Club Med again

Since I am still feeling poorly (the head you know, the rest is okayish), I thought I would post some more photos of my time at Club Med, season 1. The photo at the top was taken in my shared bedroom, probably by my German roommate Claudia. There were three beds in our room, but I think we only had a third girl in there for about a week or so! 

I worked at the Shoopy Club for the whole season, bar one week, when I was dispatched to the next age group up: 6-7 year olds. After that I came back to the 4-5 year olds and never left. In fact, I became the 'manager' of that group. It didn't mean more money though, just more work! I am not in the photo, but two of my regular gang were.

In this photo you can see me and two other adults: Monica (Italian) and Jochen (German). We basically spent our whole season with each other. The girl in front of Jochen was the daughter of the 'Chef de Village', which meant that even though she was only three, she was allowed to be in the Shoopy Club. And that she was there every single week as well, from beginning to end.

A quiet moment at the beginning of the season. When there were only a few children present, this was possible, but during the height of the season, the numbers would go up to around 50-70 and we had our hands full. Besides, there were several nationalities as well: French, Italian, German, Swiss, Dutch, Belgian, British and many more. That meant that reading to the whole group was not possible because of all the different languages. 

Later in the summer there would be something called 'Catch the Clown'. I was the clown and the object was to throw me in the swimming pool. The children would chase me round it and they always managed. Of course. Looking back it was quite dangerous, because I would be barefoot or wearing flip-flops and it was always slippery. No accidents though, either for me or the children. 

Some more Club Med

These photos were all taken during my first season at Club Med. You can see how tanned I am, although my nose never got any other colour than red for some reason. The top photo is taken during a 'living painting' I think. I can't remember drinking whatever it was I had in my hands.

Being in the mini-club, meant I had to do shows with them as well. Mostly they were tried and tested, but this one was more or less thought up by yours truly: a tiger show with me as the tiger handler. And no, the stick was purely decoration!!

During the last few months of the season, several other shows starting popping up and the big circus show was one of them. I am in the photo, although not really recognisable. I am the one in green at the front. Please don't ask me to do that move now, I will need an ambulance!

One of my favourite shows was the fire and water show. The butcher (who lived upstairs from me) had a fire-eating act and I was in several routines in the water. Not sure what the plot was, but it probably looked nice from the shore.

This photo was taken during the same show. I always tried to get the blue outfit (there were only two), so I had to come in early to bag it. I am slap bang in the middle here. 

This photo was taken right at the beginning of the season. I know, because of what I am wearing. The further in the season, the skimpier the bikini really! And yes, that was my work outfit! Not too shabby. Mind you, if I were to wear it in my current job, I would probably be hospitalised with severe frostbite!

Club Med

Second from the right

A lifetime ago I worked for two seasons for Club Med. The first one was during the summer and was on Sicily (Italy). I worked in the mini-club and loved nearly every minute of it. But I also took part in the extra-curricular activities like shows. I was always in the chorus and never up front, but it was great fun nonetheless. 

Yep, that's me up front there

My second season was during the winter (they had wanted to send me to some Caribbean island during the winter, can you imagine??) and it was in Tignes in the French Alps. I learned to ski there, although I never did again after leaving. Here as well I was in several shows, most notably the Rocky Horror Show (choreographed by one of the ski teachers), where I was still in the chorus, but in the front row, much to the chagrin of the ordinary choreographer, who had been dispatched to be behind me! 

In both locations we had to dress up/down as well. Red/white evenings, flowery evenings and several other themes. It meant a lot of face painting (for the flowers anyway) and a lot of wardrobe exchange with other GO's (Gentil Organisateur) who might have exactly what I was looking for, but didn't have or wanted to buy. 

And then there were the living paintings. Fortunately I wasn't often part of them, because especially at the second location they were in the lobby of the hotel. About ten meters from the front door. During winter. With snow and wind and cooooold! This one time though, I got roped in for a '1001 nights' tableau. Which meant not a lot of clothes and sitting still for about an hour. I do have a photo of more the 'painting' as well, but it's stuck in an album which is stuck in a box which is stuck at the bottom of a pile of other boxes. 

My life 1

Me in 1991

How do you feel about seasons? Do you enjoy one? Or two or four? Personally I like to live through four seasons in one year. Starting with winter, then spring, summer and autumn. And if I were to ever end up on the other side of the world: summer, autumn, winter and spring. I don't want to leave anything out however! Because it's the spring and autumn that make a year even better. 

In 1991 I worked for Club Med on Sicily. It should have been somewhere in Spain, but my passport needed renewing, so it became Italy instead. I didn't see much spring, because temperatures of 18+ Celsius (64+ Fahrenheit) meant summer to me! Little did I know that summer would see temperatures of well over 35C (95F) on a near daily basis. And I am sure it soared up to over 40C (104F) on several occasions. 

The water and fire show

The temperatures being so high, it meant that going swimming in the absolutely humoungous humungous humongous huge pool was only nice when the temperature of the water was a nice 33C (91F). One degree lower and it felt cold! How spoiled was I??? 

