Happy Holidays!

Hey everybody,

I'm not feeling 100% today, but I'm gonna get everybody caught up on what's happening.

So where did we leave off?

I'm not sure, but let's see if I remember December.

Working as a food runner all month, the money is much nicer. But socially it makes things more difficult. Most nights I get home too tired to do much but sleep, and then it's back to work the next day. So I haven't got out as much as I would like to.

But I did play golf a few days before christmas, which was awesome mostly because it was late in december and I was playing golf. The problem was I sent my clubs back to Canada with my car (I miss my car), so I had to rent clubs, that were very different from mine. So I played like crap, really really bad. But since if I was back in Canada I wouldn't be playing golf at all, I can't complain too much.

The next day I went to Universal with David, I was planning to buy a 2010 seasons pass while I was there, but I somehow ended up buying a 2009 seasons pass. I was tricked. Anyway, we also bought the fastpass option, so we could skip the lines. It was really cool, I hadn't been to Universal in many years, so a lot had changed, including the addition of the whole islands of adventure thing (rides like the Hulk, Spiderman, dueling dragons). I'm looking forward to Harry Potter place opening up in 2010. The rides are a lot more intense than the ones you find at disney, so hopefully I'll get a 2010 seasons pass soon and get to go back a few more times.

The coolest thing though was when we went over to Universal they were looking for volunteers to walk a balloon in the macy's parade, so David and I signed up, and were taken backstage for a little bit of training. I was on the Candy Cane balloon, and David was on the Artie the Pirate balloon. It was fun, and neither of our balloons popped, so that's good.

Another cool thing was that on Monday before christmas, at Games I was named as one of the new presidents! My co-president is Rachanne, who is awesome. So on monday nights me and her will be hosting and choosing games and keeping it going.

Then Christmas happened, on Christmas Eve, one of the servers (Sean), held a get-together with some canadians and a huge home cooked feast, including some vegan ravioli for me, which was fantastic. The dude can cook. I got to chat with my family on christmas morning, which was good, but tough. The holidays are always a big family event for me, so it was hard not being there with them.

Next comes New Years, I'm working on New Years Eve until 10, so I'll probably just hang out until midnight and celebrate at Epcot. That's the plan anyway.

So that's December in a nutshell, we'll see what January holds. I'm hoping it will include moving into Service, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.

-Dan

It's been too long!

December 5th.

So November happened, I can't believe I haven't updated the blog in that long a span. Sorry about that, I'm going to try and remember November.

Food and Wine at Epcot came to an end, and there was much rejoicing. It was a cool event, but for a Vegan like me, it wasn't as much fun as for the omnivores, if they had more vegan options I probably would have gone and tried more things. Oh well.

The Halloween party at Magic Kingdom ended, so that means a week later the Christmas party at Magic Kingdom started. I went with some canadians on one of the first days, it was a lot of fun. A Christmas Parade, Christmas Fireworks, Christmas Shows, Hot Chocolate and Cookies, and Space Mountain was open!! We rode it 3 times, I love that ride.

Probably the 2nd most significant thing that happened to me in November was that I started Food Running at Le Cellier. This is a very good thing, Food Runners get tipped by the servers, so I'm going to actually have some money (most of it which I'll need to send home to pay bills, but that's not important right now). It's also a much faster pace, which is nice, the Podium stuff was fun for a while, but it's good to be doing something different now. After food running for a while, I'll eventually get trained as a server, which is what I'm really really looking forward too.

The shifts are very long though, so I'm pretty tired these days, and don't get to have fun with the other canadians as much. But at least it's a step in the right direction.

The Most significant November event? I became an Uncle again! My older brother welcomed a new addition to their family, Keagan, and I got to see him briefly over skype. December is going to be tough, I always miss my family and friends, but over the holidays it's magnified that much more. Hopefully I'll get to talk and see them, even if it's over the phone or computer.

-Dan

November Already?

Did anybody see where October went? I swear I didn't see it at all.

