Disney dreams come true! :)

Well, it has been a long and trying semester of student teaching. I have had fifth graders cuss me out, throw desks at me, criticize my breast size, and blatantly disobey…and I have had a master teacher who yelled constantly at both the students and me. This while at the same time hearing naught but doom and gloom for the looks of the job market in the teaching profession. All in all I finished up feeling quite discouraged, incompetent, and drained. But I must say that these past couple of weeks have been quite enlightening and refreshing. I volunteered at a huge book fair and earned a bunch of free books, I am taking a great class with a bunch of reading and prayer, and I finally came to a point of peace with the fact that my life is in limbo and I am not sure where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing come next year.
And, as often happens when things grow out of control and you at last release and trust that God knows what He is doing, He worked a couple of things out. For one thing, I got a job! Well, not a teaching job, but a summer one. After scouring the surrounding area of my La Habra home and applying at every restaurant and coffee shop I could find, and turning up pretty much zilch, I at last got in for an interview yesterday…at the happiest place on earth. It was a long and annoying road from the online application I filled out months ago to the actual visit to the Disney Casting Center, but I did it, and decided that whatever happened would be what God wanted. The long road continued through the interview process, as I filled out more paperwork, then waited, then went into a room with a bunch of candidates and watched a little video, then took another computer-based questionnaire with a bunch of situational and “strongly agree/agree/neutral/disagree/strongly disagree” questions, then waited some more…then finally went to talk to a real live person. But talking to the live person was great. For one thing, he interviewed me at the same time as another guy, which I thought at first was a bit odd. But it turned out to be quite a good thing because this other kid was a slightly scruffy around the ears, inexperienced, fresh out of high school, “Disneyland sounded cool” applicant. Needless to say, it made me look pretty good in comparison. I had thought up some great classic interview responses ahead of time and I made sure to throw in plenty of buzzwords emphasizing my commitment to customer service and desire to create a memorable guest experience and serve others, and I guess it sounded good, because the interviewer dismissed scruffy dude and then talked to me alone. Well, he let me know what positions were available and then gave me a role description, and then he went to get a bunch more paperwork. Then I started wondering what was going on, and began to realize I pretty much had a job. I went back today to finish up all of the paper nonsense, and I think the excitement factor is at last settling in as it becomes real. I got my dream job! I am working at stinkin’ Disneyland, a place that I love and adore and have had such positive happy connections to my entire life! I am going to go behind the scenes and see Minnie walking around with her mouse head off! (and hopefully not discover that my paranoia about it being a hairy man inside is true…) I am going to be an official cast member! I am going to make the magic happen! WOW!!!!
So details, details, you may ask. I don’t know all of them just yet. I am working in foods, which was my preference all along, and I think my official title is “outdoor vendor.” What this means is that I get to be the person who pushes around the little cart selling ice cream or popcorn or pretzels or giant turkey legs or churros, as well as the person who walks around before the parade selling glow sticks and ridiculously priced light-up roses! And as it turns out this sounds quite perfect. I will get variety, since I’ll get to work at both parks and various locations and with various products. I get to lift things and push things and stand for long periods, which my active compulsive little self will just adore, and I get to cook up products and clean my little cart and sniff cleaning products (I mean, use cleaning products…safely). I get to wear a money belt and think quickly, doing calculations in my head so that I give the proper change to the hairy-arm-pitted French lady with three screaming kids and five Mickey-shaped ice cream bars. I get to be busy and crazy, and then when nobody wants a hot churro on a 100 degree day, I get to sit and sniff the cinnamon all by myself, people watching and laughing at the temper tantrums and crazy couples. I get to be a lizard and soak up the sun outside while everyone complains about the heat, and then I get to sell them a nice frozen banana. This is so COOL!!! I go in next weekend to do my orientation, which is an eight-hour Saturday of explanations and tours and rules, followed by another eight-hour day learning about my specific area. And at this point I’m sure I’ll get plenty more details and figure scheduling and what not. But at least it’s paid. Speaking of which, that is another cool element…I will make $9.46 an hour to start, which is more than I have ever made before! I mean, I am a part of a union now and I am subject to the strict rules and codes of Disney, and I pretty much am owned by a giant rat for the next three months (and continuing holiday times if I want), available 24/7 if they want me. But hey, it’s DISNEYLAND!!! Heeheeehee, hurray.
There you have it. It’s still sinking in, and there’s still plenty to think about and deal with, but I decided I will probably get a lot of interesting and fun experiences with this gig, so I might as well re-open the blog page. But I must say recounting the tales of balloon sales will be a good deal more pleasant than describing crusty brown bath towels and bloody toe nails…so read if you like, and enjoy the story of behind the scenes Disney. Well, as much as I am permitted to share, that is. Disney is quite hush-hush about behind the scenes. I love you all! Thanks for your interest and support!