'But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here.'

11.11.11 Lest we forget

Ok so i have been here just over a week now and what an adventure it has been. I have already met some pretty "awesom" people from all over the world, eaten around the world, seen all the fireworks from all the parks and a beach, as well as fantasmic in HS, been on some rides and seen love blossom between two people in my arrival group... its been a long week! with a lot of early starts:

So what can I tell you all? As you may or may not know there are four housing complexes here at lake vista: The Commons, Vista Way, Patterson Court and Chatham Sqaure. Luckierly I didn;t have to phone home and say that I had moved half way across the world and live in a place called Chatham! I live in The Commons, which is where all the CRPs live, well nearly all of them. Unfortunately when we arrived there was not enough spaces in the commons so Catherine was put in Vista Way until a space becomes avaliable, which reminds me to offer help when she does move here. It seems really harsh as it means that currently she can't settle into her appartment because she knows she is going to move soon. I live with all internation participants, two Japanese, two French and an Itallian, they are all really lovely and tidy women.


Today i went solo to Walmart which was really fun actually, all i kept thinking of on my way around the store was that episode of south park. I started work on tuesday and everything was fine and it all very simple so if you are worried about starting here don't be, the trainer are really good.


Anyway off to bed now as I have work tomorrow

But I was thinking of a way to multiply by ten, and always, in the answer, get the question back again.

( :S + :'( + -.- + |-O ) x ( XD + :) + ;) + :-@) = Apply for Disney!

I have proved by actual trial that a letter, that takes an hour to write, takes only about 3 minutes to read!

WOOOW Just over 20 odd days to go.....and I cannot wait! I've been enjoying the freak october sunshine and warm weather in preparation for florida! But now that it's returning to normal autumn bleakness, I thought I better blog!


Sooooooooo much has happened since I last blogged it hard to remember it all....


One of the more important things that has happened, is that I got my visa!!!!!! It arrived the Thursday the week after my visit to embassy, I think I cannot remember of the top of my head.:)  Ha ha, funny story about the guy that posted my visa; when they deliver it you have to show proof of identity (I used my bank card in the end) and sign for the package..... When I asked him what would be an appropriate form of identification he said my passport...... -.- "its in your hands" duh....haha. I didn't say that out loud obviously but it crossed my mind, at least I knew that my passport was safe, as even the delivery people didn't know what they were delivering!


I've also met some of the lovely people that will be starting the same days as me! Thank you agian facebook, We are all going to meet up in Florida within different situations a few days before our start date, so excited! Some of them are going to go to Mickeys not so scary halloween party but I am going to give this a miss, as I want to take some of my close friends from home next year! I even met  someone who lives just upriver from me! Becuase we lived so close we decided to met up a couple of times, he's cool and next week we are off to see Lion King 3D!!! so excited,


Apart from that I've been preparing to leave for Florida now. I've been spending alot of time with friends and family, I brought a suitcase, which is totally not the colour that people expect me to pick and i've complied a "stuff corner." A corner of my room which is hidden by all items I want to take with me and is definanatly going to be packed. In a later blog I will include a list of what I'd taken, what I actually used and what I wished I brought. Daily I have been checking the exchange rate, which has dropped :(. I must remember that I want to buy high and sell low. haha sounds funny.


Today I got some Disneypost just to make me that bit more excited! Yay. It makes a change as most of the contact made between Disney and myself has been via email, which whilst being convient is not as interesting as getting post! I went to see my auntie, where I promised to send my two favourite baby cousons a postcard when I arrive. That will probabaly take me ages to write........ maybe I could send them blank ones and ask them to write me one instead, about home! Then I can show the guests! lol. I'll worry about this nearer the time.......




So what have I got left to do from my Disney check list:


Disney Offer Letter:          Check
Disney Welcome Pack: Check
Flight:                             Check
Visa:                               Check
Insurance:                         Check
Hotel:                              Check
Progarm assesment fee:     _____




Nearly done!!!! About Insurance I went with STA for four month and when I get to Disney and sign up for Disney insurance. I will spend some time dedicating an entire blog to the subject of Disney Insurance........

