to exist. ..and then straight after we got off the ride, it started! Talk about good timing. It was really amazing. I want to go back and see it agian before it stops.

We got really lucky with Space Mountain and it was an awesome attraction to finish with. We had gotten fast passes for 5 hours later (the wait was 60mins at the time we returned and 70 after we got off the ride!) and that cut A LOT of the queue. Then, because we were a party of 2 we got to cut even more of the line! So we were only in a queue for about 10mins! It was awesome. :D
The Space Mountain here is quite a lot different to the once in Disneyland. It feels slower, but there's been a lot more effort put into the decorations and themeing. It also felt longer here, and the queue line decorating is far superior in my opinion.

After Nightastic and Space Mountain we had to get through the massive sea of people. We went shopping on Main Street for a little while because it was so pretty and I didn't have work till this afternoon.
I managed to get a hold of the CD 'Wishes', which has the music from the show (which will take back over from Nightastic). I was excited for that because it's such a pretty show and thelast time we were in Disneyland we wanted a copy but the CD didn't exist then!
I bought a few other things, yeah, got to love cast discount haha.
The Emporium is pretty cool. It has a lot of merchandise. I wouldn't mind working there actually...

We then had another stroke of luck because we manged to grab the bus just in time before it left! Woo! I think it was that pixie dust from the other day...


Righteo, I'm going to finish my DVD and then get ready for work.

Talk to ya'll later!
xx

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Last e-Learning session

...and oh my goodness am I glad they are over!

They require that you are seated staring at a screen for hours on end. Seriously, we started at 9a and were sitting there until 1pm! Actually longer for me because the last quiz was eeeeevil. It required that you get 100% on the test. The test was a simulation of a guests order, and if you didn't click the button exactly right, or you made one wrong click (this order was massive and involved using a coupon and a credit card, and special order needs like adding extra toppings) then you had to start alllll over again. I think I had to do it about 5 times. I was very frustrated by it.

It's quite a compliated system though. I think it'll take me a while to get used to it.

Right now I am relaxing and then this afternoon Hayley and I are going to go to the Magic Kingdom. :)

Right.
Going to watch a free DVD now. ;)

By the way - Animal Kingdom pics have been uploaded. The link is here
There's quite a few...

xx

Premium Outlet and Food Basics

Ok its nearly midnight once again (I swear it's impossible to go to bed early here) so quick update:

- had Food and Beverage Basics course at Disney Uni today
- came back to vista
- got onthe wrong bus to try and get to commons. It went to Epcot instead. So I had a much longer ride than I anticipated
- walked from Chatham (the GPS said I should get off there) in the hot sun (it was hard work to Premium Outlets.
- I got somewhat lost regardles sof the GPS. It showed me the route, except I couldn't go the way it wanted me to because there was a giant fence
- Luckily, I managed to talk to the parking dude in the golf cart who let me out of the Hilton Lodge exclusive area....
- Premium Outlets is pretty cool. It's almost like a quiant little village.
- I went aroudn a few shops, it was lovel and cool inthe air con buildings!
- It was a mission to find my work shoes.
- I eventually got some black -slip resistant- sketchers.
- I then got some special thin socks that breathe well, from Hush Puppies. They only had one pair in what I wanted though, so I gave them my number and they will let me know when they have more in. In the meantime I hope a dark blue (could be mistaken for black from a distance) with suffice
- Then decided to go to Publix because
a.) I'd heard it was good
b.) I was meaning to go to Walmart anyway, but it was ages away
c.) I was curious to see what it was like. Actually I was just going to have a quick look and then go to Walmart but I liked Publix too much. It had all this wonderful healthy food for one thing!!

- Then I had the problem of getting back to Vista. The buses had finished going past there a few hours before (laaaaame). I got a taxi.
- Too bad there was then a major traffic jam.
- I didn't want to pay lots for just sitting so I asked if the driver could go to the Commons instead, hoping I could get a bus from there
- That worked ok except I was freaking out because not much actually goes past the Commons, and I had all these groceries, so it's not like I could walk (or wanted to by this point)
- Luckily the C bus (the one that went to Epcot earlier) saved the day and it's my new favourite bus :P haha
- I got back here, tidied the palce a bit
- Did some laundry.
- Had to get some bread and meat. So walked to Walgreens which is about a 5min walk.
- ended up getting those things + a 12kg thing of water.

So. I am tired. I think I have done a months worth of exercise today. I felt gross.
Luckily I now feel lovely because I also managed to have a wonderful shower. :P

- Lastly, I finished the DVD that I couldn't quite finish last night

...and noooow I'm going to bed!!!

but before I go, here's tomorrow:

- I have an e-learning class at 9am
- am hoping to go to Magic Kingdom after that tomorrow with Hayley. :) Nightastic is on until late August and that's apparantly a 'must see'


Anyway

Night ya'll
xx

Friday, July 23, 2010

SafeD

Hey ya'll :)

Today was long and a little frustrating.

I had to get up early (about 6.40am) to get a bus to my training session today called "POP into the Islands". I almost missed it becuase I thought it was a later time than it was. But I got there...so all good.

It was called that because POP Century Resort is right next to Carribbean Beach Resort, so they share some facilities. They have a pretty nice lunch room there (theone where I work is not as nice - in fact it kind of freaked me out a little. I'm not sure why, but I got shivers down my spine.
I also got a headache. Which was annoying becaue I had drunken a lot and I wasn't hot or exhausted, which what normally cuses them. So I am at a loss. Possibly it was because I had to try and concentrate for so long...?

Anyway so the day involved a lot of introductory stuff, safety stuff and activities. It wasn't too bad. I realy enjoyed getting to tour the Carribbean Beach Resort though. That place is really pretty. They have all these measures in place to make all guests feel comfortable and well cared for!
They have lots of anials too - like alligators and turtles and flamingo type birds (not really sure what they were, but they looked like minature flamingos)!

