Wednesday 29 February 2012

this is my life

Wednesday, day off. Bit of a lie in. Get up, faff for a bit, walk to office. Skype Dad for an hour, sitting on balcony in sunshine, discuss merits of returning to UK versus living the seasonnaire life and come to mutual conclusion that seasonnaire life is where it's at. Feel chuffed at having the official seal of approval. Wander home to get kitted up. Meet Em and go to patisserie. Head up the Pleney bubble and ride for a few hours. Ride well. Slushy moguls on the way down from the chamossiere chair equal a MASSIVE smile. Keep smiling at great spring riding in hot sunshine until it's picnic time, then keep smiling because you're with good people, on a sunny day, in the mountains enjoying food, booze and good company. Ride down at 6:30PM, just the two of you on the piste, your own private mountain and it's beautiful. More beautiful than you thought possible. The lights of Morzine twinkling below, beckoning you for a night of fun. Tremplin, dancing, drinking, in the pit with the rest of the lunatics. Afterwards you go to White Monkey, more beer, free pizza, interesting conversation with your tiger friend. Then you finish the night off with a good, cheap meal and a refreshing walk home in good company. The best recollection of the day is being there on an empty piste, a GREAT day behind you, a GREAT night ahead, riding really well, looking down on your beautiful town and thinking there is no place in the entire world you'd rather be. This is my day off. This is my life.

Monday 20 February 2012

The sewer rat population of Morzine

Sewer rats: they are chalet hosts that live in the Du Pre basement. They are normally found above ground during the hours of 7:00-12:00 and 17:00-23:00. Sometimes you will find them on the pistes during daylight hours though usually a true sewer rat is fast asleep at this time in the aforementioned basement room, that FYI has no natural light. Occasionally you will find a sewer rat out in the town late at night, scampering between bars in search of booze. Sadly on Sunday the population of sewer rats decreased by one. The original and true sewer rat went home.

This has made me sad.

Hurry up and get better Sara so you can come back.

The crunch of fresh snow

That sound, underfoot, as you walk home from a bar. The flakes fall softly in your hair and tickle your nose. The excitement is there, tomorrow is your day off and tonight it is snowing. As you walk home there is a wonderful sound that follows you. Squeaky, crunchy, crisp fresh snow compacting under your boots. Tomorrow you'll be riding that fresh snow. Tomorrow you've arranged to meet, so you can ride together. Tomorrow is a brand new day and it holds a lot of promise.

Monday 13 February 2012

Half way, half term

Can you believe it? It's half way through my season. The snow is still white, pristine and sparkly but the shiny veneer of the season has slipped a bit. Yes it's sad to say but cracks have appeared. I'm happy in the work that I do, I'm content that I'm giving my guests what they want and I'm pretty certain that they're happy too. It's other people that are the problem. When there's a problem at the core it doesn't take long for the rot to spread, no matter how well you try to protect yourself from it. When it starts to really affect those that you've come to hold dear, it is very upsetting indeed. I hope against hope that the rot can be halted.

As I'm a "demi" way through my season I feel like it's time to reflect and to look forward. There's a few weeks that have gone by in silence and there's some catching up to do, so let's do that. Lots of guests, lots of snow, a bit of partying and a bit of riding. Had a crush on a guest, OMG, awkward but fun too! Best guests so far of the season - the young Drs. They were awesome, it felt like I had a big bunch of my friends staying and I miss them, honestly. Worst guests of the seasons... that's a secret, I have to retain some shred of professionalism please! New friends, I have lots, some will last and I guess some won't. Old friends, I miss them and often wish they could be here with me, thank you to those of you who have been out here with me, it means the world to me. A song, a phrase, a joke or something like that will remind me of old friends and the place I've been calling home for a few years, Sunny Tunny Wells, and I will feel a pang of separation. I wouldn't call it homesickness, because I'm not homesick anymore, in fact I'm happy to be out of Tunbridge Wells. I think you can get too comfortable in a place and confuse it for security, in fact it's not security but complacency and a bit of fear of the unknown. If there's one thing that I'm taking away from this season it's that I can do it, I can go away from the comfort zone and my world won't implode and that no matter where you are, your friends are still your friends. So in the frame of mind of looking forward, that's exactly what I'm going to do, expand my horizons even further and see if I can stay here for the summer too. If not here then hopefully there will be other options for a summer abroad.

My riding has not come on nearly as much as I'd hoped, but then that's because I've not been on the mountain nearly as much as I'd hoped. I have to address the work-life balance, which is hard for someone who is conscientious and wants to excel. I had a hard time of it 7-10 days ago, I was putting everything in and felt like I was heading further and further into a downward spiral. Thing is that you get tired, either through work, riding or partying and then you work slower. The slower you work the less time you get off away from the chalet and the more demotivated you become because you're never away from the chalet and seem to be working 24/7. It's a vicious circle and you need to really fight to get out of the quagmire. So I've made a promise to myself and set myself a goal, and I do love a good goal or target. My riding will improve and I will be out on the mountain more (that's a summation of course, my overall goal is split into achievable targets which I won't bore you with). I've got 10-11 weeks left, so best hustle!

I have other aspirations for the remainder of my season and I will start to work on those tomorrow, which also happens to be Valentine's day. Let's see what delights this marketing dream of a day will bring.

Karma, by the way, if you're ever in any doubt, definitely will kick your ass one day, and that thought has got to be comforting (and possibly worrying for some of you?).

I think that just about does it for me for now. I'm sure that once I hit the publish button I will think of a few more things to have included, as is usually the case.

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