"That's very important! Jury, write that down!"

One Step Closer: Visa approved! :) 

Yesterday I visited the US Embassy in London to get my Q1 visa approved and afterward, spent the day wondering around with my eldest brother Sean. Its the second time that I've been to London and not actually visited a museum or art gallery! (The first time was the day I went for my disney interview.) 

So what happened when I visited the US Embassy and was the process simple?

SHORT ANSWER: Yes. If you've ever been to Argos then you have nothing to worry about!!!

Four things you must remember before going to the embassy:

1. Make sure you have all your paper work and your Passport.

2. Don't take any electrical devises with you into the embassy, they are not allowed and they will find them at security. (I'll tell you were to leave them further down.)
3. Take a bank card, as when I was there they didn't accept cash.

4. Make sure you have no cuts or blisters on any part of your fingers or thumbs.

So my day started at 5:30 and I was rushing around so much to leave on time for my train (6:44) that I nearly forgot to take my passport: I know STUPID right! But thankfully my mum reminded me (Thank you) and I wasn't late for my train; Bonus. The train journey to Victoria was very typical and really busy, which is very common for that time in the morning but I manage to find a seat, so I was content. The tubes were boiling! Ok so I was wearing a jacket but seriously it was hot! I took the tube to Bond Street station as it looked the closest  on google maps. Yummy do make a couple of suggestions on which station you can arrive at, but I chose Bond Street in the hope of not getting lost, which I did!  


Nothing to serious though. I knew I had to get to Duke Street for a direct route to the square the embassy is on and that a side road off of Duke Street takes you directly opposite the chemist where you leave your electrical goods. When I got to the station though, I'd forgotten what street I was meant to come out of the tube station from (which would lead me onto Duke Street) and took the wrong exit! Which led to me walking around the station and eventually asking for directions! 


For those of you who go to Bond street this is the route I took: Take the OXFORD STREET exit on the second floor, turn left and walk down the road till you come to an Adidas shop, turn left again and follow Duke Street right to the end of the road (till you come to a green) Turn right, walk along the square and on the corner of the Square is the Embassy (Loads of security and a long Q will greet you!) 


So I found the Embassy, but as I said before I didn't go straight there as I took the side road off  to go to the chemist, who kindly stored all the items I wasn't allowed to take into the Embassy for £3! The chemist is on N AUDLEY STREET. If you go to the Embassy there is a zebra crossing, crossing right onto the road, follow it up until you come to the chemist (its next door to a restaurant.) They are really friendly.  


So having safely store my thing aways I went to join the visa line outside the Embassy, (on the right hand side.) Went through security (where the woman in front of me got sent away for having something to do with a HTC in her bag) Got a number off the receptionist and sat down with everyone else. This is where it turns into Argos: "Now serving N34 at window number 4." Lol!


One thing I must stress is that you have to go to TWO WINDOWS. So after you been up once, YOU HAVE to sit down and WAIT AGIAN. Some people went home after the first window, No No NO. Don't worry though as when you line up to pay for your passport to be sent back to you, they ask you again whether you had your visa approved at the second window. 


I was a substitute candidate so I had to take another letter with me from Disney explaining this. At the second window they ask you some questions and they tell you whether its been approved or not. But thats it, nothing to worry about! The delivery cost of my passport was between £14-15, ( I can't remember off the top of my head) If you want it to be delivered at a certain time of the day it cost more.


Visa approved, one happy bunny left the Embassy and spent the rest of the day running around Selfridges, Oxford street, Convent Garden and Harrods (aww the animals!!!)


Today I've been thinking about how supportive my family are being and how thankful I am to have them! Also that this time in a few months I will be sat in Florida. This latter thought has crossed my mind constantly, especially when doing the simple things that make up our British culture.....

Painting The Roses Red

Not Pink, Not Green, Not Aquamarine.....

Yesterday I went paint balling for my step uncle's birthday (Jamie,) with my little brother (Luke,) one male cousin (Dominic,) his sister (Natalie,) her fiancee (Andrew) and her friend (Alex.) I hope that spelt right!

