Last days of work....

My last couple of weeks of work have passed really quickly. It didn't feel like it at the time but looking back on it right now, it went fast. It was really quiet so I ended up being cut from alot of my last "normal" shifts. On my last PM shift, I was given an ADO so I never stood watching Illuminations while thinking "this is my last Illuminations". I wasn't too bothered to miss it though.

On my last days off, Rene and Iselin and I went round MK collecting autographs. I filled up most of my autograph book. We managed to get Chip, Dale, Pinocchio, Donald Duck, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, Pooh, Tigger, Stitch, Buzz Lightyear, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Seventeen in one day is pretty good going!

Time card started on the 19th. Time card is the last week. They have already sorted out our paychecks at this point so we have to do the set hours. Even if we finish two hours before we're scheduled to leave.

Our throwout on Tuesday was alot of fun! It was a huge throwout. Andy, Rhys, Lauren N, Vikki and I all got our stuff together round at mine and Vikki's apartment. I had no idea I had so much crap to throwout! I had a ton of stuff and added to everyone elses, we had a huge mound of things! Throwouts are fantastic! Everyone gets together and you hold up each item and whoever yells "SHOTGUN!" first gets it! I can't believe we managed to fit so many people in our little apartment. As you can see by the pictures, we managed it! I was quite satisfied that I managed to get rid of everything I wanted to get rid of, including ALL the books.

On Wednesday was my last day of work. Vikki and I exchanged cameras and spent the whole shift taking photos of...well, pretty much everything. I have photos of me filling drinks, using the POS, serving a table, even scraping food at potwash! Everything had such a finality to it! I was pretty jazzed because I knew it was my very last time getting drinks or straws or salt or anything for tables! I broke every rule I could think of. I deliberately took out glasses WITHOUT a tray, I drank the chocolate milk, I didn't spiel anything to any table and I spent more time hanging out at podium than talking to my guests. It was great! I signed the back of the portraits that are hanging behind the bar so if you're ever there, look out for my signature!

That evening, Vikki and I walked back to our apartment and as we passed the lake, we grabbed our shoes off and tossed them in! I was so happy to get rid of them! Evil little buggers! We had to check all around us first to make sure security wasn't watching us as we could still get termed at that point.

In the evening, we had our last meal at Tu Tu Tangos. It was a nice meal and afterwards in the carpark, everyone posed for photos and hugged each other. I felt terrible because I was the only one who didn't seem to be able to cry. I felt sad but not crying sad. Everyone was saying the nicest things and I couldn't even produce one little tear! I'm not a cryer in public generally, I like to wait for privacy but it felt really bad that I couldn't get upset and everyone decided I must be dead inside.

The following day I spent getting prepared to leave. I picked up my last paycheck and packed my bags. I have two cases and they are ridiculously heavy! I can't believe how much stuff I've acquired over the last year and there isn't anything that I don't want to keep! I'm not the most girly girl in the world, in fact, I'm a bit of a tomboy. So can anyone explain to me how I have ended up with EIGHT pairs of shoes?! I don't even have lots of books (for a change). I'm taking home only two books! That's really good going for me! Yet all my stuff together fills two whole cases! Weird! The only time I felt anything approaching sad was when I got into the apartment after visiting the post office and noticed that Vikki had been and gone, taking all her stuff with her. I was alone in an empty apartment and that felt a bit sad.

In the evening, I met up with my Norweigan friends, Rene, Iselin and Siri and we went to MK to see my last Wishes. I stood there in the street holding hands with Izzy and Siri and finally, I cried! When the song at the end came on, my lower lip was trembling and I had to bite it to try and keep the tears back. After Wishes, we sat and watched Spectromagic. Rene and Izzy disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a light up rose for me! That was it, the floodgates opened and I was there sobbing while everyone hugged me! There was no way I could pretend I had "something in my eye" either as I was in complete floods! I intend to keep that rose forever. I will throw out clothes to fit it in my case!

We all came back to the apartment and had a group hug while listening to "Feels Like Home". I cried, Rene cried and so did Izzy! It was a big crying fest! I was just glad that I could cry, I was beginning to believe I really WAS dead inside. Someone once told me, if you can't cry over your year here, it's a wasted year.

Siri and Iselin went down to the car and I shared a special hug with Rene. He told me I was the only UK girl he's ever loved, something I'm never going to forget! I will miss him so much. He's been one of my best friends out here and he is the greatest guy I have ever had the priviledge to call a friend. I actually feel sorry for people who don't know him, you have no idea what you're missing!

