Graduation

On December 13th, we had our College Program Celebration party, where we got our ears, had dinner, and listened to important Disney people speak.
Actually getting our ears was very unceremonious. They just handed them to us as we waked into the party. No name, nothing. I want to go into a store in the Park and have them put my name on them.

 I didn't stay for the whole thing, because I honestly didn't have much interest for it. I didn't make very many friends during my time here, and the ones I did were mostly busy dancing with the ones they'd made. 

The best part about this program for me was the fact that I got to take a break from school while still doing something productive for my future. I still did a few classes and I had a job.I got some time to live on my own, which is something I'm striving for. Plus I earned the right to put Disney on my resume. How many people can say that?

I am going to miss the people I've met here: coworkers, friends, and roommates. I never would have thought that I'd be leaving here with a boyfriend with whom I'd be planning on maintaining a long-distance relationship. 

Josh is going to bring me home after my program ends so he can meet my family. I don't know if that's going to make our parting easier or more difficult. It doesn't really matter; it's going to be much harder than I ever thought it would be. 

It's not really goodbye, though. 

The next semester is going to be a challenge. My classes are all lined up, I've got a place to stay until I can figure out my next move, and I'm looking forward to what the future holds. 

This program has brought me a lot of experiences and memories. It's strange to think that they weren't all at Disneyland. 

 Sarah, me, Leslie

Disneyland After Hours

I can finally say I'm participating in College Program events! Today, my roommates and I had the opportunity to take a tour of Walt Disney's apartment above the Fire Station and a backstage tour of the Haunted Mansion. Both were amazing! We got to see things that no ordinary guest or even Cast Member often gets the chance to see.

Afterwards, we met up with our friend, Gage, and we were getting ready to leave the Park and go home. We were walking through the dark and deserted Park when I suggested taking a picture together. I mean, how many times can you take a picture in a darkened Disneyland?
Sarah and Leslie were too scared to, but Gage was all up for it. We decided to go to Snow White's spot, because Gage thought it would be lit up. It wasn't, but we took a picture anyway.
Figuring Sarah and Leslie would have gone to where the cast shuttle would be, Gage and I went there. Only upon getting to the shuttle and boarding it, did we discover that they were still on Main Street. So, we trudged along back over to them (giving me a chance to embarrass myself in front of one of my managers by singing a Snow White song with an arm flourish, right as he walked by... work's going to be interesting, I'm sure.)

Just as we got to Main Street, we noticed that the massive Christmas tree they have there was lit up beautifully, though it hadn't been just a few minutes earlier when we'd left it. We were looking for Sarah and Leslie, and found them at the Hub, right in front of the castle, which was also beautifully lit. Turns out, Sarah and Leslie had been talking to a couple of security guards, who had arranged to have the lights turned on for us to take pictures.

I feel so lucky to have gotten to experience this, because it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I just love that these cast members made magic for other cast members. It was really special. I'll always remember it. I just wish I'd had a few quality people there with me, other than the ones I was with.

More pictures to come!

I've Been Slacking!

I've been home sick for the past few days. Well, that's not entirely true. Like, four days ago, I finally had a weekend, but I spent the whole time sick, and therefore was not able to get any homework done that I'd planned on doing. I'd fallen behind in homework because I hadn't had any time off in forever.

So yesterday, I decided to call in sick to work because I desperately needed to get school work done and I had a closing shift. I still didn't feel completely better, and I had my college program class that day too. I was afraid of overexerting myself with a day full of stuff to do, so I decided to just take the day to catch up on homework.

Then, today, as I was getting ready to leave for work, I ended up getting sick after eating my poorly thought out breakfast. I was fine after, but I didn't want to risk it and I still had homework to do, so I called in again.
I'm stressing out over missing so much work.
Honestly, it's not that bad, since I don't even get points for today. You can call in up to three days in a row and only get points for the first day, so I'm good as far as points go. My paycheck is just going to suck.

This is Scheduling's fault. If they hadn't scheduled me to work, like 8 and 9 days in a row with only one day off in between those stretches, I wouldn't have exhausted myself into NEEDING these days off.

Also, I have the sweetest boyfriend. He surprised me with flowers last night.

