Time to Feel Japan

I basically haven't touched my blog since I've been in Japan. To be honest, there's so much to say that I couldn't possibly type it all out. Also due to my preference in keeping the Disney magic alive, there are a lot of stories I can expand upon if asked. That being said... I'm back :)

My plan for this blog in the next few months is to show just what Japan is like, or what I've seen of it thus far. In an effort to let everyone "feel Japan," I will be uploading video clips and a few pictures that show the true underlying essence of the culture that I've fallen in love with. 

I have a very short five and a half more months left here. My heart is already breaking with the knowledge that I have to leave, but in those last months I will be traveling to Kyoto (the old capital of Japan), having family and friends visit, helping to train a new cast, and getting ready for my next adventures. If you're willing to stay on this with me, I'll be sharing some of the lessons I've learned along the way (like that sleeping in public is completely acceptable, but eating isn't, or that slurping noodles loudly is a sign of appreciation for the food instead of an act of rudeness) and maybe share some of my favorite work stories :) 

Finally, I am so, so, so incredibly happy and blessed to be here. I'm reminded by it constantly in the people I meet, the smiles I see, the kisses that I'm lucky enough to have blown in my direction, the talented performers that I'm surrounded by, and in the wonderful apartment I have to come home to. This is a beautiful country, with sweet, happy people, and this year's experiences are irreplaceable. And I'm ready to start sharing them with the world. 

Hiking Mt. Fuji

Mumford and Sons concert

The Tokyo YSA's

Being an international EFY counselor

An indoor pool for 4th of July

Since Being Here

I’m gonna try and do this really quick just cuz people keep asking me how things have been going in Tokyo and I’ve kinda just been brushing it off cuz I’m still adjusting to being here. There are some things that we’ve finally established patterns for, like putting my key card into its slot every time I come home so I can use the lights and water and heat (we live in smart apartments!), not eating in public while traveling or talking too loud on the train, and comparing yen to American dollars. And how, with a few minor exceptions, it’s been freezing cold and horribly bitter windy since we’ve gotten here. And how we’re always hungry cuz we walk everywhere. And how the sushi across the street from where we live is sometimes cheaper than anything else to eat. And how the dollar stores here are legit and have everything you could possibly need to live comfortably, and how the Japanese word I’ve use the most means “Thank you!” since the Japanese people are all so nice and polite, and how we absolutely suck at communicating with everyone.

my room decor

someone made me a beautiful welcoming sign :)

my adorable little bathroom that always makes me think I'm on a cruise ship when I step up into it

my little happy corner

So since I’ve been here… non-work-wise I’ve decorated my apartment nearly everyday to try and make it more homey and less like a hotel room. It’s a little studio apartment with a baby kitchen and a big bed and lots of space and I love it. We take the train everywhere, to work, Ikea, Costco, and neighboring cities. We’ve gone to see a few tourist-y locations already, and like singing karaoke to get to know each other better. I’m with about 40 others on our cast, and we’re so excited to be here :)  We’ve been recruited from across the U.S., Australia, and all over Europe so it’s really fun to hear us all talk. Also on the topic of non-work, my friend Erin and I were able to eat some In-N-Out the other day, while an INO team was visiting the country for a promo event and it was soooo good to get our hands on a decent burger.

they take over a local restaurant and set up shop for a day

so good to see my old manager Brian selling burgers again :)

Erin and I were so happy!

Work-wise, we’ve finally started training. We’re all doing different things so we all have training and rehearsals at different times but we like to play at night. I can’t give the magic away but it’s so fun, and so so soo magical :) We were able to see Fantasmic and the night parade the other night and they were incredible; I basically cried. There are two parks out here: Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea and TDS is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen! And the Arabian Coast is ginormous, I’m ever so excited to be spending so much of my time there. It also snowed that day, which made it ten times more magical. I'll put up pictures soon. .

The people here are wonderful, my cast and the Japanese, and so nice. I’m sorry if I’ve been awful at communicating, I won’t get a solid phone til the end of next month so for now it’s Facebook on my computer and my phone when I can get wifi, and then I’ll be able to get iMessages.

