Will WARD is on his gap year. He is working for a Christian holiday company on waterfront safety boats in Samos Greece, and is then off to the French Alps as a chalet host.

 

1st September THE FINAL MESSAGE!

Hey guys,

Well I'm sat at my desk at home now, freezing my butt off! How have you guys coped all summer?!

It's been such a fast week, but such a good one at that! I suppose I don't even need to say how emotional it was!

The guests this week have been awesome - so easy to get along with! I think I mentioned we had about 12-15 eighteen to twenty three year olds. They were great! It was so funny because last Thursday night the girls were really paranoid about if there'd be any good looking girls as competition for us guys! They were all great fun! I taught a LOT of windsurfing this week! Except for the regatta, I only spent one afternoon working on the beach! The rest of it was spent teaching windsurfing! I did 16 hours of teaching this week! And they all passed - brilliant! So much dedication with one of my pupils too! So he got ill half way through the week and spent two days in bed, and then on the last day felt better and so wanted to finish the course! Which he did, and he passed it in the end!

On Saturday night, Phil, our ministry leader, did ents for us so that we could go out for one last staff night out! We ate out at this great restaurant and then went to have a boogy. The restaurant was very nice and the ambience was great! There we even fireworks going on somewhere nearby, which rounded off the meal perfectly!

On Sunday, Tom Martin and I did the timings for the regatta for one last time because last time we did it together it was hilarious! And this regatta was no different! For some reason, for the first race, almost half the racers thought the start line was behind the buoy Tom and I were moored onto! So none of the dinghies actually crossed the line, so first, second and third went to kayaks!!

On Wednesday all of us were working on the beach together, which was great! After work, Stan had pre-bought wine and beer for us, so we sat in the beach bar having drinks and enjoying each other's fellowship! It was so nice! Man I already miss the heat, colours and the work there! I reckon I could do another summer next year... but it depends on money and whether they want me back I suppose! It's crazy to think that next year's interns are now beginning their induction at Ben Turner's house in Kingston. Where has the year gone?!

So out journey home was safe and easy! Had to get up at 6 though, which was effort! And we left the hotel at 6.45. I didn't realise how easily it would take for me to cry!! I went to hug Effy and George (Greek hotel staff) and Effy gave me puppy dog eyes and I was gone! Then when I was hugging the Richmond staff who were staying, they didn't have dry backs after! So we landed, via Athens, into Heathrow at 15.30. We all said our fair wells once we'd collected our baggage before we were reunited with family so we didn't have distractions. After that, Nick, Tom and I went to Liverpool to have a pint and we also met up with Graham, one of the guys who worked in St Foy in the ski season! It was so good to sea him again! We had great fellowship as guys! Then after that, we said goodbye and I headed for Kings Cross, where I met up with mum and Sarah who had been spending the day in London! We travelled home First Class (because it was only a fiver more!) which was great, and we were sat on a table together! Good to catch up there!

It's so weird to think that a year ago today we didn't know each other, and just how far we've come along in our faith and in our relationships with each other. Wow. Have I loved this year? Of course. There have, inevitably, been tough times, but we stuck through it and God was faithful. I have learned so much about myself and God. Just such an invaluable year!

Prayer points:
- For the staff still in Samos, that they finish well
- For the new interns, that they have an AWESOME year!
- For everyone who is unsure as to what to do next, that they carry on trusting in God
- For university, for Tom, Xander and I, and also for Dan who's going back to do a masters. I move in on the 25th of September.
- For me as I go to Turkey next Thursday (I won't send another email. This is the last one!)

And I think that's all! I am going to say good night now and retire to my double bed in a room where I'm not sharing with anyone else! Thank you so much for your continued support with my year! I hope you've felt a part of it and have been able to keep up to date with all my news! Your prayer and moral support has been so good, so thank you!

Anyway, God bless!

Will x

 

 

August 25th

Yasu!

So here we are, one week left to go!