However when it came to the costuming, that's where it got worse. They actually couldn't find anything that fit me properly! All the other girls were fine and got sizes 12/14 US. In Walmart and other places I've found clothing fine and I'm a US12. With Disney everything was reeeeeeally tiny. I am not sure if it isbecause of my abnormally long legs and big hip bones, but nothing worked - and it didn't help that notall the pants were the same, they have different style variations which further changed the size. I couldn't even do the pants up!
In the end (after trying on numerous pant sizes!!!) I had to get a size US20!!!!!!! I was pretty much about to cry, because in no way am I that size and it made me feel awful. The pants feel like clown pants to me. They are boofy, but only just fit my waist. Isn't that bizarre?! I mean I'm not that strange looking, am I?!
I was told Disney sizing is weird, but it really doesn't cater for Kimmies!!
So after I finally had that sorted, I found out there was only ONE other pair of pants that size and style (and that place is MASSIVE). So I only have 2 sets of my costume. Eeryone else has 5! So I eitherhave to go back often, or use them more than once.

Well going there often is definately not what I want to do because the busses do NOT frequently pass by there.

In fact that leads onto the next grumble. After I forgot my paperwork (I was stressed out and frazzled [is that even a word?] so I forgot and the lady came running after me...) I also almst stood waiting for the bus when I hadn't even finished the day's activities! I was like... argh! I have to go and get my schedules and get the HUB log on info!!!!

So I rushed back and did that. When I'd done everything I had to wait for the bus. he next bus wasn't for 30mins. ...and it was POURING with rain (still warm though). So yay. I had to wait practically in the middle of nowhere when I was alone feeling and irritable. I just wanted to get back to the apartment.
Too bd for me, because then the bus was 15mins late...and then there was MAJOR traffic. So I ended up getting back to the apartment 2 hours later than I had expected to. :/

I get back only to find that the bathroom has somehow locked itself.
Yaaaaaaay.
I then had to go and get some help with it. They gave me this weird looking device and luckily I managed to fix that.

Anyway. So now I'm a little tired and am going to watch a DVD.

My schedule says that I don't have a day off until next friday! That, and all my shifts end at either 11pm or midnight. Who eats quick service food/bev that late, anyway?!

Right.
I'm off.

I'm uploading the newest pics at the moment. They should be done soon.
Meawhile.
Here are some feature pics from today.
Laugh and point at my costume. Go on, you know you want to.




Here's my 'certificate' from today too...



A random cool thing though. We can get out DVDs for freeeeee. :D

xx

Please note I am well aware that because I type fast and when I am tired, I often make mistakes/typos. If you can't understand a mistake let me know. If you can, I'm not too worried...

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Disney's Animal Kingdom!

Today I had a day off. :)

I woke up at 8am. Which was unfortunate because I forgot about a skype call appointment. :(
Hopefully I can make that up soon enough. Sometimes the extreme time change sucks though!

After getting myself sorted and making a packed lunch, I decided to check out the bus I'll have to go on tomorrow.
So I caught the "G" bus, and luckily there weren't many people on it. I asked the bus driver if he could please let me know when my stop was, because it looked complicated on my schedule.
Eventually (about 35mins later) I was at the Carribbean Beach Resort stop.
I got off and was like. What the? I don't see a resort. I just see 2 shed things. :/ However, I found the 'B' shed I was meant to go to tomorrow, and then I rushed back on the bus because I didn't want to wait another 40mins for aother bus in what looked like the middle of no-where!

So I got back and decided to go grab a few things from Walgreens to fill in some time. My formal black shoes have been giving me blisters, so I got some special blister stop stuff, which I'm hoping will help. Especially since I have to wear them for the next 2 days, with a descent amount of walking tomorrow!

After that I waited for the bus to Animal Kingdom (aka DAK).

It took about 45mins to get there (ergh would suck to work so far away).
Then I had to figure out where to go.
Luckily I managed to ask someone and found out it wasn't far at all!

The Animal Kingdom is reeeeeally nice.
It's full of greenery, like a tropical jungle. It has all the character of the different continents/areas it contains and is just a nice place to explore. :)

I did the Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur amongst other things.

The Safari was pretty fun. I have lots of pics :). You could tell it was majorly scripted though. haha. However, it would be fun to be a driver since the animals are not static, so things would have to be maliable.

Everest was slightly dissapointing. I was expecting to be scared, but I wasn't. :( That, and it's not as fast as I was expecting either. :/
It was still a nice smooth ride though. I also was impressed with the decorations throughout the waiting line. You wouldn't get too bored waiting in the line because there was a lot of look at!

Dinosaur reminder me of the Indiana Jones ride. When it gets all pitch black I thought it was the best because it could be scary since you loose orientation and your senses...

I managed to catch a parade while I was there, and even a dance party (in the street, cool, yes?). The cast members were even dancing. Very cool. :P

I just really enjoyed the atmosphere. Although it was hot and I stayed in shade a lot of the time, it was so nice and peaceful.

You know what I found out today that's dissapointing though? There's no Matterhorn at Disney World like there is at Disneyland! :( That ride is so much fun!

Anyway, I shall put the pictures up soon for ya'll to peruse....
Edit: I somehow managed to take (after deleting ones that were blurry etc) 169 photos.... So uh I'm going to upload those tomorrow because it's nearly midnight and I have to get up at about 6am tomorrow!

xx

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I love Traditions!

Today was pretty much AWESOME.
..and there's more awesomeness to come hehe.

But I'm going to start with last night.

After all the formalities of the day we were free to do aswe pleased. So I had a little rest and then went to the pool! The pool is lovely! The water is just warm enough to not freeze you, and I ended up having the pool to myself after about 5mins. :)

Andrew came and joined me there and he explained all the different ideas for a group dinner. In the end there were 2 groups of us that split off. Andrew's group went to a seafood place, and I went with the dinner + mini golf people.

The deal was dinner + mini golf for $9.99. That seemed to be a good deal, and it was! :) We enjoyed the buffet, and I'm pretty sure there was at least one item that was new to everyone! Apple crumble pizza, anyone? :S

Then there was mini golf. The poor guy who was taking the money. We really should have paid separately but it got super complicated and confusing since he made it a total (and with about 11 of us not all paying exact....).

I found it crazy how even the mini golf sold Disney memorabilia! Oh, and you could buy legitimate american notes that had faces on them like Justin Beiber and Jacob from the Twilight series! It was $5 tothe note worth $1, but it was interesting anyway....
There are actually so many variations on the currency here. I have no idea how I'm supposed to know if something is fradulent... :/

Anyway, so I started of pretty averagely in mini golf. Then I got kind of bad. ...but I eventually started getting better, and I got 2nd in the end, woo! People didn't even consider me a threat. ;) hehe I snuck up on them .
Unfortunately thugh, this means they might be more careful next time... my cover is blown! haha

-

Onto today.
Today, I had Traditions. It's basically this training/fun class that EVERY cast member in the whole wide WORLD has to do. It meant I had to get up at 6am and get a bus to Disney University. So that wasn't fun.
But it was worth it.
I enjoyed it a lot. :)

The beginning was just a lot of rules and standards, but it got more entertaining (it ended at 12.30ish so one would hope it'd be somewhat entertianing and not make us fall asleep, right?).