He also brought me Powerade and chicken noodle soup when I was sick. <3

Pictures from the Scavenger Hunt! :)

  

A picture of a cannon

 

A picture of our group on a ride

 

A picture of at least two group members on a ride.

(Sarah and Gage!)

 

A picture of a trash can from our assigned land
Frontierland!

 

A hidden Mickey on Big Thunder Mountain!

 

Chinese takeout box.. haha

 

A picture of an animal.

 

Character topiary

 

A picture of our whole team wearing different Mickey Ears

 

A picture of a Cast Member trading with a Guest

(Kelsey)

A picture of the team with a character inside Disneyland

 

A silly group picture.
(Minnie's bodyguards totally photobombed us)

 

A picture of the team with a character inside California Adventure

 

Two Main Street Windows

 

A Mickey Mouse sticker

 

Two Team Members next to an ice cream cart menu board

 

Hidden Mickey again

 

 

Team Frontierland outside the castle

Today for my Blended Learning class for the College Program, we had to do a scavenger hunt in the Park. We went to DCA (California Adventure) first and we were looking for a character for our group to take a picture with. We saw Minnie and half of us rant over to her, beating out a bunch of little kids who wanted to get a picture with her. We got a picture with her and her autograph ("Love and kisses, Minnie Mouse") and then I got a picture with her on my own. I love Minnie she's so freaking cute. I think she's probably my favorite Disney character. I love Daisy too. She's sassy. haha

:(

Remember how excited I was for my family to come up and to get my brother into Disneyland for his birthday? Welp, looks like that's not happening. They have to get their bumper replaced or whatever, and so they can't come up here. This is why I hate looking forward to things. They never work out right, and you end up disappointed. I wanted to give my brother a good birthday. More importantly, I wanted to SEE him and my family. Apparently that's too much to ask for.

Spaghetti Smells Like Home

The Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios was so much fun! So worth the money! The only downside was the ridiculously long lines we had to suffer through, but we still had fun. :)

Keeping up with work, school, sleep, and a social life is something I'm definitely not used to and I'm doing my best. Anthropology is  managing to suffer, though, but that's because all I have to do for that class is to watch boring lectures online, fill in a few blanks on the notes, and then take a test every now and then. So our grades are based off the tests and it's harder to concentrate on because there's not a lot of stuff you have to remember to do for the class. I seem to be doing well in Philosophy, though. If Anthropology was set up like that class, I'd probably be doing better and/ or be more motivated to, I don't know, try.

Having an actual social life is weird for me. I still don't have a large group of friends here (which I'm content with); I just usually hang out with my roommates, Ashlynn (who I work with), or my boyfriend and occasionally his friends.

Yeah, I have a boyfriend now. His name's Josh, and he's a really great guy. :) January is going to suck if we make it that far. One day at a time, though.

I'm so excited! In just a couple of weeks, my mom is bringing down my brothers and sister for my brother's 16th birthday! None of my siblings have ever been to Disneyland before, and I'm excited to introduce it to them!! I miss them so much, and I can't wait to see them! October 27th can't get here fast enough! The lines are going to suck because it's the Saturday before Halloween, but it'll be worth it, I think. I'm going to get them all "First Visit" buttons and a birthday button for Thaddeus. I don't care if he doesn't want to wear it. You're never too old for Disneyland traditions. And I'm going to make Katerina do the Star Wars show where she'll be a Youngling and I'll live vicariously through her. =D

I just talked to my family for a while on the phone because my roommate was cooking homemade spaghetti and it made me homesick. I love talking to my family, and I know I don't do it nearly enough. Thaddeus always makes me laugh. He also wanted to make sure he was going to get a Happy Birthday button like Katerina did, which is good that he was excited about it, because I was going to make him wear it whether he wanted to or not. xD I should have known that he'd want to, though! :)

Okay, so this post has taken probably three hours to write because I took breaks to talk on the phone with various family members. Two very long phone calls! haha

Until next time! I love and miss you all!

It's October Already!!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in quite a while. I've been spending a lot of time with, a guy I work with, and that's been taking up most of my free time. School's been taking up the other time.