OMG. Men get completely trigger happy when you give them a gun. Their faces light up and they turn into their virtual character out of that game: Call Of Duty (or some other game in that platform!)

I was glad when I was put into Dominic and Andrews team, they are so good! Especially at shooting. I am not very good at paint balling and don't shoot due to sight issues. But luckily I am very good at sneaking around and nicking flags which is exactly how I managed to get this new bruise (on my upper arm,) to add to my collection. A got a few more on my lower back from a close range shots (thanks Jamie,) when I was the last person left on the team death-match game, but nothing compares to this one on my arm! 

Shot by a female at point blank range, Natalie, as I was crouching with the flag unsure what to do. I love you Natalie. I'm used to bruising easily so it doesn't bother me. It just deserves to be remembered; You can see where the ball hit me!!


I have to say, that paint balling, even though it hurts like hell is so fun. Make sure you have people who play video games, or are trigger happy on your team because you will win and the females won't have to do much! Dominic was amazing, I'll make sure I'm on his team next time.

All on a summer's day.

Today a received my disclosure back: and it confirmed something I already knew, I am not a criminal!

In fact, I've never even spoken to a police office, apart from that time when a child that lives down the road from me thought it would be a good idea to bring a bomb home!!! Even then I didn't speak to the officer that evacuated us from the house, it was more like being spoken at by him and even as we all stood outside with neighbors quietly there was little interaction. My moto: leave them to it, they are doing a job and its best not to have had any interaction with them in your life: because then you wouldn't have done/ or had done to you, anything wrong! And this make the world go round easier.

Before I move on to talk about other disney things I must remember to say;

CONGRATULATIONS! to everyone who has received a date within the last week. It feels so good doesn't it?

And for the rest still waiting DON'T GIVE UP you will get a date I'm sure of it.

So now that my disclosure has come back that is one less thing to worry about, not that I was worried. Next week i'm off to the embassy to get my visa and then all I have left to do is pay the housing fee and book a hotel! EXCITING! Halloween in Florida!

Today some of the other applicants went to London! I couldn't go though as I am going out this evening with some lovely secondary school friends and yesterday was my work colleges 21st :). But now I am poor again :(.

I know that I am going to miss every single one of them especially at Chirstmas.

Right, I'm off to get ready!

Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.

Yes! Two of my favorite childhood books are that of Lewis Carols tales of Alice! I read them when I was 12 and fell in love with the characters and poems. It took till I was 16 to realise and understand the philosophical jokes! (Yes I was not a very smart child.) Very Clever writer and I enjoy it all the more now. 

On another note the light has broken in my Apple keyboard so now I don't know if caps lock is on :(. lol!

So on with the Application Process

Third Stage: Face to Face Interview

So I ended the last blog in end of April beginning of May and finding out that I had got through to the face to face interviews. Obviously I went on holiday after I had made sure I had confirmed my place in the interview which was in June. So I'm going to fast forward a bit. Had a great time at Disney and I finally finished university at the end of May, so now all that was looming was the interview. I have to say how brilliant it is to have Facebook! I spoken to and met up with loads of current applicants from all over the country and world who are applying or going to Disney all thanks to Facebook. My interview date was the 6th June and I was able to meet up with a group of people all with the same interview date the evening before for a meal at Nandos. They were all lovely people and they will/have all got places on the program as well!

So back to the interview, as I was meeting up with people for the evening before I stayed in London over night. That day when I arrive I walked around the entirety of the Hammersmith tube station (Where Disney headquarters is) just to make sure that I knew where the entrance was and then headed off with Katy (who I met at the station) to get ready for that evenings meal. It was great to meet everyone and I enjoyed the meal and them talking about their experiences of being in florida: I've never been so it made me more excited. Obviously we were all nervous about the following day so we went for one quick drink after the meal and met Rob and Marsailidh, who had their interview that day and told us all about it!

