This is how my second Cultural Exchange Program ended. After that, in the pictures on my phone there are no more fairies and pixie dust, no more mouses and no more magic! Going home wasn't as hard as it was last year for me. I cried all the tears I had to cry while I was still there and I think it helped. It still took me 3 months before I was able to write the last month of my summer. I threw myself and my heart in my studies and work all semester and now that the finals are here I couldn't take it anymore and I had to finally write it. This blog is full of so much memories and writing and rereading it made me go through so many different emotions. I met so many great people that I am going to remember all my life and did so many things and how did I get so lucky?! I know I called this post home, but coming back to Canada didn't feel like I was coming home. Some piece of my heart will always be missing. As soon as I came back from Florida, I applied again for what might be my third ICP. This year is my last year of college and also my last chance to live this amazing experience once more. I can't wait to see what happens! O'hana means family! And all of you guys who made this summer so amazing might not be my family by blood, but I love you just the same! For now, this is it! I did it! I wrote about my entire summer! I look forward to writing to you again soon if, again, I am lucky enough to be a part of this magical program.
xx Marie-Ève
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August 9th was the day. The one I had counted down to hoping it would never come. I was going home after the most amazing summer of my entire life. I was excited to see my family again, but I knew I was leaving behind my second family and it would be hard to go back to normal after all of these wonderful moments and memories.
Catherine, Julie and I took the Magical Express to MCO at 2:30 in the morning to be on time for our 6 o'clock flight to Newark. We then had a connecting flight to Quebec. We left at Saratoga Springs Laurie, Caroline, Sarah-Maude, Rosalie and Édith who were leaving Florida two days later. August 8th was my last day in Florida for the summer of 2015! We woke up pretty late, went to the pool, explored Saratoga and went to Downtown Disney in the afternoon to see Fantastic Four at AMC. It was a fun, relaxing day to settle from all of our emotions from the last few days before going home. Staying in Disney for two days after the end of my program was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Going back the my family after the craziness of the last few days would have been a choc. I needed a moment to make the transition between the Disney life and normal life and staying with girls from my home town who know what I am going through was exactly what I needed.
August 7th was the official last day of our program and we had to be out of the apartment by 11 AM. I didn't get much sleep that night because we got back from Magic Kingdom at about 2 AM and Édith spent most of the night packing since she hadn't done it before. Plus, I woke up at 6:45 to say goodbye to Anipier and Karen who were going on a trip to Texas before going back to Canada. So, all in all, I got about 20 minutes of sleep haha! After saying goodbye to the girls, I went to Laurie and Florence's apartment to have breakfast with Laurie. I also said goodbye to Lisa, Laurie and Florence's roommate who I worked with all summer. At 10:30, I got my suitcases and went to the Front Desk to give back my key. We then took the bus to go to Saratoga Springs. Walking with our bags and suitcases was great lol. We are staying at Saratoga Springs for a few days before going back home. After checking in, finding our room and getting settled, Laurie, Catherine and I left for a last day at EPCOT.
We spent the day walking around the world and slept through the American Experience. We watched Illuminations from a secret place in Italy (thank you Laurie's friend who I don't remember the name, sorry!) and went straight to bed exhausted. August 6th was the last day of the program. One of the best and worst day of my life! Anipier and I wanted to go to Magic Kingdom for the opening show at 7:45. I put my alarm at 5:30 so I would have time to eat breakfast and take my time to get ready before taking the bus at 6:15. Unfortunately and for a reason I don't know, my alarm never went off. Anipier woke me up at 6 by knocking on my door like crazy. Thanks to her, we made it on time for the bus and the opening show! You are the best, girl! We saw the opening show and had time to do the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the Tea Cups twice before going to the Crystal Palace for breakfast with Laurie and Florence. After breakfast, we took some pictures in front of the castle and then did some attractions all around Magic Kingdom. It was a very fun day and one of Florence's friends got us some fast passes so we had time to do a lot of things! When it was time for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes, all the CPs walked to the castle to watch. I tried so hard not to cry, but as soon as Walt said "It was all started by a mouse!" I was done for. I was sobbing for the rest of Celebrate the Magic and most of Wishes and I didn't see most of it. It was a beautiful, terrible, exhausting, magical night that I am going to remember all my life!
August 5th was also the last day of work for most of us Internationals. Most of us had the PM shift which means we would be able to take pictures after work once the parc is closed. Break out was definitely emotional that night! We were all trying to keep the tears in and enjoy our last few moments together. The ones who had the morning shift even came back in their costumes to take pictures of all of us together! I am going to miss all of you Goonies so much! If you are ever in Québec, send me a message. I would love to see you! See you next summer! On the last day of our program, Alex, one of our coordinators, had organized as a congratulations for all of our hard work, a special screening of Pirates of the Caribbean on the beach. After working and changing out of our costumes, we made our way to the beach for this last moment together and popcorn!