Work's been pretty much same old, same old. Well, except my register was apparently $20 short one day and they noticed it the next day, but another cashier was $20 over, so maybe it somehow got left in a register? And the next day I was exactly $10 short. It's really been stressing me out. I don't want them to think I've been stealing or something. They've been giving me more and more hours recently, though, compared with a week or so ago when I literally only had four-hour shifts. Now this extra workload is appreciated, because that paycheck sucked, but it's also hitting me a little harder than I'd like. I also just worked 9 straight days without a day off, so I'm a bit tired.

We started our class for the College Program. I'm taking Blended Learning Series with Ashlynn, Sarah, and Gage, so it's nice to know that I know someone in the class (and can get rides...), especially since I have to get up at 6:30 in the morning.
I had class today and it's my day off, so it was a bit annoying that I couldn't sleep in, but it's okay. At least I don't really have anything that I desperately need to do (well, except for homework and laundry...), so I can relax. I'll get that other stuff done.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Hollywood Horror Nights at Universal Studios with Josh and Jon. I'm really excited for it. I wasn't going to go because of the ticket price, but those jerks are awfully convincing and offered to cover it. I'm going to get cash out for it later today so I can cover it.
I'm excited to see how it compares with Fright Dome. I went last year, and it was good, but I know it could have been better. Jon says that Universal does a really good job, so I'm really stoked to see how it is.

I've also noticed that I comment a lot on movies as I watch them. I apologize if this has annoyed any of you.

Alright, I'll try to update soon. I'll try to let you know how Universal was.

Pizza Port Costume

Hello there! Did I forget to post on Monday/ Tuesday? Oopsies.
Sarah, Gage, and I went to the beach on Monday, so that's my excuse for that. As for yesterday.... Well, I just forgot. Sorry. I'm really trying to get better.

The other day, I had a short shift and I only worked from 11am to 3:30pm and I was totally okay with that because I wasn't feeling well. Then, another cashier came up to me and asked me what time I worked. I told her and she asked me if I'd switch end times with her and work till 6:30 instead. I have no idea why I said yes. Seriously, I don't. I'm far too compliant. And even though I didn't feel well, I would have felt terrible about saying no. So, I sucked it up and worked a little longer, cursing myself the whole time.

So yeah, the beach. That was fun! When we were there, a seal swam right up to Gage and me! It was so incredible!! Even though I did wear sunscreen I got a teensy bit burned, but it was gone by the next day and replaced by this deep tan. Sarah and Gage keep joking that I'm getting darker by the minute. It's even funnier because when we first left the beach, I didn't look like the sun affected me at all. Then I had a burn. Then this tan. haha

Oh, here's a picture of my Pizza Port costume:

Which one do you guys like better?

I swear the only kind of futuristic they are is from the 90s. Haha
Well, I've got to finish getting ready for work. If you guys have any questions about the program, comment or something. =D I'll try to post more consistently and more often.

Last Day at TLT!

So much for posting more... Dang it, I need to set a schedule for myself. Otherwise I'll forget to post and forget to write about things that I wanted to talk about.

Anyway, today was my last day at Tomorrowland Terrace. Redd Rockett's Pizza Port is open tomorrow, so I'll be back there unless they randomly schedule me at TLT in the future. It's a possibility, since I'm trained there now. I keep forgetting to take a picture of myself in costume so that you guys can see it, but I remembered to take one this morning.

Here's my costume for Tomorrowland Terrace:

My hand was shaky, so I had to hold it with both hands. But yeah, that's what I have to wear every day. I can't decide which I like better: TLT's or Pizza Port's costume. I'll let you be the judge of that when I get around to posting a picture of that one. I don't have a picture of it, otherwise I'd post it now. Be kind, people. Clearly it was the '80s or '90s when these costumes were designed. I can't see any future where these might be worn.

Everyone keeps telling me that I'll miss TLT when I'm back at Pizza Port. I guess we'll see, So far, I'm not sure. I definitely like closing shifts better at Pizza Port; it's easier. All you have to do is put away the snacks and displays, clean your register, take out the trash and make sure the lost and found gets taken to the proper place. At TLT, there's so much to remember to do. You have to clean EVERYTHING and take apart the drink cells and clean every little bit of it. Plus there's trash, wipe downs, and a hundred other things I'm always afraid I'm going to forget.

I've gotten better at counting out and building my $300 fund. You're supposed to get it all done in 20 minutes, but waiting for Leads to let you buy change, count your fund, and verify your money almost makes it impossible to get it done in the allotted time. I got mine done in 30 today, though! I felt very proud of myself. And my drawer was perfect. I wasn't over or short any money.