This morning I moved over to the hotel Clarion on International Drive. I was very lucky as they let me check in at 10am, instead of 4pm. The first thing I did was take EVERYTHING out of my cases and spread it over the bed. Then I picked out anything I could possibly get rid of. Annoyingly, it's mainly clothes which don't weigh much. I don't get what exactly is making the cases so heavy. It couldn't possibly be the 300 odd pens I pinched from work! I'll repack them again tonight and if they are still too heavy, I'll....erm...freak? Nah, I'll pay excess baggage. No biggie. The trouble with that is you have to pay it on a card and I don't have one I can use. I've closed my American account, my English account hasn't got enough in it to cover the costs and my credit card is having issues. I have cash but apparantly, cash isn't good enough! Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So, here I am in the hotel for the next few days. I have passes for Aquatica, Universal, Islands of Adventure and Seaworld, not to mention all the delights I-Drive has to offer. I also have a pass for the Disney parks so I'm spoilt for choice. I'm not sure I'll do Disney again. I want my last night to be the special one I shared with Rene, Izzy and Siri. All three of us are meeting up on Sunday to do Seaworld together so I've only got two days in which to play as I fly on Tuesday. Right now I'm going to pack my cases again and then grab some Doritos, dip and have a night in watching a movie. I'm thinking Aquatica tomorrow but it depends on the weather. We'll see....

Until next time, this is a very tired Tori signing off!

Cruises, Peter Pan and painful shoes

Ouch! I'm in pain right now! I've just been "breaking in" my new "Disney Look" work shoes. I bought them nearly a month ago but the stupid Shoes For Crews show place sent me the wrong ones. My friend, Emma, exchanged them for me while I was on the cruise (thank you, Em!) so today I had the fun job of trying to make them feel comfortable. I wore them to Downtown Disney and they were on my feet for about two hours. By the end I was walking with a limp. It's not so bad at the front of the shoe, it's the back. I've rubbed my heels raw, especially as I refused to "let the shoes win" by changing out of them. I have to wear them for work so I've got to get used to the little buggers. Besides, you can't return shoes once they are filled with your blood! That's frowned upon. At least I can still retain my sense of humour about them. I bet after tomorrow's twelve hour shift I won't be so cheerful! New shoes for the sake of ten more days....Sometimes I really hate Disney and it's stupid inane rules! My Nan always used to say putting soap on the heel of the shoe softens the leather. I'm not sure if this is true but I've done it anyway. My friend, Kev also suggested sticking them in the tumbledryer so I've tried that too. I even went online and there's an actual serious suggestion of running them over with a truck. I'm not going to try that but the little buggers deserve it!

I didn't mean to start this entry with such a grumble but as my feet are screaming right now, it was the first thing that came out.

Right, so the last time I blogged was graduation. Graduation was so much fun! Straight after graduation was our arrival groups "eleven month anniversary". Unfortunately, I was foodrunning that day so I was the last one to join the group. Nicola had done a little tea for everyone. There were only leftovers remaining when I arrived but they'd put aside a plate for me. It was more important that all of us were there to celebrate our last anniversary (we're all done by our year anniversary). Lauren P and Rhys finish before the rest of us because they are on someone else's visa. Lauren P and I got chatting and she said how she'd like to do a cruise. I had some holiday time to take so we booked another cruise! Then I had nine days off in a row.

I spent my days off well. On the 3rd July, I met up with Louisa and we went round MK. They were doing the Independance Day fireworks on both the 3rd and 4th of July so we went to see those. We spent the whole day in the parks. Louisa is alot of fun to hang out with! In celebration of the day, we both bought headgear. I had a Peter Pan hat while Louisa had some 4th July Mickey ears. The park was actually quite quiet during the day. I guess people assumed it would be busy and stayed away (until around 7pm when they came in for the fireworks...) We took advantage of the short lines and rode all the attractions we wanted to. We even went on the Peter Pan ride as we got fastpasses for it. We met Peter Pan (yay!) and I got a photo which will be my Facebook profile picture for a while!

I've never really explained my Peter Pan fixation. People normally just take it as one of those weird quirks. Peter Pan, to me, is the spirit of youth. He's arrogant and innocent and cocky. He has no responsibilities and his world is restricted only by what he imagines. Plus he can fly. That would be really cool. The idea of never having to grow up appeals to me. Staying young at heart is important. Living without fun is what makes you old! That's why he appeals to me so much! Plus, he wears my favourite colour which is not a bad thing. The original story is amazing and I can't wait to tell that story to Izzy when she's a little older. Disney made Peter a little brash and harsh but the live action one was done brilliantly. He's just a great character.

Louisa and I stayed in the park for the Independance Day fireworks. They were brilliant! At one point they were all around us and they were red, white and blue. When they exploded they were stars! The finale was truly breath taking! I felt a little weird to be British and celebrating a time when we got our arses kicked in a war but at that time I wasn't even alive. I believe a country SHOULD have the chance to decide it's own governments and ideals. If they wish to be independant, they should be. The park was really crowded after the fireworks and it took us ages to get home.

