Bye bye orlando!!

So, we are sitting in the Miami International Airport waiting to head to Bermuda. It's wierd to leave Orlando. I don't really feel like I've left for real. I still feel like I'm on vacation and will come back to the lodge soon. I had everyone write in a little book for me before I left and I read what people wrote on our flight here, it's overwhelming the nice things that people had to say. I really feel lucky to have made such amazing friends. So here are some photos from the airport while we wait!!   

Fireworks!!

There's something I totally forgot to mention before. One of our engineers took me up on the roof the other day and it was so high up that we could see the fireworks from all three other parks, MK, Hollywood Studios, and epcot. It was amazing!!! Such a phenomenal view. I took a picture of the lodge so I could show you the ladder we went up to get to the top of the lodge!!
So if you look to the immediate right of the peak thingy you can see the ladder that we climbed up!' I was waaaaay up there!!!! 

Things I'll Miss

One of my co-workers asked me last night what I'm going to miss about Orlando. I'm going to miss taking balloons away from children, for sure. That's one of the best things about working at the lodge. NO BALLOONS. Anyhow, people also often ask what I miss most about home, so I thought I would give you Erica's Official Lists of things I (#1) miss about home and (#2) will miss about Orlando:

Things I miss about home:
* Fresh air
* The metric system
* The smell of the ocean
* My family
* horses
* my friends
* temperate climate
* not being made fun of everyday for being Canadian
* my car
* not having to cover my tattoos with makeup everyday

Things I will miss about Orlando:
* humidity
* lightening storms
* the parks
* Disney
* how noone thinks it's wierd that I name inanimate objects
* my friends
* my job
* taking balloons from children
* seeing giraffes every day
* my resort themed greeting (i really will miss saying 'dumela, and welcome home')
* the Tower of Terror

Those are just a few things.....and for the record, yes, I actually do miss living under the wise and benevolent rule of the metric system, who starts a temperature scale at 32 degrees??? It doesn't make any sense.

The Final Week

I'm sitting on my bed in my room, surrounded by the last few boxes that I need to ship and I can't believe it's almost over. I have 3 shifts left and 4 days here in Orlando before I say goodbye. I'm excited for what's to come but I'm so sad to leave. I really love it here. I've been so caught up in saying goodbye and getting organized that I haven't had too much time to be sad, but now, alone with my thoughts and Lind's and my quickly emptying room, I'm sad. So I'm giving myself some time to mourn right now, pout pout pout. Le sigh. And that's enough of that!!

So naturally, me being me, I've been scouring the web for all information I can find on Disneyland Paris because I want to be prepared and have an idea of all the places I could be possibly working. So far, I have to say that the Paris park, first of all, is STUNNING and I want to live in Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Secondly, I want to work in the Red Garter Saloon in Disney's Hotel Cheyenne. It's so cool looking. I'm looking at all the food and beverage establishments since that's the department I'll be working in!! I'm getting irrationally excited.

Paris on the Brain

I can't stop thinking about Paris!! I am looking at photos of DLP (Disneyland Paris) and it's so beautiful I want to cry. I love that the castle is pink!! And I love that the castle is Sleeping Beauty's castle, not Cinderella's castle like it is here. I like that it's different. For those of you who aren't aware, the California, Hong Kong, and Paris parks all have Sleeping Beauty castles, it's just WDW here that has Cinderella's castle. BUT...........DLP has a dragon in the dungeon!!!!!!!!! How fun is that!!?? So fun, right?? I can't wait to see it for real! AND DLP has an Alice in Wonderland MAZE!!!! With animatronic characters!!!!! That's my fave Disney movie!!! LE SIGH! For those of you who feel like you'd love to look at some photos of DLP, and get just as excited as I am. Check out this website, I've been on it all morning and I am pretty much in love with it!! www.photosmagiques.com 
There is so much to do to prepare for leaving. I can't believe it's coming up so soon. Packing kind of makes me want to curl up into a little ball and sleep for a hundred years. I'm getting it done slowly but surely. I just need to get it over with so I can get on with my life but it's just hard to motivate yourself to pack up your whole life, you know?? I sent off one box of stuff that I want to make sure gets home, like my graduation papers and certificates, and mickey ears, etc. So that's gone. I can't procrastinate anymore.....time to get packing!!!

MK

So last night I took my lil old self over to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks for the last time for who knows how long. It was lovely. I spent time wandering around and watched the electrical parade, which has been a favorite of mine since the first time I saw it in Disneyland! Then I stayed for the fireworks!!! I had a spot right in front of the castle and I had such a lovely time. I reflected upon my time here and just enjoyed the show. I'm going to miss MK! I need to go to all the parks before I leave. One down, 3 to go!

 

Bonjour!!

Maintenant, je pense que ce neccessaire d'ecrire en francais!!!! Just kidding, I'll write in english. I'm so conflicted!! 10 days until I leave this magical place. I already miss it. I'm trying to soak up all the pixie dust I can before I leave because I really love it here so very much. If I didn't have so much to look forward to in the near future I would be really really upset. I'm in a wierd place where I miss home, and my friends, I can't wait to be somewhere new and explore and learn, but also I'm just not ready to leave here. So I'm just trying not to panic, get all my leaving business in order, and take it one day at a time. This is also my third double in a row so I think I might be slightly delirious. Thursday I have a day off and it will be lovely. I'm planning to go to Magic Kingdom with some friends and I'll get to ride rides and watch the fireworks, I desperately ned to get to all the parks before I leave, I miss them. I'm so wierd, who misses amusement parks??? This gal. Strange. But who am I to question me...I'd rather indulge myself in my last week of unlimited WDW parks access. Le sigh.

 

On a brighter note, I'm practicing my french as much as possible. It's quite rusty, there's not a lot of people in B.C. who speak french so it's easy to lose it at home. All my to-do lists are in french and anyone who will sit still long enough gets to quiz me, looks like Derrek will be practicing his french on our road trip home. Fun for all!!! On the even brighter note, I get to see one of my best friends in the whole world in just 10 wee days!! Bermuda, here we come!!!!! The future is so bright and shiny, I'm really looking forward to everything the universe has in store for me, but I will always carry the past with me. It is not productive to live in the past, nor is it productive to live in the future, success tomorrow comes by living in the now, but you can never forget where you've been, or lose sight of where you are going.