I'm not going to tell you what happens before the interview, I want it to be a surprise but basically you see a presentation and after the presentation you get put into pairs and get told an interview time. I was put with Sophie and our interview time was 1:30 or sometime around then. So we went to get some lunch and then went back, Sophie and Sophie together and had our interview with Jeff: Nice bloke, really friendly and is up for a laugh! Our interview lasted around 15 minutes and most of the questions were the same as the phone interview, apart from one which I distinctly remember: What could you bring to the Disney company? We each in turn got to answer the questions and the other Sophie was amazing, she even help me while I was thinking of an answer to a question! I knew she'd get through easy, but for me I felt like I messed it up. We were both heading to Victoria station so we went there together and spoke about all the thing we could have said! 

Special Stage: Another Waiting Game 

At the interview we found that we would hear back by no later than the 15th June so now was another wait! This was the longest wait as I had nothing to occupy my time with. I checked my emails constantly and true to their word we did hear back on the 15th at around 4am. Some people like Sophie got dates and I was so happy for her and the rest of them. But others (me) received an all together different email:

Dear Sophie,

Greetings from Yummy Jobs!

On behalf of the Yummy Jobs Team thank you for attending the recent interviews for Disney’s Cultural Representative Program.

We would like to thank you for the time and effort you put into your application and very much enjoyed meeting you and spending time speaking with you in London.

As you are aware the Cultural Representative Program is a highly sought after experience and the quality of applications from applicants in the United Kingdom was very high.

The Walt Disney World International Recruitment Team has reviewed all applications from the interview sessions in London and has now extended its first wave of offers for the Cultural Representative Program with start dates in 2011 and 2012.

At this time we would like to inform you that you are currently being considered for the additional offers that Disney will be making for arrivals in 2012.  Disney was impressed with your application and will be bringing you further news of the outcome of your interview by no later than the end of August 2011.

In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Yummy Jobs Team if you have any questions on your application.

Once again I would like to thank you personally for all of your efforts so far and we will be delivering you further information on your interview results in August.

I think my heart broke! I had to wait longer, I'm most impatience person in the world! All I kept thinking at that time was: Why couldn't i have a date now? What did I do wrong? Are the other people so much better than me? What got me through that day was that I was not the only one in this situation and me and the rest of the people in my situation formed a new group called the "Opportunity list." This group was start by Gemma! (My adopted Disney Mother) That day we were busy adding as fast as possible new members as they were announcing their application status: Had a date or Opportunity Listed. Gemma Won by adding more people! 

I have to thank everyone in that group for helping me stay positive Especially Gemma: Faith trust and Pixie dust! I was so happy for her when she was the first to find out her date from our group, along with various other individuals who had heard at the same time! 

I've nearly caught up with myself now (up to date.) 

I'm going to Disney!

Dear Sophie,

Greetings from the Yummy Jobs Team and Walt Disney World Resort

We are delighted to inform you that after a further review of your application for the Cultural Representative Program we are excited to say

Congratulations

You have been offered a position on

Disney’s Cultural Representative Program

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just looking back at this email makes me Happy with a capital H. I received this email a month ago yesterday! I couldn't believe it, I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn't asleep.  When we received the emails in June our group on Facebook split into Opportunity listed and Successful Applicants. It is now nice to be able to see and talk to everyone again! Since I had this email I have booked my insurance and flights with STA and received my Visa, offer letter and various emails from Disney!


And More good news as of TODAY some more people are getting dates on the Opportunity List. I'm so excited for them but I still hope the rest all gets dates soon, so that we can all go to disney together!


Gemma good luck for today I hope everything goes well.


I promised my friend Kirsty that if I got a date at Disney I would personally go on Its A Small World, with a cardboard cut out of her! I hate that ride in Paris. Looks like we need to order some cardboard Kirsty!

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.

Oh were to begin! So much has happen since the January that the thing I am certain of at the moment is that I should have had the guts to start this blog earlier and that I will be leaving for WDW (for the first time ever) in October!!! Yay Go me!


Now that I have that out of my System I can carry on!


So like I said so much has happened during the application process that I'm sure you'll get bored if I wrote it all in this one post; so I'm going to spread it over two. For some of you you'll be reliving some of these fond and impatience memories of meeting other applicants and checking your emails every ten minutes. For other its the informative chance for you to learn about the process without giving to many of the surprises away.


