Wow! I can't believe it's already September! Where did the summer go?? I know it's been a while since I've published anything and I apologize for that. We'll just have to make up for lost time now, I guess!
So you all know that I've been taking an American Sign Language course for the last few weeks. It's been going great! We just have one more class left, a silent dinner. We'll all go to Chili's and we won't say a word. It'll be tricky, especially since I don't think our vocabulary list included "I'd like a burger, hold the pickles." Oh well, that's what paper is for, I guess. I've really been having a blast in this class and have been learning a lot. I've also met a lot of cool people (i.e. a former Power Ranger). Next week I plan to test for my ASL language pin, so I will officially have it on my nametag. Cool huh?
August has past since the last time I updated you guys and I must say, it was interesting. Still quite busy, although now it's tapering off. If July is the month of the Portuguese tour groups, August is the month of the Brits and the Northeasterners. Is that even a word? Now, these groups are significantly easier to handle than the tour groups, mainly because they generally speak English (although some of those accents are a little hard to read through) and they generally aren't as rowdy. There are also less of them. With school back in session for the Floridians pretty early (like early August, early), the parks are less crowded and that means less lines, but also more downtime on the part of Cast Members. It's been a little hard to keep working the same hours I was during the heavy summer months, but I have little worry. Soon Christmas will be upon us. Now isn't that ominous!
In addition to ASL and less Guests, it's also APPLICATION TIME! Yep, the most dreaded part that just about every college student hates, applying for jobs/internships. I've applied for three different Professional Internships, in hopes that I will get them all and have to decide between the three of them. Barring that, I wouldn't mind getting at least one. The good news is, I've just had my phone interview! Whew! So the interview process is behind me. Now I just have an information session about the YES program and then an in-person audition and then it will be out of my hands.
The three Professional Internships I've applied for are Youth Education Series (YES) Facilitator, Guest Relations, and Services for Guests with Disabilities. YES is really cool because it's teaching school-age children, in the Disney parks! It's right up my alley. I mean, I've been teaching karate for years now, and I did all that YLT stuff. Guest Relations and Services for Guest with Disabilities were more recent thoughts. Since I've gotten here, I've come to realize that what I like most about my job is making peoples' vacations. I've gotten pretty good at making kids smile and when the kid is smiling, the parents usually are too (as long as it hasn't cost them an arm and a leg). Guest Relations is more for troubleshooting, I think. Maybe your day hasn't been so magical. Not a problem. Guest Relations Woman to save the day! Services for Guests with Disabilities was even more recent. Actually it came about as a result of my ASL class. As I've been learning more about Deaf culture, I've become more aware to people who have disabilities. I want to make sure they have what they need, even if maybe it's just a little bit extra. All three of them are internships that obviously sounded interesting to me, but are also internships that I think I could excel at. I'm not going to give you my cover letter in summary here, but let's just say my fingers are crossed and I'm checking my dashboard everyday. As soon as I know more, obviously it will go on Facebook, then it will come here.
Whew! I know I promised you a long post, but...really I think I've covered it. Right now I'm just waiting I guess. Ugh! I hate the Waiting Game! It's almost as bad as the Quiet Game!

Why hello there everyone! I figured I'd just check in, give another update since we're half way through a new month. So here's what's up...
It's busy busy busy busy busy. Oh yeah, did I mention it's busy? If you asked me to describe my workplace in two words, I'd say Screams, because it's not Hollywood Hills unless a few guests are screaming their lungs out in Tower of Terror, and Portuguese. Yup. Anyone who's been down to Disney World in July and August knows what I'm talking about. The tour groups are out EN MASS!!! What does that mean for us Cast Members? Well it's very crowded, that's for sure. Kind of a bit more rambunctious than usual, and the Super Greeters and International Tell-A-Casts are our new best friends. But don't let the green shirts fool you. It's not just tour groups from Brazil. Last week we had groups from Uruguay and Paraguay, and this week we had lots of groups from Argentina. I'll just say, my High School Spanish is getting a work out! Whew!
Now that I've really begun to get my work schedule under control and almost down to a science, I've started to expand my focus a bit more and look to take advantage of some of the personal enrichment things that Disney has to offer it's Cast Members. Most people think that's just a bunch of meet and greets and networking events, and sure, some of them are. But wait! There's more!
Just this Monday, I took a Beginner's Puppetry Workshop. Yep, you read that right. Puppetry, as in The Muppets, Finding Nemo The Musical and Sesame Street. In fact, the very first song we learned in the Workshop was the Sesame Street Theme song! The one from 1998-2001 that all us nineties kids are familiar with. If you lived under a rock as a child (which is totally fine, I'm not about judging people's life choices or anything like that), then here it is.

Yup. It was actually really hard! Puppetry isn't just about opening and closing your hand to the words. You have to isolate your thumb, otherwise your puppet looks up every time you open its mouth! And then there are crazy things like dropped syllables and variation and inflection, AND THEN, after ALL THAT, they tell you that you have to make your puppet act. With EMOTIONS!!!! I took this class with a friend of mine, Jonathan from England. We ended up having a mix up with the class times, so we went to the same workshop twice. Let me tell you, it was worth it because there's so much that has to go into puppetry and making a puppet seem real! But it was so much fun. Me and Jonathan did a duet of "Tonight" from West Side Story (not our choice), and then we were in a quartet of "I'm Yours" by Jason Miraz. And to finish things off, the whole class did "Don't Stop Believin" (the Glee Cast version). It was so much fun and our instructors, Chris and Jason, were so...well...animated! I'm on the look out for another workshop. If I can get the basics of the first one down, I might be able to move up to the Intermediate workshop where you start learning about things like eye-blinks and how to use an actual puppet. In the beginners class you get two googly eyes that you wrap around your fingers with a rubber band, but you'd be surprised how your hand takes on a life of its own once it has eyes. If you don't believe me, just ask Jerry, Jonathan's new friend. =D
In addition to the Puppetry workshop, I've also enrolled in a Sign Language course. I'm on week two of ten and boy is my brain stuffed! The class is just so much fun though! It's taught by Michelle, who is Deaf, though the rest of the class is all Hearing. I've tried books before, but nothing beats an actual class. Not only do you learn to sign, but you also learn how to interact with Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. They have so many different ways to get their points across and the class has definitely already given me pointers of how to interact with Deaf and Hard of Hearing guests. It is a bit tricky, though, because everyone in the class is at different levels. A few of us came in only knowing the alphabet (and even then, only SORT OF knowing the alphabet), while others came in having taken courses before and one lady has been signing for over a year! But we still muddle through it, and if we don't know, well like I said, Michelle has ways of getting her point across. The class is really fun and extremely informative. I'm hoping that by the end of the ten weeks, I'll be able to test for my language pin. I really want to become proficient enough. It's a really great skill to have. For next week, my homework is to practice, but also to write about what we think it's like being Deaf. I think that I'm going to take some ear-plugs and go about my day. Go play in the parks, go to the grocery store, just try and get an idea.
So that's what's up with me! I'm starting to get more shifts in the shops now. It was really fun picking up hours at Storybook Circus, so I'm back there tomorrow evening. Also, as we come to the end of July, my International College Program friends are winding down their programs. It's sad and I'm going to miss them, but I know that a few have plans of returning for PIs or various other reasons. No matter what, before they leave we're all going to get "The Kitchen Sink" from the Boardwalk. It's an enormous ice cream sundae that is LITERALLY in a basin. Should be AWESOME!
See ya real soon!