Student Visa? Check!

I left my sister Kim's house at 11:20pm last night and it is currently 6:26am and I am awake!! I took the bus from West Vancouver to downtown and then the skytrain to the airport, arriving around 1230am.  I found the general area of my check in desks and curled up on a row of seats for some shut eye! Some people thing it is weird to sleep in the airport, but I had to be here so early anyways, and it was way wayyyy cheaper than a taxi! Plus there were SO many people!! It was almost hard finding a bench because of all the sleeping people.  Just like a huge airport slumber party! Weeeeee!

Customs/Security. So I went through and they checked my boarding pass probably 12 times. Then I got "randomly selected" to go in the full body scanner.  I will point out that I was wearing a tshirt, lululemon pants and lululemon socks...and that's all.  I didn't even have a pocket! I asked them if it was the machine that saw you naked and they just laughed.  One said "No" I think, but you can never be so sure with these machines.  Then they looked through all my carry ons! This never happens to me! I swear it's because my hair is red and curly, they just suspect trouble from a redhead.
After this was all done and I was able to put my shoes and zip up back on I ventured on to Customs.  I walked up to the officer and gave him my papers. Apparently I had to fill out a different form as well and he sent me away.  He was pretty mean about it though.  So I went back and filled out another form and then went to the other set of officers in hopes of a nicer one. Boy did I get lucky! The new officer was so friendly and thought school sounded amazing! He looked over my paperwork and then filled out the visa!!! I now currently am the proud recipient of a F-1 student visa! Yay! I walked away just so excited and so ready for some learning!
I am currently waiting at my gate, which happens to be right because the "Christmas in Vancouver" store! How lucky can a girl get! I LOVE Christmas! I LOVE Orlando! and I LOVE Canada! And they are currently all rolled up into one delicious moment in time.  I'm on an I'm-getting-an-education high!  Also I have Starbucks which also makes me happy :)
My flight for Phoenix leaves at 7:44am arriving around 10:30am.  Then I have a little less than a two hour layover and leave for Orlando at 12:15pm arriving at 7:18pm - if all goes according to plan!

Currently it is 26 degrees in Orlando, 9 degrees in Vancouver and 10 degrees in Courtenay. For you Ontario-ians it'2 15 degrees in Toronto! This will all have changed by the time you read this though ;)

Orlando Forecast:
Tuesday 34°C / 93°F
Wednesday 35°C / 95°F
Thursday 33°C / 91°F
Friday 33°C / 91°F
Saturday 32°C / 90°F

Vancouver Forecast:
Tuesday 16°C / 60°F
Wednesday 12°C / 53°F
Thursday 14°C / 58°F
Friday 17°C / 63°F
Saturday 17°C / 63°F
Rainfall Warning. (It actually isn't even cold!!!)

Toronto Forecast:
Tuesday 15°C / 59°F
Wednesday 19°C / 66°F
Thursday 18°C / 64°F
Friday 18°C / 65°F
Saturday 16°C / 60°F


So clearing Orlando wins, however it looks as though summer is trying to sneak into May in Canada and 
that's fantastic!! Everyone is always happier when it's warm.  Also if you are in Vancouver today look out 
for the Disney Wonder!!

The pilot of the plane just came up to the gate and said he wanted to run and grab some duty free first...making the joke "well they can't go anywhere without me anyways."  The lady at the desk asked which type of duty free he wanted...he said "the hard stuff." Should be a good flight!

"Stressville," Donuts and Cookies..Oh My!

My thoughts and condolences are with all those affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and the ripples felt throughout the world.

This is my brain...

I took this video from Sam, who took it from John's youtube vlog. Obviously all the credit goes to John, but it perfectly exemplifies how I feel. Check out John Henselmeier 's blogs here, they are incredible!! I watched them before and during my whole first contract - a.ma.zing!