A few days ago, I lost an EDC (which, for those of you who don't know, is that little receipt that sometimes prints out after you do a credit/debit transaction that the cashier keeps. Sometimes you sign it. It helps the store keep track of the money.). It's really bad if you lose one. I had to fill out a statement and then I got coached by the manager. All it was was them telling me to be more careful and that I can't be over or under more than $10. Getting coached sounds so much scarier than it actually is. I'm sure it's a lot scarier if you're in serious trouble, though. I really don't want to find out.

People have been a lot nicer than they seemed when I first got to TLT, so I might miss some of them. There were more College Program participants, so that helped me feel not so alone and there were some regular Cast Members who are really nice that I'll probably miss talking to. I was talking to a guy named Robert (he has a twin brother who's 7 minutes older than him-- something we have in common! haha) and he was telling me that I should see the Southern California sights before I leave. He was telling me I should go to other theme parks and the beach and to see an Angels game (the stadium's not too far away! I saw it with Peggy when she brought me!) and to go to the San Diego zoo. It sounds like I've got all my days off planned already! haha

I forgot to post a picture of my official Disneyland name tag and Cast Member I.D!

Well, I think that's it for the updates, from what I can think of.. I'm going to try to update on Monday or Tuesday, since those are my regular days off now. Sarah, Gage, and I might go to the beach on Monday. I hope we do!

New computer-- Yay!

My new computer finally got here, so I'll be able to post more often! Yay! :)

My second day of training at Tomorrowland Terrace was okay. It was a better day, but it was longer. They keep telling us (Ashlynn and me) that we're going to fall in love with TLT and never want to go back to Pizza Port. I'm not so sure about that. Sure, the shifts usually go by faster because they're busier and you have to do more, but I feel really unwelcome there. I feel like I'm doing everything wrong and I'm just in people's way.
Ashlynn feels the same way. We're both cashiers in the College Program, and a lot of people don't really like College Program participants very much. At least at Pizza Port, people were a little nicer. It's mostly girls that are mean to us, too. I've talked to a few guys who asked if I was in the College Program, and when I told them I was, they just nodded and asked how I like it and that was the end of it. They were more or less cool with it. A lot of the girls, however, act like we're inconveniencing them just being there. I understand that we're "stealing their hours" and apparently College Program participants get, like, three years seniority over regular starting cast members, but that's not our fault. We didn't ask for it, and we can't help that we got it. We'll be gone in five months, anyway, so none of these people have anything to worry about. And if, for what ever reason, we do decide to stay on, we're not guaranteed hours like we are now, and we fall back down to the bottom of the totem pole.

Yesterday, Ashlynn and I had a day off, so we decided to just go to the Park for fun. We invited people to go, but nobody could. One of my roommates had work and the other was behind in her classes, so we just ended up going by ourselves. It was great because neither of us were afraid to go on roller coasters, so we had a lot of fun on the rides we went on. The Park looked weird, though, because I guess they're filming some kind of holiday promotion. Half of Main Street looked normal, while the other half was decorated for Christmas. And Disneyland closed at 5 p.m. I really hope that the Guests who went yesterday didn't have to pay full price for their ticket or at least got a discounted Park-hopper. Disney California Adventure didn't close until 8 p.m., so that's where most people went when Disneyland closed.
It was fun to go and hang out at the Park, and it was nice to know that Ashlynn and I are becoming friends and aren't just coworkers or co-participants in the DCP.

I hope work gets better. I'm sure it will, once we get our bearings... But I'm wondering if we'll ever feel even slightly welcome there.

It's Been a While...

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I've been really busy and haven't wanted to take up too much time on the computers my roommates have been kind enough to let me use. I had a spare minute, though, so I figured I'd try to update you all on what's been going on in my life recently here at Disneyland.

The first day of on-the-job training was basically just a four-hour class on how to properly handle and store food, safety tips, and how to properly wash your hands. Apparently I've been doing it wrong for years. We had to wear business-casual attire for that, which meant another horrendous day of torturing my feet in the heels I'd been stupid enough to buy. Granted, they were more comfortable than any other heels I've worn, but my feet were still mad at me for walking through Disneyland in them. At the end of the class, though, we went to costuming and got our shoes. Disney provides shoes for Leads, Custodial workers, and Foods workers. Several other girls and I put on the shoes as soon as we got them. They felt so much better!!!

