I've been avoiding thinking about this upcoming month at all. I don't want to think about how my internship is coming to a close. I don't want to think about organizing all the stuff I own into what I want to leave here, what stays in VA, what goes to donations, and what goes with me to China. I don't want to think about leaving my friends, figuring out where to stay, things to do before China, insurance, medical, my car, just everything.
But today was the day. I had to accept that my life is about to change. Yet again.
I began packing today. I actually got quite a bit done. I really enjoy packing. It's just the stress of leaving and moving that makes it difficult. Then I went down to the pool for a little R&R. I did a few laps and got shown up by some 80 year old lady who had flippers on. Sad.
Then I went to work. It was a fantastic day at work and my coordinators were just great. Suddenly one of the managers started calling across the Base so everyone could hear. He made the announcement that some people who have "been with us these past several months are leaving soon," and I started wondering, "Oh, I wonder who that could be." Then he called out the first name, a fellow intern of mine and it hit me.
I'm leaving.
We all received our little Mickey trophies (One my most prized possessions now. I know it's silly, but I am seriously so ridiculously proud of that trophy!) and posed for pictures.
And now my life will forever be changed. Again.
Bring on the next challenge, world. I'm ready.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Cast Members Overheard
I was in the cafeteria the other day and overheard these girls talking about their schedules.
"I'm so excited, I actually have a real weekend next week!"
"Oh, that's so exciting!"
"Yeah, two entire days off, I don't even know what I'm gonna do!"
"Is it Fri/Sat, or Sat/Sun?"
"What?"
"Or did you get Sun/Mon?"
"No, no. It's not a real real weekend. It's Tues/Wed, but it's two full days! I'm so happy!"
It's okay, CPs. Someday you'll get a real real weekend. :)
Also at work yesterday I was sitting at the Merch table (the most boring table during the day, but at night, Foods becomes slightly more boring). We have TV screens that play the news all day but the sound is off. I wasn't watching the TV, but overheard some people talking about what was on TV.
"I can't figure out what this commercial is for!"
"I thought it was for adult diapers?"
"But with football players?"
"Why would football players need adult diapers?"
At this point I curiously looked up. Just in time to see the "Febreeze" logo shoot across the screen.
Note to Febreeze advertisers: Yer doin' it wrong.
Then again, both adult diapers and football players smell nasty... so they may have a point.
Anyway, today's terribly sad. It's the first day of my weekend. I was so happy to finally get to see the sun. And it's raining. Can't go to the pool. Don't wanna go to Disney World. And there's nothing to do but clean the apartment.
Ah well. Maybe tomorrow. After all, I have a real two day weekend this week! (First time in a month!)
"I'm so excited, I actually have a real weekend next week!"
"Oh, that's so exciting!"
"Yeah, two entire days off, I don't even know what I'm gonna do!"
"Is it Fri/Sat, or Sat/Sun?"
"What?"
"Or did you get Sun/Mon?"
"No, no. It's not a real real weekend. It's Tues/Wed, but it's two full days! I'm so happy!"
It's okay, CPs. Someday you'll get a real real weekend. :)
Also at work yesterday I was sitting at the Merch table (the most boring table during the day, but at night, Foods becomes slightly more boring). We have TV screens that play the news all day but the sound is off. I wasn't watching the TV, but overheard some people talking about what was on TV.
"I can't figure out what this commercial is for!"
"I thought it was for adult diapers?"
"But with football players?"
"Why would football players need adult diapers?"
At this point I curiously looked up. Just in time to see the "Febreeze" logo shoot across the screen.
Note to Febreeze advertisers: Yer doin' it wrong.
Then again, both adult diapers and football players smell nasty... so they may have a point.
Anyway, today's terribly sad. It's the first day of my weekend. I was so happy to finally get to see the sun. And it's raining. Can't go to the pool. Don't wanna go to Disney World. And there's nothing to do but clean the apartment.
Ah well. Maybe tomorrow. After all, I have a real two day weekend this week! (First time in a month!)