Basically today you could go in with a positive or a negative attitude.

Negative = this is long and I had to get up early. The jokes are bad. It's cheesy. This is the same for everyone, and I don't feel special at all. I'm bored/tired...etc.

Positive = you know what? I don't care if I'm just one of many who has to take this. This class is an important part of what the Disney company is about. Today should be a fun day, one to be remembered. Not something to be all blah about. Laugh at the bad jokes, even if they really aren't funny. Answer the questions and get a little critter thing. Participate. Listen. Take it all on board. Learn things. Have fun! Without this class you would feel less prepared.It is like the major "welcome" that we get. Would you prefer to have started work already?

Needless to say I favour the positive one. Hence I had fun. :P There was also no form to fill out, so that has to be good, right? ;)
Yay for positive Disney spirit! Ya'll without it should join me!
You know you want to.... ;)

I want to emmit the Disney way. I want to "create happiness" for guests. Truely. I mean I'm working for one of the largest (if not the largest?) companies in the world! They are amazing. They make little kids smile and their wildest dreams come true. Not too many people on the planet haven't heard of them.
Sure, they are a buisness, but as they kept repeating, that is not their number one priority. Doing what is right, is. Doing what makes people happy, is. I think Walt (and his brother Roy, who helped him with the economic side) had a wonderful vision. People want to feel young at heart. They want to experience 'magic' and feel safe and happy...

Right. erm. Went off track a little. I guess I'm somewhat inspired. :) I just want to smile and say "welcome!" and tell a little girl that she is a princess and looks beautiful. You know? Making a guest's day is going to make my day, and I'm looking forward to that. :)

During Traditions they had these 'critters' that they gave out to people who answered questions. I got 2... but that's only because I answered a lot of questions and after 2 they wanted to spread them around a little more. ;) I was keen, what can say? haha
Oh and I was the first one to answer a question too. The lady found out where I was working and was excitable (not only for our accent, which she repeatedly got excited about) because she works there too! At the end she said she's going to keep a lookout for me. Awesome. :P No one else got such person treatment. hehe. Maybe also it's because in the breaks I was asking questions to -her- as well. For example, I asked how they chose the 11 places at Epcot. She had no answer for that one unfortunately. :/

When we got to the middle of Traditions we then got to go on a bus to the Magic Kingdom and explore a little whilst looking out for good customer service and safety there. We got to go through the underground cast only tunnels (they are meant to be 'secret, but they aren't really since I'm sure a lot of you knew about them already, for instance. I certainly knew about them before I came). It was pretty cool. Not what I expected, but we couldn't take pictures there since its a Disney secret (I notice somehow photos have leaked onto the internet - whoever did so could find themselves in a major lawsuit....).

It was hot in the sun in formal dress. We must have looked like security guards in training or something because we were all given these neat radio things with ear pieces that worked even when the person wispers! :)

We then went back to Disney Uni and after some more presentations there was a knock on the door. Guess who it was?
Why, Mickey Mouse of course!
He is a pretty busy mouse so it was nice of him to come say hello (there is only one, didn't you know? ..and he *magically* zips around.. ;) ). He bought a present with him too! It was our name badges, which he enforced could only be given to us at the 'right' time. (ie. the very end.)

We did some group exercises after his visit, and then at the end it was time for our badges! Woo!
Mine is awesome. I love it. :D On the bac I want to write "we create happiness", so that everyday when I go to put it on, I can be reminded of the goal and purpose of me being there. What do ya'll think?

On the way back from Traditions I made plans to meet up with a girl called Hayley (I'm learning names, go me!) to go to Downtown Disney. She's very nice and we have similar ideas on a lot of things. She also burns fast like me. Woo, not the only one!

Downtown Disney is nothing like the version in Cali. This one is bigger and far more interesting.
I didn't know there was a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutque
in the World of Disney store!!! I knew there was one in the Magic Kingdom Castle, but I didn't know about this one! That place is so cute. The little girls get pampered and are turned into mini princesses. They are all proud of themselves and want you to compliment them. :)
The lady outside the store was like "would you like some pixie dust?"

"Sure!" we replied. :P
So I am still covered in pikie dust. Suits me fine. I am a sparkle girl, after all. ;)

I think I need to go back to Downtown Disney at night. The place looks geared up for it. There are lights all over the place.
I loved the design a t-shirt store (yay I could actually have an ariel t-shirt in my size, which didn't exist in Disneyland (they were all for like 5year olds..))

Cirque de Soleil looks interesting, and with staff discount it's about $40.
Disney Quest (indoor interactive themepark) is about $21 with cast discount. :) So eventually I'll make use of that!

The water parks looks awesome! Must go at some point - especailly when it is free!!!

There's so much to do!
Tomorrow (thurs) I have a day OFF! So I'm going to explore the Animal Kingdom! :D Looking forward to that. I want to ride Everest and go on a safari ride the most.

After our trip from Downtown Disney we went to Walgreens (like a pharmacy/small supermarket). I bought this 24pack of water because it was on special and the Florida water doesn't taste the most appetising. It was a good idea at first...until I realised how heavy it was and that I had to lug it back to my apartment.
Yeah. Workout right there....

Now I am relaxing and writing this (yay!).

The next 2 days (friday and sat) are training for my job! I need to try and figure out the buses....


Random thing.
My Puerto Rican flatmate is definately interesting to be around. She's louder and more expressive than even I am when I'm on the phone! She gets super excitable and is jumping around practically screaming on the phone (in a happy way).
She laughs a lot. A LOT. It's so loud and it makes us laugh too because we have no idea why she is laughing!

Anyway. I'm enjoying the experience of living with different people. Everyone is really nice. Sure, the cleanliness bugs me a little, but I understand they work long hours and probably can't be bothered/have no energy to clean everything all the time!

Right. I'm going to go retrieve my washing.
Here's a random thing to leave you with...