Well, anyway, it's November now, and that meant I had some family come and visit! Yay! My sister and my mom came down for almost a week recently, and we had a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to take them to parks with my magical blue pass, it allowed us to do what we wanted to do at the parks and not feel like we had to "Get our money's worth", etc. My sister arrived first, and Jeremy and I picked her up from the airport, got her checked into her hotel (Port Orleans: French Quarter, nice place), and let her get some rest.

I had the next day off, so we went and got some lunch, our first destination wasn't open on Sunday (Cafe 118 in Winter Park), so we visited Whole Foods, and then went to Dandelion Communitea Cafe. Which was really cool (reminded me of the old Cafe Aquarius), and the food was really good (I had a BLT with tempeh bacon, and we split some nachos).

Then we went and picked up mom from the airport, got her checked into the hotel. At which point we surprised her with tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

She was really excited, since she'd been asking about it since she planned this trip. Luckily I was able to convince her that it was sold out.

Lisa made us a joint costume to wear, of the Soarin' ride from Epcot. She sewed and glued and spent a lot of time putting it together and it looked great. We got a lot of compliments at the party, enjoyed the parade and the fireworks. The highlights was getting the Evil Stepmother and Evil Stepsisters commenting on our costume, and going to the Laugh Floor, where my Mom and Sister got to be part of the act. Great times!

We got lots of candy (which none of us could eat, but I'll keep trying to give it to the other canadians), but were worn out by 10:30, so we got back in the car and headed back to the hotel.

The next day, Jeremy didn't start until 3:30, so we planned to go check out Cafe 118 since it would then be open. I'm so glad we did, because the food was fantastic. Cafe 118 is a raw restaurant in Winter Park, each of us got a different dish, so we could share. I also had a raw "Milk"shake (chocolate banana and awesomeness). Between us we tried the raw lasagna, pad thai, Salad rolls and Nori rolls. Everything was soo good.

We dropped Jeremy off at work and headed over to Hollywood Studios, where we convinced Mom to go on Rockin Rollercoaster for the first time ever. She didn't like it one bit, but she went on, and I'm proud she did. I think she'll like it more next time. After that we went and did Toy Story Mania, which is fun, but the lines are too long still. And then off to Ohana' at the Polynesian Resort. There we had a fantastic 5 course vegan meal prepared for us by Chef TJ. There was fresh salad, vegan rolls, chips and 2 kinds of hummus, salad rolls (with pineapple), and a great veggie tempura. For desert he gave us these little spoons of deliciousness because we were so full we could only fit a tiny bite.

The next day I had to work, but Jeremy was off, so the three of them went to Epcot for the day, the came by and saw me a few times, but mostly were off trying wines from around the world. They seemed to have fun, we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, and then made a trip to the bookstore, Whole Foods, and the kitchen appliance store for plenty of great things, books, food and kitchen supplies. (Thanks Mom!)

Wednesday was a great day. I didn't work until Noon, so we picked them up from the hotel and went to Animal Kingdom. I had time for one ride, so we quickly went over to ride Expedition Everest, which my sister and mom had never been on. And my mom loved it! I was worried she wouldn't like it, but she had a huge smile on her face in the photo.

I went to work and then afterward met up with the family at Sanaa (I think I've eaten there 10 times by now, but I love it). And then headed to downtown disney to see the La Nouba (the Cirque show at Disney). Mom and sis really liked it, I'd seen it before, but it was neat to see it again from a different angle.

The next day it was time to say some goodbyes, my sister caught a plane ride home, Jeremy and I had to work, but we went and visited my mom at the hotel later on. The next day we went to downtown disney to do some shopping, had sweet tomatoes for lunch, and then she started her drive home in my car. (Which I really appreciate, the Volkswagen people made me send it home).

So they are both back home now, but we had a great time having them here. Hopefully we'll have more visitors soon! Miss you all!

