Hello My Lovelies!
It's been far too long! I've been here for over two weeks now, and so much has happened! Where do I even begin? Honestly, I feel like I've lost track of all time and place. The days have been so busy and there's been very little break time in between.
If you've been following my blog, you're probably wondering how I've made the adjustment from Ontario to Florida. Well, in a nutshell, I can say that it's been an adjustment. A very big adjustment...for me. My experience here, particularly the living arrangement, is quite different from what I'm used to. At home, I'm used to being on my own schedule and having a lot of privacy. That's pretty much out the window now. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It's all part and parcel of the CRP experience. Please keep in mind that I can only speak from my own perspective. What's stressful for me may not be stressful for you and vice versa.
I'll talk a little bit about the first couple of days. My flight from Toronto to Orlando was smooth. There were no delays or inclement weather conditions (thankfully). The immigration part of the trip, which I was nervous about beforehand, was fine as well. It took maybe five minutes for the immigration officer to talk to me and stamp my visa.
When I arrived at Orlando International Airport, I met up with a group of people who were also starting on the 5th and we checked into housing together. We had planned to do so via chats on Facebook. This was great because none of us had to check in alone. Here's a happy piece of information - I can say that everyday I've met new people and they've all been very nice and welcoming. If you're a future CRP, I would suggest chatting with people from your start date because they'll be in the same position as you. It's great to have support when walking into a new experience like this. It certainly helps take some of the pressure off.
The first week or so was almost entirely orientation. I'll give you a heads up, you'll receive a lot of new information in a short amount of time. I was a little bit overwhelmed by it, but again, I can only speak from my own perspective. Change is never an easy thing, and we all have our own ways of dealing with it. My advice would be to just take it one day at a time and not look too far ahead.
It helps to know that everyone who's already here has been through this process too so they know what it's like. And on nights or days when you're not working, you get to spend time with new friends at the Disney Parks! What could be better?
There's a lot more that I could say about my first few weeks, but this will do for now. I just wanted to give you guys a general update. I will try to put aside some time every week to update this blog. It's important to me to keep you updated and to document this experience for myself.
On a parting note, if you're a CRP arriving in the next couple of months, here's the best advice I can offer - be very organized in the days leading up to your program arrival. Pack early and have all your official documents in order. Also, try to get as much rest as possible beforehand. This will help make the transition as stress-free as possible. I can't wait to see you guys here, and until then, take care!