I didn't work Independance Day. I'd booked it off because it was earmarked as the day "I was most likely to be termed". I tend to be sarcastic and sometimes I can come out with things BEFORE I've had the chance to think "should I really have said that?" My mum has the same affliction and more than once I've said things that I really shouldn't have done. We were warned that the Americans like to visit the UK pavillion on Independance Day and gloat about how they beat the English (because apparantly they all fought in a war 200 odd years ago!) I didn't trust the things I might have said. I've had one guest once say how "you'd be speaking German if it wasn't for us winning the second world war" and I was extremely frosty to him. My grandad fought in that war and just because the Americans joined in doesn't mean they swayed it. Besides, they only joined because the attack on Pearl Harbour, they were quite happy to ignore it 'til then. Herbert Hoover did absolutely nothing until......I'm not getting into this. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I was off!

The day after Independance Day was the day of the cruise. I can't believe I've done the cruise twice in less that a month! Still, it was worth it! I had a great time. I went with Lauren Parkin which was fun because she's up for anything. On Nassau day, we did the segway tour. It was brilliant. It was a two hour journey through the forests of Nassau. The ground was uneven and rocky and full of tree roots and hills but it was better like that. I was really nervous and tentative at first but by the end I was happily driving without hands!



If I ever win the lottery, I'm buying a Segway!

Castaway Cay day was also alot of fun. We spent the day just relaxing on the island. Lauren sunbathed while I "shadebathed". I don't trust the sun and I avoid sitting in it as much as possible. On the island we met Jack Sparrow. He was brilliant! He had the voice and the mannerisms and everything! I was wearing a Tinkerbell T-shirt and he made me cover it. I explained that I didn't really like Tinkerbell, I prefer Peter Pan and he got all offended! There's a picture of me, Lauren and Jack and he's shoving me out of the photo! He was great.

That night was Pirate Night and everyone dressed up. Lauren was a pirate, complete with hook and hat. I was Peter Pan! I know he's not technically a pirate but someone has to fight them, right? It was so much fun running around the ship as Peter Pan. I had people coming over and asking for autographs and two people took photos of me (no doubt those photos will end up online titled "saddo on the Disney Wonder") We also met Jack Sparrow again and he remembered us. He told me to "fly off, Peter Pan and don't come back!" I was laughing so hard I could barely stand!

We saw alot of characters round the ship and while waiting in line for Mickey, I spied the real Peter on the deck above. I practically flew up the stairs. Peter Pan loved my costume and I got a special Peter hug! We saw Peter on the last night too and he signed my new Peter Pan bag that Lauren bought for me.

I would have thought the first cruise would have spoiled the experience a little but it was just as fun the second time. We did different stuff, including a "pamper night" in the Vista Spa. That was weird. It included a facial, back massage, head massage, foot and ankle rub, champagne and strawberries. I don't do the girl thing well and while we lay there being massaged, all I could think of was how much trust we were placing in the therapists. If they had chosen, they could have stabbed us and we wouldn't even have seen it coming! I'm pretty sure that's NOT what you're meant to think during a massage. I actually found myself grower tenser and preparing to fight. I don't think I'm destined for the lady of leisure life....

Now I'm back from the cruise and I only have twelve days left until I finish at work. I'm actually a little nervous. I worry about getting termed (fired). I've come close to it before for the silliest things. Disney refunds your flight at the end of your contract so if they can term me first, they'll save themselves alot of money. I've had dreams where I wake up convinced I've been termed for some small dumb thing or another. I don't know where this fear has come from as I know I'm good with my tables. The positive guest comments attest to that. I can't be "got" on Disney Look with my new shoes (read evil devil shoes!) and I'm always over an hour early for work everyday so lateness shouldn't be a problem. I never call in sick unless I'm actually sick so I'm okay there.... Yet it's something I worry about. I'll be glad when this fortnight is over.

People are leaving in droves now. Kevin left today and I was surprised at how much I cared. Kevin is arrogant and obnoxious and no one can push my buttons the way he can and yet I find I'm actually going to miss the git! He's been a very good friend out here and I always kind of took it for granted that I could pop across to his for a night of Wii or a movie. I missed all of his timecard week as I was on the cruise so his leaving crept up on me really suddenly. I wish he'd been in my arrival group but he was the one before. He's a great guy and has more energy than Tigger on prozac, things will seem weird without him.

Right, you're up to date again now. I've got a normal week of shifts and then I start something called "timecard". This is your last week and you're not allowed to get guests on the Dining Plan or that you have to add a gratuity to because you've already got your final paycheck and grat comes up in that. It also means you must do the hours set. Normally we're scheduled until a set time but if you finish earlier or later it doesn't matter. On an AM shift you're normally scheduled until 5.30pm but the latest you're done is around 4.30pm. On timecard, you have to stay until your time. That means sitting by the clock in machine with a book. Sounds okay to me!

In my last week I have our throwout to look forward to (that should be the 21st) and then last meal. Then I'm done with Disney and I have a few days on International Drive to relax before I'm "leaving on a jet plane". I just hope I make it through the next fortnight....