Wednesday 29 February 2012

I miss.....

Having been talking recently about things I'm going to do when I get home I got round to thinking about all the stupid little things I miss from home and all the things I will miss when I leave here! So here goes....

Things I miss from home (obviously big things like my friends and family!)
1) nail varnish... Not allowed to wear nail varnish because of food prep
2) being able to wear my hair down... Same reasons as above!
3) nandos and KFC... And all the other food things you can't get out here like cadburys chocolate, chocolate digestives, good salt and vinegar crisps, branston pickle (this list cod go on for ever!)
4) being able to watch rubbish on tv!
5) decent Internet.... And being able to use Internet on my phone where ever I want!
6) all the music that got wiped off my phone when it went mental during the ios5 update
7) my double bed, duvet and my mattress!
8) the rest of my clothes
9) two days off a week!
10) the Cumbrian weather (haha!)
11) magazines! Well being able to buy heat for the right price, not double like it is in resort.... To be fair I'm impressed they sell it here!


It does seem like a lot but none of it really bothers me unless I think of it all together!

And it's all small in comparison to how much I'm going to miss my friends here, skiing when I want (when it's not French half term anyway!), sunshine and clear clue skies, the snow and walking to work looking at the amazing mountains around me! Don't get me wrong I have definitely loved being here and have made the right decision about coming home but there are definitely things I won't miss....
Mainly cleaning toilets and baths after a particularly unpleasant incident this week, which I won't mention in case anyone is eating :-)
I just need a different job for next season, running a chalet on my own has been so much more tiring and stressful than I thought after last season and I'm not sure I could do it again, especially not on my own! I have however decided that I would make a fantastic rep so am going to spend the summer convincing a TO that they want to give me a job! I'm sure I can manage that! Just as long as I don't have to guide....

I've not skied a lot, again, partly down to work, partly down to how many people are in resort (far far too busy today!) and partly down to just being knackered! Think all the French holidays finish this week so hopefully la plagne will go back to being nice an quiet ad I can ski around in peace, without having to avoid people and being wiped out by stupid people (three times in an hour today! Was not impressed!)

I still have two and a half weeks left here so I'm hoping I can get out most days! Actually considering its amazing weather here at the minute I'm not entirely sure how I'll feel back in the middle of northern "spring" hoping for a nice April and may!

Anyway I'd better go to sleep ready for work tomorrow, worst thing about Wednesdays is the night.... Longest time in the week until next day off!

Wednesday 22 February 2012

On the countdown :-(

Well you have probably all heard I'm heading home in a few weeks, while I'm really looking forward to seeing my friends and family, eating nandos, drinking costa coffee and watching tv, I am quite sad to be leaving the mountains! It's not being helped by the fact we have clear blue skies all the time at the minute!

Basically my summer job is starting early, so I need to be back for Easter, and a wee bit earlier for training! Despite wishing I could do my English heritage job and stay here I am looking forward to being back on the wall! Swapping one place with awesome scenery for another so can't really complain :-) plans are afoot to come back to the alps in November, hopefully as a rep!

Work has been the same as usual really recently, although we did have a large group booked in who left a very impressive tip.... Enough to buy a couple of nice new things! I have definitely decided that running a chalet on my own is a bit too stressful, I worked with my flatmate for a couple of days at the start of this week and it was soooooo much nicer working with someone else!! Especially when you both get on and do the job properly! Plus this week we are all getting an extra day and half off as the chalets are quiet! So looking forward to some lie ins!

I've been back on my skis again, finally!! Went out on Saturday with some of my work mates, first time I've really skied with some of them, and it was fun! Apparently I'm not as rubbish as I still think and it's really obvious that it's all a confidence thing! So gonna upgrade my skis and try skiing on better ones, see if that helps! Was out again today but it was stupidly busy! Massive queues and far far too many people on the slopes, ah well Parisian half term ends this wknd so fingers crossed it will go back to normal and I can spend the next three weeks skiing lots!

I have noticed this week that there are gangs of teenagers roaming around resort, reminded me of home lol!

Well I'm off to sleep, gotta get my rest before going in to look after my two guests!!

Ps check out the giant snow elephants in the square!!

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Halfway through

So halfway through the season..... It's still great out here! I am run down and m having to make more of an effort to sleep and eat better but I'm definitely still enjoying it! It's a weird feeling to know that from now it's almost a count down to coming home, which now feels very soon! I think in a few weeks the end of season panic will start to kick in for everyone and there will be more skiing and partying than ever before! I'm already looking to next season, am thinking meribel? I quite like the idea of working in different resorts each year, can't get bored then! :-)

I haven't updated for ages, mainly because my parents were here and I was too busy! We had a pretty fantastic week of fresh snow, sunshine, nice lunches and drinks on the hill! Was also pretty good to realise I am a better skier than I keep saying, I have improved ad found myself flying down slopes I'd struggled with a few weeks before, so guess all those private lessons are helping bring the confidence back :-) it was a shame to say bye on sat (ESP as their journey home was ridiculously disrupted by tiny amount of snow in the uk!)

It really has made me laugh this last week with all the panic and chaos caused by a wee bit of snow! Seriously the reports I saw on the bbc made it look like the world was ending, for snowfall totals and temperatures that wouldn't even register here! It's been unbelievably cold here this week, rarely above -15 c during the day and down to -25 ish at night, you know it's really cold when you breathe in and your nose freezes shut! Luckily it's warming up a bit now, back to above -15 anyway!!

Think I'll ski tomorrow, it's just been too cold and ive been catching up on missed sleep! And maybe by tomorrow my eyes will feel better too! It's half term next week so everywhere will be so busy! At the min my chalet has no bookings for the week after half term, am busy praying it stays that way because I could do with a break and chance to do the mid season deep clean without guests! But I reckon it will fill up and I'll have to try to clean bathrooms with toothpicks around my guests!

Well I'd better get back to doing nothing today :-) and try to decide which ski pants I'm gonna buy!