First Week in Anzere

Hey everyone. Its a beautiful morning on my first day off in Anzere, Switzerland. Before I fill you in on this place I have a link to many pictures from HPP and one posted of the end of the season staff dinner party.

http://community.webshots.com/user/bonitaip_004


I think you can click on it to see the real deal.

Anyway, back to life in Anzere. Im living in a chalet called Chamossaire or The Cham for short. Anzere is a fairly new ski town which means there are about 10,000 beds and only around 700 year-round residents. The streets and trails are all as steep as Timber Cove so my legs have been quickly whipped into shape since we do a lot of walking around. The elevation is around 1400 meters. The food here is prepared by chef Eric and is phenomenal, especially compared to the cafeteria style dining we had in England. In general, you would never know that the two camps were owned by the same company. Staff orientation involved climbing, mountain biking, orienteering and an overnight hike last night which was my favorite part, as you all might have guessed. The mountains here are huge and the skiing looks like great fun. I think getting a job for the winter would not be a problem because there are many different ski camps in the area.

As far as what the camp does: remember Earth Shine or Echo Hill? It's basically like that. School groups come for a week and learn how to be environmentally conscious while at the same time trying new outdoor sports. For next week I will be a group counsellor for one of the 8th grade groups, which means I will take them to all their activities, lead them on an overnight and all that. I think its the best job because essentially you can participate in all the activities with the kids.

Most of the employees here claim to be hardcore at something, usually skiing. They are all native english speakers except for one Swede, so I wont be able to continue my lessons in Spanish profanity but thats probably for the best. I am one of two Americans, and the rest are from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland.

Well, Im signing off to let another use the Com. I wont be able to be online as frequently here because there is only one computer in the office and its not available for personal use all the time. Also, my nature name is Possum. Which I like because its a cool name and a Phish song. Unfortunately, Possum are quite ugly, but oh well. Peace out homies, catch you on the flip side of a Swiss franc.

26 hours of travel later...im finally in the mountains

this kezboard is reallz different and i dont have much time so i am just going to ignore all mistakes and mazbe throw in a few of éàü or mazbe ç£ä. i arrived last night at 2130 after departing edinburgh at 2000 the daz before. a few highlights include...middle-aged barrz buzing mz bus ticket. not having euros for the navette in nimes and not having swiss francs for the train to lezsin. of course after no sleep i still went to the pub for a few beers with some new folks and mz two old friends from hurstpierpoint. unfortunatelz we are all leaving eachother as some of us go to anyere and some staz here. i am one of the luckz ones going to anyere, allthough im not sure whz, lezyin from what ive seen is absolutelz gorgeous. im leaving right now so i have to go, bze

TATTOO!

It's a red and black inked dragon on my left buttock and underneath it says Wallace Was Here in script. I got it last night after a few pints in the Last Drop on Grassmarket St in Edinburgh. Well, none of that is true but I did see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo last night which was by far the best 20 quid I've spent in the UK and I've spent more than I can count right now. The pipes, marches, drums, performances, etc. were fabulous. Sara and Kelsey will be happy to know that the New Zealand Army Band was the funniest and their performance also included some Mowri tribal chant where they beat their chests (which I swear I've seen before on the internet).

It's festival time here in Edinburgh so the pubs are open until whenever and as I was informed last night by a local, you can theoretically drink all night and all day, seeing that some pub is opening when another is closing. There are in fact so many plays that it is difficult to tell which of them are rotten. They all claim to be 5 stars, a must-see, the funniest of the festival, or last years winner. I saw Tommy, the rock-opera, which was fairly good for a low budget performance, nothing like my red and black inked dragon tattoo though.

I'm running out of time quickly on this com. My 15 minutes and a cappucino for £1.40 hasnt lasted me very long. Tomorrow night I begin my long journey to Geneva, crossing my fingers that Ryan Air doesn't take all my money because my bags are too heavy. I'm excited to return to the mountains, though not the Blue Ridge or the Green Mountains the Swiss Alps should be pretty fantastic. More coming...ciao.

Anzere, SWITZERLAND!!!!!!!!!

