DCP Update

Less than 3 weeks until I start my adventure as a Disney Cast Member.

I got the name of one of my roommates at the beginning of November. We've talked through email and instant messenger and I really think we're going to get along. We seem a lot a like which is pretty cool. I got pretty lucky for a random roommate generator =)

A few weeks ago, I got really freaked out. I guess it was around the 'one month until departure' mark. I was ready to call it all off, but I realized I'll regret it if I do, and I'm not alone. I'm sure all the other DCPers are freaking out too. It's going to be a real soul searching experience, that scares me haha but I am excited. I finally bought my plane ticket!

I finished up my academic life at UMBC for the next 6 months (hopefully all went well haha) and then I had to prepare to move out of my apartment within 36 hours. The moving process was interrupted by a surprise going away party for me. I was truly touched, it just meant a lot to me. It was my opportunity to get pictures with everyone, say goodbye. Theres even a poster that everyone signed that I'm bringing with me.

18 days!

Another Adventure

About a month ago, I applied for the Disney College Program. I had my interview, sent in my application and anxiously awaited for a response. One week ago, I received my acceptance. The Walt Disney Company had offered me a spot in the program with the role of Merchandise. Less than 24 hours ago, I accepted the position.

I knew if I didn't accept it, I'd regret it the rest of my life. There were a few things holding me back, like my friends, family, pets, organizations etc. But I knew this wasn't going to come my way again, and it could really help me not only with my career, but help me grow as a person as well.

I am a bit worried about leaving my friends, for I've noticed that even with a few of us living on opposite ends of campus, we've grown apart - what's living states apart going to do?

I'm pretty excited, but freaking out at the same time. I've been in a 10 mile radius of my house all my life, excluding my week in CA and week in Japan, but you catch my drift. 5 months away! Wow.

I leave January 7, 2009 and return May 15, 2009. This experience isn't necessarily a vacation, but I think documenting my time in this blog is appropriate, so keep a look out!

Japan Day 7/Post Trip Reflection

We woke up really early since it took 2 hours to get to the airport. So my last day in Japan was all travel.

The trip was pretty amazing. When anyone asks me "How was Japan?" I can only respond with, it was crazy. It's hard to believe that I actually went. I'm definitely more cultured now - I forced myself out of my little box where I only eat American food. Mike had a big part in forcing me out of my comfort zone. The trip was also satisfying in that I worked for it. I paid for everything myself - no help from mom and dad. Sure, it ate away at almost all of my internship money (this trip + the Disney adventure took most of my earnings haha) but it was worth it.

I'm inspired to travel to Italy (I love Italian food) and Australia. Who knows what's next for my travels :)

Japan Day 6

My final full day in Japan. We ventured a little out of Tokyo to visit Mike and Sole's friend Sanae who studied abroad at WAC. I got to see a real Japanese home and experience Japanese home cooking. Sanae and her family were incredibly nice!

After brunch, we met Siggy and headed over to Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower looks like the Eiffel Tower, but in fact is bigger. Apparently all major fight scenes in anime and Japanese films take place at the Tokyo Tower. The view was exquisite. Unfortunately we could see the storm and the direction it was moving: towards Tokyo Disney, so it ruined my plans of going into the Tokyo Disney resort for my final night. *Sigh* oh well.

We looked around Tokyo Tower, doing some last minute shopping. I also enjoyed the Mega Mac from McDonald's, which I am proud to say I ordered myself - yay for pointing at menus! The Mega Mac has two extra beef patties. I ate the whole meal - it was absolutely amazing. I felt it for awhile, it was an exhausting experience, but it was incredible.

We headed to Shibuya so I could see it at night. The lights were pretty awesome. We stopped to to parikua, which is quite popular in Japan. It was so fast paced, it was overwhelming and thus the reason why I have two main faces.

We walked around the town - I took it all in. It was my last night in Japan for possibly the rest of my life. We went into various places and ended up at McDonald's (again haha) for some treats. The night was full of packing and drifiting off to sleep for my full day of travel the next day.

Japan Day 5

Another late start, but that was a-ok. We started our day in Ueno, where at the station there was a Hard Rock Cafe. I got my collective toothpick holder, but we didn't actually eat there in an effort to culture me. Ueno is a little like Asakusa in that it's tons of shopping. It was just streets and streets filled with various vendors. There was the same shoe store on every street. It was packed with food, fish, clothes - everything. The owners of each stand would yell out to advertise their products and prices. There was one stand that sold fresh fruit on a stick. I enjoyed some chicken and potatoes for lunch - I justified my food choice in that it was in fact purchased on the street, not at a worldwide American chain. They had a gaming center where one floor was just claw machines - in one of them you could win a fish. Crazyness.