I wake up every morning and even though it's only been two weeks, it still blows my mind that I'm here and working for Tokyo Disney. Cray cray. I'm so humbled to work with and for the people I do. I really love the current cast here too, and it's going to be such a bummer to see them go in about a month but at the same time, we're all so excited to start working!

the same on every continent :)

in the middle of the city

 And I love my own cast already <3 and I miss everyone in the U.S. so so much! Most especially Wyatt Adam Kirk, Hannah Elizabeth Page, Gabriela Ruiz, and Katherine Emogen Orgill.

説明を追加

people here are so funny sometimes. They probs make fun of us in Japanese, it's ok

taking our suitcases to Costco cuz we had so much to get and had to take the train there and back

these people are so fab

miss my Hannaharicgabby

the morning I left

Thank heavens for Skype

love these people too much  xxxxxxooooooo

The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done

I've done some pretty scary things. Sky-diving. Giant colossal swings. Touching sharks. Haunted houses (ugh). Falling, getting hurt. Getting back up. Starting over. Hoping. Praying. Moving. This is one of those things. The fear is starting to hit me, of a million different things. And I thought I understood my heart and head, but big shifts in life like this really make you question if everything you thought you thought is actually what you think you thought it was. A little Dr. Seuss verbage for thought :)

I'm moving my whole entire being to Tokyo, Japan for 14 months. To work for the Oriental Land Company, the corporation that owns Tokyo Disney. I will be spending my time doing what I love- making children of all ages happy, and in turn making myself happy.

Opportunities like this are extremely few and far between. I've been given this gift for a reason, and I intend to find and fulfill that purpose. Like Princess Jasmine, I'm about to have my first day in the marketplace. Like the gypsy Esmeralda, I know that we all are the children of God. And like Pocahontas, who follows her heart so freely and goes wherever the wind takes her, I know my path. So now I'm following it.

Boarding a plane for a 13-hour flight next Sunday, it's gonna be an adventure. But as my dear compatriot Nekisa once said, "We'll basically have the time of our lives."

How Tokyo Happened

About a year ago when I was spending my first few months working in Orlando as part of the Disney College Program, I went to a Tokyo Disney audition on a whim, thinking it was crazy that they actually held these. When I walked out about half an hour later after not getting kept, I specifically remember deciding right then that if I ever went to one again and actually was selected, I would definitely go. When friends of mine were chosen for Tokyo that year and went, I realized that it was a future possibility, and a year later, dropped $$$ on plane tickets to fly in and out of California rather quickly to stop home and audition in the middle of Fall semester.

One of my good friends met me at the audition, and together we went through the process of staying through to the very end, delighted beyond words hours later when they handed us more information about the park and company. Auditions in themselves are highly entertaining, so it was almost worth the trip just to see all the different people at the audition ;) LA’s a great place!

Afterwards, we left the studio jumping up and down and yelling at the top of our lungs, called our loved ones, and we were on top of the world as we spent the rest of the day playing at Disneyland :) The casting directors had told us they would contact us via email in the next month and a half if they were going to offer contracts to us, and so we geared down for the wait.

playing in Disneyland

And wait we did. I can’t tell you how many text messages were sent back and forth between me and my other friends that auditioned, how many times I eagerly checked my email only to be disappointed. We even figured out the time difference in Tokyo to gauge what time they would be most likely to contact us. I was haunted with dreams when I slept of checking my email and getting one from Tokyo; it was embarrassing.

And then on the night I got home to California for Thanksgiving Break, I randomly checked my email right before I went to bed and there it was!! Sitting in the top of my inbox at that point for about an hour already, and I hadn’t checked earlier because my phone had died from the drive down. I couldn’t help it, I started freaking out! Most everyone in the house was asleep so Aric took me outside to jump up and down and shriek to my heart’s content, and once I calmed down we spent the next few hours discussing it. It was hard to sleep that night for sure.

A better surprise came in the morning though, my other friend had gotten an email for a contract too, so the three of us that had originally planned on going (she’s dating my friend who came with me to California) if we had actually gotten the chance, could!

So! In approximately three months I will fly in the beginning of February to the land of my birth, and spend the next 14 months after working in entertainment at Tokyo Disney :) I will keep this blog updated while I’m there, so if you want, you can share all my adventures with me. 

Sooo excited to go with these two!!

