DONE

Okay, so I know this isn't a proper finish and I did promise an update on my final month in America but at the moment it is way too disheartening. All you need to know is I had an amazing time, I'm back home, safe and sound and missing everything terribly.

I'll probably give this a better ending in the future but it'll break my heart to do it right now.

So long!

Or, in the words of Mickey Mouse "See ya real soon"

"So close to reaching that famous happy ending" - Enchanted

Two Weeks to Go

EEEEKKK! This time in two weeks I'll be on british soil. Super excited, will update more later but for now, EEEEKKK!!

"Could you tell me sir where we are sailing?"

"To London, madam" - Peter Pan

Random catch up

I just realised I haven't updated everyone in weeks so I figured another random catch up was in order...

First and foremost, my life sucks!! Concierge is so annoying, but I only have 5 weeks left of it so I'm looking on the bright side, now at least I know how awesome front desk is in comparison! I guess I'm just getting freaked out because I have no idea what I am going to do after the programme ends, and there's only really five weeks for me to decide! Eek!!

Also on the upside, because I work in concierge I got free tickets to see Cirque De Soleil! It was so random. My manager, Eric, called me into his office, I was sat there all timid, thinking I was in trouble and he offered me the tickets! Just for being aconcierge . The cheap seats alone are $80 and these were some of the better ones. So last night I took Alexa along to the show as my date (we shared a pretzel, all romantic-like) and I have to say, it was absolutely amazing. It's beyond words how cool it was. All I can say is you have to see it, anddeffo buy the cheap seats! There's an amazing view anywhere in the theatre. And to anyone who's seen La Nouba, Alexa and I decided I should play the fat cleaning lady who kisses the frog! Oh so very moi.

I wish I'd gone there under different circumstances though. I was feeling rough as Hell due to our endeavours earlier that day. Laura, Alexa and I went to Blizzard Beach with two goals in mind.Numero uno was to slide down Summit Plummet...and I failed. I got to the top where Slusher Gusher is, looked up and down the steps up to Summit and chickened out. I did not want a repeat of the bungee incident where I freaked out at the last minute so I decided not to chance it.Numero dos was to attempt the Garbage Pail. The Garbage Pail is a bucket and spade (pail and shovel?) filled with soft serve vanilla and chocolate ice cream, fudge, caramel and strawberry sauce, waffle pieces (yuck), crushedOreos and Mickey sprinkles. I had it without whipped cream so mine was pure ice cream, and my word was it a beast! I did the best job that I could, which was basically all the solid ice cream, I just couldn't face all themelty bits and the sauce gloop at the bottom. It was super gross and I felt like I was dying for hours afterwards but I did ridonculously well considering I had a burger and fries before hand, so I'm counting it as a success...of sorts. You just have to disregard the chest pains!

Other news is I completed Epcot! After five months I finally have one park absolutely completed. JJ and I even watched the boring video after Maelstrom! I have five weeks to cram in all of the other parks...apart from Flights of Wonder (bird show!). I refuse!!

We also managed to do what I had previously thought impossible and see both fireworks shows in one evening without even sacrificing the view! We were hanging around Epcot after we'd completed it and I had a milkshake craving. Now they do serve milkshake in the Edy's ice cream store in Future World but it's hit and miss whether you get a good one, so JJ had the brainwave to head over to Magic Kingdom to visit Mrs Potts' Cupboard because he knows it's my favourite ice cream place, with it being all soft serve and yummy and then we could watch Wishes because I hadn't seen it in over a month; a fact that in it's self is unbelievable. So we hopped on the monorail over to MK and secured a spot right in the middle of Main Street USA for prime fireworks viewing. I can't believe it's been five months and Wishes still makes me cry every time I see it. I thought the magic would've worn off by now. It's the section that plays Go The Distance that does it! After the fireworks, Jonathan and I were napping on the monorail, ready to go home and sleep (at all of 8pm!) but just as we were pulling into the TTC, I had the genius iea just to hop straight onto the Epcot monorail to see Illuminations. JJ doubted me, thought it was crazy talk and it couldn't be done, but we ran across the monorail station just in case, and you know what we made it! With enough time to spare to call at Edy's for a milkshake too. We stood right in between the trading posts at the centre of the lagoon, so we didn't even compromise our location to see the show. We sang along to We Go On and JJ told me when to blow out the flames and mock conducted the fireworks, it was so much fun.In fact they were probably both my best fireworks experiences since I've been here, which retty much means they're the best fireworks experiences I've ever had!

