Back to the real world

One thing that my employer liked to tell us during training and through out the season was that working there was not the real world. Sounds funny when you put it like that, it's hardly as if we were in a fantasy world? Turns out as soon as you are back you realise, it dawns upon you like a ton of bricks. It really is not the real world. You don't have to worry about bills, petrol prices, taxes, etc. important things. You slip into a world with very little real life responsibility, and the responsibility that you do has over trivial things becomes very important.

I've been home just over a week now, and the dream of powder, mountains and demi peche seem to have slipped away. In their place, are the worries of finding a semi decent paying job, where I'm going to find the money for filling up my car and most importantly, how am I going to curb my spending habit. After 18 weeks of nearly having a 100 euros cash in hand tips, it's going to be difficult getting used to having no money at all!

Little Things

I apologise profusely for my lack of updates on here. it seems that I have been exceptionally lazy these last few weeks as the end of season quickly approaches.  Things have been drastically changing right before my eyes, in the sense of relationships within the resort as well as resort workers.

Gavin left and to be honest I haven't really been the same since. Gary our manager said to me today that he worries about me because i'm not all bubbly and happy and i'm very solemn. Personally i do not think i am a bubbly happy person anyway, but i have been exceptionally solemn these past couple of weeks. After Gavin left I kinda sidled back to Alex, however my debaucheries elsewhere has led to the demise of our friendship i think. We used to have some great conversations and go skiing and watch dvds etc. now, i am ignored when in the same company and don't do any of those things anymore. It is kind of sad really I feel that i have not only lost one friend but another.

So as a result, i met a lovely French man on a night out and have been on a few dates. He is a snowboarder, who works for skiset and is very gentlemanly. It make a nice change from the English seasonnaires who basically want to use as many girls as possible. I on the other hand am using my new friend for French lessons and for a snowboarding companion as my relations with the girl in the company i board with have diminished and i have become a bit of a loner. (What's new there!)

Anyway, on a possibly lighter note, it is my birthday tomorrow. I think that is as light as it gets really. The night before I hoped I would have some romantic evening or at least a cosy one cuddled up in bed with someone watching a good dvd. But no. I am here writing for you guys, which is not so bad, and I have a dvd all lined up. Crazy, Stupid Love, with Ryan Gosling in, who happens to be my future husband.

Enough prattling on. This really is nothing to do with a ski season unfortunately, it's just me unloading onto the world as per norm. I shall attempt to write an entry tomorrow with some pics so that you can see how my day went. :) Ciao for now xxx

General Chit Chat!

Sorry for not having done an update for a while, things have been hectic really. There's a bit of goss to write about and a bit of general stuff as well.

So, first things first, i'm not sure if i have already written this but my ski host and chef are now an official item, this has been an awkward transition. I'm sure one can imagine that when you work with two other people in such an intense close environment, it can be very third wheel like. This was how i have been feeling recently, and on Tuesday i decided i couldn't hack it and wanted to work in a different chalet for the night. However, this did not happen, our new manager Gary, aka Silver Fox, said that the guests in his chalet were way too demanding and that next week i'll be in his chalet. But as he could not offer me the respite i wanted, he offered to let me join him on the minibus journey to La Plagne to drop Stuart back (a temp chef). this was an alright journey apart from the fact I'd had, at most, 4 hours sleep the night before because I'd been out clubbing. We shall talk about what happened then in a minute.
La Plagne was nice, it was interesting to see how a chalet hotel runs in comparison to a chalet and also to meet the other chalet hosts. On the way back (a rather awkward drive) we stopped at Carrefour in Moutiers and i bought some socks. Now this to the common person may not be an important thing, but up here socks get lost within about 10 seconds of coming off your feet. I came out with about 7 pairs, and only have like 3 pairs left. And socks are not cheap, i bought two packs of 3 and it came to something like 8 or 9 euros. So they had better be good quality.

Within the chalet, things seem to have settled down a bit, i think i may have been getting a bit highly strung and freaked out by working with a couple. I'm not the best person at dealing with these things. But it is nice to have the room to myself now and then.

