New Adventures Happening all the Time

Peter and I at the Blue Bayou on Thursday

Today was a very exciting day at work. Actually, this entire week has been very different. Last Wednesday was the first time that it's rained on my day off. It wasn't too bad, except that I was soaked after only 5 minutes of being outside. I've missed the Washington rain, so it was a nice change.

Thursday was my last day off. Peter and I went to the Blue Bayou for dinner. After that, we went to laser tag put on by the college program. I didn't realize laser tag could be so much fun. Last time I played, the lasers could hit their target through all of the walls and when the lasers hit, it felt like I was getting shocked. This time, the lasers could bounce off mirrors, but they couldn't go through walls. When hit, the vest vibrated slightly, just to let you know you were hit. It was infinitely better this time. They even played star wars music while we were going through the maze finding people :)

The rest of the week has been very, very long. Because it was a three day weekend (four for some schools), the park was VERY crowded. Friday was my busiest shift in the back of house, Saturday was my busiest in the front. Both days, the crowds never stopped. Guess I now have a vague idea of what spring break will be like. Today was very slow in comparison. I know I haven't learned everything yet, but I feel like I've mastered most everything. I know how to put a burger together, I know how to wrap a burger, I know how to put the specialty items together, and I know how to add fries. I also know how to close and restock. Today I also learned how to heat up pastrami.

When I started work today, it was at the beginning of lunch rush. After that ended though, the people mysteriously disappeared. We went from busy to practically empty. Despite how slow it was, it was still fairly exciting at work. During one of the periods where there wasn't anything going on, I started talking to my trainer. Turns out there's a slight loop-hole to the having to wait to cross-train. In order to apply to cross-train, I have to finish my probation period, which is 4 months long. After that, I have to wait for a position to open up. However, it turns out that I can start practicing some food prep during slow periods, with the permission of the leads. I MADE PIZZAS TONIGHT!!! After talking to the lead, the person who was making pizzas went on break, and we ran out of pizza. The lead came up to me and told me "it was my moment to shine." I got to spend half an hour near the pizza machine :)

I had my second day of class this morning. We learned about the importance of Networking, along with proper etiquette to doing so. We also received our first assignment. Any guesses as to what it's about? I'll give you three guesses, the first two don't count. Give up? Networking! I need to interview someone that works for a department in Disney that I'd be interested in. I'm both excited and nervous.

Guess that's about it for this week. Hopefully, now that I know I can do a little bit of food prep, things will be even more exciting at work.

The song and video that I decided to add this week is "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan. For some reason, I've had this song stuck in my head all day. Enjoy!

~Amber

So Many Changes!

One of the many roses found in Disney's California Adventures

Happy Valentine's Day! I can't believe that I've been here for over a month. It feels like only a week or two. I also feel like I know almost everything about my job. Other than where things are located, I've restocked just about everything by now, and I can usually keep up with the rushes. I've even had many of the newer people asking me how to do this, or where to locate that (and some of the older people for the locating part). Tonight, I was talking to a few girls who are also in the program, but locals. Apparently they both thought that there was no way I was in the college program, because I was too knowledgeable at my job. Can I cross-train now, please? :) I know, I know. I have to wait until after probation. Maybe by then I'll know absolutely everything! Haha, yeah right.

So the parks definitely seem to be getting busier, although that could be a result of the three day weekend that just passed... THAT was fun. There was never a non-busy moment. Accomplishment of the week? I figured out why I'm always so much more tired after working in the back of house, compared to the front of house. When it's not busy in the front, there's only so many counters that can be wiped and restocking that can be done before there's nothing left to do. In the back, there's always something to do. Restock this, restock that, clean this, close that. While everyone else stands around talking, I'm always taking care of those other things. The other day, I spent two hours adding fries to orders, two hours sweeping, emptying trash cans, and restocking. Yep, back of house is busy.

Last post, I mentioned that I didn't get a chance to see the fireworks because they were cancelled. I was finally able to see the fireworks on Saturday. They were absolutely amazing!

