Happy New Year!

Well, it's now 2009! How weird does that look?

It's been a good few days but I am soooo glad it's all over. Work has been really busy and full on but things should start settling down a little bit now.

I had been dreading doing the PM shift for New Years Eve. For the last month, all the managers have been saying "it'll be really busy, you'll be weeded, it'll be tough" and basically freaking everyone out. Luckily, Matt decided he wanted to work the PM as everyone said the money was really good so I traded. I was an AM instead.

The AM shift was really busy and I felt so glad I'd traded. It turns out I made the right decision too, as I made more on my AM than Matt did doing the PM. After work, Kevin, Vikki, David and I got changed and exited the park. We were told that we had to leave and come in as guests. I thought it would be wayyy too busy but we got back in with no problem. Only trouble was it was 5pm so we had 7 hours to kill. The park was really busy so we didn't bother with any rides. We just mooched around. At 7pm, we went back to the UK pavillion and did a countdown to 7pm (which is midnight back home). Everyone that was at work came out into the street and we all hugged and wished each other Happy New Year. The Americans around us all thought we were nuts!

Later on, we decided to head over to Norway to see Rene. We got halfway round world showcase when we ran into a huge crowd of people. They were stationary and we couldn't move forward. We stood in the huge crowd for about 10 minutes then tried to back out of it. At that point there were people behind us as well. We couldn't move at all. I looked left...people, I looked right, more people...I'm a little claustrophobic in crowds but I closed my eyes and tried to imagine there was no one else there. Kevin tried to lead me out but as soon as he put his hands on my shoulders I shrieked, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" We couldn't move anyway. In the end, I couldn't handle it, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I lunged for the railing and somehow (I don't remember this part) got over it. Then I sat on the grass trying to get enough oxygen. It was awful. I sat there for twenty minutes or so, then security came and helped me backstage. Once I was out of the crowds, I was fine. I still can't believe I got over that railing. Kevin is over six foot and he had difficulty! Guess adrenaline did most of it!

At around 11pm, we were back in the UK pavillion. As a joke, Kevin asked if there was any availability in the restaurant. There was! Colin said if we didn't mind the cold, he'd take us on his section. It had been empty all night because it was cold outside. We were fine to sit in the cold so we had a table right on the waterfront for the New Years Eve fireworks. It was brilliant! I had a Baileys hot chocolate and we all shared lots of different types of food. It was a brilliant way to ring in the new year!

Merry Christmas everybody!

Well, Christmas is now over and we're already preparing for the New Year. It's been a rather strange Christmas but I've had fun anyway. I could not have got through it without the group though (David, Rene, Kevin, Vikki and Sam). The friends you make out here end up becoming your adopted family and you rely on them alot.

For the last month of work, our managers have been warning us "it's going to be really busy, be prepared, you'll be weeded, it's uncontrollable...." I'm not sure if they were trying to scare us or if they really thought we'd be busier than we have been. Don't get me wrong, we're really busy but we're not out of control. We're handling it really well. I only hope New Year will be as good.

I had a pretty good schedule over Christmas. On Christmas Eve I was a PM and then an AM on Christmas Day. The Christmas Eve PM was fine. Everyone was really excited and all my guests were a pleasure to talk to. At 7pm, all the UK's got really excited because it was Christmas Day back home (due to the time difference). The guests were in the spirit of things and celebrated with us which made it a pretty fun night.

After work, we all went round to Kev and Rene's apartment. David brought his mattress round while I carried his toy Wall-e that he felt had to join us for Christmas. It was amusing to see David carrying his mattress as he looked like a mattress with legs! Once we all arrived, we sat in a circle and opened our Christmas tree presents. I got the DVD Scrooged which I was pleased with. We all showed each other our presents and then it was suggested we open another one. After all, it was actually Christmas Day at this point. We agreed to open one more; our secret santa presents from work. I recieved a small book called "101 things to do with a thumb tip". I use thumb tips in my magic and I was touched that someone knew me well enough to pick out the perfect present. Kevin got UK chocolate which he was over the moon about (you can tell by the photo). Poor David didn't have a secret santa gift. I guess whoever chose him hadn't got round to buying one. The boys wanted to open "just one more present" but Vikki and I were firm and sent everyone to bed (oh yeah, girls rule!)