I've pretty much completed Universal and IOA. I went on a trip there a couple of weeks ago with work people and managed to do pretty much everything I hadn't done before (including meetingBeetlejuice who I have an inexplicable crush on!!). On the same outing, I also went with Alfie to watch a taping of TNA wrestling. It was all very random and last minute and I mainly did it to make my big brother jealous, but if by any chance you're watchingTNA, look out for me in a green T-shirt and mirrored aviators!

Pancake day was of course celebrated British stylee, with PROPER pancakes not the silly American ones.

Saturday I branched out from my usual crowd and went to Hooters with Becca, Lucy, Rob, Jason and Karina. It lived up to it's name, delightfully tacky yet unrefined. Unfortunately, they didn't offer me a job but I'm keeping it in mind in case I can't find one back in England.

In all honesty though, I think that my outright favourite day of the past couple of weeks was last Thursday when I hung out by the pool withJJ, watched my new DVD of HSM 3 together and then he ran off to work leaving me and his Mac to bond! I was by myself, on the computer whilst obsessively watching Gilmore Girls! It was just like being back home! I loved it! I can't wait to get back to that lifestyle. I think the first thing I'm going to do when I'm home is hug all my long lost clothes that I haven't seen in months, and then take all my fave shoes into my big old double bed and sleep for a year! I can't wait to see my room again. Gail and Pete better not have done anything to it!

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense" - Alice In Wonderland

BIRTHDAY (WOOP!!)

So it's been about a week and a half since my birthday extravaganza, and what an extravaganza it was!

I woke up early and called my Mum and opened pressies etc, all the usual stuff before heading over to MK with Laura and Jonathan, and I have to say, we arrived in style! We rode up front on the monorail and because it was my birthday I got my co-pilot wings! I was ridonculously excited!!

At MK we randomly ran into Pinocchio and my Fairy Godmother as we ran around Main Street USA buying tiaras and sashes and wands. (I also helped turn Sleeping Beauty's dress from blue to pink..make it blue...make it pink).

Then we headed down to the WinterSummerland mini golf course to meet Alexa and played golf in the snow! I got like 3 hole in ones but I htink it was a total fluke because I totally suck at mini golf. We got free candy canes and a free golf ball though. Score!

Next on the agenda was lunch at Hollywood studios at the Sci-fi dine in theatre (or theater over here!). It was so pretty inside and the hosts wore old school roller boots! I got free dessert and cocktails and the waiter sang happy birthday to me. I so want to lie and say its my birthday next time I go for a meal in Disney to get the perks.

Then there was just time for a little bit of character meeting (Ariel and Eric, and then my personal heroes, Woody and Buzz Lightyear), a drop in the Tower of Terror and the Beauty and the Beast show (which still made me cry even though Laura and I talked all the way through it) before heading home for a nap, which was later disturbed by presents and a chocolate cake covered in 22 sparkly candles...my friends know me well!

We then headed out to the Boardwalk to sing along with the duelling pianos of Jellyrolls and dance the night away at the Atlantic Dancehall, and I am happy to report Laura has the same issues as me with people doing the Greased Lightning dance before the chorus, so I'm not a complete freak!

It was such a fun day thanks to Alexa, JJ and Laura and I got to wear to buttons saying Princess Sarah all day long which was amazing. So all in all, pretty darn good.

Since then I've been getting out of the Disney bubble as much as possible. We went to Old Town which was full of tacky little tourist shops and fun fair rides. Not only did I beat JJ at air hockey again but I also bought some mirrored aviators, Bauer/Top Gun-stylee! They've not left my face except for sleeping since I bought them. I even wear them in the breakroom at work. I loooove them.

I also went to Bahama Breeze for lunch with Alexa. I was very sceptical because I didn't think I'd like Caribbean food, luckily they do the best burgers ever and an awesome chocolate mousse/brownie dessert! I wanted to marry it and have little mousse babies it was so good. I do have reservations at Le Cellier in Epcot just so I can try a moose shaped mousse so it's got a lot to live up to if it's going to beat Bahama Breeze! I also have Tusker house reservations for breakfast with Donald Duck which will hopefully be amazing. I've never done a character breakfast before so I'm excited.

Until then, laterz haterz!

"A very merry unbirthday to me" - Alice in Wonderland

Miami

Well, just got back from my weekend in Miami with the girls. It was awesome, and yes, Naomi and I sang the Will Smith song when driving around the harbour. Our satnav, Fifi, wasn't always completely comprehensive but I loved her, especially when she guided us past a trailer park! I sort of squealed. Loudly. In fact I was completely useless on the drive down because I was too preoccupied with singing along to the radio and exclaiming whenever anything of interest passed by the window!