Remember ya'll - it all started with a mouse. ...and maybe also a man. ;)


Hugs and remember to SMILE! :D

xx
PS
here is the link to the newest pictures :)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Orientation Day 2

Today was the day we found out where we worked! I was a little freaked out...it was the "Disney Gods have spoken" moment! It was the time where I found out good or bad news that would haunt me for the next 6 months!

In chronological order, however...

Last night I got to meet the flatmates in Michael's apartment. They were pretty nice (again, girl hanging out with guys..?) and this one guy in particular, Mario, he was really nice. We had quite similar opinions and interests too, and it was fun talking about his wedding plans and new fiance. :)

Afterwards we were invited to go to dinner/drinks (non-alc.). So I decided, sure! I mean might as well take every opportunity to meet and hang out with new people, right?
I quite enjoyed myself too, which was a bonus. :)

Walking back to my apartment was weird though. It was about 11pm, but sooooo quiet (a lot of people were at the Cool Beans thing though)! There were frogs and lizards and squirrels everywhere!


Onto today though!

This morning was another 8.35am start. We got the bus to the Commons again.
There was A LOT of paperwork! They skipped through it so fast, that no-one got a chance to read. They did give an overview of what each piece of paper said, and we did get a copy of everything (which I will read tonight) but I was a little nervous about signing all over the place before getting a chance to look at it all.
One thing is that I'm not allowed to share Disney secrets, I know that one. So sorry guys. ;) Also anything I say is basically Disney property and can be patented. I guess I wont be saying too much then. haha. Unless it helps improve something at Disney...

So after all the paperwork we had several people give us presentations. They were serious but at the same time added some Disney flavour which was good.
It was hard to concentrate the whole time though since it was just so much information. Especially in regards to the bank stuff. A checklist of things to do would be good. I feel like I have all this stuff to remember and I won't remember it all!

They told us about security, discounts, travel (I need a 'purple form' if I want to go on a cruise or out of the USA during my programme), work related rules etc..

Then we were free for a few hours, so I watched Enchanted with Michael. I love that movie. :P Especially the So Close song!

After that it was the big moment!
We lined up and had to go to all these different stations. Each looked at/signed etc a bunch of my documents.
The 2nd station was where we found out which place we'd be working.
I got......

Disney's Carribean Beach Resort! See number 18 here for some perspective. :)




I was quite suprised becauseI hadn't considered that I might get put in a resort. In any case I think it's quite exciting sounding! Of course I will still be doing Quick Service Food and Beverage, but I hear ths resort is super laid back (which = relaxed guests, hopefully...?)
I will be working on Market Street.
From what I've seen of those costumes, I will most likely have to wear a shirt with some picture/floral pattern. In any case, when I have my costume I'll tae a picture to show ya'll. :)

The cool thing about Market street is that it's inside (air conditioning, woo!) but made to look like it's outside (like The Venetian in Las Vegas), see here for what I mean




Here are some pictures of the Carribean Resort too:

Click me
Click me too!

It's a "moderately" priced resort. To give you an idea of what Disney considers "moderate" pricing, how about US$104-200+ a night? :P

All in all though, I'm pretty excited to be working where I am. I mean it'll not be as glamourous as the resort looks to work there, but hey, I'm going to try and make the most out of it! :D


Tomorrow is Traditions!! Exciting stuff. That's where we get our disney park passes. :D Too bad I have to get the bus at 6.55am! :/

I'm going to go to the pool later... :)

xx

Monday, July 19, 2010

Orientation Day 1

Aloha,

Firstly, if anyone wants my postal address whilst I'm on the programme (no spam etc please), let me know (comment below, e-mail, FB etc...) and I'll send you the address. :]

Right now I have the apartment to myself and its lovely and cool. I have music going and its quite relaxing.


Anyway, here's what happened today....

At 8.35am we had to meet at the Vista meeting place and get on a bus to the Commons.
After we arrived there we had to fill in some paperwork. Then we were subject to several long presentations.

Can I just say that if I have to be as enthusiastic and cheesy as the people on the videos or the door guy, yeah, this is going to be a looooong year! It was even to the point of scary.

We got some time for lunch and then had to go to the pavillion to get checked by TSA people (at least I think that's what they were?), fill out more paperwork and eventully get our picture taken for our Vista Way (our apartment complex) ID. We have to show it to the security people whenever we want to come back into the complex. I didn't realise that you had to have 'disney look' for that (the schedule for today said casual dress), so I had to take my earrings out. :/

Every second official Disney person asked us all where we were from. It probably would have been good if they had had some kind of briefing on the fact that we were all on the same programme, all from aussie and NZ and don't have cars...


After that I dropped all the paperwork off at the apartment and then met Michael outside my apartment building. He wanted to go to Wendy's for lunch so I tagged along to keep him company.

Then we went to the housing people. Michael wanted to upgrade his internet speed, and I wanted to complain about some of the things in the apatment. I told them about my 2 drawers that are broken (one is't even useable), a clogged sink and some stove elemets I thought were dodgy and would liked to be checked for safety reasons.

Then I was like this place is messy and I can't deal with it.
So I cleaned the sink, dishes and stove tops.
I used the dustbuster thing and vacuumed the floor as much as I could.
Then I did our bathroom (the other flatmates door was closed so I didn't go in there).

After that I attacked the pile of stuff in the corner.
It's like this huge pile of leftover things from previous tennants.
I started going through stuff and couldn't believe what I found.
It was GROSS.
These bags have obviously been here a while (how did they pass apartment inspections?) and there was rubbish and food and eeeeeew. It smelt terrible and I promptly got rid of all that disgusting stuff. Everything else I put in bags, because I wasn't sure what I could get rid of. Hopefully all of it, because I hate all this junk just sitting there. I'll wait till they are back from work to ask them.

I'm trying to be as tolerant as I can about living with others, but when they aren't as tidy as I would like, I get kind of irritable.
It really doesn't take much, for instance, to wipe down the stove top after you've finished rather than leave rice everywhere, you know?

There's just so much STUFF around here. I really wanted to get rid of a lot, but it's not mine so I couldn't. When they move out I'm doing a major clean. Less clutter = happier kimmie.

I hope the flatmates don't mind that I arranged some things to make it tidier.
It would be nice if it stayed that way too... But who am I kidding?


On a more positive note, I'd have to say that although I was hesitant about telling housing about the problems of this place, I'm glad I did. They were all nice and the plumber guy has already come to fix the sink. Yay. :)

Tonight there's something on called Cool Bean Cafe. It's practically a place to hang out, have kareoke and free coffee. I don't like coffee, but it sounds like it could be fun, so I might check it out.
Also want to go for a swim at some point.

