Christmas In The Park: Fill & Download for Free

It’s been a while. I could enter the parks on my company ID most days depending on if it was a blackout or special event day. I do not think they do this anymore but during the Christmas holidays, the company would close the Magic Kingdom to guests for several nights and make a cast member exclusive event. My wife at the time worked at The Grand Floridian Resort and won a cast member contest. One night stay and a dinner for two at The Grand Floridian Resort. Valet parking included. The Disney Cruise Line had just started with one or two ships. We booked a Bahamas cruise and received a cast member discount rate with an outside cabin on one of the upper decks. Also Disney merch discounts from time to time. I remember receiving discounts from Property Control. There was a table and chair set that I think came from the Carousel of Progress. It was late Mid Century Modern but I could not get the cash together in time and I lost it. Also discounts on movie props and Disney art. I almost forgot. The Disney train tracks were redone and I purchased maybe 50 of the old railroad track ties at a discount. Built a retaining wall in my backyard. Also purchased exotic palms from the Disney landfill at a discount.

I was born and bread in Strasbourg and lived there until I was 19. I would say that living in Strasbourg is very sweet and easy (compared with how I live in Paris now). The proof is : many people just stay in Strasbourg or come back after having completed their studies !Strasbourg is not a huge city but it still is very alive. It is very cute, quite affordable (so you do not always have to live in an ugly suburb, and can live near cute shops in the center), and you can basically do anything with... A bike (lots of bike lanes and a completely flat city) !You can go to Paris in 2h20, there are many many trains, so even just a day there is easy !There are beautiful parks and you can be in the countryside very quickly, and not with ugly RER but with nice local trains. It's great if you want to go for some fresh airThe city is -in general- quite safe (of course there are some spots I would avoid in the middle of the night, but those are a minority). I never had any problems (besides stolen bikes)But on another level, if you are into arts, it might not be easy because there are theaters, etc but not as many as in bigger cities so you might feel frustrated. And you also have to go through the Christmas craziness : you will love the Christmas market in the beginning but it makes everyday life very hard if you work or live in the center. And, tiny detail, summers are usually very hot because there is almost no wind.But really, I loved living there and my parents love it there, it is a very very sweet life (and if I get a job in Strasbourg later I would be glad to go back !)