South Beach is beautiful. We stayed at the Ohana hostel which is a couple of streets back from the main strip. It was only $25 and super nice for the money. They tried to keep everything in the art deco theme that the rest of the city wears so well but it's kind of art deco on a budget.

I got my first ever glimpse of the ocean and I even dipped a toe in despite the cooler weather. It was so pretty and even the surrounding buildings are beautiful. The vibe was kind of Benidorm but prettier and with money. I loved it. We walked around South Beach to get our bearings and do a little shopping before dancing the night away in the Cuban equivalent of Coyote UGLY on Ocean Drive.

The next day we explored a little it further afield. We moved up to North Beach for a little paddle in the sunshine before driving over to Coconut Grove to visit the Vizcaya, this manor house built by a vice President which is absolutely beautiful. I shot gunned the green and pink room at the top of the tower for when Alexa and I get rich and move in there. It was very Princessy and had the most amazing view of the ocean. Hara wasn't too impressed because it didn't have Internet access!

I was charged with wingman duty on the way home as Alexa was driving back instead of Hara so whilst Hara and Naomi napped in the back, I had to keep my eyes open for the whole four hours and talk to Fifi about where we were going. Fifi and I had a good rapport and we didn't get lost at all on the way home. I was proud. I am absolutely shattered now though. I wish I could call in to work tomorrow but I guess I need to go in. It was so good to visit a place that wasn't completely fake and manufactured if only for two days...wow, I bet no-one has ever described Miami like that before!

It has definitely fuelled my wanderlust though. Now that I know I can stand the long road trips without throwing up I'm ready to go a-travelling after my programme finishes. Jonathan and I have vague hypothetical plans to travel up the East coast and all around me I'm getting invites to travel to all these different places in April so I don't know what to do. I guess it all depends on the moolah. I just need to figure out how much everything will cost before making any definite plans.

"You didn't thinkwe were going to get the whole ocean did you?" - Finding Nemo

"Happy Holidays"

Just say Merry Christmas already! Silly yanks.

Christmas in America was weird. It was strange not going to Meadowhall on Christmas Eve for last minute pressies and to see the lights and decorations, worse still was missing The Snowman on TV for the first year ever! The Snowman can kick every Disney cartoon's bum.

Christmas has been around since Thanksgiving here and that stupid Mariah Carey song has been played over and over and over! I hate it so much, it never leaves your head.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party wasn't all it was cracked up to be, nowhere near as good as Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party anyway. I had lots of fun but it was the people I was with that made it, not the actual event. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone any way.

Over at Hollywood Studios there were the Osbourne family's spectacle of dancing lights (and no, they're not those Osbournes.) That was really cool. It only lasts about ten minutes to see the streets of America lit up in thousands and thousands of fairy lights which twinkle in time to the music but it's so pretty and best of all, it starts to snow...or should I say snoap? It's all bubbles but it looks so pretty you forget that it isn't actually snow. As an added bonus, the day I went to see them Hara was working over there and gave me a free Mickey Mouse ice cream!

At Epcot the candlelight processional has been going on. It's a choir singing hymns whilst a celebrity reads out the story of the nativity. When Jonathan and I saw it Abigail Breslin was the narrator, I was so gutted that I had missed Neil Patrick Harris but at least I knew who this one was. Most people I've spoken to found it a little boring or said they didn't know the songs, but I loved it. Maybe it's because I can't resist a good sing-a-long? It's practically impossible to get seats in the stage area though. JJ and I stood at the back for ages to get a good spot because there was no way I was queueing for two hours to get in there.

I haven't been over to Animal Kingdom to see their festivities (in fact I've only been there twice in the past three months!) but from what I gather they have a Christmasy parade and that's about it. Nothing too different.

I am now concierge trained so I've been spending most of my time at work explaining to guests why there's no dining reservations available in the Magic Kingdom at Christmas and why it has been booked up for the past six months (who leaves it until the 24th to book? Seriously!). Hopefully Raglan Road, the Irish pub over at Downtown Disney is good because that was the only place I could get people in at last minute so I was pushing it like Hell!

I was working from 4.30 Christmas afternoon so I had the whole morning off. It was a dreary day compared to the sunshine we've been having lately so I spent most of it inside. I called home in the morning and I spoke to my brothers for the first time in three months...I think my Mum made them talk to me! I didn't cry so that was good, the last time I spoke to them I was in tears over Frosty the Snowman and the Christmoose teddies we have. (I know, I'm sad!). Then some of my friends came round for breakfast and present giving. I got lots of Donald and Daisy Duck things, Jonathan even got me autographed photos of them! I'm going to look obsessed when I get home, but if you'd seen me when I met Daisy you'd already assume that about me anyway! I was going to make myself Yorkshire puddings and stuffing for dinner but I had a nap instead and then had the most tedious work shift ever. It was only six hours but it dragged so bad. All the guests were complainers, wondering why Magic Kingdom was at capacity, why Santa had only visited the lobby on Christmas Eve not Christmas Day, why we were open (I wondered that one myself) and I felt like I was talking to my FSA every two seconds to deal with guests demanding managers.

