Chinese New Year and Latin Dancing

Kung hei fat choy!

Today marks the Chinese New Year and 2014 is the Year of the Horse. 

Being a Horse myself, as well as a total horoscope fanatic (I was raised on it, like a second religion) I was curious to know more about the meaning behind this mystical celebration...

• There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac: the Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Ram, the Money, the Rooster, the Dog and the Boar.
• According to legend, Buddha invited all the animals on Earth into his presence, but these were the only twelve to show up. The reason for his invitation varies; from his death, to a race, to a banquet. Whatever the cause, the above order is that in which the animals appeared.
• Chinese New Year can be traced back as early as 2600 BC. 
• It always falls on the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice. 
• Much like the Modern Zodiac, your date of birth aligns you with a symbolic animal, which gives an indication of your personality. The Chinese refer to it as, "The animal that lives inside your heart."

Horses are supposed to be popular, cheerful, wise, talented and real flirts. I'll leave it up to those who know me to decide whether this is an accurate description!

We're also most compatible with Tigers, Dogs and Rams. 

(FYI Eddie Redmayne is a Dog, I'll add that to the PILE of evidence I have already assembled that proves we are meant.to.be.)

Whilst doing my research I also discovered that Benedict Cumberbatch is a Dragon, which seems very fitting after his recent role as Smaug in The Hobbit.

Superstitions: Do's and Don'ts for Chinese New Year

DO

• Wear red - the luckiest colour as far as the Chinese are concerned. If you're really dedicated you're supposed to paint your doorways and window ledges in a bright hue, but I settled for wearing a little red ribbon tied around my wrist, which was a gift from a little girl at work...

• Pay all your debts - it's believed that if you don't pay your debts today you will end the year in debt also. I can't say I really did this one, but I paid my rent and a good portion of my student overdraft and I'm gonna say that counts.
• Clean the house, to wash away any ill-fortune from the previous year. However, make sure not to do any sweeping today as this is apparently bad luck.

DON'T

• To counteract what I've said above, don't be lather-rinse-repeating today as washing hair is said to wash away good luck. In a similar vein, no haircuts or use of sharp implements as they may 'cut off' good fortune.

Being superstitious I've followed all of these, although it's unfortunate that I'm not allowed to wash my hair on the day of my first Zumba class!

I've got to say, I'm already addicted. It felt so good to be dancing again, I haven't busted any proper moves since I graduated from University. Tomorrow I'm booking in for next week's class! Emma Watson and Natalie Portman are both fans, so it goes without saying I was going to love it. It's taken a while for me to act on my resolution to live a more active lifestyle, but I think the impending bikini weather of Florida has been a real motivator for me ;)

Can't wait until next year, when I'll be celebrating the Year of the Ram at the China Pavilion in EPCOT.

Exciting Times!

October has arrived, and with it has brought not only my favourite holiday (sorry Christmas) but also lots of exciting news to tell you.

First of all, in accordance with Thing #17 of my 23 Things, I have got myself a ticket to a music festival for the first time in 5 years. And not just any festival but the big cheese itself, Glastonbury! I feel very lucky as a lot of people missed out, I didn't even manage to book the tickets myself and must give all credit to my amazing friend Ellie for having three laptops open at once and paying my deposit for me without hesitation. She is a babe. Now just got to cross my fingers for a good line-up.

The next piece of news, relating to Thing #15, I have landed myself an acting job. The best thing was, I didn't even go looking for it, it came to me! 

I was sitting at home on my day off when I received a text from the extras agency that had employed me for Les Miserables, Universal Extras. They were wondering if I could do some filming for the upcoming Stephen Hawking movie The Theory of Everything. Could I?! Considering that only my favourite actor of all time (and dream man) Eddie Redmayne was playing the lead role, I think I could squeeze it in to my busy schedule! Miraculously, the three days that they wanted me all fell on my days off, which was a relief as no way would work ever give me the time off and I'm too much of a good two-shoes (read: coward) to call in sick. So I will be filming in London on 20th October and my costume fitting is this coming Thursday. My scene is set in the 80s so I'm interested to see how they're going to make me look haha. I will take pictures. 

QT PIE

And finally, my Pre-Screen Interview for the Walt Disney World Cultural Representative Programme was yesterday. It was a really fun day and I met loads of interesting and lovely people. 

We met at 11.30 at London Waterloo and spent ages walking around the Southbank area hunting for Brasserie Blanc where the interview was being held. About 40 minutes after initially setting out we finally found it, then had a quick and delicious lunch in Pizza Express next door. 

The Pre-Screen event started with a presentation given by the three Yummy Jobs representatives; Nick, Louise and Jason. They told us about the kind of work we would be doing, told us all the perks being a Disney employee (and my goodness there are a lot) and did a general knowledge quiz. I learnt a lot of interesting facts about Disney World - for example it would take you 67 years to stay in every hotel room in all the Disney hotels if you stayed in a different one every night. Crazy! The presentation made me want a place on the programme even more than before, which in turn made me a touch nervous for the interviews because suddenly I realised how much was riding on them.

However, I genuinely wasn't very nervous. I luckily got the interviewer and the slot that I wanted which was great. During the interview (which was conducted in a group of 8) we were asked the following questions:

• Tell me one interesting fact about yourself
• What brand/company besides Disney do you admire and why?
• Tell me about a time when you've given really good customer service
• Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
• Which role would you prefer?
• Give me one word that you think best describes your personality
• Tell me about the item you brought with you (we had to bring an item with us that we felt represented our hometown or England in general)

I'm sure there were more questions but my memory of them isn't so great, I was concentrating to hard on my answers! It was a really nice interview and although we were in there for nearly an hour, the time flew by and it was more like having a chat. Though of course I think we were all still conscious of saying the right thing and making a good impression.

I will find out in two weeks time whether I am through to the Face to Face Interview which is the final stage of the process. Fortunately my mind has been put at ease as the date for final interview is 9th November which is one of my days off work and it's the day after I get back from New York so I'll definitely be able to go.

So now all there is to do is to keep busy and try not to think about it too much. I am so nervous about the results because I'll be crushed if I don't get a place, but I've done my best and I have a good feeling. Feels like all my prayers are being answered lately :)