That now kind of leads on to my Tuesday night out. So my personal life, in terms of relationships does not get written about just because, it's personal you know. I have become close friends with a certain chef from a different company, but things aren't going so well for him at the moment, he found out he's going to become a dad and he doesn't want to be but it's too late and it's his ex girlfriend. He'd been a bit funny with me for the past several days and i got a bee in my bonnet about it and wasn't very happy. Anyway, there was a bit of a party over at the accommodation where he works and so i went on over hung out and got rather drunken. There were a couple of different companies there, and it was really nice to all socialise together. My chef guy hardly spoke more than 5 words to me. So i hung out with his friends and got drunk. We didn't leave for the club until about 1.30am and somehow, oh wait the guys sledged down to the club and we got the minibus. Either way, i met a new friend, and spent the whole night chatting to him, he wouldn't tell me his name, or age or where he came from, as he thought it was entertaining for me to have to guess. Rather more frustrating if you ask me. Anyways, we spent the whole night chatting, i don't even think i spoke to anyone else really. It was pretty antisocial of me i suppose. But basically he's a snowboarder, was manager of 3 chalets before the dodgy company he worked for fired him and several of the employees for no reason. Unfortunately he's going home next week, but we had an interesting conv about beluga whales, him being a unicorn catcher and that he caught the Loch Ness monster. Very random i know, and i haven't the foggiest memory of how it came about. Either way he came home with me. But oh yeah i forgot to point out a very important detail in this, he told me in the club that he has a thing going on with one of his past guests, and apparently she is waiting for him back in England....... Yes not impressed i know. Because i thought we were pretty much perfect combo.

I'm getting pretty tired so i may finish this entry tomorrow. :) Night! x

Gossip

Ok so this post is not really about snowboarding or anything to do with skiing really. But it's something that has been bugging me for a little while. I live with two other members of staff, my chef Ollie and my ski host Rachel. So Rachel has a boyfriend and Ollie is single.

I bet you can guess where this is going really. It's really rather an awkward situation. The two spend all their spare time together, one is touchy feely, and they never socialize with the other members of the team. Most nights i go to bed and Rachel does not arrive until about 1am or 2am which wakes me up.

Does this mean that i can freely bring guys back to my place? Or do i technically still share a room? It's a real eggshell area. Especially as i cannot stand people who cheat on their partners. I know that if the role was reversed Rachel would be highly sensitive and extremely upset by it. I feel like a consipartor to the cheating by not telling her boyfriend, but obviously it really is not my place to say anything.

Any thoughts or comments upon this situation would be appreciated :)

Typical Seasonaire Things

Sorry for not posting for a while, it has been rather manic. This week we have three Indian families, totaling 18 people, 12 children, 13 vegetarians, some who however eat chicken. It's a total nightmare. They asked me this evening to contact my manager and get the company to buy some hairdryers for the chalet. I mean really?! This is not a hotel! Bloomin' ridiculous. I did actually want to cry earlier their requests were just that frustrating, especially whilst i was trying to set up for dinner and they kept interrupting.

Anyway enough of my rant! I have decided to write about a few typical seasonaire things. I know it's a bit of a non specific topic, but here we go.

- The first couple of weeks, for our chalet at least, it was very common to finish service and then go to the pub and drink demi peche or grand peche. This drink is beer with peach syrup. I personally never ever drink beer under normal circumstances, however, a half pint of Amstel with peche is possibly the most refreshing drink after a hard afternoon boarding or stressful dinner service. And at 2euros for a demi its a right bargain for us seasonaires!

- Burn out. This happens after the first couple of weeks of jamming in boarding, skiing, work, late nights, drink and early mornings. You do not realise how much of a trance you are in until you look back and see that you actually resembled a zombie. At one point this season i was actually turning a lovely shade of grey due to burning the candle at both ends.

- Ski/Board related purchases. These tend to happen towards the middle/end of the season, when tips and wages have been saved in order to purchase such items. For example, i have recently purchased a Roxy Ollie Pop snowboard with gold bindings for a very reasonable rate. A friend had a lesson with an ESF instructor, and it happened that his sister competes fro France and is given boards all the time and i managed to wangle a board that is RRP at £400 without bindings for 250 euros with bindings. Nataleon one of our chefs has recently acquired a new pair of skis, and Tina a chalet host has treated herself to some ski boots. The purchase of ski related items is just a natural part of being a seasonaire. Jack one of our chefs splashed out on a pair of park gloves for 150 euros or something about that price.