Oh yeah, in all the excitement of having the family around, I passed both of my menu spiels, so I'm on my way into service (still probably a month away or so), I'm really looking forward to it. Jeremy also passed his first, so we should be both going into service around the same time!

Ok, that's all for now, I don't have any pictures (my camera is broken still), but if I get some from the family, I'll try to update them here.

I'll also try to keep this place updated more often.

-Dano

Early October

So it's already October, wow time is flying.

A cool day today, I had my culinary day at Le Cellier. I got to dress up like a cook, and go from station to station and learn about how all the food is made, and taste some dishes. I am vegan though, so there wasn't much I was able to tasted. I tried the tomato stack and the potato gnocchi, both of which I highly recommend. Had to answer a lot of questions about being Vegan, which is ok, it'll be odd working in a steakhouse where there aren't a lot of vegan options.

A couple days before my culinary day, Jeremy, Melanie and I went off to Animal Kingdom on one of our days off. Since we are still pretty new Jeremy and I's days offs keep changing from week to week, and it's one of the few times that we got a day off on the same day. And when we found out that Mel had the day off too, we planned to head out to AK after sleeping in a bit. And of course, we brought along some of our little friends too. They were excited to visit a park for the day.

We went on a Safari that was great, a lot of animals that aren't always around (black and white rhinos, and three baby elephants!), they were all pretty active. One of the better safari's I've been on. We also went over and rode Everest, Dinosaur, and did lots of searching for Hidden Mickeys along the way. Did a nature walk, saw some great characters, and caught the Lion King show.





Eventually we started to get tired, so we decided to head over to Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kindani Village. I know I've been there a lot, but they have a Vegan menu with some great options, so I keep going back, and bringing new people. Mel seemed to really like it, and Jeremy and I always enjoy a little indian food.

I think Tink, Mickey and the Clone Trooper ate quite a bit too, they seemed very satisfied at the end.

This weekend is Canadian thanksgiving, so I'm sad I won't be home with the family for our usual celebration. But the canadians here are going to get together for a little celebration (after a full day of work). I'm planning to cook some good vegan cuisine for many to enjoy, so we'll see how everybody likes it. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

-Dan

Adventure in Orlando - Almost October

Again, much time has past since I last posted. Again, sorry about that.

The past few weeks have been lots of fun. I'm enjoying getting to know the canadians I live and work with more and more. Movie nights are evolving into a fun weekly event, and Games night is always a ton of laughs. I've been here 6 weeks now, and it is flying by pretty quickly. I only get two nights off a week, so a lot of it is spent working.

But one of my personal highlights was venturing up to Orlando to check out a vegan restaurant on my own (would have been nice to share it with somebody, but the veggies I know were all working). So I wrote out my directions and set off in search of Ethos Vegan Kitchen. A short drive west on I-4 and only a couple minutes off the interstate, I found myself in the Antique district of Orlando. It was a really nice area, cool old buildings, and a good vibe. I parked, and found my way to Ethos Vegan Kitchen.

When I entered, I instantly thought of Cafe Aquarius a few years back in Guelph. The cafe small, with tables of various sizes/shapes. A few couches in the back, and a variety different people in and about. I scanned the menu, extremely happy that I could enjoy anything I saw. Sandwiches, Pizzas, Sheep's Pie, Lasagna... so many options, it was a tough decision. After much deliberation, I went with the Dilly Philly - A Seitan Philly "Cheese" steak sandwich on ciabatta roll, with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy.

My goodness, It was delicious. I was very satisfied, and very full by the end. And I can't wait to go back and try some of the other menu items. Hopefully some of the other disney veggies will be able to join me next time.

Also, I took note that Sundays at Ethos is Vegan Brunch time! From 10-3. Unfortunately I work early this coming Sunday, but I will get out there at some point. I love me some vegan brunch. There are many other vegan and vegan friendly restaurants that I need to try, so I'll review them when I get the chance to get out there. So far Ethos is my favourite, but best out of 1 isn't hard to do.

