Update on Life

I suck at blogging here lately. >.<

Anyway, I finally heard back about the PI I applied for, and........I didn't get it. :( Oh well. At least I still have my extension, so I can stay here a little bit longer. :) That's definitely an upside.

Speaking of staying here, I go next Tuesday to find out my new housing placement. I know I'm going to be living with one of my co-workers (Kim) who is also extending. We've gotten pretty close during this program, so I'm excited that we'll be living together come January 4 (move-out/move-in date). We don't know who else we're going to be living with. I guess we'll find that out next week. :)

So, I know that my blog has been mostly about the positive experiences I've had while I've been down here. And for the most part, this has been a very positive experience for me. However, there are times when it gets hard being here and away from my family. Like the holidays. I have a pretty big family, and I'm used to spending Thanksgiving and Christmas around them. And I love being around them. So, it does suck that this year, I missed Thanksgiving, and I'm going to miss Christmas. And it makes it hard because I haven't really had a chance to incorporate some of my families traditions down here. However, my parents are coming back to visit me over Christmas weekend, so that will definitely help because I'll be around them on Christmas morning. And I'm also planning to Skype with my brother and his family that morning as we open our gifts. :) It's not going to be the same as actually being around my nieces and nephew when they open their presents, but it will definitely help. :)

And the program does a lot to make sure that we have a good holiday season down here, too. They know that we're all away from our families, so they try to make up for that. They had a Thanksgiving feast for us the week before Thanksgiving, and on December 20, they're putting on a special edition of Grocery Bingo. Which reminds me, go to at least one Grocery Bingo game while you're here. They are so much fun, and if you win, you get a ton of stuff. They definitely treat us well here. :)

Plus, Disney has some amazing holiday traditions to experience and be a part of. The Magic Kingdom has Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on select nights in November and December. That's probably one of my favorite traditions. I've been to the party 3 times in the past 10 years, and it always amazes me. :) Epcot has Holidays Around the World, which is my favorite thing to do. You get to walk around World Showcase and learn about the holiday traditions in the different countries. It's so cool! :) Hollywood Studios has the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights, which is amazing. I need to get over to the Studios to see those this year. And Animal Kingdom has Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade, which I need to go see as well.

So, even though I'm away from my family this year, there is a lot to do to still get in the holiday spirit. Although, I'm not exactly used to wearing shorts in December, which I was doing up until Wednesday night. Then we actually got a cold front, which meant I could finally wear jeans and a jacket outside. But we're apparently going to be warming back up here today. Our high for the day is 78 degrees. It never stays cold long here in Orlando. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that. :p

Well, time to get ready for work! Have a magical day!

All About Work

Work is making me exhausted. Seriously. Today is my 6th day in a row of work, and it's my Friday (yay!!).

I guess I should give you a little insight into what it is I actually do at work. Well, there are several different kinds of jobs that I do.  I know when most people think of hosting, they think of the people who greet you at the restaurant, take your name, and then show you to your seat. This is exactly what I thought of when I thought of hostessing in a restaurant. But there is so much more to it then that. Of course, I've done the greeting thing where I check people in (this person is called, appropriately enough, the greeter. We also call this position podium.), and I've also shown people to their seats (also appropriately called a seater). But, as a hostess, or Front of the House (FOH) CM, I've also been in charge of stocking either the left side of the restaurant or the right side of the restaurant (known as left side or right side). We have side stations on both sides of the restaurant where extra place settings are kept so that the servers can just come grab them when they need to reset their tables. The person working left or right side is in charge of making these settings and ensuring that there are enough plates, napkins, forks, and knives to continue making settings. It's actually more difficult than it sounds, especially when you're having to hunt down forks and knives. The person who does right side is also in charge of making sure that the ice at the drink station in the kitchen is kept full, and that the butter that comes out with the bread is in the butter dishes and ready for the servers to just grab on the way to their tables. The person who does left side also helps with seating guests, too. Right side doesn't unless it's extremely busy. I hate being right or left side, because I hate stocking, but it does make the time go by a lot faster. So does seating the guests, especially when we're really busy.