Boxing day was goooood. I had it off and the weather was glorious so I went to the pool to read my new book and go for a swim. It kinda made me feel like I was on holiday so I walked over to Walgreens and bought some Ruffles (not Jamon Jamon unfortunately) and Milka. I was scared about buying Milka because when I bought the Dairy Milk over there it tasted all weird and Hershey's-esque. I discovered afterwards that it was made under license from Cadbury's by Hershey's so it was a milky Hershey's bar in a Cadbury's logo. I was not a happy bunny. So, I was understandably cautious when buying my Milka, but lucily, it was the real thing. Then after dechlorining myself I joined Laura, Lucy and Karina at the outlets for some sale shopping before going to Bennigans, the pub next to Vista Way, for tea. It was pretty good. I was too full for dessert but their cake looked tasty! Afterwards we called into the other Walgreens for sweeties for Laura and I found Dr Pepper lip balm. I had to buy it. I'm going to have to buy up a stock to bring home with me as well. I love it!

So all in all it's been a pretty good boxing day, in fact it's been a pretty good Christmas season in general. Maybe it's the weather or working through it but it never really felt like December 25th so it was never really too difficult to get through it. I guess if I can get through this time of year I should be able to get through the rest of my programme pretty easily right? Let's hope so anyway.

"As long as there's Christmas I truly believe that hope is the greatest of the gifts we receive" - Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas

Dancing through life

A guest posted this on youTube (it's kinda impossible to not spot me)

This is what I get paid to do! It's my favourite part of the day (in spite of the horrendous costumes). I wish I could do this all day long.

After a long and painful training process, I've just started on the concierge desk, it's so scary! Check-ins are easy, a monkey could do them, I want to go back to being that monkey!

Speaking of monkeys, I met Abu last night! It was amazing. It was right after the parade so Adventure Land in the Magic Kingdom was dead so I met Peter Pan and Wendy near Pirates (Peter had the hots for me and Wendy had the worst British accent EVER!) and then wondered over to the free hot cocoa place where we bumped into Abu and the Genie, tying each other to posts with their scarves! We were the only guests around so they spent about ten minutes playing with us (it ended with Abu and I going on a date while other people were queueing to see them! The character attendant had to drag the monkey back by his tail!) It was amazing. Possibly the best character meet yet.

The ones that might trump it are Belle and the Beast (which was also yesterday) because, well, they're the best! and Belle was telling me how jealous the Beast is of the yeti because he has his own ride, or Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. After standing in line for a little while listening to Jonathan making Pooh/poo jokes, bouncing up to a character and yelling WOOHOOHOOHOOO didn't seem that crazy, so we did! Tigger got excited and joined in...Pooh backed up all scared and started crying! Jonathan consoled him while I cuddled Tigger, which eventually lead to Pooh breaking into the robot Susanne-stylee! It was awesome. I was actually crying with laughter. The people behind us must have thought we were crazies, but oh well.

"Most everyone's mad around here" - Alice in Wonderland

Americana

Well as my sister-in-law pointed out, it has been about two weeks since my last update (sorry) which means this one is going to uber long again. 

Well in the past two weeks I've passed a few American rites of passage. I'll start with most yankee-fied symbolic one; I celebrated my first ever Thanksgiving in the States. As most CPs get lumbered with working the holidays whilst the full timers get it off to spend with their families, Disney put on a free Thanksgiving dinner for us over in Patterson Court on the Wednesday. Patterson is the newest of the housing complexes (the only one newer than my beloved Chatham Square). It's pretty nice, especially the pool area but I think it's a bit too nice, like a hotel. It's not where I'd want to live, it doesn't have it's own personality like Chatham and Vista Way do.  it's just too new and shiny for the likes of me, plus when I walk through Chatham I sort of feel like I'm in Capeside! I love it!

Back to Thanksgiving, I only went over as a last minute thing with some people from work but I'm glad I did. It wasn't because of the food! I don't like turkey anyway but this was absolutely rank. The only reason people ate it was because it was free! I picked at a bread roll but it wasn't worth the effort. Apart from the food, I had a great time. I got to hang with new people, not just my fellow Brits for a change and I tried to figure out what the whole Thanksgiving thing was about (the most I got out of the Americans was turkey and football - the American kind, not the good kind). Best of all, we danced a giant Cupid's Shuffle around the pool! I love that dance. Please tell me it's as popular in the UK? If not, I'm going to make it popular when I get home. It better at least be out by the time I return!