Hello all,
My plans have changed and I am taking a job as Outdoor Education Counsellor with Village Camps in Anzere, Switzerland. I'll be living in a chalet and working in the mountains!!!! Waaahoooooo! Perhaps I can get a job there for the winter to ski my heart out in the Swiss Alps. Im deferring my TEFL course until the month of October.

Right now the campers are at a disco and I'm on duty in about 2 minutes (23:30 until 3:00). Then tomorrow I'm in Gatwick starting at 15:30 until about 19:00. I'm silly with lack of sleep. Tomorrow is the big staff bash. It should be a lot of fun. I'll be in touch...

Chaos in the airports! unrelated possible change in plans...

As you are all already aware, there is madness right now in UK airports. The campers are scheduled to leave tomorrow and as of right now, are planned to leave at their scheduled times. I'll be working in Gatwick tomorrow, lucky me. Rumors that everything is closed until Sunday were dispelled, thank God, because the prospect of having the kids for one day more than we have to at this point is enough to make me want to cry. Other than the children at this camp, the other group of people who make me want to cry are terrorists.

I have been hesitant to blog lately because I am waiting on a job offer from Switzerland Village Camps. It is an outdoor education position in Anzere, Switzerland. The position would go into the month of October and I would defer my spot with TEFL in Bordeaux until I am free for a month. I will keep you posted as soon as I am certain about the job.

Personally, things are good but everyone is starting to get tired. I've tapped into my reserve energy stash but even that is starting to wear thin. Two campers were caught naked in bed together yesterday which was pretty funny for everyone except them, their parents, and the camp directors.

Otherwise, I will be in touch...

Travel Plans for August

Aug. 14: Leave camp for my friend Tim's house with my pocket full of pounds. He's a mate from camp who lives in Essex, which is 40 minutes from London by train. At his house I plan on sleeping until the 16th when I depart from London to Edinburgh by bus (8 hours).

Aug. 16-20: Edinburgh, staying with Sara Armstrong from UVM. She has been living in Edinburgh for the summer, working.

Aug. 20: Depart at 8pm for an overnight train to Liverpool. I arrive in Liverpool at 5:45am and leave on a plane for Nimes, France at 9:30am.

Aug. 21-27: Julien and Rob (two mates from camp) will pick me up in Nimes in our rented car. Then we plan to visit southeastern France, driving along the coast and back through the gorges. Our plan is to spend as few euros and possible by camping and consuming only baggettes, wine and cheese.

Aug. 27-Sept. 2: No plan, any ideas? I may go to Bordeaux early.

Sept. 2: Move into my new home in Bordeaux and hit the books for my month-long TEFL course.

And there it is.

Anybody seen Hostel???

I don't recommend it before travelling around Europe. It is a sick, sick film but also very very good.

Lovebox Weekender, End of session 1 party, 5 hours in Heathrow, Multi-activity counsellor, continued...

So where was I? End of session 1 party was a lot of fun. I got home late and tired from a day in Gatwick Airport and everyone was out on the hill toasting the end of session one with wine and champagne. Dinner was steak and potatoes and more wine. There was a bit of a whip cream war during desert, which I was in the middle of. After showers, we all went back to the staff party, with free beer and wine, and laughter until the early morning. I didn't stir until 11am, and that was the first time since I arrived that I slept later than 8:30.

The arrival day in Heathrow was a bit of a pain. I was sent to recieve 2 campers from Tokyo who were arriving with their parents. The plane arrived, and so I stood, holding a Village Camps sign waiting among hundreds of people doing the same thing, and tried to catch the eye of every asian woman I saw. Many hours later, the girls finally made it through immigration and I was able to take them back to camp. The new campers are much calmer than the last session. These kids actually listen, you might even call some of them sweet.

My mornings are now filled up with duties as a multi-activity counsellor. This means I do something different every morning, which I thoroughly enjoy. Monday, I belayed kids on the climbing wall, Tuesday, I lead water aerobics, and today we went for a hike. Busy mornings means less time on the computer and more tiredness in the evenings. I've planned my 2.5 weeks of travelling but I will save that for another day. Now, it is time for Kangaroo Court, which is why I just saw 30 year old Angel, from Spain, wearing a dress. Ciao.