So it's almost October, which means the start of the NHL season, and some events that I'll miss back home. My sisters birthday, and Canadian Thanksgiving. This makes me sad, as both are times I would normally spend with my family. I do miss my family quite a bit, they have always been very supportive of me, and I know they are happy for me being down here, but I'll still miss them.

-Dan

La Nouba, One Full Month

Time has flown by so far, a couple days ago I celebrated my 1 month anniversary here at Disney. (by celebrated I mean it happened, I didn't actually celebrate it, no champagne or anything). So what's happened recently?

Jeremy and I have started a movie night group, on Sunday evenings we try to get people together to watch DVDs. It's run for two weeks, we watched Best In Show (and Dr. Horrible's sing a long blog). and then Bella.

There is some tweaking we need to do in order for more people to be able to enjoy it, such as starting the movies earlier, but we're working on it. We have lot's of DVDs to get through, so hopefully we can keep it up.

I also went to se La Nouba, which is the Cirque de Soliel show here in Disney World. It was pretty damn cool, a lot of really cool acts, but the characterization and the story telling behind them was really neat. It was very impressive the whole way through. Also went to Earl of Sandwich, where i had a Veggie sandwich (roasted red peppers, cucumber, etc). It was pretty good, but I would have liked more options. I really need to hit a vegan restaurant one of these days. (though I am starting to cook more of my own meals, so that's good)

I'm done all my training at the Canada pavillion, and have worked the popcorn cart and Front of House inside the restaurant. It's now time for me to start studying the menu so that I can spiel and eventually become a server. Of course, knowing my studying habits, that could take a while. I might have to pretend that it's actually a script I have to learn by a certain off book date, I think that's the only way I'll get it done.

Also, I miss hockey. Being down south nobody seems to notice that hockey season is right around the corner, except for my fellow canadians. I've been watching pre-season games online, and I'm looking forward to the season, I only wish I could watch them on my TV!

Oh well. Things are great here, though I'm still waiting for the temperature to cool down.

Hope everyone back North is doing well too!

-Dano

Throw In, 4 Park Challenge, and other such fun

Ok, I swear I just posted on this blog, but it looks like that was almost a week ago. Where does time go?

A new arrival group appeared at Disney on Tuesday, so that means a Throw-In! That also means I'm no longer a newbie! So on Wednesday I attended my first Throw-In from the other side, it was a lot of fun, hosted by Captain Canuck - Michelle, with all the great title holders, they introduced the new arrivals to the pavillion with songs, speeches, and other sillyness. It was a fun night.

To follow that up, the next day I was invited to join a small group of Canadians in the 4-Park Challenge! What is the 4-Park Challenge you ask? (and how can I hear you ask things as I'm writing the blog you ask? - Stop asking questions, just read.)

Well, let me tell you. The 4-Park Challenge is something done mostly by cast members, it involves going to each of the 4 WDW Parks at 1 day, at each park you must do 3 major rides, and get a photo with 1 character. While using all modes of transportation between parks (Monorail, Boat, Bus)

To make it more challenging, we bumped it up to 4 rides at each park, and 2 characters.

So in the morning (early in the morning...) Craig, David, Kimberly, Jeremy and I met up and went over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast at Boma. Boma is a great African themed restaurant with a buffet. Though breakfast there is pretty standard american fare, so that was odd. I'll have to go back for dinner sometime when they have a more inventive menu.

From there we went to Animal Kingdom, our first park. It was evident pretty early on that we picked the right day to do the challenge. The parks were nearly empty. We first went on the Safari, walked right on to that one. From there we went over to Expedition Everest, which is really fun. Then to Kali River Rapids, where we got wet, and finally to Dinosaur. Along the way we stopped for pictures with Baloo and King Louie for our Characters, and in an hour and a half we had one park down.