August 5th was our program graduation! It's a good reason to dress up and a good occasion to take pictures with your friends. We got there really early so we could fully enjoy it. We got our graduation ears, diploma and souvenir box and then took lots of pictures! It was a lot of fun even though it was crazy hot and humid, even for Florida! Our program ended on August 7th this year and I was working everyday from July 31st to August 5th. Doesn't mean I was not going to have fun though! The last week of work is the best, but also the worst of the summer! It's the best because you know everyone and everything you have do to. You are no longer the trainee or the new girl, but part of the team. But that also makes it the worst because every moment that you spend with your coworkers, you are counting down the last moments you are going to spend with them and that is terrible! Typhoon has some of the best Cast Members on all of Disney property and I am going to miss all of them very much! On July 31st, after working all day, I went to Hollywood Studios to join Anipier and Julie for the fireworks and Fantasmic! It was my last time at Hollywood Studios and it was great to see two of my favorite shows after a hard day at work. The mornings of August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, before going to work, were spent packing all of my belongings into one and a half suitcases so I wouldn't have to do it on my last day. This was really hard for me, not only because I have way too many things to fit in only those tiny suitcases, but because it meant the end of a part of my life when I was very happy! As much as I was ready to go home when the end of my program arrived last year, I was so not ready to go and leave all of my Disney friends behind this time around. August 4th was probably my favorite day of work at Typhoon ever! I was on stand on my favorite rotation for the first part of it, but during the special event, from 8:30 PM to 1 AM, I was an extra! Being an extra is so much fun because it's so different from the usual lifeguard job. I spent an hour picking up lost articles and bringing them to guest services, and another hour picking leaves in the lazy river, and another one throwing the tubes out of the river and stacking them, all of that with the Teen Beach 2 soundtrack I could sing and dance to. Plus, I got lifeguard of the day!! Awesome right!?! On July 30th, Anipier and I went to EPCOT early in the morning to do all the things she had never tried before. I'm pretty sure EPCOT is the parc I visited the least this summer, which is sad because it's a great parc full of fun things to do and discover! We did every attraction in Future World: Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Nemo, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, Journey into Imagination, etc. I think the only one we didn't do was Captain EO. We also spent forever watching the fishes and the dolphins at The Seas and went to see Laurie who was working and made some water art just for us! At about 4 PM, Caroline came to join us so we could go around the world together. We started by getting a « Croissant Donut » in Canada. It's like a Beaver Tail except it's in the shape of a donut. Then, after we ate, we went to Mexico to see Donald. Sarah-Maude is friends with him so we were very excited to see him! After some pictures and lots of hugs with Donald, we visited each country, except Norway because it's under construction, and took a selfie in each of them. We also ate something from most of them: a Pretzel (or a beer for those of us who are legal in the US) in Germany, desserts in France, the croissants in Canada and dinner in United Kingdom. It was all so delicious! Here are some pictures of our adventures:
After going around the world, we stayed for the fireworks even though it's late and the last week of work starts tomorrow at 8:45 AM!
After Animal Kingdom, I went to Blizzard Beach were Marie-Ève and Rosalie where working until 8. Then, the three of us were going to Winter Summerland to do the Winter course since Marie-Ève and I had loved the Summer one. I was so tired, I fell asleep while waiting for them haha! When they arrived we had to wait about 10 minutes and then we were ready to go! The Winter course is just as cute as the summer one, but I think I still prefer the Summer one because I have a soft spot for warm weather and beaches. We were having a lot of fun, but after about 5 holes, the family in front of us was taking their sweet time and we had to wait for them at every hole! Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people taking their time to play, this is golf after all, and I have no problem with people taking a few pictures, we are in Disney after all. But if you are not even playing and you are just doing a photoshoot at every hole and then staying on the course to check your pictures one by one to make sure they are ok and then taking other pictures because you were not pretty enough in the first ones, then I have a problem with that! Being on vacation is not a reason not to be respectful to the people around you! We still enjoyed playing and goofing around while we were waiting. It was a big day, but it was so much fun! |
AuthorHello everyone! My name is Marie-Ève. I am from Québec, Canada and this blog is about my summer as a cast member in Walt Disney World. Since most of my family and friends speak French, everything on this blog will be written both in English and French. Archives
December 2015
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