Anyway, I'm going to go have a shower and then watch a DVD.

Laters :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Day off (enjoy it while it lasts?)

Hey everyone.
Quick update.
SO tired!!!!

That bed is eeeeevil. It's so squeaky and yucky. Can't wait to change mattresses. That, and the room is so LIGHT. I love dark. I'm a bat. I have to have darkness. I tried eye masks and also sleeping tablets, yet to no avail. It was like my eyes were plastered open. Possibly I got 1 or 2 hours sleep?

Today I was quite productive though.
After washing my hair with my new shampoo and conditioner, and then drying it with my new hair dryer and using all other fun new things, I went to the info centre to borrow an ironing board.

After about 1.5hours of ironing (parents, are you proud?) and totally unpacking my suitcases, I went to the bus stop. I was trying to get the Walmart bus to pick up some things I forgot yesterday. Except after waiting about 30mins I find out that it doesn't start going until 1pm on sundays. Nice...

Instead I went to hang out with the boys (the number has increased by the way).

Why do I hang out with all these guys and not girls you ask? Well it's simply because I haven't had a chance to make good girl friends yet. The guys are pretty nice anyway, so I'm content for the moment. :)

After that I went to get the Walmart bus. When we finally arrived at Walmart (bus was 15mins late) I spent about 3 hours there. Yeah. Crazy, I know. I was by myself this time which meant I looked at everything really carefully. It's so hard to find stuff in that place. Obviously you get better as you go more often and familiarise yourself with everything, but the place is so massive I got kind of irritable trying to find things.

Anyway, so ended up with about 12 bags of stuff (most is food for later, will last me quite a while), which cost $110. I was suprised, I thought it'd be worse. Especially since I was trying to buy all the healthy things.

Since it was hot and going on the bus back is painful (takes ages + trying to figure out whose bags were whose would have been a nightmare), I got a taxi. I would have preferred to have shared one, but I guess the $15 (inc tip) was worth it.
I shouldn't need to buy so much from now on since I got the big things, so prolly won't be necessary later.

The taxi scared me. A lot. It was all beaten up looking and the driver seemed distant. That, and he was a little rude. Also. He drove reeeealy slowly. I swear he was trying to take his time to make me pay more.

When I was dropped off I had to carry everything to my apartment (about a 2min walk...and then up to the top floor). The boys were busy so I had no choice but to take it all myself. It was a challenge, but I actually managed. So dead right now, but at least no one could have stolen my groceries. ;)

I have unpacked everything, and I'm now relaxing a little. My external hard drive is backing up my files. It's so cute! (mini sized)

It was just raining before but it now appears to be sunny again. Florida weather is like being in a shower. Hot, sticky, watery.
Somehow I am coping?

Right now however, I have a huge headache. I think I'm going to take something, have a rest and then make some dinner. From some of the stuff I bought. The problem is - what do I want to eat?!

Oh and I have a correction to make - one of my flatmates is actually from Puerto Rico. She speaks Spanish :D

You should see my cupboards. Lots of nice healthy stuff. Ya'll should be proud. :)

Here is the link to my apartment tour ...

Also here are the newest photos




Later!

xx

I'm heeeeeere.

Okay.
So here's today.

Woke up lateish. Had brekkie.
Went to Walgreens to get some last minut stuff like frizz stopping hair gel stuff (woo free anti-frizz hairspray attached).

Got to the welcome pavillion. I waited patiently tll 12 - athough also waiting for the boys (Michael and 'Gray') to arrive via taxi - only to find out that could have gone in pior.

Anyway so then I had to show ID and a form. They then handed me my room key (room 3109 - top floor.) and welcome info. I'll read that massive booklet later....
After a while there were about 30 people in the pavillion. They then proceeded to show us this video whereby the peoples mouths and the sound were out of sync. It was slightly disturbing and hard to watch!

Then I was shown my apartment.
First impressions were like..... omg. Ths place is old and crumbling and scary. :/

I then went into the apartment. One of my 3 other flatmates was there. She was nice, but the place was a litle messy. The fridge was chocca (so much for grocery shopping and cheaper bulk buying..?

Since I was the newbie I got the worst of everything. My bed creaks and is in the hottest area

Good thing is (even though they are lovely people) they all will be moved out by August 6. So I can re-arrange things and have more room! Woo! I really want to grab a non squeaky bed for one thing.

I had some things I wanted to wash, so I went to buy the $5 laundry card. After I found the place I then had to pay for the washin and the drying. ...and the card ate more than it was meant to! (bad card!)

It took about 1.5 hurs to wash and dry that one load. After the wash though I was like wait. Why did I put these in the washing machine folded up? Blonde moment. Oh well. Next time...

Then I met the boys at one of the apartments (2 are roomies, lucky! ..but it's great that some of us have phones already, its a lot easier to co-ordinate) and when we'd sown each other our living conditions we proceeded to get the Walmart bus. We thought it was at a time it wasn't, so sat in the heat swealtering for longer than was really comfortable. However, eventually the bus turned up. It's only about a 5min drive to Walmart from Vista but the bus stopped sooo much. It took 45mins!

Walmart is largen disorienting. I have been to a few before, but I never know my way around. Needless to say it took forever to find stuff.
I was pretty impressed that I only spent $97 though. I've heard of much worse!

I managed to get pretty healthy food. I was trying to look at all the labels, excpet the boys were so fast and grabbed stuff that I couldn't look for as long as I wanted.

oh and my trip was made a litle more stressful since the free chocolate we were given that I put in my bag...yeah it melted everrrrywhere. Not so fun. Chocolate iPod, anyone?

We ended upsharing a taxi back (split it cost $3 each) because otherwise we would have to have waited 30mins with our groceries for the bus, and with the 45min return ride, we weren't so keen.

The taxi dropped us off with everything at the entrance because of security. So we had to take turns guarding bags whilst taking things to our apartments.

After unpacking in our apartments Michael arrived at my apartment to tell me there was a bunch of aussies and Nzers downstairs. I follwed him and low and behold, there were about 20 of us. It was like 9pm by this time, but the group wanted to go to this restaurant called Lone Star (not quite like the version in NZ).
Since we were such a big goup we had to wait a while before we could be accommodated, but it was nice to catch up with some of them. That and the food was pretty nice too.
I think some of them hadn't experienced american portion sizing before... They'll learn fast though, that's for sure.

