Lights, Camera, Download!

Last time I blogged I was a year younger, on paper anyway.

So for my birthday celebrations I went and saw Tangled because it came out the day before. I’ll be honest I prefer hand drawn animation to the 3D stuff but Tangled kinda merged the two so I much preferred it to the Pixar movies. I did find the songs slightly lacking. Mostly because there’s only 3 or 4 of them, one of which is repeated A LOT. Actually, the problem wasn’t the songs as much as the lyrics. REALLY Glenn Slater? I refuse to enter into a rant on this blog but I really wish Alan Menken would partner with a different lyricist. Moving on.......

I got to release my Chinese Lantern into the sky on my birthday (footage of which will soon appear on the vlog). The fact that this is part of Tangled is a complete coincidence, I was bought it for Xmas and it just seemed like a good time to release it into the night. I also got to have Wagamamas for lunch. Yummy! Last time I went was when I saw HP7 so it seems like it had been a while. I also had a very grown up birthday cake that was shaped like a caterpillar. I may actually be 5 years old!

After trying to find the cable for my camera I realised I had a card reader. I then realised the last time I downloaded any pics was back in July so I found quite a few pics from Florida on there (on top of the more recent stuff). I am actually useless!

I’ve also discovered that loads of the Fall 2011 CPs have started blogging/vlogging - yay! I met some awesome people via vlogging/blogging last year so the more the merrier. I can’t wait to sit and watch everyone’s videos.

People have also been asking me questions! Yay! I realise I’m at the risk of repeating myself from the vlog to the blog or vice-versa but I thought I’d answer questions in both places because I know some people will see one and not the other. And with that I shall answer the first few....

I’m not arriving until after 5pm on my arrival date. Will this mean that I get a bad apartment?
There are two different answers to this question depending on whether you are an ICP or a CP. here are both answers:

ICP - The accommodation is all preallocated so you could be the first there or the last and it won’t matter. I suspect they try to spread the arrival times of the people in the apartment so that 6 of you aren’t arriving at once but no-one’s official confirmed this. i.e. 3 people arrive at 2, 3 arrive at 5. You should (in theory) all have the same arrival date. This doesn’t always apply and I know people whose roommates didn’t arrive until several weeks later or who moved in to an apartment that had 5 places already filled. Panic not! Sometimes this means that you get to live with people on the CP program so you get to interact with a broader range of people.

CP - Obviously I’m not (and never have been) a CP. But as I understand it most CPs like to arrive first thing in the morning (as in at 8am) because CPs can choose what type of apartment they have (subject to availability). You also need to be in line with the people that you want to share an apartment with.

The room types available range from 1-4 bedrooms (2 people to each room) and the complexes are Vista Way, Chatham Square and Patterson Court. Vista is, on average, the cheapest and the more bedrooms the lower the rent. There are no 4 bedroom apartments in Vista (a 3 bed in Vista is cheaper than a 4 bed in Chatham). Each complex has its advantages and disadvantages and some of the complexes may not be available at all. Chatham and Patterson seem to be the most popular amongst CPs so they tend to fill up quickly.

What did you do about bedding?
Different people do different things. I’ve heard of people taking a sleeping bag and stuffing it into a duvet cover, others bring a complete set of bedding with them. I personally did some research beforehand and found that you could buy a complete set of bedding (excluding pillows) for $30-50 in Walmart and get 2 pillows for about $10. So I bought my bedding on the first night. I was worried about whether I’d have time when I arrived to go to Walmart but it’s open 24 hours and the buses run til about midnight (there are always taxis if you get stuck). Similarly I bought towels, hangers, etc there too. At the end of the program I either threw the items away or donated them. Luggage allowances are so limited these days that you need all the space you can get!