Sunday, May 3, 2009

Fiesta weekend!

Here is a synopsis of my Ford Fiesta weekend:

I wrote this bit on my laptop from my hotel room --
I got to my hotel, checked in at the desk, and then went to check in with the actual Fiesta people. When I walked up they said "Hey Kristina!" which surprised me, but I guess I did get picked because they all watched my video and now my picture is on the site.. hahaha. Still. Weird.

Now I am sitting alone in a pretty ritzy hotel room and there is no wifi so I am just typing this on a text document.

When I checked in they gave me a fiesta tshirt and new shoes in a little goodie bag. They're not special fiesta shoes or anything. Just sneakers. I don't really have good sneakers, so while I don't understand this gift, I'm not complaining.

I'm supposed to meet everyone downstairs in 15 minutes so I think I will head out now. This is exciting!

(That's all I wrote. The rest of this blog post will be after-the-fact.)

So that night we went to a meeting with dinner and an open bar (I LOVE being 21 xD) and they told us ALL about the movement itself, missions, what's required of us, what they're doing for us, and we had a little lesson in PR. We also were give sweet new Sony Webbie cameras with which to film things for the movement, and watched this video on how to use the cameras that was narrated by a woman with a hilarious accent.

We were then bused back to the hotel, and everyone decided we needed to party it up with the other agents. We all went to this nearby bar together, and then I split off in a group of four other people I'd gotten to know over the course of the evening and we had a great night. Among these four were two other agents, Derek and Meghan (the links go to their Fiesta profiles).

The next morning we had another meeting where we learned all about the cars themselves and I know more about the Fiesta specs than I ever thought I would know about a car. Also the cars were made in Germany and built to English standards so many of the features are European. The hood and trunk and referred to as the bonnet and the boot, the voice activated thing talks to me in a female british accent, and the degree and gas readers are all in Celcius and miles per liter. That's annoying.

When we all panicked about the Celcius reading, the auto guy was like "Think of it this way: if you're hot.... turn it down. If you're cold... turn it up. It'll be fine." xD

After we had learned everything we ever wanted to know about the Ford Fiesta, they took us down to the "track" and we FINALLY got to see our cars. They looked so cool and colorful and exciting all lined up beside each other. There was 13 cars; we were the very last of the agents to recieve them. Surprisingly, no one's was exactly the same as anyone else's. The graphics on the side are so fun.

I was still feeling pretty nervous about driving it, but the instructor helping me said "Listen. Other people on the road? Fuck 'em." ...and it was the best advice he could have given me. Nothing makes you freak out more than worrying what the car behind you is thinking as you continuously stall on a hill. So fuck 'em. They can wait a second.

Meghan's friend Tim (whom I'm glad I met as he is an incredibly lovely person) saw I was struggling when they'd set me on the orange cone track by myself, so he ran and hopped in my car and drove around with me for about an hour while I started to get a better hang of the car. When you learn in a clunky old car and then suddenly switch to a supersmooth 2011 fiesta, there is a whole lot to adjust to. I was grateful for the extra help.

Around 2pm they gave me some complimentary sunglasses (I think I missed out on the cool ones during my driving lessons and got stuck with these really boy-ish ones. Maybe I'll give them to Alex) and a custom fiestamovement glasses case, and they sent me on my merry way.


On the way home I got stopped at a light on a hill and literally had to sit through TWO FULL GREEN LIGHTS before I realized I wasn't going to be able to do it without the e-brake, and heart pounding, face red, I finally got the car to go up the hill and drove sheepishly the rest of the way home.

That was my fiesta weekend! I am so excited to actually get good at driving this car and going on missions and such. I'm going to pick Alex up from the airport in it tomorrow. I'm going to consider that Mission #1. Hahaha.


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27 comments:

Callidora said...

Your car is so gorgeous! Also, yeah for Alex almost being there.
Have fun with your new car and Alex. :o)

Kaitlyn w/ a K said...

It all sounds so exciting!!! And your car is beautiful!

(P.S. Just so you know, both of those links go to Derek's profile.)

Emily said...

Oh my goodness, your car is amazingly beautiful! It makes me want one! XD

Fran said...

WOW that car is AMAZING, *jealous*
it's so pretty!! I'm like staring at the picture a lot XD
I'm glad it was a great time, and that Alex is arriving tomorrow ;3

Jordiekins said...

IT LOOKS AMAZING.
*starts coughing, wheezing, predicting* You will make it to the airport tomorrow. You will be fine. *cough* You will not have any troubles. *wheezes, blinks*...

Oh, hi Kristina! Did you say something?
P.S. Meghan's link goes to Derek's profile.

Melissa Kendra said...

I'm not gonna lie, that is a hot car.

But it could be that I'm just incredibly biased, having been raised to be a Ford girl.

Have fun picking up Alex :]

Cody Hotel said...

Lovin' the paint job! It looks like a very sweet car, and that's coming from someone who DETESTS Fords that aren't Mustangs or F150s.

And if you need any help with Celsius or mi/L conversions feel free to ask, as both a Canadian and a hater of the metric system applied to automotive areas, I can do them very quickly off the top of my head.

:)

Jessamyn said...