I got back and got to meet my other 2 apartment buddies. They are all from Asia (I forget where) but seem to be nice. :)

Anyway, it's past midnight so I'd better grab some sleep. No doubt tomorrow I'll have lots to do.
Thank goodness we get tomorrow off!

xx

Saturday, July 17, 2010

It's time!

Hello again!

Yesterday I mentioned how if I managed toget time I'd update and add pictures, right? Well, I would upload the pictures, except the site is "temporarily unavaliable." They'll make it up eventually though. :)

I'll fill in a little whilst I have some time.

Today at 12 I check in at Vista Way to the arrival centre. There I have to present them with a mountain of paperwork (I hope I have everything...?) and they will eventually give me the key to my apartment! I'm guessing they'll place me into Vista. (instead of Chatham or Patterson, the newer buildings)

I'll probably see Michael there, who I've been in contact with this morning.

I am wearing my NZ cast member t-shirt. So upsetting how living out of a suitcase = most things get crushed (which includes this t-shirt :( ). So I think I'm going to have to do a mountain of ironing (this will take hours, I can tell......) at some point.


The pics I haven't uploaded yet are of the smithsonian, driving in D.C and the 12hour drive to Florida!

We got caught in a massive peak hour traffic jam. We were crawling for probably an hour on an interstate. It was terrible...

I didn't get to see an Armadillo in Georgia. :(
At least I got to see those fireflies in NC. They were awesome.


Just a warning that it was very hard to take good pics in the Smithsonian, since everything was behind glass or in bad light. I did get an awesome picture of the Hope diamond though! See:



Oh and guess what? I went to a "TGIF" (restaurant) on a friday! ;)

Ok well I'm going to finish packing up and then I set foot onto Disney soil.
Scary.

Catch ya'll later!

xx

I'm finally in Florida!

Hey everyone!

I haven't been able to update for the past few days because I'v been crazy busy.
It's nearly midnight and afterthe 12hour drive I'm qite tired. So quick update.

We went from NC --> SC --> Georgia --> Florida today.

I check into Disney around 12 tomorrow! Scary stuff. :/ Exciting, yes. But I'm so afraid I won't like it!

At least I have my purple bed linens and duvet (aka 'comforter') and towels etc to make me feel better. hehe.

I managed to grab a 500GB external hard drive for US$79 today. It was on special and I thought I did well to grab one since we had to venture through about 3 Walmarts until they had some in stock! I needed one bcause of all my photos and as a back-up incase some evil person steals my laptop (THAT would be a very sad day and the wrath of the red head will appear.)

I love my phone! It's so nice to be able to speak to my lovely american friends freely. Also it was good to be able to catch up with some other future cast members that I meet again tomrrow.
GPS has also saved us so much time and stress. <3

Right.
I'm tired.

I hear we gt the day after tomorrow off as a recovery day (luckily I don't really need it) soI can put all my pics up then. With all te driving there isn't much though (..uh, what? you say), so you get a break from pic viewing. ;)

Niiiight everyone
I'll update again soon.

xx

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

D.C

Today we wandered around D.C.

It was hot and sticky. So glad I didn't bring a jumper, but I wish I had worn shorts (I thought I'd have to dress respectably to go through the whitehouse but this didn't happen so I was stuck in black pants. Joyous..

I love seeing the history and culture of the place. (my political bones were excitable).

Unfortunately I only got to see the outisde of the whitehouse (from quite a distance away) because you have to have permission granted 6months in advance! So that wasn't happening!

I liked the Washington Monument and the pretty water features.

Upsetting that I couldn't sit on Lincoln's lap. :(Not only want he far larger than I was expecting, but he was also corded off.

For some reason I had this image in my head whereby I was standing in the awe from the hisory of the place. I could just suck it all up through my senses, you know?
I didn't count on the fact that there were tourists crawling all over the place.
There was rubbish all over and I couldn't even find anything suggestig Martin Luther King did his "I have a dream" speech there! :(

In the distance I saw the Capitol (their govenment buildings). That looks nifty, and I'm hoping to check it out tomorrow...

The traffic in D.C is scary. So glad I wasn't driving. It reminded me of what I see in movies about NYC. Chaos everywhere and a lot of inconsiderate drivers. Not to mention the lack of signs. (we got quite lost...)

The parking meters around the area are kind of expensive (7.5mins per 25cents), and 2 of the 3 we tried were broken...

We put our alarm on so that we could have time to get back to the car. Okay plan, except we got lost and couldn't find the car. By the time we'd found it we had a parking ticket.... yay.

We tried to find another place to park but even with the GPS the place was crazy and it was very expensive. Not only that but streets the GPS suggested were corded off! Gah!

I looooove the GPS on my phone though. It tells me where everything is! If I want to go to a movie theatre, or a park or a parking lot... Also it's helped us from getting lost, which is an added bonus!


Thank you everyone who has left comments. :) It is nice to see that I'm not talking to myself. ;)

I'm going to have a little rest and then, the movies! Woo!

EDIT:
here are today's D.C photos :)





xx

Monday, July 12, 2010

Hello everyone!

Today we leave for the big drive to D.C. It's about a 7ish hour drive without stops. So uhh....yeah. Loooooong.

HERE are the photos I uploaded from the day before. I was meant to go through and delete a lot of the scenery ones but I haven't gotten around to it. Let me know if that's a bad thing...

and

HERE are yesterday's photos. There are a lot, because I loooooove the arts and designs of native American Indians. They use a lot of animals such as the wolf and bear, which I like.




We went to a place called the Cherokee Reservation

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, and the shows didn't play on sundays, but I still enjoyed it immensely.

Oh and I obviously haven't gotten around to captioning everything. What I wrote in each entry kind of explains a lot of them though.


Here's the commentry from yesterday:

There was a runaway truck on the other side of the road. It caused a MASSIVE traffic jam.

When we got to Cherokee I had fun taking photos of things there, especially the artwork. Some are fuzzy due to the fact I was taking pics of postcards and items in strange lighting.

There was even an atm in the middle of a souvenier store!

I only bought a few small things, including an eagle necklace (I'll change the chain) because I've always wanted one. I really liked the hair pieces too, and there's a pic of me wearing one. Those things were hard to figure out how to put on, but I guess practice will help.

