Finally Internet on the Mountains.

Well, hi there. It sure has been a looonnggg time and lots and lots have happened.
The bus ride from Sydney to Perisher Ski Tube was long but tolerable. So glad I packed some food. I arrived and sure enough, my good buddy Tessa met me and helped me wheel all my luggage up into Smiggins where I'm staying. SO pretty much, Perisher has 3 villages within it. Perisher Valley, Smiggins Holes and Blue Cow.
I arrived pretty much without any knowledge of anything. And I have to say, I was very, very VERY glad Tessa was there to help me out with everything. I wouldn't have known to ask the ski tube people to get a staff pass, I would've just said I need to get up to HR...help? But thank goodness for Tessa, she knew exactly what to do and got me my staff pass super easy. We then hopped onto the ski tube which is a super old rickety train- kind of like one of the real old C-trains in Calgary. It's very noisy and about a 10 minute ride up to Perisher Valley where HR is. I needed to go to HR so I could check in, and that all went relatively smoothly and I paid all my rent- so I should get straight pay without being deducted rent for the first week. I had a knee test and everything was good, then we had to make our way into Smiggins where my accomodation Willow is. From Perisher Valley to Smiggins, there is a blue bus that takes you which was fine, but getting from Smiggins to Willow is a walk up the carpark, and let me tell you, that carpark starts feeling really big when you're lugging skis and a suitcase up there... but I arrived and all was well, I met a wonderful girl named Alice from Brisbane, and she ended up being one of my room-mates. My other room-mate is a Japanese ski instructor named Mari. They are both super nice and I am very very glad that I'm sharing a room with them! So when I arrived I didn't have any food, didn't know where to go or nothing, so I felt very overwhelmed, lost and very hungry. I ended up buying a can of baked beans the next day, but for that night I was very lucky; Alice works in the kitchen at Perisher Valley so she sometimes brings home left-overs and luckily she fed me! For breakfast, I ate a left-over granola bar from the trip. The room is quite simple, and us 3 girls share a bathroom.
Next day, I got my ski check done and went to find the manager becauase I was very upset that I didn't know anything and I was supposed to start work the next day. I don't like the lack of communication here between instructors and managers. It is very, very awful. So once I set eyes on the manager, she ended up avoiding my rant-on the verge of tears I was- and whisked me off to a training session thing where a supervisor explains how things work, which was incredibly useful. I was just very surprised that no one had told me about it, and if I wasn't upset and hadn't come to complain to the manager then I would've missed it. So during this session, we were shown around as well, around the lodge and the hill a bit. So I went to collect my uniform that afternoon and they didn't have my size, so now I have snowpants that are much too big for me and unfortunately, no belt or suspenders.
First day of work, totally overwhelming. I was put on a level 3 group, and I didn't know my way around the hill- but luckily these kids had skiied here all week so they knew their way around pretty well. The work I was given at Perisher Valley was 6 hour camps for kids which included lunch, so I had to take them in at a certain time and was given precisely 1/2 an hour before the next age group was sent in for their lunch. Totally stressful... the only good thing was that we got fed too.

Second day. Recieved news of my Pappy. He passed away. Love you lots and lots.

Alot more miserable and chaotic. Sad and stressed the whole time....I was put on ages 3-4, no one told me anything about how these work. I was told to sit at this table and wait, then get up and help this other instructor sort out her kids with their lockers (which I couldn't open because no one bothered to tell me they only open with a magnet) so here I was embarrassing myself and the uniform because I didn't know anything. I believe I lasted 1 1/2 hours with my group before the supervisor came with another instructor and told me to introduce the kids to him, and go inside and find Rebecca(my manager). During this whole period, I was on the verge of crying my guts out. The supervisor I worked under the day before found me and got me shadowing another instructor for the rest of the day. After that, I got the finally speak with the manager who seemed to have discovered that I could not handle this intense busy-ness and disorganization of Perisher Valley, so they transferred me to Blue Cow.
Third Day, my first day at Blue Cow. This hill is much higher up and you have to get back on the ski tube at Perisher Valley and continue up the mountain. Maybe another 10 minutes? This was much better, the atmosphere was alot friendlier(except for the guy that gave me the death glare today for momentarily stopping my group in front of his before I realized I was infront of another group and moved on..) and it reminds me alot more of COP. Yay! I was working with school groups for the morning, and Tessa is also stationed at Blue Cow, so I got to eat lunch with her as well. In the afternoon, we didn't get any work which was good because I was on my way to Tessa's house that night for a sleepover and grocery shopping. (I had been surviving on over-priced bread and over-priced jam that I could get at the on-mountain grocery mart). It was a blast to get off the mountain, a sort-of new start to starting at Perisher. It was very good, considering I had been considering to resign ever since I started. I wanted to get on every coach I saw- it was so overwhelming and I didn't know anything, I felt like crying all the time...
Anyway, I went home with Tessa where I got an internet USB thing so I can get internet on the mountain, and met some of Tessa's friends for milkshakes and then cooked pizza for dinner when Tessa's mum and sister came home from Canberra. It was very nice being in a house/family setting again! Bright and early the next morning, Tessa's boyfriend drove us to work. There was a spectacular sunrise over the Snowy Mountains- definitely something to see before you die. Absolutely gorgeous. And here I was laden with groceries plowing my way up to Blue Cow, where I kept it in my locker and if it needed refridgerating, in the fridge. today, I got no lesson at 9, but I got one of 11, then again at 1:30. I taught both adults and kids today both beginners which is absolutely awesome. Then carried those heavy grocery bags down back to res where I cooked chicken and ate it with a salad for dinner tonight. Delicious!
Okay, 2 separate stories and then I have to go to bed.
1. In front valley, on the first day, I got a kid who was trying desperately to tickle me so I grabbed her hands to stop her from doing that. I was kneeling and she kicked my knee with her ski boot and it really hurt. Now I have a massive colourful bruise on my knee. I don't think I've ever had one this colourful..I hate that girl.
2. This evening, Alice left for Jindabyne while Mari and I were in the kitchen cooking. We don't take our room keys with us because we always leave the room un-locked when we are in the building. So we don't loose the key or anything. So when we tried to get back into the room, it was locked. Alice had locked us out of our room, and our keys were inside. This was around 5:30 pm, and the care-taker wasn't going to be back until 8:30 pm...so we ended up eating our dinner and then watched The Proposal in the TV room downstairs while we waited for the care-taker to unlock our door to let us in again.