I had the next day (Monday) off and so did my roommates, so we decided to go into the Park so I could experience it for myself before I started working. We planned on going to Space Mountain and getting a Fast Pass because that ride's lines are notoriously long. When we got there, though, it was only a 30 minute wait, so we decided to take advantage of that and ride it. It was amazing! It was possibly one of my favorites, apart from Tower of Terror. And my face in our picture for that ride was so effing stupid. My roommate took a picture of it on her phone, so I might post it later so you guys can make fun of me... Don't hold your breath, though. haha
We went on the Matterhorn, which wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be, but later that night we went on it again because my roommates insisted it's normally better. We went on the opposite end of it, and it was faster that time, and way more fun! We went through the castle and on Thunder Mountain and on Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. I really like roller coasters, apparently! I had the most fun on the fast rides. We wanted to go on Splash Mountain, but it was closed. The Haunted Mansion was already closed for Halloween decorating (this was August!!), so I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see it in its normal state, but I'm excited for the Halloween season.
We went to California Adventure and went on Soaring Over California, which is basically a motion ride that gives you the illusion that you're (you guessed it!) soaring over different parts of California. I liked it, it was fun. We also went on this Grizzly water ride (I don't remember the exact name of it) that was pretty much like the Big Foot water ride at Knott's Berry Farm. I like that one, I had fun. :) Then we went to the Tower of Terror, and I strained my voice from screaming my head off. I went on twice, though, because a couple gave us their fast passes because they didn't want to go on. They only had two of them though, so Sarah and I went, while Leslie stayed behind.
We went to check out Mad T Party, which was pretty freakin' awesome. I think it'd be a lot of fun to check out more, but mostly because of the decorations and the Alice in Wonderland themed band playing. It has kind of a club atmosphere, which isn't an environment I thrive in.
We left the Park right before the fireworks started because we didn't want to have to fight the crowd to get out of the Park and get to the bus. We figured we'd see the fireworks some other time. We were so tired, we just really wanted to get home. I was happy to have gotten to go to the Park, though. I even got a First Visit button!

Training at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port was interesting. There was a lot of new information thrown at us those three days, and it was a bit overwhelming at first. Once we started cashing on the regsiters without someone there, we were fine for the most part. Disneyland guests are a lot nicer than Walmart customers, which makes me feel much more optimistic about my job! There's a lot more responsibility here, though. We're in charge of our own cash tills and we get a fund of $300 to start. At the end of our shifts, we have to take the money we made and build a $300 fund for the next day and then drop the rest of the money in the safe. Cashing out is supposed to take 20 minutes, but I probably take twice that time because I keep double and triple checking it because I'm scared of making a mistake.
We were off training for two days, and now we're back training at Tomorrowland Terrace because the Pizza Port is down for renovations for 2 or 3 weeks. We're training at TLT so that we have a place to work while the Pizza Port is down. Today was our first day of training, and it was so overwhelming. The registers work in the same way and we still do the $300 fund, but it's a completely different menu and there's a lot more responsibility. For one thing, we take the guest's order instead of them bringing us their food and us ringing them up. And we have to get their drinks and salads for them. Anything cold or packaged we have to go get, instead of the kitchen sending it out via a "Boxer". I had trouble remembering to tell the guest to wait while I went to get their cold stuff while they were waiting for their hot stuff. It was way busier than anyone thought it would be today, so I was freaking out and kept thinking I was messing everything up. I have to talk loudly (which you all probably know is hard for me), and I was trying to move as quickly as possible so I could keep the lines down. I started getting a little bit of a routine down just as it was time for me to take my lunch.When I came back, we didn't have a pourer to get our sodas for us, so we had to do it ourselves. That helped me to slow down and even out my pace a bit. It felt better since I knew more what I was doing, and I didn't feel like I was about to burst into tears and have a full-blown panic attack.
My trainer today, Esther, was really nice. She's super bubbly and friendly. I really liked her. She was saying how we're going to fall in love with TLT and never want to go back to Pizza Port. Right now, I'm not so sure, but we'll see. My shift definitely went by way faster than any of them did at Pizza Port, so that's something.

