it's really the end.

In 6 days, i will be en route home to Boston. It's surreal. I spent most of today packing. I'm trying to my best to separate it by stuff I want to take to SAS and stuff I don't, also surreal. In less than 2 weeks, I will in the Bahamas, on day 2 of my journey around the world. I still don't believe this is all real.

I'm trying to form cohesive blogs that make sense, but my mind is just everywhere. I can't imagine not waking up in Chatham every morning, and I really can't imagine waking up in a ship cabin every morning. But whats even stranger is that the thing I cannot picture most is actually waking up at home. It doesn't feel like home anymore. This being my first experience away from home (I commute to college), I have changed in so many ways and grown so fond of my independence. I've always been tempremental and frustrated with the being older and still having the parental control that so many escape in dorm life, but now that i've broken free, I don't know how in the world I am goign to go back. I know after SAS i will NOT have the money to move out, but it's going to be quite an adjustment. Home doesn't feel like home anymore, it just feels like a place to visit. And that's how I would love it to stay.

Speaking of going home, I beyond excited that my boyfriend, Dain, will be making the trip home with me! He's shipping his car home to Michigan, driving to Boston with me and staying until the day before I fly to the Bahamas for SAS! This adds to the wierdness home factor since he is staying there, and I have always hidden that sort of the stuff from them in a desperate plea for my independence, and even though Dain and I have been together for a while, my parents didn't know until a few days ago. I'm thankful they embraced it so quickly, but I secretly despise that the lines of communication have been opened into a further invase parental strategy.

Anyway, enough of Alisa ranting about living at home, I am halfway through the adventure of a lifetime right now. As one door closes, another is opening. As one chapter ends with sadness, another opens with anticipation for the future. Gosh, going back to school for one last semester is going to be tough!

In SAS news, I've booked some trips and starting to feel more secure with just a little bit more of a plan than completly nothing. However, I am a little freaked out because I just recently realized I missed a required FDP for a class and not only did I not register during pre-sale, but I already paid for a trip that overlaps it! I'm hoping I can get some sort of make up assignment by talking to the professor ASAP when I get into class, especially since its one of the last ports we visit. Either way, the study abroad credits transfer as pass/fail, so whatever.

Schoolwise, I am stressing out in general. I'm stressing out because I currently have an incomplete for the fall semester due to my internship not being over until January. I am supposed to hand in my journal, transcripts and managment evaluations from Disney to the advisor at the start of the spring semester so the I can be changed to a P for pass, but as I will already be in the middle of the ocean, I am resorting to leaving a copy in her mailbox over iwnter break and e-mailing a second copy, and hoping my dad will check up on it while I am internetless. I also am not registered for classes for next semester, and hope the study abroad set up gets through quickly. I am too far away from Salem to actually acess Navigator (our registration program) to check if it gets updated from Florida anyway, but I am freaking out thinking about it. In fact, I don't even know my navigator password anymore since I haven't used it for a long while. Lastly, only 2 of my 4 SAS classes have been approved and officse are closed until spring, when I will be at sea and not able to do this. Honestly, this is the least of my worries because I only need 1 of the 2 to transfer, and as it is Sociology of Relgion and I want it for a sociology elective I think I should be okay. However, my school is notiorus for having the world's most unintelligent adminstration, so I fear problems erupting from my lack of presence that I won't even notice until it's too late.

I'm also stressing out about needing to pack everything in just 4 or 5 days, and see all my friends who I haven't seen because I've been in Florida, and show my boyfriend around a city he has never been to before. I haven't made a packing list, started the book SAS recommends we read before we get on the ship, or even bought everything I need yet. Gahhh, this small overlap is so stressful! I know I am going to forget more than 1 thing...but hopefully it will be stuff I can buy in port! I also haven't researched what foods I can eat in each port with my allergies, ughhhh SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME TO DO IT.

As Disney comes to an end, I find myself cherishing my job more and more. My days with Mickey Mouse used to be incomparable to the ones with Donald. I love that duck so much, but I've learned to love Mickey just as much. The admoration, adornment and love that he gets is just incredible. I know I am making magic and memories. And it is such a rewarding feeling.

I love my life.

I am sitting on the floor of my bedroom with two suitcases in front of me. In one, I am putting the things that I will no longer need. In the other, I am putting things I hope to take with me on a 4 month trip around the world. It's a surreal kind of feeling. As one journey is coming to a close, another is coming to a start. By the time I actually get home from Disney, I will have about 4 days to go through everything from here that I hope to bring, along with everything I have already put aside to bring from me, and unpack just to repack. I haven't made a packing list. I am just sort of winging it. Four days is not enough time for this. Normally I would be stressed to the max right now, but truthfully, I find myself thinking that if I forget something, than it probably isn't important enough that I cannot live without it. I cannot believe that in just 19 days I will beginning this journey around the world, and in 12 days I will be getting in my car to drive from Orlando to Boston. I have 7 shifts left at Disney - an unreal feeling. But I know this isn't the end of my journey with Disney. I am unsure of in what capacity I will be back, but I will be. Even if I never come back here to work again, everytime I visit the parks on a vacation I will remember my journey. I will never again look at a character or a mascot in the same way, and I will truly always cherish the amazing feeling that this job has given me.

Looking back, not getting that managment position at Jordan's was the sole greatest thing that ever happened to me. It's funny that sometimes what seems like a huge upset, turns into the greatest reward. Seeing what has happened over the past few months between my old world and my new, I am so grateful with this journey and this experience. My life has been forever changed becasue of Disney. To anyone reading this that has even thought one time about doing this program - DO IT. The Disney College Program has changed me in more ways that I could ever have imagined. And i've had the time of my life doing it.

I cannot believe that in less than in a month, I will be aboard the mv explorer sailing towards dominica, the very first stop on a trip around the world.

But, with that rapidly approaching, it means the end of this disney adventure is near. A new, more detailed entry is on the way, but for now I will leave it at this: I would not change the last seven months for the world. This has been incredible.

with exactly a month left at disney, i am completely overcome with the feeling of loss.

here's to the next month, let's end this thing with a bang.