Why does Disney send exciting emails when I need to go to bed early?!

So breaking news,

We all just received an email about putting housing preferences in!  This kind of throws all my plans off as I was leaving it to Disney fate.  Now that we have this option I'm preferencing.  I'm still not room mate matching but I guess this is a pretty good option.  No program to my knowledge has been able to do it this way so perhaps they are trialing it with our group.

I figured in light of this I would explain how the housing works as the most common questions I get asked have to do with where I'm living blah blah blah.

SO

For all the disney programs there are four housing complexes.  Vista, which is the oldest, largest and has the reputation for being the party scene, then there is Patterson Court which is the newest but also has the reputation of a retirement home, then there is Chatham Square which is somewhere in the middle.  Lastly there is the Commons, which seems very mysterious as only internationals doing cultural representative programs live there but they are apparently mega fancy, i.e. having in built laundries.  

I'm pretty skeptical with doing preference systems, except I figure if I was going with Disney fate anyway it doesn't make much difference.  So I put Chatham, Patterson and Vista, in that order.

Then we had to pick number of rooms, there are 2 people for each room and we had the option of a 2, 3 or 4 bedroom.  I put 2 bedroom as number one because that way I'm guaranteed a bathroom to each of the rooms.  Followed by 3 then 4.  

We also got to pick the level we wanted, 1, 2, or 3.  I really don't care about the level so i just went 1, 2, 3.


SO yes, that is housing.   Will just have to wait and see!  Less than two weeks!  And 8 Days till I leave!! EEEEEEEK!

16 Days!! Zomg!! And Australian Flag Tattoos!!

Ahh I can't sleep and I'm excited so it's resulting in a blog post!!  I figure I should try and get into the habit of posting so that there is still a chance that I will post when I'm over there.  I make no promises.

So for a Fortune 500 company Disney sure like the element of surprise.  I guess it keeps us on our toes. Anyway, last week we got this lovely long email from Disney going through all the important last minute bits of info we need before checking in, when bam out of nowhere, slotted in the middle of the last paragraph of dot points, was a dot point along the lines of

• and your monthly insurance will be deducted from your pay monthly at a rate of $65-$75 depending on the cover you have chosen.

WTF?!  This was the first we had heard about it.  We had paid a $100 insurance fee and figured that covered us, but then they sprang this on us.   Long story short, and a few frantic phone calls later turns out this doesn't apply to us and we don't need to fork out an extra $70 a month.  Which is fantastic because a) the cover was hardly worth the money, basically just the essentials and b) I am getting my own insurance so the Disney insurance would have been redundant.   

But the good news is, it is all sorted!  

To add to all the excitement, last night some lovely Australians who are already doing the program started looking up all the locations for our roles!  So most of us (apparently they gradually release people into the system) know where we are working.  I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be a surprise or not but everyone else was finding out and I got caught up in the excitement.   So.. Drum Roll... I'm working at the TTC which is the Ticket and Transport Centre or something like that.  Exciting!  It's the biggest Vacation Planner spot so hopefully it will be fun, the only thing I'm not sure about is apparently TTC people get a few parade control shifts which I don't think I really want.  But we will see!

Umm, what else, well its 16 days till I leave, which is crazy.  I feel like everything's under control but I'm sure one week out I'll  be freaking out like crazy.

I've sort of, kind of started packing,  I'm aiming for only one suitcase, but I struggle with one suitcase for two weeks, so this will be interesting.

I'm having a Princess Tea Party as a goodbye kind of thing for my school friends for a bit of fun.  Hopefully I'll actually take some photos and upload.  

OHHH and the biggest news ever.  I bought my first ever Australia Flag Tattoos!!    The Olympics are going to be on while we are over there so I figured to show some Australian spirit they may come in handy.  And on that note it is going to be so weird watching the Olympics in another country!  But it will be half the fun.

So I am pretty sure I am rambling, so I'm going to leave this here.  Feel free to comment, ask questions etc etc!  

Stilllll Waitingg

Ahhh.