When I was cashing out, my original trainer for Pizza Port came in and didn't see me. My Lead, Juley, is friends with her and decided to mess with her and call her a bad trainer by saying that we were way off on our drawer count. Juley said, "Damn, you suck as a trainer! Your new hires sucked so bad, they were way off!" And she said, "I know, they take forever!" And Juley said, "What a bitch! They were perfect! And one of them's right there!" I don't know if she was mad at Juley for putting her in that situation or just embarassed that i heard her say that, but she left the room angrily. I'm not going to lie, that hurt my feelings. I mean, I'm new. I'm learning a new system of doing things, and I want to make sure that I'm doing it correctly. I don't want to mess up. Her lack of confidence in me is really disconcerting.

Apparently regular Disneyland workers don't like College Program participants because A) We steal all their hours, and B) They become such good friends with us and then we leave, so they just don't want to become our friends. I understand both reasons, but at the same time, they need to understand that we don't even get that much of our paycheck. $140 a week is taken out of our paycheck each week for rent. The only reason they give us so many hours is because they want to make sure they get their money.

I did sort of make a friend (or at least acquaintance) at the Pizza Port yesterday. His name's Josh and we talked all through my last break about random stuff. Mostly it was about sign language because he used to take classes in it and he loved it, and I'd told him that I knew some because both my mom and my best friend had taught me some. We got on to talking about movies and interests and stuff like that, and I mentioned that I absolutely love Harry Potter. He said that he hates it. I told him that I didn't think we could be friends. For a split second, he looked like he didn't know whether or not I was joking. Then he laughed and said, "Bummer". I'm still not sure whether or not I was joking. haha He's a really cool guy, but if we're going to be friends, he'd better quickly accept, if not embrace, my passion for Harry Potter as something that is of vital importance to the fabric of my being. Just saying. You don't have to like Harry Potter necessarily, but you do have to accept it as something that's a part of me.

Well. After that more or less unrelated turn in today's update, I'm going to bid you all farewell until next time. I'll try to update more often, and it'll be easier to do so when my new computer comes in. It has Beats Audio technology in it, and I got it for way cheaper than it normally is! I'm super excited! It's supposed to come between 9/6 and 9/10. I really hope it comes in sooner, rather than later!

'Night, all!

Traditions

The last few days have been so surreal. Between moving in and having orientation classes here and there, we haven't had much time to relax. I did have a day off on Friday, though. Half of us went to Traditions that day, while the other half went on Saturday.

So on Saturday, I went to Traditions, which is basically an orientation on everything Disney. We watched videos designed to inspire us and make us all nostalgic for our childhoods. We played icebreaker games, perhaps designed to wake us up. Then, we took a tour of the park. The first time I ever set foot in Disneyland, I was a cast member. It was still amazing! We went backstage as well, and I saw a Storm Trooper! Without his head on! It was weird and awesome at the same time. I saw other characters such as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and the Queen from Snow White and Peter Pan.

After lunch, we went back to the auditorium to watch more videos and watch the presenters perform skits to show us how to properly interact with the guests (which I was so grateful for, because my feet were screaming at me). We were split up into groups according to the category of the role we were assigned. We got information about where we have to go for our on-the-job training and that we'll be getting shoes at the orientation, so I won't have to wear my uncomfortable dressy shoes all day.

They were just announcing that we were going to get our Disney I.D.s and name tags when the door on the side of the stage opened and out popped Mickey Mouse! I probably got more excited than is socially acceptable for a 20 year old, but I didn't care. It was Mickey Mouse, and I've never been to Disneyland! He was standing at the door, giving hugs and high fives, and I totally got a hug. Then I got my I.D. and name tag. With my I.D., I can get into the park for free! My roommate, Leslie, and I were going to go, but at the last minute decided we'd go later. We both had pepper spray in our bags that we forgot to take out before we came (and she's gone into the park with hers before and they never said anything), and they told us we could take it back to our car or give it to them. If we gave it to them, they'd throw it away, and we didn't want to be stuck without any protection if we need it in the future. So, we just went home. I wanted to go yesterday, though, because I wanted to go before I started working. It'll be okay, though, I guess. It's not like I'm not going to get another chance to go.