Then we went to the gold and ruby mine. I searched for rubies, sapph
ires and gold. :) I found quite a few! Not really sure what to do with the rocks, because I mean I can get them made into jewellry but it's not like that's cheap. ;)

Man gold was so hard. I kept thinking fools gold was gold, because they don't actually tell you what you're looking for - they just had you some tools!

The last pics are the rubies (on the right) and sapphires (left) that we found. We almost found a 3carat one, but the guy said becuase of the thinness of the rock it'd be better as 2x 2carat stones. :)

Anyway so I'm going to go pack my bags for the long drive today.

Catch ya'll later!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

NC quick update

It's late and I'm about to watch Up, so I'll just briefly outline some things.

I just encountered 2 toads and they gave me a fright!
I've discovered the awesomeness of Walmart
I have a new USA phone!! I <3 it!! It even GPS system on it! :D :D
Found this interesting candy store that sold crickets and stuff..
Today we went to Blueridge Parkway in the mountains.
I went to Hooters (pics to come...and it wasn't anything like I thought...)
I saw fireflies (soooo cool!)
I saw a vending machine for scratchies....
Met some more interesting southern folk


Lots of pics to upload. Will do so when I can

Night ya'll
xx

Friday, July 9, 2010

New Photos uploaded :)

I finally got some time to upload some more pics!

To see the very last of the photos in the Texas album go HERE
To see the NC photos go HERE

I've also added descriptions to some of the previously uploaded photos from Texas. :)

Also (wow, productive, right?) I've made it easier for you guys to get to my photos by changing the link to this one HERE. :)

Now, this computer that I'm borrowing (life will be so much easier when I just use my laptop...but since that doesn't have internet connection yet....) doesn't have the photo resizing option that I have used to upload the rest of the pictures. So can you guys please tell me if you have troubles opening the pictures at their full size? Stranglely enough they upload just as fast but if they aren't viewable, or are really slow to upload it would be great to know!


Catch ya later!

xx

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Carowinds

Hello everyone :)

Today we got to experience the awesomeness that is Carowinds. :)
Got to love themeparks.

Today the temperature was around 105F with the heat index. That is over 35C. So it was HOT. You just were saturated a lot of the day. It was kinda icky. However, I think I did pretty well since I'm not used to such heat!
I made sure I put on LOTS of sunscreen and drank lots of water (yay for free water around the parks!)

We did all the rides we wanted to, and since it wasn't a peak day we got to do our faves twice. :D (one we walked straight on both times which was awesome!)

The first ride we went on was called the Vortex. It wasn't so comfortable. You sit on this stump thing and your feet kind of dangle. Major wedgie. :/ Anywho, it wasn't a bad ride, but then the girl on our row passed out on it! She was hanging there in the padded bars. It was scary! When she got off they looked after her - it was probably dehydration mixed with the ride. Just like mixing huge meals and violent coasters one after the other. They don't mix too well.

Another ride was called the Hurler. It was a wooden coaser, and like most wooden coasters, it was painful. Apparantly not as painful as this one we didn't bother with but I have a bruise on my leg from being thrust to the edge of the carriage several times.

The Sky Needle was this big turny thing that overlooked everything. It was nice and cool and relaxing. :) A good panorama.

The Dropzone was like a mini Death Drop (in Australia). Not so impressive, but still made me freak a little. I hate not knowing when its going to go or stop. At least this one didn't have a plasitc shield in front. Ew can you imagine how many people have vomitted on that thing, right in front of your face? Erggggh.

The Cyclone I was told had a stomach wrenching drop but it was seriously dissapointing. The drop was a baby one and didn't affect me at all!

The Riccochet was the equivolent of the Wild Mouse in Aussie. The ride is jolty and violent but always makes me giggle. We did this one twce (the last time being the final ride, to end on a bubbly note :) )

The Cobra was like the Boomerang from Six Flags, Cali. Basically it goes up backwards, lets go and you do some loops. Then it reverses you backwards. We did this one twice too since it had a good amount of adrenalin rush and didn't hurt. :)

The Nighthawk was interesting. Reminded me of Tatsu from Six Flags, Cali. You started looking up at the sky, and then you switch to a hanging position. Can't say it was overly comfortable though.

Afterburn was one of my faves. It is simulated to feel like a jet (fighter) plane, and it's lovely and smooth. We did this one twice too.

Right. So The Intimidator claimed to be the tallest and fasted rollercoast in the SE of the USA. I was excited for this one. However, this ride was not scary at all! Actually I found it super relaxing. I was floating a lot of the ride, but I enjoyed that.
We did this one twice too. First time without incident. Second...uh. We had this guy in front of us, who, when the carrige stopped, vomited all over himself. Lovely... The incident keepts replaying in my mind. Nasty...

The 2 water rides got me drenched. The rapid one I was in the most unfortunate seat, and then I got entirely drenched from the Whitewater falls. Entirely... My shoes had swimming pools in them.

I was encouraged to try this thing called a 'funnell' cake. It was very unhealthy and I protested, but apparantly I couldn't be in Carolina without trying it. Basically it was a strangely shaped donut...
Whilst there I enjoyed watching the geese. Those birds weren't the brightest...

When we were wandering around the state bird of NC appeared in front of us - called the Cardinal. It's quite pretty.

I found it amusing to see that barely no-one was playing those paying games where you win prizes etc. Thoe workers looked very bored. I felt sorry for them. Having to talk all day to practically no-one, in the heat. :/

Guess what? I didn't get sunburnt! Isn't that exciting?!
I also found money on a few of the rides (people aren't so smart leaving things like that in their pockets, especially on rollercoasters), yay me I'm like 50cents richer. ;) Cheapskate? Yes, I am. ;)

One neat thing about Carowinds is that the park goes right through North and South Carolina! So you can be in 2 places at once! :D



Ok just because I remembered, here are the pics from before I left NZ. Friiiiends <3








I'm too tired to upload the latest USA pictures. It's nearing midnight. I'll do them when I can find time.

Night ya'll!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

NC and reminiscing

Can I just say, I loved my time in Texas. Truely. Texas has a place in my heart. The state is awesome. Some people say America has no culture, well I challenge them to come to Texas and go to a rodeo, for one thing. There is culture, just not what you might expect.

Anyway.

Yesterday I flew from Huston, Texas to Tennasse (Nashville) to North Carolina.

