Disney: Friend or Foe? The countown begins.

Disney is growing ever closer. Looming is actually probably a better word. Glooming. I am getting the previously expected 'fuck-shitting-myself' feeling that I suspected would rear it's ugly head this close to leaving.

It is 11 sleeps now until I board a plane, and 22 sleeps until I get to Disney. From here on in this blog will move from informative to more, updating the friends and fam, but I will still do this post, and probably one more on packing, before I switch modes.

Visa interview. Holyshitballs. This was actually a ridiculous ordeal, simply because I booked a flight to Canada that transited through helL.A.

The first one was a breeze, but because I wanted to enter then leave the States in the 30 day allowance you get prior to the Visa starting, I had to get a whole new one just to sit in LAX for four hours. Very annoying, very costly, very time consuming, but I now have a passport that happily sports two visas with some very sexy looking mug-shot style photos in it. Yippee.

The actual 'interview' takes about 3 minutes, but the whole process takes around 2 hours. There is LOTS of waiting and you can't take in your phone, or even a book, to entertain yourself. Your documents and yourself only. Luckily in my second go I met some other Disney bound people so I had someone to talk to.

The consulate is very intimidating, but if you enjoy getting patted down by someone of the same sex (and hey, I'm not judging, whatever floats your boat), this is your place. The security is actually probably more hardcore than any airport I've encountered, and the inside is like what I imagine the interior of the White House to be like, flags, massive photos of American landmarks and pictures of Obama and all the past presidents. You also get treated to a video of stereotypical American people (think: cowboys) welcoming you to America, which is weird, since you are actually still in Australia, but a nice sentiment non the less. There is also a lot of babies in that video... a lot, it actually made me think USA may be 80% babies.

Once it was all done it only took around 3 business days to get my passport back, so thankfully the whole process is very quick, just very pricey.

Right now I'm getting around to seeing all my friends for the last time, and making my packing list. Once I get more organised I'll try really hard to do a packing update with some pictures and my epic list of what I'm taking. Unfortunately the list is huge despite my best efforts to be brutal and pack light, so wish me luck!

Until next time, have a magical day!

Until then, entertain yourself with this lovely blog: http://fuckyeahfacecharacters.tumblr.com/

The Background Stuff

This is me.

This is the guy who just hired me.
















And in 6 months time, this will be my new home. Far, far away from Australia where I have lived for my entire life.












On the 22nd of May, 2009, I got accepted into the Walt Disney World International College Program (which will, from here on in, be referred to as WDWICP).

Since that date I have been trawling the internet searching for all the information I can about the program, specifically, blogs and vlogs of people who are there, or have been there recently, who can answer my questions and tell me what it's all about.

My searches have proved (mainly) fruitless. There are a lot of blogs out there on the program, but a lot of them don't provide much information, are really old, or are not regularly updated. Many of the vlogs are really, really boring (no offense guys), and there are hardly any that are made by international college programmers.

On that note, I decided to create my own blog, ranging from acceptance to my homecoming, that includes photos, stories and resources, and gives readers a chance to ask questions. In short, I want to make this the resource that I could not find, as well as being an outlet to keep up with my friends and family and brag about the awesome time that I'm going to be having!

Due to the fact that I have not actually left yet (I leave in Jan, 2010), posts may be few and far between until I actually arrive in sunny Florida, however I will do some posts on the application process and what to expect once you have been accepted.

While I wait anxiously for more information and my specific arrival date, I have been killing time by watching these two users on youtube:

JohnWDWCP - An amazingly funny vlogger who has just, I believe, ended his college program experience. He's an American so some of the information in his initial vlogs don't exactly apply to me or other internationals, but most of the stuff he talks about is the same stuff we will be experiencing. His vlog is really addictive, I watched all of them in 2 nights (and did no homework in the process), so make sure you have a lot of time when you sit down and watch.

AND

kevkc - This blog is great for other internationals, because Kevin is from Ireland and so goes through a similar process that we do when it comes to applying and getting ready to depart. He is also very funny and has some great tips (I especially recommend watching his video 'Kevin's Top Seven').

If you are going (or even just considering applying) I highly recommenced you watch some, if not all, the vlogs by these guys, I started watching them while i was just considering applying, and they definitely gave me a lot of the information I needed to make my final decision.

Next blog I will write about the steps I had to take for the application process, provide the link for all other Aussies and New Zealanders who want to apply, and answer any questions if I happen to already have some, which I doubt.

If you do have a question, just comment below!

Until next time, have a magical day!