EDIT #2: Life in Russia has many negative aspects, even positives do not always work as intended. The negative side of living is described in this answer. Specifically, I have not observed most of the phenomena described by Stan Jacox during my 33 years in Russia since I was born there. Please read the negatives too for a balanced picture. However, this question asks very specifically for “more about the positive aspects”. So the answer contains only the positive points, even if the whole topic is, in fact, controversial.I was born in Saratov, Russia and lived there for 33 years. I also lived about 6 months in total in the U.S. (Bay Area) and currently reside in Ireland (Dublin Area), so I feel qualified to answer. The list consists mostly of what I find “awesome” for me and what I sometimes miss at my new place.1. The right for shelter. American stories of the type “my house was sold, now I’m homeless” almost never happen. If you are in debt the court would rather decide to sell your 3 bedroom and buy you a cheap flat, but still leave some place to you.2. Accessible education. Anybody, even from an absolutely disadvantaged family, can become a world-class physicist, a mathematician, a programmer or a biologist. The government may even pay a small scholarship.3. Free healthcare, officially almost free of charge. Whoever you are: a famous person or a homeless, a citizen or a stateless person you can count on an ambulance carrying you to a hospital and on being treated in a case of emergency.4. Maternity leave is 70+70 days, the 2-year average salary is paid. After that the mother can take a childcare leave for up to 3 years, within 1.5 years of which some 40% of the average salary (over 2 previous years) is paid. Oh, and employer can’t fire the mother during this period, so mums often return to their previous jobs, retaining the position.5. Vacation of about 1 month and the state holidays are the right of every employee. The states of the federation may introduce additional holidays, but neither they nor the employer have the power to cancel them. Compare to “when your company gives your 1-day off for Christmas ?” in the U.S.6. Pre-school childcare is very affordable. The kindergartens typically care for kids and teach them at least from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. The kids eat 2–3 meals and have the afternoon nap right there. The cost of one moderately good place (classes, playground + visits to a swimming pool once a week) in Saratov in 2013 was about $60 per child per month (from 20% of the monthly income in the poor to 3% and less in white collars). I have 2 kids, so we were entitled to a significant discount.7. Overnight camps. You can actually let your child to travel somewhere 10–200 km from your place and live there for 2 weeks under the supervision of a teacher. Obviously, the parents may just relax: sit on a coach, watch TV, go to restaurants, etc.8. Prescription free medicine (more positions compared to EU, UK and US). Going to a wilderness and need some antibiotics just in case – doable.9. Pharmacies, coffee shops and grocery stores working late. Many work 24 hours. Buying flowers or milk at 9.00 pm on Sunday is rarely a problem.10. Minimal commitments. Mobile, TV and broadband are paid monthly and usually fixed price. My provider (Beeline) would simply turn internet off if I don’t pay and start the next billing cycle on the day when I pay. I was surprised when Irish Vodafone billed me for several months of me not using their mobile internet after my previous bank card had expired (because the contract was for 1 year).11. Rich business opportunities. Russia lacks certain services, familiar to people from EU and US. It’s often possible to simply clone the idea and implement in quite a large market, operating in the almost uniform legal space.12. Public transport networks. It is expected that you can get from everywhere to everywhere in a city using the public transport. Using a car may even be counterproductive, because public transport often uses dedicated routes. Below is the picture of a tram in Saratov, that is mostly immune to traffic jams. Public transport is usually inexpensive for employed Russians.13. Electric trains that do not have exhaust fumes and also are very energy-efficient, so that even cargo trains are electrified.14. Painted buildings. Buildings in Russia are often colourful and have eye-pleasing elaborate exterior. The tradition is to have the facade painted in red, yellow, white, green, blue, etc. colour, therefore many UK buildings often look grey and plain to me (specifically, the towers of the Tower Bridge are colourless to my eyes). The next picture is a office of railroads in Saratov:Thanks to Josef Mills I realised that the tradition might originate from the limitations of the technology (materials of the wall need to be protected from weather conditions, unlike granite, for example). It has nevertheless found a place in my heart, making living in Russia more positive if you see painted facades (or not living in Russia less positive in my case :—().15. Design of cities. This is something that I miss everywhere. The following is a major street in the centre of Saratov:The lanes of the road are to the left and to the right of the green space. The footpath is clearly separated. Paris is the closest to that from what I’ve seen. All U.S. cities I know just fall behind in respect to this. After seeing New York in the movies many times I was more than disappointed when I actually got there:Then, “squares” in the US and UK are often simply road junctions. The following is what a proper square looks like (in Saratov):The next problem in many cities is a stupid use of the riverbanks. In many countries they would let the cars go there. What a mistake! In Saratov you have a park there, where you can walk, kids can enjoy a playground and the whole family can ride bicycles or use rollerblades, because few cars go there (and the speed is limited):And the final problem are pedestrian streets. It seems the US simply hates the idea. In Dublin (Ireland) there are two very proper pedestrian streets, but none has any trees on it. What the fun to walk between the stone walls? Everybody, learn from Saratov. They say we had a regular street, which was used by cars and public transport alike. However, as long as I remember it was closed to all traffic and converted to a major destination for shopping, restaurants, coffee shops and cinema:16. Pastries. Granted, Russians often borrow ideas from France and Belgium. Nevertheless you can enjoy both proper croissants (with dulce de leche) and traditional breads. In some western countries those are very hard to find and even croissants would not have any cream inside at all.17. Fruits. Enjoying sufficiently hot summers and being close to the Middle Asia the country can afford really large and tasty fruits (or berries, technically).18. Holidays. Holidays in Russia are celebrated widely. The eve of the International Women’s Day, for example, would be celebrated by kids at school and at work by parents. On the day itself the family would celebrate. I usually was meeting my mom, my mother-in-law and my grandmother, then returning to my wife and finally we having a family dinner together. In the western world the Christmas is the closest, but is 1 day off work compared to a 10 days when the whole country shuts down?19. Seasons of the year. In most of Russia you always know when is winter and when is summer. Can you always tell what season is it when in Los Angeles or London? In Saratov that would have been easy:20. Space exploration stories. When you live in Russia you are proud to hear the stories about the first man in space:the first women in space:the first and only fully autonomous robotic space shuttle which landed itself within 10 meters from the mark:the biggest space station any single country has ever possessed:and the satellite navigation system that can be used either as an alternative to GPS or together, increasing the accuracy 2–3x:21. Stories about historical and scientific achievements. Living in Russia is a great way to learn about the exploration of 1/6 of land:the discovery of Antarctica:the geometry of Lobachevsky and its use in the relativity theory:the periodic table of chemical elements by Mendeleev:the decisive victory over fascism in World War II:22. Military strength. Through its history Russia has never been conquered by another country (only paying tribute to Mongol states in 1240–1480).23. Cyrillic alphabet is very straightforward and was designed specifically for Slavic languages. In most of the cases one letter produces one sound. Almost anybody can master reading Russian quickly without actually learning the language. For example the informal word for mother is spelled “MAMA”, the word for male cat is spelled “KOT”, the word for current is spelled “TOK”. I’m having difficulties explaining my family which rules would be applicable to reading (or spelling) choir, liaison, weird, quay, cough, plough, borough. We have two modifiers, though, that change the pronunciation of the previous consonant from soft to hard and vice versa (marked with dashes below). If English had used Cyrillic alphabet, then word lord might have been spelled ЛЬОРД (soft L), while word well might have been spelled УЭЛ (hard L).