- Pulling holiday makers. This is a slightly more shameful topic that i shall briefly touch upon. It happens. We all get drunk and chat to many random people and as the vast majority of people in the pubs and club are holidaymakers its an easy thing to happen. Also there is that feeling of anonymity that makes it feel more exciting, you're likely to never meet this person again. For example, i met a rather lovely Irish investment banker from London who must have been about 6ft8 because my head did not even reach his shoulders, it was mental. It is fantastic who you can meet on a night out here and the temptation to take advantage of it just happens.

-Horrible hands. The less pleasant side of working in the snowy mountains. Whether you're chef or chalet host or ski host, we all have pretty minging hands. This is due to chemicals, dry air, tons of washing up and (for chefs mostly) accidental slip ups with the knives.

Well i hope that this was informative! It's time for me to get some sleep, we have early breakfasts all week. I am sure you can imagine the joy i experienced when the guests asked for this! Goodnight folks :)

Ailments

I had thought of a great topic earlier this morning whilst i was clearing away the breakfast mess. However, between now and then I have totally forgotten this. So I have decided to talk about ailments in the Alps. There are things happening to our bodies that i never knew could happen. For instance the main pain that I seem to have noticed for everyone, not just me, is splits. Not the legs at ridiculous angle splits, but your actual skin splitting.

The splits occur when the skin is dry and cracks. This has happened to me around the edges of my fingers by the nails. It makes cleaning and making the beds a nightmare. No matter how much hand cream is applied it seems that your skin will inevitably dry out.

Another ailment that occurred most within the first few weeks were burns. Mostly for the chalet hosts when helping out in the kitchen. The plates go in the ovens and come out so hot you have to have about four layers of  tea towel so as not to drop the plate on the way to the table (about 4 feet away!). The mini burns i got meant that anything warm was excruciating pain on my fingers. Although i must say Ollie our chef really did a good burn last night. He picked up the hob ring and didn't realise that he'd left it on a low heat. His fingers practically stuck to the metal. Half an hour later he was still running his hand under icy cold water. Four fingers on one hand burnt. This morning they have blistered nicely, but apparently running under cold water for that amount of time have meant that they do not hurt as much as they should.

And finally, we all know that skiing/snowboarding incurs many bruises. Mostly for me my legs are like dot to dot. On the side of my upper left thigh i have a beautiful green/blue 4 inch bruise for snowboarding and tumbling down the mountain.

So that's all for now, i have powder and a new snowboard to try out awaiting me! Ciao for now

I'm not quite sure what to write in this entry. It seems like i could be repeating myself if i talk about my guests or working day. I think i shall write about my day off last week, and the occurrences this week.

So, last week on Wednesday we decided to go to Meribel to pick up the work minibus for the chef shop the next day. However, the night before some of us went to a club down in Bruyeres and I ended up very hungover and did not surface until midday. In my eyes this is a total waste of a day off! Anyway, Sarah met me just as i had surfaced for some food, she had had a snowboarding lesson so i managed to persuade her to board to Meribel via the blue routes. This was not too bad, although it was rather flat and very icy in patches. It took about 2 and a half hours to get to Meribel and we weren't even sure we were in the right place at first! The last run down into the main area was torture. I have never seen such an ice sheet before. Even the pro looking skiers were struggling with it, so i ended up side slipping down the off piste bit at the side which was marginally less icy. After this rather traumatic end Sarah and I found the Meribel workers and we went to the pub. It was really nice to catch up with them. It took a while for the rest of our Reberty lot to get there because they're gone to Courcheval. we went and had a nice meal then drove back to Reberty. The minibus ride was pretty surreal, as i have not been in a vehicle that's not a bus since i had been brought over to the resort! I think i fell asleep for a bit but it was soo cold it was not very comfortable, also Ollie's driving was rather rocky and since Sarah and i were sitting at the back of the bus we were being shaken up!

