As promised

While I worked for Club Med on Sicily during the summer of 1992, this was my uniform. A bikini and flip-flops! Most of my colleagues within the mini-club wore shorts and t-shirts, but since the temperatures regularly rose to over 35 degrees Celsius and I was out and about with small children all day, this was my option. And the big boss never complained, even though he had a slight preference for short and chubby (I'm neither short nor (in this photo at least) chubby).

That summer saw me grow up fast. When I arrived I spoke hardly a word of French and was quite happy to share my room with a German girl. After a while the children started arriving and my French improved a great deal because I had to use it every day. In June I was asked by my boss to become the head-honcho for the Shoopy Club. From then on I had to deal with complaints, programs and shows regarding the 4 and 5 year old children. I loved it. There were three of us constantly at the Shoopy Club: me, the Italian Monica and the German Jochen. We had so much fun together and I unfortunately lost touch with both of them quite soon after leaving.

As I said I also had to deal with the shows. Every week there would be a Mini-Club show held in the big top (circustent) and the children had to perform between one and three small acts. And as long as I was told how to teach those acts I was okay. As soon as I had to think of them myself, I was rubbish, resulting on one occasion to being cussed out and yelled at in front of about 20 colleagues and over 100 children! I roared back and from then on, I was never spoken to like that ever again. Tell me in private or don't tell me at all!!

At the end of the summer I left: very thin (I was probably a bit underweight as you can see in the photo), very tanned and very grown-up compared to when I arrived. It was a good summer and I do sometimes miss it quite bad: the camaraderie and togetherness of everyone being in the same boat, singing REM songs at midnight while eating spaghetti with a teaspoon and despite being constantly tired, the amount of fun we had.