Lovely car. Your descriptions make me wish I could legally drive. Hope you have fun with it, and that you have fun with Alex too!

Elizabeth... said...

That car looks so lovely and I'm glad the weekend was fun as well!
Hope Alex's presence in the car doesn't put you off too much.

:D

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous you have been given a car to drive around it. I want one!!!

AlanDistro said...

Lovely fiesta! Hope you two have fun. =)

Anonymous said...

Seriously Kristina, that car rocks. I hope you have fun with it! Missions, free gas, Alex... what could be better? XD

Joy said...

HAHA, "if you're hot, turn it down... if you're cold, turn it up..." Good way to look at it!

But... If the Celcius thing starts to bug you, an easy (but approximate!) way to convert Celcius to Fahrenheit is to 'double it and add 30'.

I grew up in the States but now live in England, where they use Celcius for weather reports etc. so I've learned to convert quickly :o) I use that little rule alll the time...

Enjoy the car! It looks great...

Bianca23 said...

Your car is amazing, I really love the color! And I'm sure you'll be fine picking Alex up from the airport. Just stay calm if something goes wrong.

Wow, a shiny new car and Alex's coming today! Your life is good ;)

Melissa said...

Okay, I don't want to sound whiny, but this sort of thing really irritates me when you, especially Americans, get it wrong. You should know this, especially now you have a boyfriend who is English.

You seem to be confusing "English", "British" and "European".

"Built to English standards so many of the features are European" - what?? We drive on the left in the UK! I find it incredible that you don't know that. Only four countries drive on the left in Europe - the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. EVERYONE ELSE drives on the right.

"The voice activated thing talks to me in a female british accent" - what do you mean?! "British accent"?? There is no "British accent"! You most probably mean an English accent. This is actually quite offensive to some, especially when you consider that Scotland and Wales are a part of Britain, and the inhabitants of those respective countries certainly do not speak in English accents. It's sort of like listening to a Puerto Rican person speak English and saying they have an American accent. There are hundreds of English dialects besides.

You didn't capitalise British. Probably a typo, but you're supposed to be a writer, and someone who appreciates grammar.

I'm going to explain to you the distinct differences within the UK so you don't make any more mistakes.

The United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, so it's the actual country, like the United States.

Great Britain (or Britain for short) is the mainland of England, Wales and Scotland - each of these are their own constituent country with their own Parliaments.

Northern Island is not included in Great Britain, but it's still a part of the UK.

The British Isles is the term for Great Britain, the small islands dotted around it, and the larger island of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

I hope that cleared it up. I'm sorry to be patronising.

Crystal said...

My sister first learned how to drive a stick in Austria, when she moved there for like 9 months to teach English. She said that just driving around town helped her a lot more because she was doing real driving, not just going around the block for an hour.

VicMorrowsGhost said...

The car looks awesome!

Kristina said...

Of course I know you drive on the left in the UK. They're not going to give us left side drive cars in America. The cars were built in Germany, to UK standards, but built for American roads. When I said the features were European, I meant things like the fog lamp specs, since you guys have stricter rules on that then we do. Not where the steering wheel is. I don't even know if that's what you were freaking out about.

I apologize for saying "British accent", because that was honestly something I didn't know (why would I? They don't teach us about different European accents here) but I think you jumped down my back a little about the other stuff.

Also, it's my blog, not a novel. If I don't capitalize something... calm down.

MJ said...

SammyJo, for somebody so pedantic you should learn that it's Northern IRELAND not Island.

Leave Kristina be she just got the most awesome car ever!


Oh and Kristina are you going to start doing word of the day again? I loved that :D

Tenley Nadine said...

Your car is gorgeous!

Odi said...

Fahrenheit is silly ¬_¬ ... I mean, 0 being freezing point and taking it from there is SO MUCH EASIER.

janitorbud said...

that car looks like so much fun!
i love the design on the side of yours.
you and alex are lucky to be in that awesome car.

Sophie said...

AHHH! That is so exciting. The car is super cute/pretty/cool/many other adjectives.

I am glad you had fun, and HAVE FUN WITH ALEX!

Anonymous said...

This summer I'm learning to drive, it's a scary thought. But I'll always remember "So fuck 'em. They can wait a second." to help me less freak out-ish. :D

Kelly said...

I absolutely love the car!
Can't wait to hear about your adventures in it! :-)
Have fun with Alex...but still don't forget to blog every once in a while ;-).
fiestoliac:
someone who feels very gloomy that they don't have a Ford Fiesta
(Synonyms: Kristinaliac)

Caliowin said...

Love the car! It looks so good. :) *jealous* It puts my rusty old white micra to shame. :P

I find it so weird you can't cope with Celcius, when in the UK we can manage both Fahrenheit and Celcius. :P It's easy. Room temp is usually 22-24C if that helps, but in reality if its that temp outside it feels warm :D. 30C is roughly equivalent to a fahrenheit temp in the 80s. :)

Karl said...

I'm sorry, but that car is not amazing. I've seen it on the road for months and yes, at the start I thought it was slightly amazing, but now it's just a Ford Fiesta to me. I've ruined it haven't I?
Also, is that skyline on the side meant to be like New York (I just thought that, I'm British not from NY)