Bermuda!!

So Derrek and I made it to Bermuda safe and sound! We landed last night around 8:30 and got a cab with a fabulous driver in a giant taxi van who drive fast around tiny roads with hairpin turns!! And on the opposite side of the road from what we're used to! We got to my friend Katie's house and there was a lovely little note waiting for us as she was still at work. Shes been working at the Fairmont here and living in the staff housing so as you can imagine I was very interested in seeing both the housing and the hotel!! The housing is fabulous!! Small but adorable and she lives by herself which is more than I can say for all staff housing I've lived in! So we walked down to the Swizzle Inn by her place and had some dinner and that's where she met us! Katie is one of those amazing friends that no matter how long you haven't seen eachother, it still feels like you've been together the whole time! So we had a great time catching up! Then this morning I went with her to work and took her scooter back with me. First of all, scootering takes a bit of getting used to! Second of all driving on the other side of the street takes some getting used to!!! But I managed, I did scrape my toe, but other than that I survived!! And Derrek was a fabulous passenger!! Katie has so many exciting things planned for us!! Tonight we're going for dinner at the Fairmont because she gets 50% off! Then tomorrow we go on a boat to explore!!! I'm excited. We want to find the lost city of Atlantis, which we feel certain is located in the Bermuda triangle somewhere. More later!! And photos too!!  

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!