Disney Preparations - 5 Weeks To Go!

So yesterday marked 5 weeks until I fly away from London town to the Happiest Place on Earth. It's starting to get very real! I haven't blogged all month so I thought I'd update you on what I've been up to.... 

The answer is not a lot besides working! Paying for all the CRP costs has pretty much killed my social life, but I've finally finished forking out for everything I need. Below is a list of all the things I had to pay for and how much they cost:

• Program Assessment Fee - The first thing you have to pay for when you find out you've got the job. This is paid directly to Disney at a cost of $104.50, which worked out as £63.81 on my credit card bill (plus a Foreign Exchange fee of £1.75). It covers all the fun events and activities that will be arranged for you as a Cast Member, such as Grocery Bingo.

• CRB - Because you'll be around children a lot, you need to have a criminal background check. Yummy Jobs send you a form which you fill out and return to them as well as paying £60 so it can be officially declared that you are not a criminal! Phew, I'm glad they cleared that up for me because I still haven't paid my library fine.

• Flight - First thing I did when I found out I had the job (besides freak out) was book my flight. I used Yummy Travel on Louise's advice and they got me a real bargain - a one-way flight with Virgin for £370.87. I chose one-way because you are given a month after you finish work to travel in the US and as a travel agent I am already aware that flights cannot be picked up more than a year in advance. Plus, Disney give you some dosh for the flight home so best to hold out until nearer the time.

• Travel Insurance - This is one of the most important things you buy before you fly. A lot of people tend to buy 4 months of insurance from Yummy Travel and then get on the Disney Insurance once they're out there, I have a special condition so I had to shop around and I bought the whole year so I knew I was definitely covered. We all know how funny Americans can be about health insurance! I used Essential Travel who were super helpful and pretty reasonable too - £383.18 for over a year and that was with Excess Waiver. They also cover a number of pre-existing conditions at no extra cost which was perfect for me.

• Visa - Sweet Baby Jesus in the Manger, this was the scariest and most stressful part of my CRP prep so far. Fortunately it was also pretty much the last step! Yummy Jobs send you a pack in the post with instructions to log on to the US Visa Application website. You fill in a very lengthy questionnaire which asks you all kinds of stuff. Be sure to have a camera on hand to take numerous selfies, because their photo requirements are seriously strict. It took me 4 hours to get my Visa form sorted and at least one of those hours was dedicated solely to getting an appropriate snap of my face. Once the form is complete, you make your appointment at the Embassy. The Visa itself costs £118.75.

• US Embassy Appointment - At any time from 8am you may find yourself queuing outside the US Embassy, nervously rummaging through your paperwork. They will check your documents and Passport, put your keys and phone in a little plastic bag (yes, they let you take phones in now!) and then you sit and wait until your number is called. You go to a window, they scan your fingerprints (no paper cuts allowed as I learnt from my buddies - they had really researched this much more than me haha) and ask you some questions about why you need a Visa. The lady who interviewed me was super nice, she knew from my application I was going to work at Disney and asked me why I was a good representative for the UK and what I planned to do when I returned home. You're approved on the spot and then your passport is returned to you within a week. You can pay to have it couriered to you which I did, at a cost of $30 or you can pick it up at a designated point for free.

Looking forward to payday on Monday and all the fun that April will bring - 34 days to go!!

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.

Nouns

My friends and I may only be in our early-to-mid twenties, but it's scary how we're getting old before our time. 

A few weekends ago I was sitting in a lovely pub beside a crackling fire with a few of my ex-housemates from University and I found myself.... drinking cranberry juice and masking a poorly suppressed yawn with my hand. Hardly the wild child I was but 5 years ago as a fresh-faced undergraduate! And I wasn't the only one. My dear friend B was as sleepy as I was. 

We fell into conversation about how all either of us seemed to do these days was drag ourselves off in the early hours to jobs that we were ill-suited to, which simply paid the bills. Not only that, but by the time our "me time" came around we were too tired to enjoy it. 

I couldn't help comparing our current situation with that of our student days. Back then I spent my time rehearsing plays, learning to swing dance and being graded on how well I could skip in a square (one of my favourite anecdotes but another time). All of my efforts were being exerted to improve and educate myself and I felt tired, but in a good way.