Today is a lovely bluebird sky day. The sun is shining brilliantly and i have no motivation to go out. I sprained my wrist the other day and my hand has been twinging ever since. I feel that i ought to have a snowboarding lesson as i have managed to start turning but am struggling to do it properly. So i am really very frustrated about this. I'll keep you updated on things

New People

So I'm pretty sure i've already written about meeting the other resort staff, Ski Famille workers and Family Ski workers. Today Sarah and I decided to practice our snowboarding skills. Sarah focusing upon making her turns smaller and me practising my heel to toe edge turns. Anyway, down in Les Menuires we bumped into the Ski Famille bunch, Alex, Dan and James and we were invited to do a few runs with them. After a heavy night the night before Sarah was feeling the worse for wear and was apprehensive about going with them, just because we are pretty slow and not that great.... yet!

We ended up going up a couple of blue runs and it was so fun to be out with new people and ended up in La Ferme with a demi peche and organising a night out in a club. This is something we have not had a chance to do yet. There is a club down by the Bruyeres lift called Libertee or something along those lines. It has a shuttle bus that can come and pick us up which is pretty good as i do not ever fancy walking anywhere at night in this place! Far toooo cold. So, we have organised to go over to the Ski Famille staff living area for pre drinks. I'm pretty excited about this as although i love my colleagues, some can get a bit tiresome after a while.

I shall write a post soon of how it goes, we're also skiing to Meribel tomorrow to pick up the minibus and then driving to Courcheval for a night out and Ollie will drive us all back! Going to be mental me thinks. Anyways i had better get some beauty sleep, i resemble a zombie at the moment. Night :)

Day In The Life

It's been a while since my last post i know. Many apologies for this. We have had Internet problems and all sorts. I thought I would do a day in the life of a chalet girl just to get a taste of what the job is like.

7.15am Wake up alarm goes off. Much grumbling occurs at this point and the 10min snooze is activated.

7.25am Snooze alarm goes off. Less grumbling this time from my side but the room mate grumbles. Jumping out of bed to get to the bathroom, quickly clean face, do hair, make up and teeth and dress in time to be downstairs setting up fro breakfast at 7.30am.

7.30am Run down the stairs, turn on lights and begin breakfast set up. This is usually not too bad as I tend to lay the table the night before. However, there are things to do like:
    - Collect bread delivery from garage
    - Slice two baskets of bread and put on the table
    - Set up yogurts and spoons on table
    - Fill/Top up orange and apple juice jugs
    - cube two ramekins of butter and set out jams (usually topping them up as well)
   - clear away any dirty glasses/bottles left out from night before
   - Wake up the chef (verrrrry important!)
   - Set up coffee machine and tea area
  - Set up cereals, bowls and milk etc.

That is roughly what I have to do in half an hour. Usually I can just about do it in time, depending upon how many guests there are and how well things are topped up.

8am Guests begin appearing for breakfast. We ask if they would like porridge, and if they would like the cooked breakfast option. This can get stressful as all the guests come in at different times and some want one thing but not another. I.e this morning, we had a smoked salmon and scrambled egg confusion, i said no smoked salmon and i got smoked salmon.

9am (ish) Clear down breakfast when all guests have left, wash up all cutlery and glasses, anything that needs to be stored is cling filmed and put away. Tables wiped down and floor swept and mopped (sometimes done later in the morning). Afternoon tea set up.

9.30am/10am Open rooms, make the beds, clean the baths, toilets, showers, sinks, mirrors, empty bins, fold towels, dust and sweep.

11.30am/ 11.45am Sweep and mop communal areas. Clean spa area, dip test the jacuzzi to see if more chlorine is needed, clean scummy edges of hot tub and clean the shower and sauna. Sweep and mop.

12.30pm ish  Lunch with other chalet hosts and then boarding for the afternoon.

3pm Break from boarding for a demi peche (Beer with peach syrup) outside a bar. (Best form of relaxation). Then back to boarding.

4pm Return to chalet. Nap or shower, depending on which one is most needed.

6pm Get ready for service. Clear down afternoon tea, set up for dinner, napkins folded. See if the chef needs help. (I.e. make dessert/canapes wash up saucepans, find food in other chalets etc.)

7.30pm Dinner service begins, help dish up food and serve to guests. Usually eat one or two courses with guests and clean in between serving and clearing.

9.15pm ish Dinner service ends, clear down kitchen, plates, glasses, cutlery cleaned and polished. Sweep floor, take out bin to the bins down the road (annoying). Wipe table and set up for breakfast, then sweep floor all under table.