This isn't what I was going to blog about today though, yesterday I had such a fun day out and about in Toronto and was going to share that with you! To be fair I also have to disclose that I cheated on Lent - on the first day! I know, I know, I'm awful. But here is the thing, I gave up alcohol, dairy and refined sugar. I haven't been drinking since the beginning of February because I wanted to elongate that one, and I started dairy and refined sugar March 1st. The dairy part was hard in Vancouver but here in Toronto it's totally great! The sugar though? I made cookies with Carrie last night...and I have to admit, there was sugar. In 3 different forms! After today though, I'm back on track, and will extend Lent an extra 2 days to make up for my mistakes. Yup, no dessert at Easter :( Ohh the things we do.

Alright, so I started this post a few days ago and much as happened since then (NO I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM DISNEY) and therefore I am going to try and recount everything...

Wednesday with Carebear!

So said goodbye to the ladies of the house who were off to school and work and then adventured down College Street on our way to Kensington Market! It was really really chilly out. Like super chilly. I'm not use to this Ontario winter thing anymore! Kensington Market is a mish-mash of all different types of stores where you could buy pretty much anything. We "accidentally" stumbled upon The Market Bakery:

Piles of fresh breads...not expensive but sooo tasty!

and look at these little guys:

All their cookies, cakes and desserts looked sooo delicious! They even had cookies with big Barney heads! There's a flash back to my childhood! If you actually clicked on that link, I only ever watched that while sick...on repeat. Yes, I admit I loved this on VHS. From the Market Bakery we went looking for ingredients for dinner for the next day (mmmm vegan healthy enchiladas). As well as vetured over to a coffee shop that had this in the building:

A living wall!!

Carebear got some coffee for Mum (she's a good daughter). I don't know if his is actually readable, but if it is it's pretty funny! It was in "Good Egg" in KM, and is for becoming a Canadian!

We bought some groceries, and Carrie got a few gifts and such that she needed and then we went for lunch!!

We went to Hot Beans!

It's a new restaurant in Kensington that, are you ready for this, sells burritos and doughnuts!

Carrie and I both got the "Chorizo" burrito with a peanut miso!

...because who wouldn't want to see how big my bites are?

It was SO BIG and sooo yummy!! We both saved some for afternoon snacks... I ate mine on the subway later on and felt somewhat super dirty for eating something on the subway. I know I was clear, but it still felt weird...But back to Hot Beans! Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, omnivores or whatever, you'll love this place! The owners are super friendly, the food is yummy and service is quick! The best part however, was the doughnut.

Tell me your mouth isn't watering...

First of all I wouldn't have believed you could have a vegan doughnut. Second of all this totally dispelled my belief that vegan food was all healthy. They were making these beauties upon our arrival and obviously we had to try one! It was lime icing with toasted coconut on a fresh warm doughnut? Yes please!!! I actually had to put it down and take it all in after my first bite. I don't eat sugar very often, and this was so so worth it! I don't even feel the ridiculousness I should over boasting about a doughnut...I honestly will never eat another doughnut because nothing will compare.

After our experience at Hot Beans Carrie had to go to work, so we parted ways as it started to BLIZZARD out and I headed to Whole Foods (my Fav!!) to pick up the rest of our vegan cookies/enchiladas cooking supplies! After battling the blizzard and returning back to Dovercourt, I got ready for dinner with my dear friend Stephie!! I haven't seen Steph in such a long time even though we talk/message constantly, so it meant a lot that she was willing to drive for hours (literally) just to have dinner with little ol' me. We got a bit lost on our way to finding our original restaurant choice and ended up at Lick's in the Greek part (i'm pretty sure) of Toronto! Random! haha. It was good though and we had some good laughs. Steph's fiance Brian was there as well and even though he's a die-hard leafs fan they seem pretty fantastic for each other :) I'm super excited about their upcoming weddding!!!

I returned to my Toronto home and Carebear and I made 2 types of cookies!! We made Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows and Sweet Potato Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that due to my shopping prowlness turned into Sweet Potato Oatmeal Craisin-Toasted-Coconut-Sunflower Seed Cookies!

This is where I would usually put a picture of the cookies. However they were tooooo delicious and those not packaged up to send home to Kim/Gareth and Mum/Dad were quickly consumed. Sorry!

The next morning I bid farewell to Savita and Auntie Mary as they headed to Vancouver Island to visit with the Grandparents/my M&D and went for lunch with my dear friend Alison C.J. Lee! Ali arrived in Disney World a few weeks before me two years ago and we were friends throughout our programs. We didn't always hang out, but I was always a fan of this big ol' ray of sunshine!!!

