The first week and a half of being in Orlando

So I've been really busy in my first week and a half here. I'll break it down day by day :)

Monday 6/6: Check - in
Tuesday: free day to get settled
Wednesday: Traditions and Magic Kingdom
Thursday: free day ( I went to Typhoon Lagoon and Hollywood Studios)
Friday: training
Saturday: Training and Hollywood Studios
Sunday:  Training and Hollywood Studios
Monday: free day and Epcot
Tuesday: park orientation and Magic Kingdom

I've had several different classes on many different things about Disney and costuming. I've learned a lot, and I start training on my assignment tonight, which is the Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom! I'm really excited, but the shifts are 10.5 hours long each night. The good thing is that I get 3 days off each week as long as my shifts are that long :)

Let me explain some of the tinges I mentioned:
Traditions is a class about Disney, and traditions we are expected to uphold as new cast members. We learned the basic values and ideas of the park.

I had training on what we will do as costumers, and how to work the computer system that will check out costumes to cast members. I also had basic character training.

The park orientation was a more in depth day dedicated to Magic Kingdom alone, and we learned a bit about the history and ideas behind several parts of the park. We all went on rides together as well. It was a pretty fun day, actually :)

I spent so much time in Hollywood Studios because it was the last weekend of Star Wars Weekends, and I'm a huge geek, haha. It was awesome!

So that was my week. I'm starting on training tonight for the Electric Light Parade. My shifts are basically second shift, and I'll be getting home around 3 or so every night.

Last day before leaving!

Here I am, the night before leaving. I don't know when I'll update this again, but hopefully it won't be too long!

I spent today being mostly lazy, then one of my best friends came over. We've been good friends since elementary school. We haven't had a lot of time to hang out in our last few years in college. We went to different universities, and she spent a year in Japan…now we're all back, and she's about to head out to Kansas for grad school, and I'm avoiding real life at Disney for half a year. So really, it was the last time we'll be able to spend time together.

She "helped" me pack, which led to a lot of not-packing, and a good time was had by all, haha Another good friend stopped by not too long after my first buddy showed up, and we really got to not-packing, haha

This post isn't much, just to let everyone know that I got all my junk pared down to 1) things I'm taking down and weights under 50 pounds (it was at 70…which is way overweight), 2) things I need mailed to me ASAP that I can't fit in my suitcase, and 3) things I need later in the fall like long-sleeved shirts, pants, and jackets. Everything else will stay here for the 7 months I'll be away.

Well… I'm not 100% done packing. I need to wash a  load of clothes and pack that up, but I'm done, pretty much, Which is a big accomplishment for me. I won't be running around trying to pack Sunday morning (which really wouldn't have been a surprise, knowing me, haha)

I guess I'll see everyone in the CP soon, and I'll see all my old buddies soon enough! Ill miss you all, and hope everyone who is planning on coming to visit can come soon! :) 

Love and Kisses,
Katie

(….Sabi you should get that reference, lol <3 you!)

Random: Packing, Bags, and Movies

So, it's 2 days until I'm on a plane on my way to Orlando.

I've just been stressing about packing and trying to get everything together that I need to take with me or have shipped to me. I've also been trying my best to cram in visits with everyone that I know is in town before I leave for 7 months. I know a few people are planning on coming down to see me already, and are already asking for what days I have off…. (Sarah! lol)

It's been a stressful few days trying to figure out what bags i'm taking and what I'm packing to be sent to me later next week, and what I need immediately.

Bag wise, I'm not sure if I want to go the route of taking my huge checked-bag-limi sized bag, as well as my carryon-limit-sized bag. Both are rolling bags. Instead of the carryon-limit-sized-rolling bag, I got this cheap duffel bag that ends up being a biiiit too small, but I can under pack it and cram it into the overhead bin…. I think. I'm not even sure. The only two times I flew were 1) on a tiny plane where there were NO carryon bins, and 2) on my way to India where all we did was check a huge backpack, and carry a tiny backpack that fit under the seat in front of me…. we didn't even deal with the overhead bins.  I do plan on having that tiny backpack as my "personal item" for the flight so there's that.
I can't find any cheap non-rolling carry on bags, it seems. The smallest one I saw under $40 was  the duffel bag I ended up getting.I mean, If I want to spend $40 instead of $15, I guess I can go back and get that nice sturdy carry on thing (shaped like a hard case messenger bag, sort of)

I just felt like making a post, and here it is, about bags and random packing, haha

I'm taking a few random things, such as my Brobee pillow that my boyfriend gave me recently, as well as the vinyl Brobee he gave me several years ago as a Christmas gift…. (I love that character's design, and it's easy to get me gifts, I guess, lol) I'm also taking a Pokemon plush (Minncinno) that my sister got me on her trip to disney. :)
A friend actually gave me my first Vinylmation this past weekend (which I'm also taking ), and it was one I have been eyeballing online! It is the Jellyfish from the underwater series…. the first in a long line of figures I'll be collecting, I predict! lol! I'm basically visiting Disney for the first time, you know!