From there we drove over to the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Center) and took the Monorail to Epcot. Another park that was really empty. We hit Spaceship Earth, Soarin, Mission Space (Test Track was temporarily out of order) and Maelstrom (The ride at Norway). Walked around the world showcase to get pictures with Mulan and Snow White, and we quickly had 2 parks down and we're looking good.

We jumped on the boat to take us to Hollywood Studios, and though it took a long time, it got us there. Lineups at Hollywood Studios were a bit longer, we went on Tower of Terror (my first time ever, I was holding on too tight to do the moose ears with the rest of the group), Rockin' Roller Coaster, Toy Story Midway Mania (thanks to Jeremy who helped us sneak into the fast pass line by telling the cast member we were on the 4 Park challenge and needed this ride!) and Star Tours. Finding Characters was a bit more difficult. We ended up catching Quincy from Little Einsteins, and Handy Manny (from Handy Manny), and had 3 parks finished before 5pm. Looking good!

The Bus back to the TTC and another Monorail ride later and we were at Magic Kingdom to finish up. Here we went for the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Carribean. And to finish off the Challenge with a bang, our characters were Mickey and Minnie Mouse! The Big Cheese(s)!

All in All it was a lot of fun, I had a great time, it was exhausting but totally worth it. And though Craig was strict at times ("You have 2 minutes for a bathroom break, go go go!") it was all good. I went on Tower of Terror for the first time, and enjoyed it. Though it still kinda freaks me out.

Today I went back to Animal Kingdom with Rachel, there were supposed to be more joining us, but they ended up missing the bus, and decided not to come. So we made the most of our day, went on a great safari (it wasn't too too hot, so there were plenty of animals out), Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and caught the Nemo Musical before going to Sanaa for lunch. It was a lot of fun, but I was still pretty tired from the night before, so we headed back home after that, and I had a nice long nap.

Living in FLA ain't half bad so far. I'm enjoying getting to know all the canadians, and some people from other countries too. I do miss everybody back home too! But it's a bit easier now that I've got some people to hang out with here.

I still want to get some golfing in...

Ciao for now!

-Dano

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Pictures added!

So September 4th rolled around, and you know what that means... Halloween!

Ok, so that might seem a little crazy in most places. But here in Disney, it's a great time of year, so why would we only celebrate it on one day? So September 4th was the first night for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, I joined a group of canadians in getting dressed up and heading over to the Magic Kingdom for the evening.

For the Not So Scary party, the Magic Kingdom is decorated like crazy for halloween, there is a special villian show, a halloween parade, halloween fireworks and Candy Spots!!! for trick or treating. It was definitely a fantastic night.

I was a ghostbuster (who you gonna call?), so the Magic Kingdom was the place to be, I had people all night telling me to go to the Haunted Mansion, as they had a ghost problem there. Lots of people loved my costume, though I found that most of them were 20 or over, a lot of kids had no idea who I was.

It was a great night, and I plan to hit up the halloween party again a few times before halloween comes and goes, hopefully we'll get some more canadians costumed up.

I don't have any pictures, but some of the other canadians did, so If I get some, I'll post them here for sure!

Pretty soon I start on the popcorn cart, so I hope to get some pictures of me there too. Should be fun to learn!

Hope all is well back home.

-Dano

Earned my ears!

Haven't posted in a little while, as work has me getting home exhausted at 11:30 or so, and most nights I can't be bothered to post on the blog at that point. But I figured I'd try to squeeze one in now.

So I have earned my ears, or at least my first set of ears. At the Canada pavilion food and beverage there is the Popcorn cart and Podium. I started out at podium, so I had 4 days of training to learn all the different podium jobs. Now that I completed my trading I was able to take off the "earning my ears" flag from my nametag. So now it just says "Dan, Guelph, Canada" I want it to say "Dan, Guelph, Ontario" but apparently I'd have to pay for a new nametag, and I'm kind of broke right now.

I'm having a lot of fun, the canadians here have been great to work with, and everybody has been really supportive. Met some movie buffs, and people who aren't all about drinking, so hopefully I'll have somebody to see some movies with. Also I'm talking to some avid golfers, so I'm hoping to get out and hit the golf courses around with my cast discount!