On actual Thanksgiving I was the only person not working (and that was only because of a glitch in my scheduling) so I went on a wander to McDonald's for my Thanksgiving dinner. It was the first time I'd been to the one near where I live (I normally go to Downtown Disney) but it is now my favourite in the world because they serve Dr Pepper! AWESOME!

The day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) is when the huge pre-Christmas sales start in the US. Crazy shoppers queue up at midnight to be the first person in the big department stores and malls. I was asked by loads of different people to go queue at this store or the other but I turned them all down. I wasn't waiting in the cold for five hours for a store to open unless it was selling boots for a penny, even then I'd probably think twice. But when I couldn't sleep after my huge Thanksgiving Happy Meal and Oreo McFlurry I started to reconsider. At 1am I was watching House with Lily and Gaby (I had the remote control!) and, as entertaining as Hugh Laurie is, I was feeling dreadfully bored. I was intrigued to find out the shops near The Commons were already open (no waiting in the cold). At 2am I knew one of my fellow Pop Century cashiers would've just got home from work so I dragged him out to the Premium Outlets with me. They're about a fifteen minute walk away from Chatham, a walk I've done many a time at ridiculous times in the morning to go to McDonald's or Taco Bell or Walgreens but this is the first time I've ever actually seen other people out there at silly o'clock. There were so many CPs walking home burdened with huge shopping bags and when Matt and I finally got to the outlets I couldn't believe the carnage. Whenever I've been there before it's always been swarming with bargain hunters and tourists but that morning it was ridonculous! But at east for once people had some pace about them. Normally people here, in Disney at least, are so stupidly slow. I guess they're in vacation mode but if i was spending that sort of money I'd be power walking around the parks, maybe even rent a segway! I kinda sulked because they didn't have the boots I wanted but Matt bought some Christmas presents for his family. This of course didn't stop me from going back to Skechers the next day with Jonathan and buying two pairs with my Christmas fund; one of which Matthew has since dubbed my hooker boots! Clearly that boy has never seen Pretty Woman. Now they were hooker boots!

I guess I've been immersing myself in more and more of the American culture if only to de-Disney myself from time time. I've been to the Florida Mall, (which was only really worth it for the cheap bookstore and the novelty of the M&Ms store, not even a good place to be a mallrat), the House of Blues (reminded me of the club from Save the Last Dance, i so do not fit in there but I loved it almost immediately!) and the cinema is like my second home. It's so cheap over here so I've been almost once a week in total, I even went to the HSM3 midnight showing in my Wildcats T-shirt. On the Disney front, I spent last Saturday at DisneyQuest. It's full of virtual reality and interactive games. It was fun but totally not worth the $40 guests pay to get in, especially considering my personal favourite part was playing air hockey! I can probably do that from the comfort of Pop Century's arcade.

The best part of American culture is that I got to go to my first ever American "high school" dance. It was the winter formal for all housing residents (but it was mainly CPs because the CRPs were working right next door to the party). It was held in a secret function hall between Canada and the UK in Epcot. It was a last minute decision to go but I am so glad I did. When I stepped into the hall it just took my breath away. The theming was executed perfectly, as only Disney can.  It was "A Night on Mount Olympus" complete with dry ice clouds, giant Hercules statues and photos with the characters. It was absolutely beautiful in there and even the food was wonderful. It was the first half decent bread I've tasted in eight weeks! Of course there was a giant Cupid's Shuffle which made me happy, plus the HSM songs and some cheese. It was mainly catering for the hip-hop/r&b crowd but I loved it. It was like being in Grease or OTH. The only thing that was missing was someone spiking the punch (the Brits were all wishing they'd snuck some alcohol in after about ten seconds of soulja boy).

So I guess in spite of my devotion to all things British (Wetherspoons, we salute you) my slight Americanisation has helped me feel more at home. I was about ready to get on a plane to England this week due to loads of things going wrong all at the same time but I've been feeling more settled for the past two days. I guess things are starting to feel more like I expected America to.

Maybe that's why today I had the bizarre sensation that I was in Stoke. I guess it was the cooler weather and it was damp from the sprinklers...and I made friends with a guy who works in Publix (He recommended some damn good ice cream to his fellow gupper). Delightful Sarah is back, making friends with random locals just like at Staffs!

"I will go most any where to feel like I belong" - Hercules