Still, still waiting.   I now needed to send in a copy of my diploma.  I sent my official transcripty thing from the uni which hopefully should cover it but ahhh.

Anyway, aside from the waiting, in a few days it will 100 days till I leave!  I can't believe we are finally down to double digits, in some ways it seems only yesterday like we were in the 200's but then that also feels like ages ago, and another 100 days seems so incredibly far away.

Apart from waiting, and waiting, and refreshing my emails, I've still been interning at the Starlight Foundation.  It's cool, a lot of work but I've brought in a fair bit of money for the organisation and have got to do some very cool things.  The event is called Five Chefs, and they bring 5 top chefs from each state to put on a five course dinner at the very accessible price of $500 per person to raise money for Starlights programs.  It's Starlight's biggest annual fundraiser and there is still so much to do with only about 6 weeks to go!  Ahh.  So at least that is keeping me occupied.

I've also been working a fair bit which is tiring me out like crazy but at least I will have plenty of funds to splurge at Disney!

I guess the only other thing that is keeping me distracted from Disney would be my grad job applications. I've had a few rejects but overall things are progressing nicely.  Fingers crossed!  And if I don't get one, I guess I'll just spend another 6 months at Disney!  Tough life.

Anyway, I thought it was time to update you all - it wasn't very Disney related but it may have given you a bit more of an idea of who I am.  Ooh  that was corny.  Annywayyyy.  I will update as soon as anything Disney-esque comes through.

Over and out.
x

Goal # 9

Goal # 9 - Create my own treat at Goofy's Candy Co.

T minus 160 Days!

So it is exactly one hundred and sixty days till I leave!! Yayyy!!


Not much is really happening on the Disney front, although we now have the go ahead with out police checks.  Once everyone has sent their paperwork away it will soon be time for Visa stuff!  Wooo!


I figure because I don't really have much to say I'll give you a run down on the accommodation situation.


Basically there are four housing complexes for Disney international college program,  Vista Way, Chatham Square, Patterson Court and the Commons, although no one in the Australian program gets placed in the Commons.


Vista Way is the biggest, the oldest and has a reputation for being party central, Patterson Court is the newest/nicest but has the reputation of being a retirement village, and Chatham is a mix of the two.  I'm hoping for Chatham, though we don't really get a choice, so will just have to wait and see.


Anyway the apartments are mostly 2 and 3 bedroom with two people to a room, although there are a few four bedrooms and apparently very, very few one bedroom apartments.  So I'll mostly likely be sharing an apartment with 4 to 8 people.  Should be interesting.  


This is the list we get that tells us EXACTLY what we will be getting.  No surprises.  Definitely gonna need that ladle and I'm gonna make heaps good use of the weight room.  I'm gonna come back massive.


Anyway this is it for this week!

• All utilities, including water, electricity, waste disposal
• High-speed Internet access in all apartments (additional information below)
• Local phone service and one central phone
• Centrally located laundry facilities
• Maintenance of the apartments, including pest control
• Onsite security
• Cable television hook-up
• Computer labs
• Wireless Internet Lounge, Clubroom Thirteen501
• Swimming pools
• Weight rooms
• Tennis, basketball and racquetball courts
• Fully furnished apartment
• Bedroom
  • Dresser with mirror
  • Nightstand
  • (2) Twin beds
  • Dining Room
  • Table with 4 chairs
• Living Room
  • Couch
  • Chair
  • 2 End tables
• Additional Items Provided
  • Shower Curtain
  • 2 Vanity wastebaskets
• Kitchen Appliances
  • Refrigerator with ice maker
  • Stove, Oven, & Microwave
  • Dishwasher
• Kitchen Utensils and Dishes
  • Assortment of Pots & Pans w/ lids
  • Mixing Bowl Set
  • Measuring Cups
  • Cutting Board
  • Spatula
  • Can Opener
  • Cutting Knife
  • Ladle
  • Tea Kettle
  • Serving Spoons
  • Cookie Sheets
  • Dinner plates
  • Salad Plates
  • Cereal Bowls
  • Drinking Glasses
  • Coffee Cups
  • Set of knives, spoons and forks