And the Working Craze Begins

Hi all. Alissa here. I just feel like I haven't written anything for a while, so I'll give you a little update on my new lifestyle.

I work from before the lifts open until after they close. That's actually not too bad. The usual work day is 8 hours long. Usually there is a rush to rent skis in the morning, and a rush to return them right as all the lifts close. We have all learned that efficiency is key, since slow work means a daunting line of customers waiting to be helped. No one likes angry customers...

Around one pm, there tends to be absolutely nothing for the rental staff to do, so to get around paying us, they send us out skiing! I went on my very first ski break yesterday. Absolutely amazing. Getting out of work to go play in the snow (for free!!!) in the middle of the day is such a great thing. More people should have this work schedule. Then, at the end of two hours, it's a relief to get out of the cold and into the warm rental shop. It totally rejuvenates you. Sadly, the mountain is not entirely open yet. The ski patrol staff is working hard to get snow packed and to block off hazardous areas, so hopefully the rest of the mountain will open soon.

Oh by the way, the strangest phenomenon happens here. People (mostly foreigners from countries like china) have started to rent skis at any part of the day. Literally, at 2 pm, two hours before the lifts close, people are paying good money to ski just the last part of the day. I remember when I was a kid, that kind of mentality wasn't going to fly. We got up at the crack of dawn to beat the rush and get our gear faster then everybody else, and we left only after the lift stopped taking people up the mountain, so that we got the most out of our money. Didn't we mom?

Anyways, rentals is probably the coolest place to work, not only because of the awesome setup, but because of the attitude. For some reason there is just an awesome mix of people, who really infect everyone with their positive attitudes. We can often be found dancing and singing to somebody's iPod being broadcast by speakers. I think the customers quite enjoy watching the performances. But we also work hard when things need to get done. I'm surprised with the type of people that work at rentals, since I was originally of the opinion that these people don't have very high standards for their employees. Nope, they just know how to pick 'em I guess.

I will hopefully get used to working actual 8 hour days again. Getting up early sucks. But other than that, I think Jon and I will definitely make ourselves a little niche over here in NZ.

Goodbye all.
Jalissa