The fun continues....

Having sorted our visas, Heather and I decided that we were actually quite hungry so stopped at the nearest Starbucks for a White Chocolate Mocha, a toastie and a muffin! Yes, we were heffers but we had also been up since 6am and had eaten no breakfast yet...


Whilst we were leaving I caught sight of someone out of the corner of my eye....who was it I hear you ask?! Why it was none other than James Nesbitt, the guy from Cold Feet!! He was sitting by the door drinking his coffee.

Once we'd finished in Starbucks we decided that whilst we were in London and there was one so near to us, it would be rude not to go to THE DISNEY STORE!! We both wanted to buy a special pin as a memento of the day and to celebrate being approved for our visas.


Pin trading is really big in Walt Disney World. Basically, guests can go up to cast members (us!) and ask to trade any pins that they are wearing. Some though just wear special pins which they do not wish to trade. I think I will do a mixture of both. My special ones, like the one I bought today will definitely not be traded.

So anyway, we were in the Disney store having a whale of a time, being silly, acting like children and taking photos when who should walk by but another famous actor...this time it was John Hannah! He's a guy in Four Weddings and a Funeral for those who don't know. I was too slow to take pics I'm afraid.

Heather and I saw the BEST Mickey Mouse, dressed as a beefeater - he was really cool and very patriotic. We thought about how good it would be to take one with us to Florida but they were too expensive. A few minutes later a cast member came and told us they were on offer and so.....WE BOTH GOT ONE!! Yay!!! We're going to take them with us to show off to our roommates who will be from other countries.

After a fair bit of playing around in the shop we decided it was time to stop as we would be able to play lots in Florida (and get better discounts!). So we walked to the station and said goodbye. And do you know what the best thing was? I was able to say to Heather "see you in Florida"! Yep, the next time we meet, I will be waiting for her (and the others) in the airport in Orlando :o)

I had some train issues getting back to my friend's house due to track maintenance issues but got there eventually and have just spent a lovely afternoon playing in the snow and drinking tea to warm myself up!

Tomorrow I'll be heading home. Next on the list? To find a new job.....

I am desirable.....

....well at least that's what they told me at the US Embassy today! That's right, I have now been approved for my visa, which should be posted back to me in a few days :o)

The whole process is easy as pie (so long as you have all the correct paperwork and listen out for your number to be called!), but I'll explain more about that in a minute. I'll start with yesterday, as that was the beginning of my Embassy adventure....

I got up, went to work (late - because I forgot my scarf, gloves and hat, which I am VERY glad I went back to pick up!) and then travelled to my good friends "The Bollens", which is where I would be fed, watered and given a place to sleep for the night (thank you very much Bollens!). Throughout the day I kept saying that it looked like snow clouds were rolling in, but nothing happened. That is until I got near to my friend's house where it started to snow quite heavily. In fact by the time I got to their house about 20 minutes later, at least a couple of inches of snow had settled on the ground!

I was VERY excited by this as I really wanted to make sure I saw some snow before moving away...snow's not really Florida weather! So, I got to my friend's house, was given a very yummy homemade pizza, got all my paperwork sorted and went to bed. The alarm was set for 5.45am so that we had time to get ready, clear the snow off the car and drive slowly to the station. It was a good job we left time because it really was icy.

Anyway, I'll skip the train journey as it was uneventful. Eventually I made my way to Bond Street tube station where I was going to meet Heather, or Disney Heather as she is known on my phone!! We are both going to Florida in December to work in f&b, and despite chatting lots online and getting on really well, we had never actually met! I phoned Heather and saw her down the street, I just knew it was her so I started waving like a loon!

We walked around the corner to the pharmacy where we were going to leave our phones and cameras as you're not allowed to take ANY electricals into the embassy. Really, if you are going to the embassy, don't even risk it, they will tell you to "throw away" any electricals you may have in the bins provided. This pharmacy was really good, I would recommend it but can't remember it's name so I won't bother! Heather had her visa pics taken here, they took 5 mins to do and cost £5 for 2. To keep a sealed bag of your stuff costs £5 also but that is for as long as you like. They give you a ticket etc and ask for you to sign so that its all secure.