I was up extra extra early the following morning. I'd set my alarm for 6am but it had been knocked in my bag without me realising so I actually got up at 5am. I showered and dressed before noticing the time! Annoying! Anyway, I went online to Skype my mum but she wasn't available. I waited online until 6.30am and then decided it was time to get everyone up. Hee hee! I poked Dave a few times and jumped up and down on Rene for a while. I avoided Kevin as he is NOT a morning person! Vikki and Sam had spent the night round Sam's apartment so I called them and they came over. Then we sat on the floor and Vikki handed out the presents (she was nearest the tree).

Considering none of us have our families out here, the stack of presents for the six of us was quite impressive. Soon we all had a pile in front of us and we got stuck in. The photos show how much fun we all had! Kevin loved his Tigger soft toy and me, Vikki and David had a go of David's new foosball table. I got a really cool book on dinosaurs (yes, I'm a geek!) from Sam but the sweetest present was from Rene. He painted me a huge Peter Pan! I loved it! He'd worked on it so hard and the fact he'd put so much effort into it made it really special in my eyes. He was up until 5am Christmas morning working on it so he only had one and a half hours sleep! Bless him!

Kevin, Rene and I had work after that so we headed off to catch the bus. I expected the guests to be in great moods, after all, it WAS Christmas Day. However, everyone seemed really miserable and moody. Most of them were in the complaining mood. I was lucky, my tables were really nice but one guest told managers "the servers are too happy" and another complained "Christmas is everywhere!" We started the shift on a high. Everyone gathered at podium and sang "we wish you a merry Christmas" but the guests pulled us down. By the end of the lunch shift, two servers were in tears and security had to escort one group of guests from the park for causing a scene! I was determined not to let it affect me though and on the way home, I wished every single person I passed a Merry Christmas (much to Kevin's amusement). I got a few smiles but mostly people grunted at me. Still, I tried so it didn't bother me.

When we got home, David had started cooking. Kev and I set the table and opened our presents from home. I'd asked my family NOT to send me anything because anything they send out, I have to bring back at the end of my year here. However, my mum and my best friend are disobedient and I love them for it. I got a cool fox calendar and a dolphin necklace from my mum while my best friend, Lou gave me a new diary (purple! Yes!) and a rather puzzling thing called cat soap. Apparantly, you get it wet and it grows fur. I laughed out loud when I saw it. I'll have to be careful, if I leave it in the boys bathroom, it will be hard to tell apart from all the other stuff growing fur in there!

We settled down to dinner at around eight. It was brilliant! We had turkey and cranberry sauce, stuffing (made by me, Vikki and Sam so I'm surprised it was edible!), roast potatoes and mashed potatoes, broccoli and sweetcorn.....it was great! We also had Baileys to drink and Christmas crackers to pull! I loved every second of it. After dinner, we continued to drink the Baileys which had the unfortunate side effect of me not really remembering much after that. We played Monopoly and....something about a cat....I fell over a few times....erm.....I woke up this morning in my own bed, fully clothed with a few extra bruises and no idea how I got home. I later found out Rene took me home and put me to bed. He even set my alarm clock for me. So, all in all, a very fun Christmas! I love my friends and I'm glad I had them to celebrate with!

Christmas traditions, shopping, crackers and smelly newspaper!

Well, it's nearly Christmas. We've only got a few more days. It's going to be my first Christmas away from home. I've worked abroad alot but normally the season would end well before Christmas. This time I'll be gone for Christmas and New Year (and my nieces 3rd birthday and my birthday and easter....) It's really hard to be away from family this time of year but I'm coping. Mainly because I have a terrific group of friends out here.

It feels really strange to see Christmas decorations on palm trees. I'm used to cold weather this time of year and walking around in a T-Shirt just feels strange. Still, it's interesting to see how the Americans celebrate Christmas. For one thing, they call it "the holidays" rather than Christmas. They include Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year as the whole celebration. Everywhere you go people wish you "Happy Holidays". I always answer with "Merry Christmas!"

At work we're not allowed to wish guests a "Happy Christmas" because "Disney is a non discrimatory organisation". Apparantly it might be offensive to people who don't celebrate Christmas. Rubbish! I'm British and we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and that's our tradition so I will continue to give that as my holiday greeting until I get in trouble for it. If someone wished me a "Happy Hannakah" it wouldn't bother me even though I'm not Jewish so our guests will just have to get used to it.