The last job that I could do as a FOH CM is be the assigner. This is the person you see walking around the dining room checking for open tables and then assigning parties to them. I've shadowed assigners twice, but I haven't done it myself yet. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to. It seems to be a pretty tough job because there's so much you have to take into consideration. Plus, it wasn't really explained to me, I was just observing, so I'm not 100% clear on what to do.

All in all, I love my job. The Coral Reef is a great place to work. It's a beautiful restaurant with amazing food (yes.....I did get to do a tasting with one of the chefs! I love my job!) and great CMs to work with. And I love getting to talk to the guests and such. I have realized that there are 2 languages that I need to learn at least the basics in though--French and Spanish. I took French in high school, but that was so long ago, and I have forgotten a lot of what I've learned. Luckily, there are several CMs at the Reef who speak Spanish, so I should be able to learn some things from them. :)

Once again, sorry it's been a few days between updates. I've been working some long days lately. But, like I said, today is my Friday, so hopefully I'll get in an update or 2 tomorrow or Wednesday.

Have a magical day!

The Crazy Schedule Begins

So, I was off yesterday, which was good. I got some laundry and some grocery shopping done. I also got some cleaning done, and some other errands that I needed to take care of. And I still had time to hang out at MK for a couple of hours last night. :)

Today is the start of 6 straight days of work for me. And it's kind of a crazy schedule. Today and tomorrow, I work from 12:30pm-9pm. Friday, I work from 4:30pm-10:30pm. Saturday is the day I'm dreading. I work 11:30am-10:30pm. But, part of me is thinking that this is when my assessment will be, and that they've allowed time for that, which is why I'll be working so long. Sunday and Monday, I'm back to working 11:15am-8:45pm. And then I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday of next week! Yay! :) I think the only thing getting me through the next 6 days is the fact that I do get 2 days off in a row.

But, the good thing is work tends to go by fairly quickly because I'm always doing something. I'm learning that the restaurant business is a very fast paced business, and that's good for me. Yes, it's repetitive, but that's okay. And I have several different jobs that I do. So far, I've greeted people (basically checked them in if they have reservations, or put them on the list if they didn't) and I've sat people. And I enjoy both of those. I will say, if we're not busy, it does get boring. But, I work with fantastic people, and there's always someone to talk to. :)

Well, I'm off to finish getting ready for work!

Have a magical day!

Orientation Days

First, let me begin by apologizing for not blogging last night. When I got home, my roommates were at the pool, and then we all decided to go to CiCi's and then to Downtown Disney with the guys across the hall. So, that made half of the 2nd floor of my building hanging out last night. And it was a lot of fun. I meant to make last night an early night, but that didn't happen. And that's fine. I was hanging out with some awesome people. :)

So, yesterday was basically another day at Disney University. It was for everyone who's role is food & beverage. We had to sit in a room and watch presentations over safety when dealing with food and all of that good stuff. Then, we got to go down to the computer lab and sign up for the HUB (pretty much the place for Cast Members to go online for everything related to our jobs), and do some online classes. We also got our work shoes yesterday, too. Food and beverage is the only role where the shoes are supplied for us. Every other role has to provide their own shoes. So I'm not paying anything for any part of my costume. :)

Today was my orientation at Epcot. I won't go into everything that happened because I do want future Epcot CMs to have something to look forward to with orientation. And trust me, there's a lot to look forward to. :) I did get to get my costume today (and Disney sizing sucks, for the record), and I did get to see the kitchen of the restaurant I'll be working in. The two of us that are working at Coral Reef also got to meet the head chef of the restaurant, which was pretty cool. We also got our work lockers, and a little tour of the backstage area of Epcot. And we got to take a couple more online classes. And we got our schedules for on the job training (OJT) for the next week. This is where the really long hours for me begin. Tomorrow and Monday, I work from 11:15am-8:45pm. I'm not sure the exact hours the restaurant is open, but I'll be there for most, if not all, or them. Fun day indeed.

Tonight, I'm relaxing a bit and probably going to Hollywood Studios with the roomies. :)

Have a magical day!