Things have definitely changed a lot since I've come down here. Seems like all my habits are changing as well. I've always been a night person. I prefer staying up late and waking up late. I definitely don't stay up as late anymore, and I can usually wake up by 8:30 easily. The first two or three weeks here, I kept waking up by 7:30! Next to change? Food preferences. Who would've thought. I used to dislike salads. I've gotten to the point where I don't mind iceberg lettuce, either plain, or with soy sauce (weird, I know, but so am I). I randomly decided to pick up some chef salads at Vons (Safeway) the other day. Not only did I love them, they had salad dressing. Apparently, after years of hating it, I now like ranch. My activities have changed as well. Whatever time I wasn't spending on a specific activity with friends, homework, work, or chores, I was usually playing video games. Especially when Skyrim came out. Since coming down here, I haven't even put 24 hours into video games. I wouldn't say I've become more outgoing, but I'm hanging out with other people a lot more than I used to. When I'm not busy or hanging out with other people, I've been trying to find other activities.

Besides work and spending time with friends, I've also spent the last week looking into culinary school options. I've decided that at this point I'm going to stay here and continue working at Disneyland after the program ends. Because I lose all seniority I may have through the program when it ends, I'm going to try and move to table service restaurants immediately, or as close to immediately as possible. I had been looking into going to Le Cordon Bleu in LA. However, I started talking to the lead chef (can't remember his specific position, but he's basically the manager of everyone) today at work. I mentioned my interest in culinary school, and he gave me his recommendations. As long as I plan on staying with Disney, all I need is a certificate, which is the equivalent of an associates degree. With that, I'd have the education requirement taken care of to get into even the top restaurants, which is my goal. My next step is to look into those schools.

I started my Disney class this morning. I still can't really tell you what exactly the class is about, but so far, it's a lot of fun. Some weeks we'll have lecture classes, other weeks we have hands on activities. There's one week that we'll be spending the class time at the local food bank. It definitely sounds like an exciting class.

Since I've started working here, I seem to get a lot more Disney songs stuck in my head. I think that -along with one "random" picture - I'll also post a music video, at least occasionally. In light of today's holiday, I think I'll put up "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin." Seems very fitting

~Amber

No Fireworks For Me

Twice in a row.... Went to the park last night and tonight, both with the sole purpose of watching the fireworks. Both nights, the fireworks were cancelled. Ah well, still lots of fun in the parks to be had.

Yesterday was my first in a series of 7+ hour long shifts. I was scheduled to work 8 hours yesterday (excluding lunch break), but only worked 6 1/2. Tonight was the same, I got off 40 minutes early from my 8 hour shift. Both nights meant that I could get a good spot to watch the fireworks....unless they were cancelled.

Tonight was really busy in the parks, but even just mostly walking around can be just as much fun as constantly going on rides. Just remember: bring a jacket, it's a bit chilly when the sun goes down :) I also figured out that the food portions are large enough that even a Chinese cafe dinner can be shared fairly easily. And don't forget about those cookies..... Have I mentioned how much I love oatmeal raisin cookies? Even half of one of those cookies was too much... Definitely didn't want to go on anything more intense than Pirates of the Caribbean for at least half an hour.

Not much too different with the rest of the week: work, clean, make food, watch movies, play about an hour of video games (total, all week), hang out with friends, go to the park on occasion.

This next week, I have 5 7 - 8 hour long shifts. The following week is all 8 hour shifts. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's already spring break. Plenty of time before that happens. First we have to get through February.

Still can't believe it's already February. I'm just 3 days shy of being here for a full month. It feels like a lot less time than that. I start classes in just over a week. That sounds exciting. Before that can happen though, I need to fix a slight problem with my schedule. Seems they decided to schedule me to start work at the exact time that I'm supposed to end classes.

Well, tomorrow starts another exciting week. Hopefully I'll have some exciting things to post, and some new pictures from my camera.

~Amber