I've got some good plans for Christmas anyway. I'm working an AM shift but I should be done by about 4pm. I'm getting together with Kevin, Sam, Vikki, David and Rene round at Kev and Rene's apartment. We're having a Christmas Eve sleepover and we're all going to be together to open the presents in the morning. Then I'm off to work (as is Kevin and Rene) and Dave, Vikki and Sam are making Christmas dinner. Then when we get back, we're decorating a Gingerbread house and having dinner all together. Poor Rene is working late but we won't leave him out.

We all got together this morning to go and get the Christmas food. Kevin hired a car and we went down to Kissimee to The British Store. Oh my goodness! You have never seen any group of people so excited to see Heinz Baked Beans! Us Brits were rushing round the store picking up things and screaming "oh my God, look, they have Penguins!!!!" (Chocolate coated cookies for the Americans reading this!) We were in raptures over the Aunt Bessies yorkshire puddings and when we found Lilt we were near tears. All those brands I take for granted at home....I never thought I'd be so excited to see a bottle of TCP! The sales assistant must have thought we were barking! However, she got into the spirit of things and brought out some English newspapers that were out of date. She was going to throw them away but said we could have them for free. Of course, we jumped at the chance and Vikki sniffed the paper and said "it smells like home!" Of course, that meant all of us had to smell the newspaper. Picture the scene, five people in a shop in Florida sniffing an out of date newspaper while our random Norweigan friend, Rene looks on in horror, convinced we've all gone nuts! It was the funniest thing ever and we were all laughing our heads off! Most importantly, the British store sold Christmas Crackers! I never knew they were a European thing, I thought it was universal but you can't get them in America. I was so happy to find them! At the end of our visit, the sales assistant (a lovely, elderly lady) whom we had been chatting with came round the counter and said "I know you're all away from your families so I'm going to give you all a hug". We all got a huge hug from her and Vikki was near tears when she pulled away. It was so sweet.

As this will be a rather strange Christmas for all six of us, we're trying to incorparate everyone's traditions into one. You would think that would be simple as five of us are British and one is Norweigan but it seems even in Europe people celebrate things a little differently. Rene is used to opening all his presents on Christmas Eve and he never has turkey for Christmas dinner. He has Christmas ham or Christmas sausage. I always have roast potatoes but Kevin has mashed potatoes. David always has Brussel Sprouts even though he doesn't eat them and most of the others want them because they're traditional (though no one really likes them). Vikki opens all her presents in the morning but Kevin spaces his out throughout the day. It's hard to mix it all together but I think we've hit a compromise. Christmas dinner will be turkey and stuffing with roast AND mashed potatoes. We'll also have sausages and sausage rolls. I think we're doing the presents half and half (half in the morning, half in the evening). For dessert, Rene is making a traditional Norweigan dessert called Riskrem (pronounced Rice-cream). Apparantly it's delicious but it's a bit worrying when Rene told us it's "creamy, sweet, smooth, light, fluffy and a little chewy" and is made from "rice and some other stuff." Still, we'll give it a go.

So, that's my Christmas all planned and it's going to be weird but also alot of fun. I never realised how much tradition there is in Christmas, I just thought everyone celebrated the same way. However, I've learnt that it doesn't matter how you celebrate or even IF you celebrate as long as you can surround yourself with friends or family and have an open mind to other peoples customs. So, I happily wish everyone "A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!" (or God Jul for the Norweigans). Have a fantastic Christmas, whatever you're doing and wherever you are!!!!

Big apologies!!!

Okay, okay, okay! I'm really sorry I haven't written my blog recently. Things here have been really busy and to be honest, I didn't think anyone was bothering to read it. However, that myth has been laid to rest. I've had lots of e-mails along the lines of "what's happened to the blog?" so I guess I'll carry on with it.

Okay so the last entry was over a month ago on the 21st October. Luckily I keep a diary so I should be able to do an update quite easily. Back then I was still really new to service and finding my feet. Over the following weeks most of my arrival group also entered into service. I helped to coach Lauren P on her menu learning and now all of us minus Lauren N (Newt) are servers. Newt decided she doesn't want to do service and sometimes I think she was the wisest one of us all! Service can be really stressful.