On My Way To Everywhere

So, contrary to popular belief, I am in fact still in Provo. But only for about 13 more days. I am more than overjoyed to say that I will be going HOME soon, home to Newport Beach, California, and I cannot wait. I keep ripping off receipt tags at work to make count-down lists of how many days til my summer escapades begin. 22 days until Winston’s mission farewell. 2 days til Gabby leaves for WA/Canada, 1 til Hannah leaves for her internship in California. 43 until a certain homecoming. 35 til Christie’s wedding in San Diego. 33 til Winston goes into the MTC. 23 til EFY starts in Santa Barbara. I can’t wait to soak myself in the sun and joie de vivre of being a counselor for beloved EFY kids again. I can’t wait to move back to Florida and hug kids and live in a giant humid Disney cloud. I miss my little brothers. I can’t wait to go home :)

sky-diving with Winston

poca pose

love my family

sweet reunion

I hate saying goodbye at airports

quality time with Theodore and Pooh Bear

Taking a moment to breathe, this my current To Do list:


1. Continue praying to get into the Advertising Program.
2. Stop spending so much time on Pinterest (saving wedding pictures), Facebook (stalking the newly engaged/married, and those left in Florida), and my phone.
3. Buy a plane ticket to Florida so I can go home.
4. Register for Spring classes.
5. Sign an apartment contract for next year.
6. Plan out my life--Jerusalem??, EFY, internships and studies abroad and missionaries coming back--whaaaaat, and finally getting my Hogwarts letter.
7. Write the missionaries back.
8. Apply to go full-time at Disney.
9. Keep attending Disney auditions (I'm addicted to them).
10. Read the Book of Mormon in French.
11. Go on a date willingly.
12. Achieve the Arabic/Moroccan abs necessary to fly around on a magic carpet without tummy rolls.
13. Get hired at Victoria's Secret (it would save me a lot of money).
14. Call my grandma.
15. Visit BYU-ID so I can see Winston. And Suzy and Jacquie and Becca and Angie and Jake.
16. Hit up the Wizarding World again to snatch a time turner so I can get all my textbook reading done.
17. Learn to be a grown-up.
18. Spend more quality time with Pooh Bear.
19. Go to Yogurtland with Gabby.
20. Go ring/dress shopping for kicks and giggles.
21. Finish decorating my room.
22. Learn new recipes for our cooking-for-your-roommates-once-a-week plan.
23. Finish having lunch with everyone in Provo I have to catch up with.
24. Go to the temple.
25. Pay tithing.
26. Don't drool when I fall asleep in class (inevitable).
27. Get back that awesome habit of going to bed earlier to avoid falling asleep and drooling in class.
28. Exercise self-control when kicking around our devil cat.
29. Get a gym pass (but only if I pay for it myself).
30. Spend less money on room decor, plane tickets, and Disney merch so the future hubby won't gasp with exasperation when he sees our combining bank accounts. And I can save for...kids? More plan tickets? Jerusalem!!
31. Graduate.
32. Hit up the Park City outlets.
33. Learn how to ski.
34. Become a cook at INO.
35. Get a car.
36. Plan a trip to Palm Springs with Victoria and Peotter.
37. Keep up with Jessi's life in Spain.
38. Continue my progression as the  ultimate 5th wheel with Aric and Kim, and Brad and Kat.
39. Try all the yummy bagels at the BYU bookstore.
40. Go see Beauty and the Beast in 3D for the Tangled short.
41. Hang out with John Smith and Meeko.
42. Turn 21 so I can be on The Bachelor.
43. Catch up with Gossip Girl.
44. Go back to Color-Me-Mine.
45. Maintain individuality in the three bubbles I've managed to live in (Newport Beach, Provo, UT, and Disney World).
46. Find the "UP" house in Utah.
47. Grow my hair out.
48. Go to the Sundance film festival before I move away from Utah forever.
49. One day own/run Disney with Xander Casad and Phillip Blackburn (Rebekah and Suz could come too).
50. Be a good dancer. 
51. Fly to Rome, Italy for the temple dedication. 
52. Become a domestic goddess.


My Living Prophets professor told us today to have a good weekend and live happily ever after. And I think I shall.

I need to keep up my daily allowance of hugs

we have this weird thing for children



I could do this every day



miss my friendsies

Miss these ones too. They're running through the forest without me :(



what a weird stance



fabulous crew

miss Belle. I was her compass.

Last but not least, Pooh Bear keeping me on top of things. I wouldn't study so hard if he wasn't there to keep me motivated.