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 36]]

**1 day until check-in!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

I'm such a geography buff, so this is my favorite part of Disney World. I could spend all day at World Showcase if people would let me. :p

Well, this was my last "Reason I Love Disney" for awhile anyway. Tomorrow is the big day for me (finally!!)!! So, be looking out for actual blog entries about the program now. :p

And later on today/tonight, I'll blog about the drive down to Orlando yesterday, as well as getting to finally meet my lovely housemates in person. And of course, the check-in dinner is tonight, so I'll blog about that, too. :p 

Have a magical day! :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 29]]

**8 days until check-in!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

What's even cooler is to see the look on your niece's face when she sees her face on the globe. :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 25]]

Source: Simple Disney Things

Ah, Test Track. :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 22]]

Source: Simple Disney Things

I love Test Track. :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 18]]

**Less than 20 days until check-in!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

These balls are so much fun to play with! And my 3 year old nephew found that out on our trip to Disney back in April. He definitely didn't want to give the ball back to the Cast Member working the kiosk.

Cutie pie. :)

Day 30!

Wow! I can't believe that I'm done with this challenge, too! Ah! Now I just have to find something to do to take up the rest of the days left until I'm at Disney! :)

Day 30: Your favorite theme park show.

I have 3. Pretty much all the major theme park shows. :)

Fastamic! at Hollywood Studios

Illuminations at Epcot

Wishes at Magic Kingdom

Day 29!

And I'm officially in my last full month at home! Ah!!

Day 29: Your favorite theme park attraction.



I have quite a few favorites, but these are the 2 that are my favorite park! :)

Love, love, love! ♥

Day 28!

Day 28: Your favorite theme park.

I love Epcot. Especially World Showcase. :)

Leave a Legacy

Source: Simple Disney Things

My mom and I did the Leave a Legacy back in 2000. For those of you who don't know what it is, there's these marble slabs right when you enter Epcot (and there's a lot of them). For the millinium, people had their pictures taken, and they were put onto these slabs (hence, leave a legacy).Since there are so many pictures and slabs, it's hard to find yours. In fact, we didn't find ours again until this past April when we went for vacation. :p

Here's our picture.

The middle one, obviously. :p

It's hard to believe that picture was taken 11 years ago. That means I was 12! Ah! :p

Now, maybe by the time my program ends, I'll be able to find this picture at Epcot without any trouble. :p

My Favorite Thing To Do At Disney World

Source: Simple Disney Things

World Showcase is my favorite part of Disney World. I get to visit 11 different countries without ever leaving Florida. I think that's pretty cool! :p I could spend all day in World Showcase if people would let me. And I can't wait until I actually can do this. I plan on eating at least 1 thing from every country while I'm down there. And considering that I'll be down there for the International Food & Wine Festival, when they bring in even more countries, I'll be doing a lot of eating at Epcot. :p

Day 6!

I would just like to say that my check-in date (August 8) is two months from today!! :)

Now on with the challenge. :)

Day 6: Your favorite animal

I can't choose just one....so I picked three. :)

 Chip & Dale :)

And Stitch.

I have a thing for characters who make me laugh. And these always do. Even in the parks.

Can't Wait For This!

Source: Simple Disney Things

REAL fish and chips! I love the little stand in the UK Pavilion that serves these! It's one of my favorite places to eat. :)

I can't wait until I get to have this pretty much whenever I want.

Day 30!

Day 30: A picture that always makes you think of Disney.

 Rain and waiting on parades. :)

 The reverse waterfall at Epcot.

 My cousin getting attacked by Captain Hook at the bus stop at Coronado Springs. :p

 Getting Leslie her first ear hat. :)

Mickey celebration cupcakes. :)

Wow! I'm done with the challenge already! Meg was right....these do make the time go by a little faster! :)

But if you liked seeing my challenge, don't worry. I'll start a new one tomorrow. :)

Day 16!

Day 16: A picture of your favorite place to shop.

I love the department store in the China pavilion at Epcot. Asian culture has always fascinated me, and I love looking at the beautiful things inside this store. :)

Day 5! :)

Day 5: A picture of your least favorite ride or attraction.

Journey into Imagination with Figment. I rode it once. I don't remember a lot about it, but I do remember not being too thrilled with it. I'm pretty sure it was kind of boring to me.