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Leadership
One of my teachers in college had a knack for trying to give us "life experience" in the classroom. He was one of those "different" teachers who was "different" in a really good way.
Well, one day he had the class separate in half. He sent my half to another room to tell us a story about two businessmen. Our group was one businessman, and the other group was the other. I don't remember the details but he basically created a conflict between our two groups. Our group, he told us, was the innocent one. We were very successful, had tons of clients, had worked very hard to get where we were, and the other group, the bad guys, we trying to rain on our parade. The other "guy" just barely started with the company, but, due to his superior interpersonal skills, and what we perceived to be unfair arrangements, had made it just past our level. Now this "new" guy was trying to take away our clients and give them to other people which was completely unfair.
Well, I don't remember the details well and it's not important. The important thing is that the teacher went from room to room, allowing us to pass messages to one another for communication, but we had to trust the teacher to deliver our messages, exactly as we put them. Finally, after this went on for a few days of class, we were able to convince the teacher that we wanted to meet in person and figure this whole thing out. I still remember as my group walked back into our classroom, my friends who were in the other group were acting all mad at me. They told me, "Wow. Sorry your group had to be the bad guy in this case." I thought, "What? You guys are in the wrong! Not our group! What the heck?"
As our groups talked to each other, we figured out where the other was coming from. We found out that the man who we thought was the bad guy was simply trying to get his clients back because we had, without realizing it, stolen them years before from a third party (complicated situation, hard to sum up, but you get the point). In the end, both sides were just doing what they thought was right, and both thought they were the ones being treated badly.
Situations like this come up in life all the time. One of the most difficult things for me to do is to continue to be nice to someone who I think is being an ungratefuljerk person. There's a certain person who has basically made a name for himself by yelling at the people in my office and just being rude. It's hard for me to change my thinking from wanting to punch this guy in the face, to wanting to understand why he hates us so much and feels the need to yell at us. Maybe he just doesn't understand. Maybe we just need to take him down to our office and show him how our system works so he realizes how unrealistic he's being sometimes. He just doesn't know. Maybe we should just be patient and explain it to him.
Anyway, I'm highly impressed with management at Disney World. They are some of the greatest leaders I've seen. One called me the other day concerned about someone in our Department who he felt wasn't doing a very good job. Instead of getting upset and giving them bad feedback right away, he contacted me and asked (making sure I could keep the conversation secret) if this CM had a reason for doing a not-so-adequate job. And actually, he was right. This CM was doing the best they could, but due to reasons beyond their control they just weren't able to do a tip top job that night. I explained the situation, and the Manager gave appropriate feedback. Instead of saying "This person was a terrible DA and we ran into all sorts of problems and they didn't get fixed in a timely manner" he was able to give much more constructive feedback understanding where the CM was coming from.
I only hope that I can be that sort of leader someday. If and when I ever get to lead an operation. And I'm certainly grateful that I get to have so many great leaders in my life to learn from. Seriously, most Disney leaders I've met really have it right.
Well, one day he had the class separate in half. He sent my half to another room to tell us a story about two businessmen. Our group was one businessman, and the other group was the other. I don't remember the details but he basically created a conflict between our two groups. Our group, he told us, was the innocent one. We were very successful, had tons of clients, had worked very hard to get where we were, and the other group, the bad guys, we trying to rain on our parade. The other "guy" just barely started with the company, but, due to his superior interpersonal skills, and what we perceived to be unfair arrangements, had made it just past our level. Now this "new" guy was trying to take away our clients and give them to other people which was completely unfair.
Well, I don't remember the details well and it's not important. The important thing is that the teacher went from room to room, allowing us to pass messages to one another for communication, but we had to trust the teacher to deliver our messages, exactly as we put them. Finally, after this went on for a few days of class, we were able to convince the teacher that we wanted to meet in person and figure this whole thing out. I still remember as my group walked back into our classroom, my friends who were in the other group were acting all mad at me. They told me, "Wow. Sorry your group had to be the bad guy in this case." I thought, "What? You guys are in the wrong! Not our group! What the heck?"