HSM3 came out at the end of October and I went along with a huge group of people to see it at one minute after midnight. Yep, I'm that sad. Sadder yet was the fact that the cinema was packed with adults desperate to see the film. It was crazy. The film itself was actually pretty good. Better than the second, anyway!

Towards the end of October the servers working the PM shift were rather amazed to spot our first celebrity diner! Noel Edmonds dined at The Rose and Crown. For people who don't know (ie. Americans), Noel Edmonds is the presenter of "Are you Smarter Than a 10 year old" and "Deal Or No Deal". He's not a major celebrity but we were all quite excited. When celebrities come to the restaurant, we're not allowed to behave any differently towards them than anyone else. I think we did a fairly good job, no one bothered him but I noticed an increase in the amount of servers that just had to use the till nearest his table or take plates to the kitchen the long way round so they passed his table. He seemed a nice enough bloke though personally I think he wanted to be recognised. If he didn't, he wouldn't have eaten at the UK pavillion. Any other pavillion wouldn't have had a clue who he was!

Halloween ended really suddenly. One night it was all orange and black everywhere and the following day it had vanished! Instead we started to prepare for Thanksgiving. For people who don't know (ie. British), Thanksgiving is an American holiday that celebrates the pilgrams sitting down with the Indians and getting through their first winter with thier help. Of course, the pilgrams then turned round and said "by the way, we're taking ALL the land" but that tends to be glossed over during the celebrations. Park attendance began to pick up in the run up to the holiday.

On November 4th, history was made here in the US when Barack Obama became the first black president. I have no idea what he's doing now or what plans he's putting forth as I've been too busy to catch the news but it's still quite cool to be here for an historic occasion.

On November 5th, it was Bonfire Night. Once again, let me explain for the Americans. Guy Fawkes was a man who entered parliament a long time ago in order to blow it up. The only man ever to enter our government with honest intentions! He didn't succeed and every year we celebrate that fact by burning a "guy" on the bonfire and setting off fireworks in the evening. To my surprise, Disney did a "Bonfire Day" celebration for the UK pavillion. We had hotdogs and burgers and alot of people wishing us "Happy Guy Fawkes Day" which felt weird as it's not that sort of holiday. Still, it was really nice that they tried.

November brought about the birth of our group. It consists of Kevin, Rene, David, Sam, Vikki and myself. Once a week we all get together and go for a meal at a different resort. At first it was just a coincidence but now we do it once a week without fail. We hang out at different times as well. I've never been a part of such a close group of friends before, it's really good. It's like being in a Friends episode. Practically every evening for the last week you could find us all hanging out playing board games or Kevin's Nintendo wii or watching a movie or something.

In the middle of November, Kevin, Rene and I drove down to Key West for the weekend. It was a seven hour drive but so worth it. Key West is really scenic. The water is an indescribable blue and they have a bridge called the Seven Mile Bridge. You drive across it and there's water both sides. It was brilliant. We had a meal on the marina and looked round Mallory Square. We stayed overnight and headed back the following day so we really didn't get to do that much. Next time we'll plan to stay longer. On the way home, we stopped at Miami and played around on the beach. The sea was warm, like bath water which was strange.

At the end of November, "our group" went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It was a really cold night but they give you free hot chocolate and cookies. The parade was amazing but the best part was the castle. It's all lit up like it's made of glass and it's really incredible. The old castle will look really dull when the lights come off. We're hoping to go to the party again before it finishes.

Thanksgiving came and went. I was a bit crazy, wishing everyone a "Happy Thanksgiving" just because I've never been able to before. We had a special turkey dinner in the restaurant and it was really busy. In the evening, our group went out for Thanksgiving dinner. I had turkey and it was a fun night.

That brings us up to date. The Candlelight Processional has begun at EPCOT now. Guests pay for a meal and ticket to see the show which is the nativity read by a "celebrity". I use the term lightly as I've never even heard of the celebrities they have. It means the restaurant is REALLY busy. It's almost crazy! I'm finding it difficult but the thing that's keeping me going is knowing that after the end of this month, things will calm down. We're already on the 8th and Candlelight ends on the 6th of January so I only have a month to get through. Service will be a doddle after this next month though.

Okay, I'm due at work so I'd better go. I'll try to update a little more often. Bye for now!