After Ueno we headed to Akihabara which had an 8 floor electronics store. They had everythign from ipods to dishwashers. It was like Best Buy but 10 times bigger. We then headed to Shinjuku to meet up with Hiroki, Siggy and a few of her friends. Hiroki was Mike and Siggy's "buddy" meaning he helped them get used to Japan and the school when they first arrived.

We had dinner at Tiki Tiki, a Polynesian restaurant. We all got pretty drinks that fit the atmosphere perfectly. Then the dancers came out and beckoned Hiroki to join them. He did a fine job. As he was dancing, I turned to Mike and said "next time, I'll dance." Mike says "Maria wants to dance!" and Hiroki took the opportunity to end his public dance show. He tied the hula skirt around my waist and handed me the pom poms. I figured I'm in Japan, what the hell? So I gave it all I got haha. I got a free pretty drink for it too!

The food was fantastic and I really bonded with everyone there. Mike said Siggy and I would have been best friends if I hadstudied abroad there. As a group, we ordered the ginormous parfait and pretty much killed it. It was an excellent night.

Japan Day 4

We slept pretty late today and didn’t really get a start until the afternoon, but it was fine – we all really needed sleep. We went to Asakusa which had this long low of shopping and food with a temple at the end. These shops had tons of souvenirs; luckily I had gone to the bank before we got there. I got a melon frozen drink there, it was absolutely delicious. Towards the end of the row we got lunch – I got fried noodles. I was less awkward with the chopsticks and even enjoyed my food. We topped lunch off with ice cream – I went for the melon flavor. It tasted just like cantaloupe – absolutely amazing.

We went into the temple, which was pretty cool. I felt like the tourists may have been disrupting the prayer going on, but they kept us far enough back. Outside and inside the temple they had fortunes. I did one inside the temple. You put in a dollar and shake the can so it disperses one little stick that tells you what drawer to pull out for your fortune. Mine was very bad – it said I wouldn’t get what I was chasing after, my wishes were hard to read and that I shouldn’t make trips. If you receive a fortune you don’t want – like I just did (especially with the trip part…), you tie it around one of the wires on the racks they have there.

We walked a little more around Asakusa and then headed to see Mike’s school: Meiji Gakvin University. The school was gorgeous, although we couldn’t walk around it much since it was closed for summer. We then walked the 20 minute walk Mikey had to make everyday to go back to the station to return to his dorm. We went food shopping and Mike made a fantastic stir fry for us!

Japan Day 3

Another early day - but not quite as early as day 2. We boarded the train for our adventure to DisneySea located in Maihama. My one request for my stay in Tokyo was to go to Tokyo Disney. I chose to go to the DisneySea park rather than the Disneyland one was that DisneySea is unique to Tokyo – there’s no other park in the world that is like it. We had a couple train changes – one in Tokyo Station. This station is ginormous – it’s like Grand Central Station. While on the train, someone asked Mike if he was familiar with the train system – and was grateful we spoke English.

As we got off at our stop I was filled with excitement – I could see all the Disney signs and eventually saw the castle. I was glad I could see the castle, that was the one thing I was upset I wouldn’t get to see, but I saw it! We wandered around until we realized we had to take the monorail to the park entrance. The train had Mickey shaped windows and Mickey shaped rings for the people standing. It was very Disney.

As we got to the park, we went through a long line until actually entering the park. We followed the crowd to the first attraction which was Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a mine car like ride. We went on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (with a FastPass luckily) which was kinda disappointing. This park had a Little Mermaid and Aladdin section which was really cool. I felt like I was actually in the movie.

DisneySea lacked attractions – it was mainly places to eat and scenery. I don’t regret going at all – the park was absolutely gorgeous and the Italy sections made me want to go to Italy. We took a gondola ride where our obviously Japanese rowers told us they were Italian haha. There was an American land that had the Tower of Terror. It was different than the ones in America, which was awesome. I loved the architecture and the ride is always fantastic.

We had lunch in a Mexico-ish land, where they had mandolin players. We waited in line for the Indiana Jones ride – by the way, Indiana Jones was there. So cool – they had a lot of more obscure characters. I got pictures with Marie, Daisy, Scrooge and of course Indiana Jones. There are different characters popular in Japan – they really like Stitch, Marie, Donald and Chip & Dale. Basically, Kt would be in heaven. We waited in line for Storm Runner which is an attraction like Star Tours but instead of being in space, you’re journeying into the eye of a storm. We even got wet!

We got Cappuccino popcorn (they had a different flavor at every stand, it was pretty cool) and then we did our shopping and headed back. I was in and out of sleep starting at 8:30. I was probably dead asleep by 9:30/10:00.