We went to Live: A Raw and Vegan restaurant on Dupont Rd in TO! Ali is dating a rather lovely vegan named Dan who has a whole family of raw to omnivore eaters and so they frequent this place - and I definitely saw why! It's sooooo tasty! This is another time where I got too excited about my meal and took no photos!

This is what I had..we shared the Appie:

Bruschetta (raw)
Almond baguettes, balsamic marinated tomatoes, spinach, basil pesto, cashew dill medallions

Black Bean Burrito
Black bean hummus, guacamole, tomato salsa, red onion , brown rice, spinach, chipotle aioli on a gluten free brown rice wrap

Smore!

I don't know what it was made of but it was delicious!

I haven't had a three course meal in as long as I can remember - sometime in my Disney days, so it was a lot of food, but soooo good! I'd definitely recommend hitting this place up! Especially if you're lucky enough to have as great company as I did. On a side note: Ali and I were talking so much I didn't get the chance to read the whole menu and got the burrito because I saw it first. It was yummy but there are soo many other things I'd like to try next time!

I made enchiladas for dinner that night for Carrie Auntie Deena and I (Kira had her own burrito/taco thing) and then Carrie and I went to The Adjustment Bureau! After a wee mix up on my part we ended up at the Varsity in Yorkville (read: fancy part of town) and had to see the movie in the VIP viewing theatre...aka they had maybe 20 seats, super comfy, with a smaller screen and a server who would fetch your popcorn and liqour for you. I really liked the movie but others did not. Nothing really bad happens in it and apparently that makes it a bad movie...I on the other hand am all for PG ratings! hehehe.

We saw this on the way in and out of the theatre, in Toronto, and it made me happy:

Beauty!!!!!

For now that is all...I have to drive Amy to her exam at school! I will tell you all the tale of the blizzardy Winnipeg return home later :)

To Toronto We Go...

Where shall we go?

It's currently 5:49am. and I am wide awake....well as wide awake as one can be after sleeping on a bench in the airport from 2am-5am waking up every hour. The fact that this place

is directly behind me isn't helping the situation. I'll have you all know I showed great self restraint and did not give in to my Starbucks addiction. I packed some dried apricots, almonds and carrots (thanks Kimmy!!) and a coffee mug for water myself so I didn't have to buy any food today, and although that grande soy chai tea latte with extra foam is currently calling my name soooo badly, I'm not giving in.

I thought I might explain a little bit why I'm going to Toronto...for a Disney Cruise Line Interview! "But Kate," you may be thinking, "you already interviewed for the Disney Cultural Representative Program?" That's true, however, I might not get the CRP, therefore I'm interviewing for the Disney Cruise Line as well! Either job would be incredible, and a totally different experience, so let's hope one of them wants me!! My Cruise interview is tomorrow, March 8th, at 9 am downtown Toronto at the Marriott Courtyard. It's somewhat the same format as the CRP interviews, where there is a presentation for about an hour in the morning, and then they give interview times throughout the day! Hopefully mine will be early! I'm nervous about the experience, there is a lot more crazy paperwork and such that I have to have, and I'm not sure if I have it all! Ahh! I think I do, just waiting on a reference letter from my dear friend/old manager Ashly!

Mmm Churros!

I'm also excited about Toronto because I get to see my lovely sister Carrie! She's kind of the best thing that's ever happened to this world and it makes me so sad to live far away from her so I'm very excited to spend some time catching up!! I also get to see my uber cute little cousins Savita and Kira which is nice, my Aunties!!! and a few of my friends I hope! It's a really short visit so I'm not able to see everyone that I love in Ontario. I know I already wrote about all this in my last post...sorry I'm repetitive...but it's 6am :P excuses excuses