I do miss home, but getting to know everybody here is making things a bit easier. I'm glad to have started working, as it is fun interacting with the guests, and enjoying the company of my fellow Canucks.

So now I'm just waiting for all of you to come down and visit!

-Dano

Actually working

Today I had my first full day of actually working as a cast member, in costume (sorry, no photo's yet, but hopefully soon!). I start inside the restaurant as a seater. Lots of things to learn, but I tried to keep up, and by the end of the day I was seating guests by myself in various areas of the restaurant.

Met lots of canadians today, they were all very very nice to me, as it took me a little while to get going on everything. But I had a good time, chatting with guests about their stay, and getting them ready to eat in the restaurant.

It's one of the busiest restaurants in all of Disney, and was fully booked all day. Things got a bit crazy at some points, but the cast was very good at keeping things going and helping each other out.

I even got to trade pins for a bit today, which was fun. Although for some reason I kept getting princess pins in return...

I'm really enjoying things so far, it's nice to finally get into work and start meeting people, seems like a really great group. I've got plenty more training to go through before I start working shifts on my own.

I also spent my day off at Epcot, riding Test Track and Soarin, and visiting the many different countries represented. I do hope to get to see more of the parks, but I don't get another day off until next Thursday.

Hope all is well back in Ontario!

-Dano

I've been Traditioned

Yay, I now have a Disney ID, and a Disney name tag (which says Dan and not Daniel, phew! Not that Daniel would be bad, but I'm not used to it). Haven't received my costume yet, that should be Friday.

So what is Traditions? It's your first day of work at Disney, where you learn about the history of disney, the business standards that you are expected to uphold, and various policies that make Disney the place it is. It takes a long time, but the Tradition team tries to make it fun. (they give out little figurines for participation, I got 3. I'm awesome). It wasn't my original Traditions group, so I was there with a different kind of group, lots of security guards in training, costuming and entertainment people. Who knows, having friends in security might be a good thing down the line.

So now that I have an id, that means I can start going to the parks on my days off. Sweet. It'll be good to get into the swing of things. Falling behind hasn't been fun, so I'm looking forward to getting to Epcot, and starting my training for real. I still have a bit of classroom stuff to get through, but I have a schedule now, so it's kind of exciting.

I'll make some more posts, once I get more training, and get a costume. Stay Tuned!

-Dano

I thought this would make Lisa jealous. The Publix near my apartment has Coconut Milk Yogurt. I haven't tried it yet, but I will let you know how it is.

Tink, Stormtrooper and Mickey like my new TV.

Tink was helping me cook up some grub. They've got earth balance here too, phew!

Stormtrooper knows I need to shave before I head off to traditions early in the morning.

Mickey says that 5:30 is too early to get out of bed. I tend to agree, but didn't want to miss Traditions again.

The problems with being a hippy.

First I lost my beard, then I lost my hair. I look weird.

So here's the story, when working for Disney, the first day of work is a training class called "Traditions" it's a pretty big deal, they tell you all about the history of the company, and how to treat the "Guests".

However, I was not allowed to attend.

When I arrived, I was told to stand to the side, and a manager came and told me that I didn't have the Disney Look. My hair was too long...

So I was sent home and told I had to get a hair cut and come back for the next available class. Hopefully on Tuesday. Until then, I can't do much of anything (no working until you do Traditions!).

There was one other guy that wasn't allowed in, Stefan from Norway, so we went and got a hair cut, and hung out for a bit. He's a good guy, and in the future he'll help introduce me to some of the lovely ladies from Norway.

So it's been a pretty uneventful couple days. I'm watching movies, playing games, and relaxing until I get to do Traditions.

Once that happens, I should have some more things to post about.

I did get out to see Inglorious Basterds (great movie) and District 9 (cool sci-fi flick). so that's something. But I'm looking forward to starting to work (I know, that's weird coming from me, right?). Living in a dorm room can get boring, and I'd like to get to know more of the Canadians.