As our groups talked to each other, we figured out where the other was coming from. We found out that the man who we thought was the bad guy was simply trying to get his clients back because we had, without realizing it, stolen them years before from a third party (complicated situation, hard to sum up, but you get the point). In the end, both sides were just doing what they thought was right, and both thought they were the ones being treated badly.
Situations like this come up in life all the time. One of the most difficult things for me to do is to continue to be nice to someone who I think is being an ungrateful
Anyway, I'm highly impressed with management at Disney World. They are some of the greatest leaders I've seen. One called me the other day concerned about someone in our Department who he felt wasn't doing a very good job. Instead of getting upset and giving them bad feedback right away, he contacted me and asked (making sure I could keep the conversation secret) if this CM had a reason for doing a not-so-adequate job. And actually, he was right. This CM was doing the best they could, but due to reasons beyond their control they just weren't able to do a tip top job that night. I explained the situation, and the Manager gave appropriate feedback. Instead of saying "This person was a terrible DA and we ran into all sorts of problems and they didn't get fixed in a timely manner" he was able to give much more constructive feedback understanding where the CM was coming from.
I only hope that I can be that sort of leader someday. If and when I ever get to lead an operation. And I'm certainly grateful that I get to have so many great leaders in my life to learn from. Seriously, most Disney leaders I've met really have it right.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Happy Fourth of July!!!
It's funny. Holidays at Disney World are either the most wonderful thing in the world, or so horrible you just want to throw things and collapse on to the ground from stress!
It's the most wonderful thing ever because of the crazy amount of happiness, love, unity, magic, joy, family, music, adventure, fireworks, etc. that you get to experience. Worst thing ever from the crowds, stress, bad weather warnings, stress, crowds and stress.
I choose to look at the glass half full, though. Today was a great day, despite things going just terribly on the "let's keep CDS going well" side.
And I was lucky enough to get to watch the fireworks! Best. Thing. Ever! I've become fairly numb to the "normal" Disney fireworks shows since I've seen them so many times. I mean, they're still incredibly impressive, but I've seen them so much I don't stop in my tracks anymore. These fireworks tonight literally blew the pants off of any fireworks show I've ever seen in my entire life though, comparable to the Christmas ones and maybe even a teensy bit better! And we got a great view, too, without having to deal very much with the crowds. Geez, I'm sooooooo glad I'm not a PAC CM anymore. At the same time, I absolutely respect anyone who works a PAC shift at Disney on a Holiday. One of the hardest things I've done in my entire life... and I had to do it several times.
But the fireworks? So. Freaking. Awesome. I love my job. I love my life.
God Bless America. I love this country. And will be slightly sad to be leaving it in just 47 days... However, I do hear that China has decent fireworks too. :)
It's the most wonderful thing ever because of the crazy amount of happiness, love, unity, magic, joy, family, music, adventure, fireworks, etc. that you get to experience. Worst thing ever from the crowds, stress, bad weather warnings, stress, crowds and stress.
I choose to look at the glass half full, though. Today was a great day, despite things going just terribly on the "let's keep CDS going well" side.
And I was lucky enough to get to watch the fireworks! Best. Thing. Ever! I've become fairly numb to the "normal" Disney fireworks shows since I've seen them so many times. I mean, they're still incredibly impressive, but I've seen them so much I don't stop in my tracks anymore. These fireworks tonight literally blew the pants off of any fireworks show I've ever seen in my entire life though, comparable to the Christmas ones and maybe even a teensy bit better! And we got a great view, too, without having to deal very much with the crowds. Geez, I'm sooooooo glad I'm not a PAC CM anymore. At the same time, I absolutely respect anyone who works a PAC shift at Disney on a Holiday. One of the hardest things I've done in my entire life... and I had to do it several times.
But the fireworks? So. Freaking. Awesome. I love my job. I love my life.
God Bless America. I love this country. And will be slightly sad to be leaving it in just 47 days... However, I do hear that China has decent fireworks too. :)
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