I'm also taking my French card game, Mille Bornes If anyone wants to try to learn  to play with me, let me know :) It's played as if you are in a car and you're racing the other players, giving each other obstacles such as flat tires or speed limits, and you have to reach 1000 miles (the name os the game ) before everyone else in order to win!

I'm taking only a few books, and 24 DVDs (the size of the case I bought, haha). I tried to pick out my favorites, but also movies people most likely haven't seen, so I can expand some movies horizons while I'm in Florida… I LOVE movies, in case you didn't know! Also a select few books that I never got to finished reading, or are new: Naked Lunch (someone lost my place, and it's a really confusing book, so I thought I'd just start over…), Slumdog Millionaire (new), The Internet is a Playground (new, and HILARIOUS. I've seen the website, and now I can read this anywhere, Thanks Sarah! ), and Fear Nothing (never finished, lost time due to senior year…. twice, haha)

Go after the cut to see the movies I'm bringing, in case you wanted to know, haha:

My last few days on campus

I've worked in my university's library since I was a freshman, and today is the last day I'll ever be able to work there. It's been a good, and long, five years.

Graduation didn't really sink in the fact that I would be leaving this place like it seems to have done for most people. I still had 3 weeks of working left to do, to try to earn as much money as possible before going down to florida. I still had to clean out my studio space in the art building, and turn in my keys. I wasn't finished yet.

Now, I've cleaned out my studio, turned in the the keys to my studio, and today is the last day of working at the job I've had for the pst 5 years. I love my job. Its mainly scanning and archiving the special collections held by the University. I get to see things from the collections that many people will never get to see, that is, until we scan them for the Digital Archives. It's amazing to me. Last year there was a special project in which our department scanned negatives of the local newspaper from the 1940s until the 1960s or so. I believe there were something like 15,000 of them, or some other ridiculously high number of negatives. I learned so much about local history in going through the process of scanning the items, putting them online, and checking the information and descriptions with the items.

I'm really going to miss this job. My boss has been a good friend to me, even he helped me decide where to take my stint in art school. I couldn't decide what major I wanted to be, but he helped me see that I should be in textiles, as I've loved textiles since high school… I'm not sure why I couldn't see that you could make a career out of something that you loved like that. Now I see it, and my ultimate goal is working in costuming for films or other entertainment.

 I guess you could say it's the only University related thing that I will miss. I definitely won't miss the system here, or even necessarily the campus. But I will miss my job.

I went into the art building for the last time yesterday. I have no other reason to go now. I've turned in everything that I need to turn in.
Today will be the last day i ride my beautiful bike around these neighborhoods and on campus. It will actually be the last time I ride my bike for a long time. That is very sad. I love my bike more than people generally love bikes.

On a Disney related-note: I saw Pirates of the Carribean with my boyfriend, and nearly cried when I saw the castle. It's not because I absolutely love Disney THAT MUCH, it's because I am pretty sad to be leaving my boyfriend. I was never a huge Disney-phile, as a lot of people on the CP seem to be... I rather think it would be amazing to do costuming for a huge entertainment company.

Did I make the right decision on the CP? Should I have accepted it, even thought I'm leaving him behind? I feel pretty bad/sad about it actually. :(

Packing and moving

So, I'm moving out of my apartment a whole month before my lease is up. My boyfriend will still be there, but that means that I have to pack and move nearly everything that is mine before I move down for the CP.

It's really overwhelming, actually ):

I've been making lists and lists, trying to psych myself into getting down to business, and also to try to keep my sanity.

I basically have to pack into 3 groups:
-things I am taking on my flight to Orlando
-things I am packing to be mailed to me
and - things that I am packing to be put away into storage until I return

To make things harder, I have no car. If I had a car, I could take a couple of trips home in a week and move a lot of my things that way..... but nooooo, I have no car, so I have to rely on other people helping me, which I do have people helping me, but it sucks for everyone involved. I can't do it myself, so I feel bad that I can't self sustain at this part of my life, and I live 3 hours away, so my family driving back and forth really sucks for them

But it's coming along.

I've moved everything out of my studio space on my campus, and I have sent most of it home (and I'm actually taking the rest of it home tomorrow :) ) You wouldn't believe how much STUFF I've accumulated that I can't seem to let go of for art purposes. I did get rid of a good bit, but man, 2 trips just for the studio stuff?!?! I don't even want to THINK of all the costuming stuff I have at my apartment.... (by the way, I have another blog about my personal costuming :) Kat's Cosplay )

I'm starting to get stressed about moving and I still have 3 weekends to go!, Go figure : /