After this we were on our way to the embassy! Nothing much to say here other than we queued up for about 10 mins outside. They check your paperwork a couple of times here, so keep it out. Take all belts/watches etc off and put them in your bag and basically just follow the arrows into the embassy. As easy as that!

Once inside we had to wait in a big room with lots of chairs and tv screens and waited for our numbers to be called. We were one after the other which was handy. When they called our numbers we went up to the little booth and chatted to the officers inside and they took our fingerprints/asked a bit about our trip etc.

Then we sat down and filled out a delivery form for our passports to be delivered back to us (taking a pen is useful!) and waited for our number to be called again. This time it's a bit more random and this is where the wait can happen. When our numbers were called we went to the booths and re-scanned our fingerprints and answered a few questions about our trip. Really standard stuff like what it's for, had we worked in America before etc. And after that we were done!! All in all it took about 1.5 - 2 hours for both of us to be seen. Oh I forgot, before leaving we went to pay for our passport delivery, it's £14.50 now.

One of the most beautiful morning's ever - despite the challenge of driving in the snow...

My car survived the night of snow...

Ducky having fun in the snow...

I'm on my way to the US.....well the Embassy at least!

Hi All!

I don't have any blog related pics so instead, here are some my Mum took when she and Dad went to Disneyland Paris....WITHOUT ME!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates, not much has been happening lately, other than work! I now have a couple of quite big updates to share with you....

Firstly, my visa appointment is booked for next week. I'll be travelling to a friend's the night before (to save myself a 2 hour train journey from home), then getting a VERY early train to London the next morning so that I can get to the US Embassy for 7.30am, to get in a big queue and wait to be called.

The booking process was all very easy. All I needed was a credit/debit card (to pay a fee of $131), my passport number, visa application number, date of birth, address etc. I had to give the lady on the phone all this info and then she asked when I wanted to have my appointment, I said next week and she said, yep Wednesday was free. All appointments begin at 8.00am, so basically everyone with an appointment that day all turn up at the same time and it's simply luck of the draw as to which order you are seen.

I've heard from people who've been through the process before that you can be there for a good 4-5 hours if you are unlucky as there doesn't seem to be much of a system. Basically, when you're called, you go up and give your forms etc and then have to wait around until you get called again. Also, the most STUPID thing of all.....they do not allow you to take any electricals including mobile phones into the Embassy. Which is fair enough I suppose, but they don't provide ANY lockers or storage facilities. I was told to "find a locker at a train station". Now I find it a bit silly that such a place would not provide this facility - especially when people travel from all over the country to get there. Who would go without a phone?!

Ok, enough ranting! There is a positive side to this appointment. Heather (another Disney person) has her appointment on the same day as me so we're going to meet up in London! I am so excited, it means we can have a chat whilst we're waiting which will hopefully make the time fly by :o)

What else has happened? I was sure I had something else to update? Oh I know.....I have now decided to have some "Goodbye drinks" in Bristol with my friends. Which means my best uni friends will be coming to stay with me for one weekend in November and we'll all go out with my more local friends. The best party is that the dress code is DISNEY FANCY DRESS!!! Haha, how exciting? I don't think the boyfriend is too thrilled as he's not a big Disney fan so I've agreed to think of a very tame character that he can dress up as. I think I'm going for Minnie Mouse - classic Disney.

I'm going to spend this weekend finalising my list of what I still need to get done and will start going through my room, chucking out stuff I don't need, storing things I want to take etc so that it's not all a mad rush at the end of November.

I think that's enough for you to read now, especially seeing as there are so few pictures in this post, which let's face it, are the best bit! So I'll update again after my visa appointment, hopefully with lots of pics of me and Heather being silly in London! xxx