10.30pm Get ready for the pub, usually make up and hair to be redone. Trudge up to the pub and have vodka pomme to numb the tiredness.

12am/1pm After several drinks, stumble/slide back to the chalet. Try to be quiet whilst entering but fail miserably and fall into bed ready to pass out.

This is pretty much how we roll.

Week 4

So another week has passed. Now it’s week 4.  I cannot believe how fast it seems to be flying by! Last week (New Year week) was possibly the toughest week yet. We had gotten over the first week and then managed Christmas week by the time New Year week came along it suddenly dawns upon you that it is going to be like this for another 4 months! I must admit to something I am rather ashamed about, but I did not like the guests that much and I did not both giving my all. The kids were alright, pretty fun but very intense! It was the adults who were difficult, as they were one group and I felt like such an intruder when I had to interrupt their conversations in order to give information etc. I don’t think it helped that one of them was friends with the owner of the company! Major stress there and then they were all from Doncaster. I have nothing against Northerners but I do think that they have very different mannerisms and ways compared to Southern people. It could be a great generalisation but that’s my impression.

It was rather impressive that we received 50euros tips from this group, as A) I forgot to put the tip envelopes in the rooms and did it at 10.30pm the night before they were leaving and B) I really did not care to go the extra mile with these guests.  And even better, we only had 6 people come to our chalet for this week! I only had to do 3 rooms and I am going to just trundle through the others at my own pace. It was a bit awkward at dinner last night as two of the guys are sharing a room who have never seen each other before, this is a company scheme because many single people do not want to pay the 60% single supplement fee! And we also had two parents and their son and his girlfriend. A few awkward silences but hey I think it’ll get better as the week goes on really.

 There has been a slight bit of chalet drama but nothing that i can really post about on here. Sad times! 

New Year's Eve

One of the biggest nights of the year. The whole resort team have been working so hard the past three weeks that we had not really made any plans for our New Year's Celebrations. It was about 2 days before that we learnt about a band being on the piste in Les Menuires. So, we decided that we should make our way down.

We finished service and cleared away as quickly as we could. I think it was about half ten when we made it over to one of the other chalets. It was decided that we take the bus down, but after a few drinks the boys and one of the chalet hosts decided that they thought it would be a good idea to bum board/sledge down the piste to Les Menuires. The rest of us thought hell no the bus will be here soon. But then thought we ought to hitch hike as the bus was late. A white transporter van stopped after all 4 of us stuck out our thumbs and gave us a lift down. There were two men in the front, and said we could have a lift if we could fit in. From where we were standing we laughed as there looked like there was tons of space in the back... Until we opened the slidey door and there was a pile of skis and snowboards. But determined to get down we all climbed in. Turned out the two men were Russians and as we were driving down the driver pulled out a bottle of wine and started swigging away at the wheel! We were all shocked but laughed it off and he shared it out with us. The white slave trade did cross our minds at one point but in no time we were being dropped off in Les Menuires where we preceded to find the boys.

The night was pretty heavy! It was raining outside, but we didn't really notice it. We went into a couple of bars ordered many drinks and it was all really friendly. One bar we went in had people actually hanging from the rafters and dancing on barrels and all sorts. It was totally immense. We could hardly move and i was stuck between someone dancing on a table and a tall guy. We ended up in another bar not long after where there was a bit more space on the dance floor, by this point i had drunk enough to dance stupidly all over the floor.

Post drinking we had not really gathered a plan to get back up the mountain. Reberty 2000 is at least 250m higher than Les Menuires. Rachel our ski host did bring a page of taxi numbers, but once again the boys had it in their heads to walk up piste. Not the best idea! I must have walked twice as far because I could not walk in a straight line to save my life! Many of us were falling over as well. 3/4 way up the piste we managed to hit a snowdrift that was mid thigh height. At this point i did fall over and think god it would be so nice to curl up and sleep here. But survival instinct kicked in and i forced myself to stand up and stride through the snow to the path that one of the boys had found. Then i power walked right back to one of the chalets. I ended up not in my chalet but one of the other chalet hosts where we chilled out tilled about 4.30am. It was very disorientating in the morning trying to remember where i was and what happened. But yes that is my story, in brief of New Year's Eve. :)