Now my day to day life revolves around exhausting myself to meet the numerous demands of the company I work for. I've never felt more like a number than I do in my current job (and I can say that now, because I'm leaving it). There's no room for personal development, it's all about how much money we're making for the fat cats way above us. Lesson here: never ask a creative person to work for a heartless business. 

The fact is a large number of my friends are in this situation; it's completely normal to be doing a 'transitional' job at this age. You know it's not the one, it's just good for now because it meets your basic needs. Kind of like the romantic relationships you had in your teens. The important thing is not to forget your passions. My excuse is always that I "don't have time" to be creative anymore. I'm too busy in the rat race and doing banal, everyday things like eating, bathing and sleeping. But talents are like muscles, you have to exercise them. You have to make time. Set aside an hour a day to doing the things you love, things that you would like one day to be paid to do. This is one of my focal points for 2014.

Which is why from now on I am going to write a blog post every day.

I've always considered myself an actress first and foremost. But the amount of times various people have said to me, "You're a writer" cannot be ignored. This brings to mind one of my favourite Stephen Fry quotes:

"We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing - an actor, a writer - I am a person who does things  - I write, I act - and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun."

Personally I've always admired those with an impressive list of nouns after their name. Zooey Deschanel - actress, musician and singer-songwriter. Eddie Redmayne - actor, singer and model. Oprah Winfrey - media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. You get the idea. 

My mum is always reminding me is that while it's all well and good to be inspired by your heroes, try to focus on your own journey. Instead of expending your energies being a fan, work on making yourself into the type of person you would be a fan of. 

As Matthew McConaughey's mother told him when he was younger, 

"Don't watch somebody on TV do it for you, get out there and do it for yourself."

Wise people, mums.  

And what would my ideal noun list say, I hear you ask?

Olivia Smith - actress, writer, vlogger, lifestyle blogger and well-travelled adventurer. To start with, anyway.

What are your nouns?

I Love Lists

So, October is over and finally my life is going to start settling down again. October was a mad rush of meeting international friends (be they American, Irish or Australian), preparing for and attending Disney interviews, Halloween, work and of course a little ol' place called New York City.

I'm sad to say that New York didn't drive me wild with excitement like I hoped that it would. I don't know whether this was due to the particular circumstances of my trip, but I would definitely return to find out. I did manage to do almost everything I wanted to do, except for the Brooklyn Bridge and the Metropolitan Museum so next time I'll have to catch those. To be fair, I should never reign supreme on the Met steps without my girl, M. I may even add New York to my list of places I want to live for a year.

Speaking of lists, I sure do love to make 'em and now I need one more than ever. I had my Final Face To Face interview with Disney yesterday and as the results won't be emailed out until the first week of December at the earliest, I need lots to keep me distracted. Therefore I present to you:

November's To-Do List

• Watch Season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Catch up with my reading, I'm currently 7 books behind on Goodreads. SEVEN!
• Blog
• Work on my 23 Things list
• Go shopping at Bentalls Annual 20% Evening
• Start preparations for the festive season - Christmas is coming!!
• Continue to be glued to my new favourite blog, The Londoner
• Catch up with M & H at Starbucks, then go and see Catching Fire together
• Cook some new recipes
• Attend my Work Christmas meal on 29th

That should keep me busy for the next four weeks, plus I'll be back to work the day after tomorrow, sob sob. As for today, I have finally unpacked my suitcase, done my usual Sunday chores and now it's only one hour until roast dinner and the Downton Abbey series finale! Enjoy your Sundays everyone. xo

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 :)

Art, Apple Sauce, Australians, Argentinians, An Amorous American and other A's in Paris

I arrived home after 4 nights in Paris yesterday. What an amazing, eye-opening trip. 

The trip encompassed several firsts; the first time I had travelled abroad alone, the first time I'd ever stayed in a hostel, the first time I'd kissed someone who wasn't English(!)

Although I went to Paris to be alone, take photographs, practise my French and eat rich French food, it's pretty impossible to be alone when you've opted to stay in a room with 11 other people. That's something I never would've considered an option before but it turned out to be the best decision since I met so many amazing people. 

Talking to the Australian girls that I met, Evelina and Dani, I heard all about their travels around Europe, where they had been and where they were heading to next, the friends they had made. It really whet my appetite for more travelling, all I can think about now I'm home is planning another trip somewhere and a longer, proper one this time.