I got used to the temperatures though. Yes it was hot, but I only had to wear a bikini to work. Which meant that I got a really nice tan! All over! The only thing I really missed was the rain however. Sometimes the clouds would move in. And it would start to rain. And some of my colleagues would actually feel the rain on their head. But by the time it should have fallen on my (lower) head, it had already dissolved. 

I've got a thing for redheads and he was so cute!!
He was from Australia and so nice. 

The season lasted all the way up to October and early on in that month I got a phone call from Antwerp (my handling office). And they had a job offer for the winter season. Somewhere on an island in the Carribean! Were they mad? No thank you, I would much prefer to have a winter season! So, that's how I found myself on a TGV to Albertville only two months later. To picked up from the trainstation and taken to Tignes in the High Alps to spend a winter season in the snow!

'Green'

This week's prompt is green and I knew exactly which photo I was going to use for that. Unfortunately it wasn't scanned in yet, so I will use another 'green' photo. And I think it qualifies quite nicely. After all: I am in green!

The photo was taken during my summer working for Club Med on Sicily (Italy) and we were doing a circus show (can you tell?). And I was just clowning around. As a matter of fact, I can't even remember exactly what I was doing in that show, but it did involve a trampoline at some point. I think...

Anyway, this was my eleventh entry for Photo Theme for Thursday. Why not join?

Volare

When I was scanning old negatives last week, I found some negatives that most certainly didn't belong to me: for a start I didn't have a clue who the people in it were. But there were two photos on that little strip that I did like and actually wanted, because I had never seen a photo like them.

As you may know I worked on Sicily (a lifetime ago) and did a lot of things: I drove a little electric train and tamed tigers, but I did a lot more as well: I was in shows, both in and out of the water (more on that later), I looked after children from 8am to 10pm and I entertained the guests. When any guests would arrive from the airport of Catania, we GO's (Gentle Organisers) had to welcome them by being happy and bubbly and friendly. We had to clap to a certain song that would sometimes play for over half an hour! Needless to say that song brings back so many memories whenever I hear it. I used to hate that song for a long time: overexposure will do that, but now it's the memories that take over and wondering what happened to everybody!

Anyway, I found those two photos and I had a real close look at them. I think I am in the second photo, somewhere on the right, chatting to my colleagues and clapping when any of the GM's (Gentle Members) arrived. And if you want to know what great song it was that got us so happy and bubbly (Yeah right), it was Volare! Originally by Domenico Modugno and sung at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third! The version I've included is the one most probably used and is done by the Gipsy Kings.

PS: I am definitely in the second photo: I am the 6th person from the right, wearing the white t-shirt and the black shorts.

CV

Don't you hate making a cv (or resumé)? Listing all that you have done in the past and realising that you have been working for a long time? When I made a cv at the beginning of this year, it was filled with everything that was needed to be a good coach driver and tour guide. Everything from checking the oil to handing out keys and giving information about a certain region. And then I had to change it.

My new cv has less of the technical stuff in and more about my hotel experience and any experience that might have to do with hospitality. But as I am going through all of my old photos, I started wondering: should I include tiger handler as well?

When I lived and worked in Kamarina, a Club Med resort on the island of Sicily, one of my duties was to teach the children theater acts. Silly songs and even sillier dances. And then there was the circus show during the summer. And I was the tiger handler, leading the tigers into the arena, making them do somersaults and jumping through hoops. Right at the end I was supposed to put my head in one of their mouths and invariably got mauled! Very Siegfried and Roy!!

R is for...

Rocky Horror Show

When I worked for Club Med in Tignes, France, I was asked to be in several shows. Well, when you work for Club Med, being asked means that you have to do it. And I didn't really mind too much. One of the shows I was being asked for was the Rocky Horror Show and wasn't directed by the usual director/choreographer, but by one of the ski teachers.

For some reason (probably because he liked my bosom, at least he told me so), I was allowed to be at the front of the chorus and the choreographer was behind me. She was not well pleased, I can tell you!

The first time I saw the show on video, I thought it was awful, but since then I have grown to like it a lot and it is one of my favourite musicals. I would love to go to a proper showing some time and see it in real life as a spectator.

Let's do the time warp again...

For more R-words from around the world, please check out ABC Wednesday and join in the fun!

Photo taken in winter 1992 in Tignes, France

Hallowe'en

For some reason the people at Club Med think it's great fun to get dressed up. So, during my two seasons working as a GO, I dressed up on numerous occasions. Sometimes there was a directive as to how to dress: for example black and white, red and white, flowery or male/female, where all the women had to dress up like men and the men had to dress up as women. When you were in a show, you were dressed up with whatever the show required, although there was one outfit that was especially made for me (I showed it last year).

And then there were the living paintings, where they would set a theme and both the decor and the GO's would be in that theme. So, a lot of years ago (1991 to be exact), during the autumn we had a Eastern/Saharan theme. Lots of sand, good-looking sheiks, camels and harem girls. I was one of the harem girls and I was absolutely freezing! Being dressed like this ànd sitting in front of the front door which opened out to minus ten degrees Celsius is not my idea of fun. 

Bearded lady

The things you do while working for Club Med are many! This was during a boy-girl night and every single woman was supposed to be showing up as a man and vice versa. The smoke in my hand is only for display purposes!

I'm still against most toplipgrowth though!

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.