Thrown In, the DMV and movie time

Ok, I'm going to try to add some pictures to this post. So we'll see how that goes.

The other night we had our "Throw-In", we were invited to a pre-party where we spoke to some current Canadian cast-members about their experiences here, and where they tried to scare us about what the "Throw-In" would entail. We were told to where something Canadian, so of course I sported a Leafs Jersey.

I can't reveal too much about the throw-in, as future canucks might read this. But it was a lot of fun, we met a lot of people, were assigned an elder sibling to watch over us (my big sister is 10 years younger than me...). And enjoyed some beverages. There was also a rousing singing of Oh Canada.

The next day was more training about what can get us terminated and deported. Those seem to be important details. We ended the night visiting the family (Mom and Matt) before they headed home. And went to have a fantastic dinner at Kouzzina's (by Cat Cora) on the Boardwalk. The chef made a great vegan meal for us. It was awesome.

Also, the tiny tv has been replaced (having your mom in town is a good thing). I now have an HDTV that while small is full HD capable. excellent...

Today was my first day off since moving in, and I took complete advantage by spending about 5 hours at various DMV's or driving too and from. I forgot a form with my new address the first time, then the computer system went down, then they didn't know if I could register my car, all very confusing.

In the end, I have a Florida Driver's License (just a temp right now, the real one is coming in the mail.) and was able to get a parking sticker so I can have my car where I live. The security guards are much friendlier now.

After a nap, Jeremy, Alana and I went to downtown Disney to the AMC to see Inglorious Basterds, which was great, very graphic and funny. I recommend it to all, especially Tarantino fans.

Tomorrow (really early), I head over to Disney University for "Traditions" which is the main Disney training course. Should be interesting once I wake up. I also will be getting my Disney Pass (free access to all parks!) and Disney nametag. I'll be sure to take some pictures of those.

Miss you all, hope all is well. I heard there were some tornados in the Toronto area the other night. I think the Hurricane that is nearby here is going to miss us, but it's been really rainy down here. And hot!

-Dano

Some current lumberjacks offering us warnings of what's to come. And pizza.

My big sister with her new adopted brothers.

My bedroom, fancy eh?

Here's the kitchen, not too shabby. Stove, dishwasher, fridge.

The common room. See the tiny TV I was dealing with? That is actual size.

Moved in and settling.

Well, here I am, sitting in my apartment in Florida. It still seems a little odd just saying that.

First, I'll apologize for the lack of pictures, I'm still charging my batteries (literally, not figuratively), so the camera won't be back in business until later tonight. But I wanted to get a post up anyway.

On Tuesday, Jeremy and I (my brother who is also in the program), left pop century and headed over to the Vista Way complex to check in. There we got our welcome package, met a couple other Canadians, and a key to each of our new apartments. We weren't put in an apartment together, but we aren't far.

We ended up at "The Commons" which is only for international rep people, with about 1000 people total.

I helped him move his stuff in, and he helped me move mine.

The apartments are decent, nothing spectacular, a basic dorm style layout, two bedrooms, with two beds each, a common area and a small kitchen. The kitchen has a stove, fridge and dishwasher. The apartments also include a washer and dryer, which is awesome. No dragging my laundry down to some common area for me!

Jeremy met a few of his roommates when he first moved in, while my apartment was empty of people, there were signs directing me to my room and my bed. Later on I met two of my roommates from France, Max and Injen.

After a trip to Wal-Mart (I know, it sucks, but it's really really close... wasn't my choice, I'll probably stick to Target when I can), to buy some necessities, with Robert (Canadian) and Alex (UK). We stopped in at Benny's (Bennigans), which is the place to go for international program members apparently (it's just down the street from us, so it makes sense). I unpacked as much as possible.

The only bad thing, the tv in my apartment is ridiculously small. Like tiny. While I left a beautiful HD tv at home... and my blu-ray player doesn't have a connection for a non-hdtv... grr.