I had to get up at 6.30am so that Linda could drive me to Huston for my 11.35am flight.

We had lots of time so stopped off at Starbucks - did ya'll know that they can make pretty much any flavour you want - and it doesn't have to be on the menu?

When we got to the airport we were looking at parking only to find the crazy people who had parked on the road blocking everyone! There were people getting mad and tooting. Not very smart...

After checking in my bags I went to security. The line was pretty long but I had lots of time so it was ok. The security people seemed pretty interested in my bags! I almost forgot to pick up my laptop cords because they kept taking my stuff and putting them back through the x-ray, as well as opening my bags.

Anyway, so I eventually got through and had a look around the shops, and then got on the airplane.
Darn those children in the seats behind me. They wouldn't be quiet and kept kicking my chair. I nearly turned around and got mad at them, but I just gave them the evils instead. I think they got the point. ;)

Nashville was cool - just like how I'd expect. People with guitars everywhere and music. I thought it was neat. :)

The flight from there to NC was only 1.5hours! I thought it was going to be much longer.

I got a hit out of observing the scenery from my window seat. I got all scarily geography-fied. I mean I was pointing out the tributaries and lakes and meanders and everything! Why I was so fascinated by the landscape, I have no clue. I guess because it was just so different to what I know. Are you proud, Mrs O? :)

When we got near Raliegh/Durham airport we were descending to land, and then all of a sudden we were going back up. There's something not quite right about that! I thought. Turns out we weren't cleared to land and so we had to do a loops and try again. Luckily the next time we could land. It was a strange experience though.

I was pretty tired after all that, but didn't sleep too well last night. This place has the most ANNOYING grandfather clock. It chimes loudly (outside my door) every 15mins. ...so I wanted to smash it to tiny little pieces!!

Today was pretty relaxing. Just shopped and met lots of fun southern folk. I also sent some letters. :P We had sushi for lunch which I loved cos it felt so lovely and healthy. :D

My leg virus flared up again :( so I had to try get something to help that. The benedryl clear cream seemed to actually work (antihestimines work for about 3 hours it appears :/ ). So hurrah. :)

In the evening we played scrabble - guess who won. haha.
I was surrounded by 3 little ones and man, were they a handful! Suprisingly they didn't stress me out too much, and I think since I was new I was sort of the main attraction for them. In any case, I survived that without a scratch, which some might say is impressive..

Tomorrow we are going to Carrowinds! Yay for themeparks. It's a baby park, but I'm up for any themepark, any day!


Random thought - I'd have to say that when I first came here on June 29, I had this perception that Americans were quite insular and not so geography aware. However, I'd have to say I've been impressed by the knowledge of Texans in regards to New Zealand! Every person who I talked to knew where NZ was. Possibly it's a regional difference, but yes. Americans cannot be lumped into such categories. There is just such a huge range of people here.


Anyway, I'm super tired,
Catch ya'll later

xx

Monday, July 5, 2010

Day 5 and 6

Yesterday was July 4!
It ws great. Lots of patriotism and a fun atmosphere. The day was pretty cruisey too.

Firstly we went out shopping to this place called Sam's Club. I said "that's a weird name for a shop", but turns out it is a club! You have to be a member to enter the store (or there is a visitor pass option). Its kind of like The Warehouse inside, but much more spacious. We didn't find what we were looking for, so we went off to Macy's to try looking for luggage there.
(the reason I needed luggage was because when I arrived in Houston my big bag had a giant hole in it! Sincea wheel was whacked off they didn't claim responsibility so I had to resign myself to the fact that I needed another.)

Then we went to Best Buy. That place is geeky and fasciniating. The people were helpful though and always willing to assist you. I looked pretty lost so they helped me out quite a bit. ;)

Then we washed the car. That was a funny experience. Linda and Robert cleaned the car before putting it through the drive through since the drive through wouldn't have been totally effective apparantly.

Robert gave me a tour around A&M uni. That place is MASSIVE. Seriously. It's a mini town, pretty much. It has all its own facilities and is all spaced out. It's also very square and concrete, but there are big green spaces too. I was thinking man, 20 Vic uni's could fit in this place!

We had lunch at this awesome Mexican place (yay mexican!). It was really pretty, and the people super nice. They just kept filling your glass up and asking if you were ok. I'm a little worried that since Disney has such high standards I won't be able to live up to them, if people working at small places here are really amazing with their service!

I had noticed on the way in a sign for Ben and Jerry's icecreams. Linda had mentioned this ice-cream called Phish Food, and we hadn't been able to find it till then. However it was at this place and I got to try it. I was impressed! It had these awesome bits of chunky chocolate. :D

That evening we went to George Bush (senior) Library and museam, for where the 4th July celebration was. The place had a nice atmosphere, and the museum was interesting. I liked all the fun quotes. Also there were some neat interactive things.

People were dressed up, there was a live band (later an orchestra), food/drink, people handing out these nifty fans and brochures....

They lit up and hot air balloon and had lights and a fountain. It was just a nice atmosphere, you know? People were out and about enjoying the GORGEOUS weather and having fun. I liked it. We had about an hour and a half to relax and soak it up after the library/museum, so I read my book and chilled out.

The fireworks started at 9.50pm and went on for about 18mins, I was wondering if they were ever going to stop! They were pretty though. :)


Onto today.
Briefly.
We had breakfast out at this cool place that had decorations everywhere! They also had mind games you can play. Brekkie was an experience, but I'll write about it under the photos. I had fun in the gift shop after.

When we got back Robert has to pack ( and take BB with him). It was then just Linda and I. So we went to girly shops (woah massive make-up store!!!) and then went to see Toy Story 3 (3D).
It was a cute movie. :) Not sad like I was expecting from what I'd heard though.

Right now I have to pack everything back up in my suitcases and go to bed!

I'll add blurbs about the pics when I can..

Off to NC tomorrow! :)

Night ya'll
xx
Hey ya'll

I'll write this entry later, but I just saw that when I am not logged into the site that has photo sharing the option which I told you guys about:

You guys know you can make the pic larger by cliking on "
Get Original Uploaded Photo", right?


...doesn't exist? So I guess you have to be logged in to do that.
Oh well hopefully you can see the pics ok - I guess you can always magnify the screen if you have to. Of course if you have any you really want to look at you can email me/comment and I'll send them to you. :)

Note to self - add friend pics.

xx