My on-the-job training starts at noon today. We'll get our two-week schedules and find out specifically where we're going to be working! I'm excited to find out!

First Day

Today was the first day of the Disney College Program, and it mostly consisted of standing in line and filling out paperwork.

Once that was done and I finally got to my room, I met one of my roommates, Sarah, who has so much stuff, it's insane! She has got to be the most prepared person here! She's from Arizona and is 19. She seems like a nice girl, and I'm excited to get to know her.

Later, I got to meet my other roommate, Leslie, who's also a huge Harry Potter fan! I think this arrangement should work out nicely. She's 21, a twin, and is also from Vegas! We thought all our similarities were funny.

All three of us have birthdays in July, which we thought was funny as well.

Our apartment is a small, one-bedroom with lots of closet space. In the bedroom, there is are bunk beds and one stand-alone single bed. I got to the room last, so I drew the short straw and ended up on the top bunk (funny how that's the short end; when we were kids, we'd be fighting over that one). I don't really mind, though. It should be interesting.

We have a huge window in the living room which looks out at the library, which I'm excited to go visit when I can.

I had to do some shopping for some necessities, so I walked down to the nearest grocery store, Vons. It's really close, but Vons is expensive. I'm definitely hoping I make friends with someone who has a car. haha :)

We have Post Office boxes, as well. If you want to write to me, you can at:

180 W. Center Street Promenade
Apt 218
Anaheim, CA 92805

Tomorrow is Orientation, and Traditions, my first paid day, is on Saturday. From what I understand, Traditions is like a class that is pretty much like an orientation having to do with everything "Disney".

So far, the people seem nice, but I haven't really had the chance to get to know anyone yet. I keep feeling like I'm in high school again. I feel like I'm that awkward girl that nobody will want to talk to, and it's hard for me to go up to people and just talk to them. I don't really know what to say.

It's been a long, hectic day, and I don't really know what to do with myself right now. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Just Got to Anaheim!

Alright, so I'm here! I'm all checked into the hotel with Peggy.

This morning, I was all set to ride the bus to Anaheim. Everything was packed. I had my small suitcase, laundry bag packed with sheets, towels, and blankets, a carry-on backpack, my purse, and a pillow to take with me. Sadly, though, this small amount of luggage proved to be almost too much for me to get to the car by myself. I had the laundry bag tied to my suitcase with a bungee cord, along with my pillow, both of which kept sliding around, making it difficult for me to steer the bag. This made me nervous for when I'd get off the bus and take a city bus to the hotel I'd be staying at. With the amount of stuff I have, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get there.

Obviously Peggy was too, because she decided that she'd take me instead. I was kind of looking forward to the new experience of taking the bus all by myself to a new place (as terrifying as that was), but I'm so glad she decided to take me. I'm not entirely sure if I was ready for that just yet, and I was saved the stress of possibly getting robbed on the street while I was distracted by lugging all my crap down the sidewalk.

With her here, I feel so much less alone. I don't have to do this completely alone. I'll have someone to hug tomorrow when she leaves and I have to begin this new adventure on my own. :)

Thank you, Peggy. I love you.

It's Almost Time...

Tomorrow, I'm leaving to go to Anaheim for a paid internship at Disneyland. I wanted a way to tell all my friends and family about the experiences that I'll be having when I'm there, so I created this blog to keep everyone posted!

I'm so nervous to hop on a bus and go alone to a place I've never been before. I'm excited though, too. I've never done anything completely on my own, so I think this will be a good experience for me. It'll be a good opportunity for me to explore my independence and have new experiences.

I can't help but feel like a nervous kid about to start a new school. I know the people there will be in about the same boat as me: not knowing anybody and just looking to make friends. I'm still scared, though. I've always been shy around new people, and I'm afraid my shyness will come off as "stuck-up" and I'll be all alone there. Or that nobody there will be as weird as me (I've been in that situation before), and I'll just be that weird girl that nobody wants to talk to. I hope I get along with my coworkers and roommates. I want to get the most out of the time I'm there.

I've never been to Disneyland before. I hope I get to go to the park before I start work!

I'll be there from August 22, 2012 to January 5, 2013. I'll try to update this blog as often as I can! I love and miss you all already!!