I've truly earned my ears!!!!

I am now a Disney International Program graduate!!!! We all graduated yesterday and it was brilliant! I cannot believe our entire arrival group has lasted out the year, no terminations, no self terming....

Vikki, Lauren N, Nicola and I spent the night at The Swan which is a really nice resort. We were upgraded to a room offering a view of the Tower of Terror. We all had a fairly early night (after a meal at Garden Grove) as I made everyone get up at 5am the following morning. With four girls and only one bathroom, I knew we'd need all the time we could get. Turns out I was the only one up and about though, the rest pulled themselves out of bed about an hour later.

Once we were all dressed, we went down to the lobby and took photos by the fountain. Then we caught a taxi over to the Coranado Springs where our graduation was being held. We arrived twenty minutes early but most people were there so we all mingled and took photos. I must be in at least 20 different peoples pictures. At 8am, they let us into the ballroom. It looked amazing. There were lots of round tables all set up with balloons and graduation hats and there was a full buffet breakfast. Everyone was going round taking photos with everyone else and to be honest, I barely ate a thing as there was so much else going on. Over in one corner were about 15 caricature artists and everyone got a caricature for free. Mine was okay; the artist drew me as Peter Pan so I was pretty happy but some of the pictures were awful. It was like the artists decided to choose the thing you were most self conscious about and accentuate it.

Over on the other side of the room was Mickey and Minnie. For the first time, you had to have a photo with them seperately which was a bit of a bummer. I queued for Mickey but I'm not a big Minnie fan so I didn't bother with her. Mickey was wearing green too so it was a pretty "green" picture!

We were all given our graduation ears which I wore for the rest of the day. Our arrival group managed to get a photo together which was important as I'm really proud that we've all finished our year. So many times I expected one of us to leave. Poor Rhys was very homesick at the beginning, twice I've come close to being termed, Pippa's grandfather died and Nic's had a major operation...It's quite an achievement that we're all still here. All the other arrival groups are missing at least two people. Some are down 50% and I know of one that had only one remaining person at the end!

We were given a speech by someone but to be honest, I really wasn't listening. I was too busy having pictures and giving hugs. Alot of people were graduating at the same time so there were alot of friends to congratulate. There were about 25 UK's and I also had to congratulate my Norweigan mates (particularly Rene, Iselin, Siri and Vader!) and a few Mexicans, Germans and Canadians that we have come to know. Our leaders were there, including Rachid who was reassigned a while ago. I was very happy he came!

As the graduation was winding down, I went back to my table and did a quick change. I put my blue dress over my head and shimmied out of the green right there in the hall. It's bizarre that there were 500 people and no one saw me do it. When people came back to the table, there were some confused looks about how I was wearing an entirely different dress! I wasn't being a diva though, there was just no way I was wearing two and a half inch heels round the park! Plus, I didn't want my green dress ruined. I love that dress!

We all stole the balloons from our table and then headed off into the parks. I went to MK with Vijay, Vikki, Nic, both Laurens, Rhys and Andy. We stole the balloons from our table and had one each. I got the blue green one which was very apt with the dress change! It's tradition after graduation to go round the parks all dressed up and wearing our graduation ears. We had the obligatory photo taken at the castle and then Vijay and Vikki went home. Vijay had work and Vikki was hot. The rest of us took alot of photos and then watched the parade. We also headed over to Toontown where we all got our graduation ears embroided with our name (something Disney lets us do for free!) Andy had had the foresight to make reservations so we had lunch at Tony's, the Italian restaurant on Main Street. I actually really like that restaurant, I'd never been before.

As it was fairly hot, we decided to switch parks and enjoy the air conditioned bus ride over to Hollywood Studios. Once there we did Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. I had a slight dress situation in that I nearly ended up flashing on the ride photo but it was okay. We also watched the Beauty and The Beast show.

By this time we were all flagging a little so we took a break at The Dolphin resort for a drink. Then we went back to MK for Wishes. Standing there watching the fireworks just reminded me of standing there at the beginning of this year thinking "wow, I'm a cast member". Now it's nearing the end.

I can't believe it's nearly over. It's been an incredible year. I've laughed and cried, stressed and played. I've floated home on Pixie dust and cried my eyes out in my room while begging to go home. I've enjoyed my time but I miss my family terribly. Every second I'm here is a second I'm missing with my little niece, she's growing up so fast. I've gotten closer to my sister in the time I've been away which is one of the best things to come out of this year and for once I haven't freaked my mum out with news of lightening strikes, hurricanes or spider bites! I've made some really good friends in Rene, David, Stephie, Vikki and Kevin AND I've even managed to go back on the cruise! In a few more weeks it'll be my throw out and I'll be heading out of the Disney bubble for good. In a way, I'm glad as there's only so much cheese you can take but I'll miss the pixie dust. Still, I may be going home and growing up but I truly believe you can still be a kid at heart. I intend to be like Peter Pan and never truly grow up. As long as there is faith, trust and pixie dust, your dreams can come true.....