Dani and I were talking about confidence, as we discovered we were both actresses. She said that travel definitely changes you, she felt like she had changed over the past few weeks that she had been away. And that is what I want. Change. I feel like my life is stuck in a rut which I hadn't even noticed until I broke up with my boyfriend. Now I want to get out, quit my job, leave my home (sorry mum), say goodbye to my friends who go to the same pub in Croydon every week. I'm ready for new, exciting experiences. I'm ready for the next chapter in my life.

Being in Paris taught me that there is so much out there to see, so many interesting people to meet from all over the world, adventures and unexpected romances to be had around every corner. I thought I would be spending my first night in Paris resting after my trip on the Eurostar, perhaps unpacking and getting an early night. Instead I was swept off my feet by a handsome boy from New Hampshire, taken to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle and to smoke mint flavoured shisha in Pigalle, ending the night dancing in a club next to the Moulin Rouge. We both agreed it was attraction at first sight ("I could see it on your face. Did you see it on mine?") and though it's ships passing in the night he has said he'll come to London. He's studying in Pau, in the south of France until Christmas.

Whatever comes next, we'll always have Paris.

23 Things To Do While I'm 23

I realised a few weeks back that 22, as a year, had been uneventful. Or rather that it had been eventful in all the wrong ways - I broke up with my boyfriend, I acquired a job that I have hated with a passion since day one and my biggest achievement seems to be buying a MacBook Pro (which I'm still paying off anyway). 

I made stupid decisions, kissed old flames I knew were wrong for me, wasted time. To rectify this problem, I made a list of things to achieve in my 23rd year. I have listed them below (in no particular order). 

If you wish to know how I'm getting on with each one, I'm hoping to make a page for each of them so progress can be tracked. Evidence will be provided!

1. Spend more quality time with family and friends.
2. Quit my current job.
3. Get a job that I enjoy, that teaches me valuable new skills and allows me more time for my other interests.
4. Learn to play guitar.
5. Visit a country I've never been to before.
6. Take up running and run a 5k.
7. Cook dinner at least once a week, using recipes from recipe books.
8. Go on a girls holiday.
9. Write in my diary more often, ideally every day.
10. Get my provisional driving licence. 
11. Buy a DSLR.
12. Write a letter to my MP to arrange a free tour for myself of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
13. Dress more creatively, wear jeans less.
14. Get headshots done.
15. Do more Acting/Extra work.
16. Learn more about photography.
17. Go to more gigs.
18. Book a one-year working holiday.
19. Buy a Pashley Poppy Bicycle in Pastel Blue and start cycling.
20. Travel more within the UK.
21. Pay more attention to good grooming.
22. Ride every ride at Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park and Alton Towers.
23. Start writing regularly about my life and experiences on my blog.

"I am trying to live my life with a sharpie marker approach. You can't erase the strokes you've made, but each step is much bolder and more deliberate." - Dianna Agron

Lucky 23

On Monday, I turned 23.

I've always had a good feeling about 23 as an age, just as I knew the 22 was going to be yucky (apart from the whole coinciding-with-the-release-of-Taylor-Swift's-hit-single thing).

I was supposed to be at work that day. I work a lot of Mondays and I was down to work this one, even though it was my birthday. I'd requested it off months and months in advance, but due to staffing issues, it didn't look like it was going to happen.

I asked one of my colleagues if she minded working on a low head count that day and she said no, so after some persistence my managers okayed the day off.

At about 3.15pm on the day I was at the station with my mum, waiting for a train into London as we were going to a restaurant to celebrate. I got a call from my Area Manager to say that the store had been the victim of a robbery. I won't go into detail, but the incident was frightening, dangerous and sinister. It was of a completely different nature to that which these stores are used to. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

For the rest of that day, I couldn't shake off that chilling feeling. It could've been me, I could easily have been there. How would I have dealt with it, how would it have affected me? What might have happened differently? Might things have been worse? Seeing my colleagues in counselling a couple of days later and hearing the full story was shocking and surreal.

Two things I have learnt from this situation, are that: 

1) I am a lucky person. Even though I complain, I don't really have any problems, and God is looking out for me.

2) Asserting yourself is important. If I hadn't made myself ask again (and I did hesitate about it) I would have been there. At best, it would have been the worst birthday of my life. At worst, I could've been injured or even killed. You just don't know.

A thought-provoking start to what I hope will be a positive and productive year.