Almost There

"And I'm almost there!"-Princess Tiana.  Great movie.  Go see it if you haven't.

Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow (wow, already?) for 9 weeks.  Just finishing up packing and getting everything ready to go.  I'll keep this one short 'cause I wanna go say bye to my friends tonight.  I'm stoked to get going on this project, but I know that the work is gonna be hard, both physically and spiritually.  We'll be working in the afternoons, evenings, and late nights (also has anyone been to Florida in the summer?  Yeah, it's a bit toasty there), so I'm sure I'm gonna be exhausted.  If  there's one main prayer request I have it's that I would turn to God immediately if I start feeling spiritually exhausted---when I start to lose motivation or I just become cranky.  I'm really gonna have to rely on Him to get me through the long days of work and pesky Disney guests.

Other prayer requests:
-Safe travels for all of the students going to Walt Disney World (ok for future reference, I'm just using WDW) for our project.
-That God would put the right people in our situations who need encouragement, perhaps those who have lost hope and don't know where to turn.
-That we, as a group, would be bold and purposeful in our actions and conversations with co-workers and each other.
-For just a super awesome, fun trip!  Yeah, I said it.  Not that I'm worried that I won't have fun.

Wooo!  I get my official job location on June 2nd, so in a few days.  I'll either be running a ride or being a cashier at a food location.  We'll be working 4-5 days a week, and lots of hours.  The other days we'll have specific Project activities or we'll be out exploring the other Disney theme parks!  Working at Disney has its perks -> getting into the parks for FREE!  Yup.  It's the best, and I'll be taking advantage of that often.  Ok a bit of a tangent, but Star Tours 2 (yes they redid the original Star Tours ride, it's now in 3D and has a "different ride every time") is opening at both Disneyland and WDW this summer.  They've both been open the past few days, and I've seen pictures (yes, I'm a Disney nerd), and I really want to go ride it!  Even though I go to Disneyland all the time (living in LA), I'm going to ride Star Tours 2 for the first time in Florida, and I can't wait!

I also can't wait for this:

I took that picture on my trip last year.  I get to see it all the time this year!!!

Alright, thanks for reading along.  I'll come back with another update in a couple days when the Project begins!

The Bare Necessities

Welcome to my blog!  If you know me, you know that I love Disney.  If you've ever been to Disneyland with me, you REALLY know that I love Disney.  For fun, I've decided that all of my blog titles will be Disney song titles.  I thought that the classic Jungle Book one was a good one to start with.


So I want to blog about my amazing opportunity this summer to work at the world-famous Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL.  If you think that I'll be talking about my role as a cast member and all of the neat stuff that I'll be able to do while working for Disney...you're right.  But I'm going to Florida for a bigger purpose than a resume booster, and that's what I really want to talk about.  So yeah, we'll discuss Mickey, Space Mountain, and all of the deep, dark, behind-the-scenes Disney stuff, but that won't be all.


Let's do a little bit of background: This past year, my first year of college at USC in Los Angeles, was one of the most life-changing years of my life (granted, I've only been around for 18).  I have always been raised in a Christian family, which I'm very thankful for, but that really never affected my life.  I entered college almost on a figurative tightrope---I could have easily fallen either towards Christianity or towards a lifestyle very opposite of Christianity.  Long story short, I got involved in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru for short), a really sweet Christian organization on campus, and met a ton of really neat people that have helped me understand what it means to live a Christian lifestyle.  It has been the most rewarding year ever.  I've been exposed to all of the amazing things that God has done for me, and it's all given me a whole different perspective on life.


Anyway, so one day I'm sitting in one of our weekly Cru meetings and I hear about this thing that Cru does called "Summer Project".  Briefly, these are kinda like missions where members of different Cru's from colleges all over the country go to different locations to grow in their own faith as well as to share with others the crazy awesome stuff that God can do to change people's lives.  And the presentation that one of my fellow Cru members, Patreeya Prasertvit (Pat), gave was about a Summer Project at Walt Disney World, and I was like uhhhh...where do I sign up?

So for 9 weeks this summer, I (and about 40 other people from other Cru's) will be sweating in the sticky Florida summer as we work at The Happiest Place on Earth.  Not exactly sure what to expect, but I know that I'm really excited!  We will all be working in the Magic Kingdom; running rides, being cashiers or merchandise people, etc.  I just hope they don't stick me at It's a Small World! (just kidding, I'm excited for wherever I get assigned)  The vision is to build relationships with other co-workers who are there working in Disney's (elaborate) College Program.  Then we will hopefully get to a point where we can invite our co-workers to church, bible-study, or other activities that we do.  From just talking to Pat, who went on this trip last year, there is a sense of spiritual dissatisfaction beneath the happy facade that these workers put on every day.  I'm praying that we can intervene and provide the solution that brings a sense of hope and joy to these workers. 


Yeah, so it's like a mission trip to Disney World.  Sounds cushy?  Doubtful.  It's gonna be exhausting and difficult, I already know.  It'll also be interesting to see if or how my opinion about Disney changes after being on "the other side" of the magic.  But I'm really looking foward to the relationships that I will be making.  Jesus didn't just want his followers to go spread his word to places like the middle of Africa (although that is important too), but also to the places where we would least expect it.


Phew...that was pretty long.  But I hope to be updating this at least a couple times per week, so keep checking back, or you can follow by email at the bottom!  Wishing everyone a magical day!


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