Just to rid myself of the frustration of it, I'm going to tell all of you that American taxes are a lot easier than Canadian taxes!!! I did my American ones in a snap, and figured my Canadian ones would be easy too. Boy was I wrong!! I have to fill in all these different forms for moving for work so many times, and to account for the whole living in America thing, and a word for those going down on the program: Keep all your receipts! Keep everything!! It's a good thing I'm a pack rat (honestly I'm going to end up on that hoarders show when I'm older...except it's going to be spread between my parent's, sister's, and Auntie's house as well!) because I have all my receipts from moving and flying and such it makes it easier, but if I threw things away I'd be in trouble! Good ol' tax season :)

That's all for now, I'll be on my way to Edmonton soon and then after a few hour layover on to Toronto!! I love flying. I'm super weird and anal about it...in the way that I have to have an aisle seat as close to the front as possible...and don't like taking off, or when you land and they brake...and I don't like sitting beside people who want to talk... but besides that, flying is soo fun! Especially in first/business class ;) It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, man oh man, luxury! I can't even imagine those Air Emirate flights where they have full on showers on the plane!!! So yes, I love flying, I'm very excited, and I did not pack for the snow and cold weather I know is waiting for me in the east. Why you may ask? (Especially Mum, I know you're shaking your head), and the answer is: I brought layers! I just didn't want to pack those clunky boots. Sorry I didn't have the guts to tell you on the phone I wasn't going to bring them :D Love you!!

News! Just not for me...

At my Disney World CRP interviews, as I previously mentioned, there were also people interviewing for the ICP - International College Program. They go down just during their summers to work for the Mouse! They were told they would have to wait 2-3 weeks for their interview results...and found out yesterday!!!! That's right, they only waited ONE WEEK!

This news has got all the CRPs going crazy hoping they (we) will hear sooner than the 3-4 weeks we were quoted.

Here are my well thought out thoughts... hahaha

-Most likely all the decisions have been made. All the interviews are done, and I'm assuming Jeni and Shandon have decided who is going down, who is waitlisted, and who isn't accepted.

-The ICP interviewees were easier to place because they all go down the same day, or the same few days, however they would take more work in that they have to be placed in numerous work locations all over the Disney World.

-The CRP interviewees (us) would take longer to find start dates for, however we all work in the same 3 locations within the Canada pavilion therefore that wouldn't take as long.

-Jeni and Shandon have to return to Orlando, go into work on Monday and start processing all this information in their computers. As well as talk to staffing and figure out all the dates they need different amounts of people for.

-I have no idea when they are going to contact us. I just know if it's Friday, I am going to be on an airplane and out of cell phone territory from 1pm eastern time on. That gives Kristen 4 hours to call or email me and give me news that I won't be able to see until 11:45 Friday night...which means I wouldn't be able to respond all weekend until she's back in the office Monday! Ahh!

-I think that we won't find out until the week after this one coming up...that's my prediction.

If you are wondering why I'm going on an airplane Friday it's because I have to fly back to Vancouver...from Toronto!! Yes, I am going to Toronto on Monday (in two days!!) for a Disney Cruise Line interview!!! I'm very excited! It's my back up if I don't get a CRP contact. I am excited about the cruise ship in an entirely different way than the CRP. It's hard to explain. I know that it would be way way harder, and way more work, but I really think that I can do it, I know I can. Stand up for Canadians and prove we do have strong work ethic ;) So wish me luck with that!

I'm also really excited because I get to see my sister Carrie!! She's the greatest person, I look up to her so much and I'm inspired by the incredible way she lives a healthy life. She's so fun to talk to, hang out with and just be around and I'm ecstatic about it! I also get to see my wonderful Aunties!! and cousins!! AND hopefully a few dear dear friends! It's such a silly short visit, and I'm sad I won't be able to see everyone that I want to! It's tough having so many incredible people you love all over, however it is also humbling that people would want to drive, travel and change plans just to see me. It really means a lot to me to know there are people that I don't get to see often but who truly care that much. Thank you all so much.

I'm off now to sleep, then work tomorrow :) I'm so excited to find out what is going to happen, I'm kind of majorly stressed about a lot of things, but I know that 3 months from now I'm going to be in a totally different place with totally different stresses and feelings and I'm so excited to find out where that is and what I'll be doing!! Sorry there aren't any pictures in this blog!! I'll get better I promise! I'll try to take some while in TO!!! :D

19 and a half days until we hear from Disney!