On Wednesday we rose early to start our training. meeting at 8:50 for some Housing meetings, to learn about all the things that can get us terminated, and signing our lives away for a year. I think the Mouse gets my first born now. After a quick lunch at a nearby food court, we went over to the Vista Way to get our Housing ID's made. The picture looks ok, but I still miss my beard.

Then hit up Publix to get some groceries, I was glad to find a decent size "Organic" section, with some vegan options, though expensive, look pretty good. I got some greens, bananas, and pasta and beans. As well as a collection of spices.

Also picked up a pay as you go cell phone, so I have a way of being contacted by others. I'll start passing out my info soon, when I've got some more time.

Tonight, we have the Canadian "Throw-In", which is a meet-and-greet-and-drink with the current Canadians to welcome us to the fold. Should be lots of "Oh Canada" singing and such. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures to add to the blog.

Ok, that's all for now. Tonight should be a good night, luckily training doesn't start until noon tomorrow.

-Dan

Leaving on a jet plane (minus the jet plane)

So tomorrow I take off to the great not-white south.

That would make this Dano'sLeaving Eve.

20 hours of driving later, I'll be in Florida, ready to start work as a Canadian Representative, for the Cultural Representative Program.

Now I know what you're saying "Why Dan, you are a perfect representative of Canada, it's about time you were recognized for that. Also you are smart, attractive and quite funny." You are too kind, really, stop, you're making me blush.

You may also be saying "I've heard they don't pay much, are you insane for leaving your well paying job to do this?" Ok, no need for name calling. Yes I may be a little crazy, but you only live once, so I figured hey, what better way to spend a year than being paid (not very much) to work at the Happiest Place on Earth(TM).

To show I'm not crazy, here are 5 things I'm excited about.

1. The Costume: I get to dress up as a lumberjack, that's right, a lumberjack. Jealous?

2. The People: The coolest thing is that for each pavilion at epcot, they hire people from those countries to work there. I'll get to meet people from all over the world in one location. There aren't many places you can do that (the internet doesn't count as a place). Hopefully by the end of the year, I'll have plenty of places to go and visit, and I'll have to change the name of the blog.

3. The Mouse: Let's face it, getting to put "Walt Disney World" on my resume will be pretty damn cool.

4. The Weather: While I'll miss the snow, ice and dark days soo much, I'll struggle through. It'll be tough, playing golf in mid-January knowing all my canadian friends are golfless. so very tough.

5. The Visits: I expect many people to come down and visit me during my year there. Probably more than anybody comes to visit me back in Guelph.

Of course, I'll miss many things too

1. My Family: My Family is awesome, so it'll be strange to be so far away from them. My nephews and niece will change soo much before I see them again, and with another niece/nephew on the way, it'll be hard to be away.

2. My Friends: My Friends are awesome too, and I'll be sure to raise many pints to them from down south. I'm hoping many of them get a chance to come down and say hi while I'm down there. Though I know it's not always possible.

3. My Beard: (My Friends and Family should be happy that I put my beard 3rd, it was challenging for #1). Part of the contract states I have to have "The Disney Look", which meant I had to say goodbye to my old friend. Luckily, a good friend sewed me a fake beard, so when I don't feel like myself, I can put it on.

4. My Theatres: For the past 5 years I've been doing a lot of acting, and backstage stuff at various community and dinner theatres. I'm gonna miss that, though from what I can tell, everyday will be acting down in FLA.

5. The Weather: Ok, how can this be on both lists... While I may not miss the cold cold weather, it'll be quite an adjustment to hit Florida in mid-august. I'm going to have to bath in SPF 50 or higher to stop from burning. Damn my fair skin.

So, it should be quite an adventure, and hopefully a ton of fun. I'll have my laptop there though, so I plan to keep this blog going as a way of keeping everyone back home informed on how I'm doing.

Talk to you all soon!

-Dano