I promise that after these two posts my writing will become more blog like and less informative. (If I ever remember to post on it!)

Yummy Jobs 


So I'll start by explaining how I found out about this opportunity and to be honest it it the most dumbfounded way ever! I went on Google and searched for something along the lines of "Working for Disney," and from there, after a little bit more research I found the Disney International Progarm Website. Through the international website I found a list of in country representative and I remember thinking "I'll google the UK representative just to make sure I am not being had." At the time I was very skeptical at the legitimacy of the website! Would I really have the opportunity to apply for a job at WDW? I suppose what brought on that attitude was how I found the website.


Anyway I'm glad I did google them as it meant I could apply digitally and not through the post; as the international website suggested.


Yummy Jobs! They are amazing, they help you through every step of the process and they answer all your questions (no matter how stupid you think they are) efficiently. I don't think I have ever had to wait for more than a couple of hours for a reply to an email from them; Office Hours.  Even receiving things in the post is fast. If they told me they have posted something for me that day, I would received it in the next days post!


I cannot thank them enough for all their help SO FAR and they defiantly deserve a massive Thank You card if I get out to Florida. Maybe I can get other UK CRPs to sign it while i'm out there?

First Stage: Cv!


As with every other typical job your first course of action when applying for Disney is to submit your CV. This is simply done as all you have to do is sign up to Yummy's website and upload it to your profile. There are also a few simple questions to answer on your profile, but don't worry its nothing to daunting as long as you think about it. Now some people uploaded a cover letter with there CVs and some people (like me,) didn't. Instead of writing a cover letter I wrote about two paragraphs in the "Why do you want to take part ?" or "your motivation"question: it was called something alone those lines!


Different people will tell you different things concerning the topic of whether to write a cover letter or not. But note this: I didn't write one and I'm sat here waiting to go out in November. My opinion: if you feel more comfortable with writing a cover letter as well then do it, but don't fret over it if you don't. 


At the time I submitted my CV it was December of my Third Year at University! Yes I submitted it early but it wasn't taking into any consideration before the opening date of the applications in January (2011.) So from January I was pretty busy with my final year projects which keep me going through all the initial waiting for a reply as to whether I got through to the Next Stage. Which was good as we had to wait till April for a reply!




Second Stage: Telephone Interview


This email came while I was in New York on holiday (for my birthday):

Dear Sophie,

Many thanks for the time and effort you put into your application for Disney’s Cultural Representative Program. We sincerely appreciate your interest in the Disney International Programs.

We are delighted to inform you that we will be taking your application to the second stage of the process and will be inviting you to a pre-screen phone interview with a Yummy Jobs Team Member!

I was ecstatic! Coming back from a lovely holiday,  after having a brilliant birthday (even though I had one of my final presentation on the actual day -.-) to this exciting news. I was jumping around for hours and to add to more excitement, I was going on a planned holiday to Disneyland Paris in May! Which was at the time only a couple of weeks away. So I booked my phone interview for the next week and planned! Planned all my answer, I went through various other peoples blogs to get a list of question and came up with a list of bullet points of what I wanted to say. I even sat in one of my lectures doing it. As they say you can never be too prepared. 

When it came to the interview though, I didn't even use the notes. My interview was with Chloe and lasted 15 minutes, she is so lovely and she really helped to calm down the nerves! We ended up talking about the weather and what we were doing with the rest of the day, which for me was the my FINAL project for Uni, so we spoke about that as well. It was really lovely and well relaxed! I asked her some questions and asked about when we will hear back as I was going on holiday (I was too scared to tell her it was to Disney.)

We found out the next week!!! 

Here are some of the questions I was asked during my interview: 

(I can't remember exactly but it was along the lines of) 

Tell me  a time when you have exceeded customers expectation?

Why do you want to work for Disney?

What motivates you?

How would you get involved with different cultures?  With this question I just talk about the different cultural clubs at university and going with my friend to her dorm. (This was my hardest Question)

Are you ok with moving away from home?

How about living in mixed cultural accommodation?

How do you cope with heat?

What disney character would you choose to best describe yourself?