A Week Until Big Changes

Well, folks, there's only one week left in the program. After it's over I'll be leaving this blog behind for fresher waters...get it? Fresher "waters?" The background's a water thing....with fish in it...whatever.

Yesterday was the first Christmas that I spent away from my family, and I have to say that it reminded me what it's really like being out in the world on your own. We've been doing a lot to keep things high-energy here in the apartment since the program's winding down; on Christmas Eve the "roommates" all went out to a Chinese food restaurant and had a great time talking and enjoying each other's company. It was the first time in a while that we were all together, but it was totally worth it.


In case you were wondering, the chopsticks that Ron is holding are Star Wars lightsaber chopsticks. Pretty awesome.

I know that I've spent the last couple weeks talking a lot about how the program's almost over, but I have to say that it's been a pretty significant topic in my mind. To be honest, the lifestyle here has been completely different than anything I've experienced before, and I don't really know what I'm going to do after it's over. I've got a couple prospects that I'm investigating as far as employment is concerned, but internally I'm pretty torn. I haven't been home in forever, and though I'm generally not the type to get homesick, I miss the family and friends that are buried in the snow right now. :)

Still, the park's been pretty lively the past few days. It was a bizarre Christmas here in SoCal, and the fireworks show that Disneyland does every night during peak season almost got rained out! The better part of the day was clear skies and sunshine, but later on things got a bit messy...I'd been assigned to fireworks crowd control for the evening (we call it GSO: Guest Service Operation, maybe?), and of course I didn't bring any raingear because I didn't think it was going to rain...none of us did! It started raining about 5 minutes before the fireworks started, and by the time my shift was over my costume's wool coat was SOAKED. Trust me, it smelled TERRIBLE this morning. But I got a new one for today's shift, so I'll be alright.

In the meantime, I don't get a break until New Year's Day since New Year's Eve is my last scheduled College Program shift. Everyone has said that the park is completely PACKED during New Year's Eve, so I'm a little apprehensive...but I'm sure it'll be an interesting experience. They actually closed off admission to Disneyland on Christmas Day because so many people were in the park, though they were still letting people into the sister park, California Adventure. They're going to end up letting more people into the park on New Year's Eve, which means wait times are going to be MISERABLE. Think about this for perspective: Nemo traditionally has a 20-minute wait time, but on Christmas it went up to 90 MINUTES. And we load anywhere from 80-120 people every 5 minutes. Yeah, there were that many people. Absolutely ridiculous.

Well, I'm going to have to get some sleep so I can be ready for this hectic week. College Program, you've definitely given me a run for my money...now all I've gotta do is come up with some grown-up New Year's resolutions. Resolution 1: Pay student loans...

-Josh