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