Well this week has been great! The guests have been so nice and encouraging! Usual number of guests, around 66, but it's not been overly busy this week. We've had a lot of windsurfers and a fair few sailors, but the sailors haven't been that amazing! They've been really chilled as well - not bothering with coming down to sail until about half an hour after we open... unlike my Dad! But it's been nice! Bit of romance within the teens which has been very humorous  to watch! I wonder if they've realised how obvious it is to everyone else that the individuals involved like each other? Was I ever like that? Hopefully not! Taught windsurfing again this week to two girls around my age which was cool! The first few lessons were tough because it was fairly windy but then the last two was perfect wind so it was great! Something quite funny happened in our last lesson - so at the top of the mast on a trainer windsurf sail is a plastic cap. When we were out windsurfing, it came off on one of the girls' sail so I went over to help put it back on and fix it, but then when I got there I discovered that the top half of the mast (there are two separate parts to a mast) had sunk to the bottom of the sea! I found another top half of a mast so it's fixed now!

The wind this week has been great! Most of the time it was perfect beginner winds in the morning, and then in the afternoons it was strong winds! So great conditions for everyone! Tom Martin and I went out windsurfing a fair bit! I think I've now got the hang of non-planing carve gybes! I'm going to move down to a smaller board (120L) to try and get planing carve gybes mastered! I also attempted one body drag! That wasn't quite a success... your meant to drag the top of your feet in the water, but when I put my front foot in I put the sole of my foot in the water so I just fell backwards! At least I attempted it!! I really want to have done at least one proper one by the end of next week, but maybe I'm being too adventurous! I have Southampton to carry on I guess!

 

This week I think we have a similar number of guests. We have a shed load of teens and also about sixteen 18-23 year olds! Should be good fun! We want to make the most out of this last week! Can't quite believe I'm now into the last week of my gap YEAR! Crazy!

On Thursday, the girls and I had the day off together! It was a lot of fun! We hired a car and went had a road trip! We started off in Kokari where we had a drink and an ice cream, then we went up to Manolates for lunch, then back down to this beach near Samos town, which was so nice and had incredible views! So I managed to survive last week without a day off, and I have another on Monday!

On Saturday night Minty, Tom M, and three guests and I went out! It was the Samos Wine Festival in Samos Town so we went there for a bit and got some free wine! It was good fun, and there were some well known (apparently!) Greek bands playing! We were there for about ten/fifteen minutes and then we went to a club, which was so good! The music was great too! Talking of music, when we were dancing I asked the DJ to put on a song and then five songs later it still hadn't come on so Tom went to ask for it too... two hours later it came on! Also, three separate people said things about my hair and I'm going to take all of them as compliments!

So number one: someone walked into me whilst I was dancing so I turned round and it was an attractive blond girl and with her were another six blond girls, so naturally I smiled and acted cool. A little later on I went outside to get a drink and some fresh air and I saw them again, only this time they were looking at me and whispering to each other. Ten minutes after that, we all went and took a seat outside and then one of the girls came over towards me, so I was composing myself and checking how my breath smelt, and then she asked me "Did we see you in Kokari today?" and I said "No sorry! Were you at the windsurfing centre?" and she told me that she had, and then I realised exactly who she'd seen and who she'd mistaken me for! There's an Italian guy who works there called Fabio who is a similar height and has blond hair like mine too. So for any of you who have been looking at my photos thinking "Will needs a haircut" you must be wrong! So I told the girl who they thought I was. Out of politeness I then carried on the conversation and discovered she, and her friends, were Dutch so I then had a lot more to talk about (my Aunt and Uncle and their kids live in Holland) but the conversation didn't last long. Oh well.

Number two: A guy asked me where I was from whilst queuing for the loo and it turned out he was from Slough. He then asked if I'd been to Samos before and I told him I had been here last September and October, and then he told me he knew he recognised me! Apparently he spoke to me briefly at our beach last year and he remembered thinking I was Australian?!

Number three: This is possibly the most awkward. So three girls and one extremely camp guy was sat opposite us and we were chatting to them. Then there was a bit of an awkward silence as the conversation ran dry. Then the guy asks me if my hair was natural or bleached, so I told him it was natural, then he goes "It's amazing" I felt a little awkward.

Then I didn't get back in until half four so I had four hours sleep!!!! And then on Sunday night, there was a lad's trip to the outdoor cinema to see The Fast And The Furious 5 whilst the girls (and Nick...) watched a sing-along Mamma Mia at the hotel. The film was awesome! Incredibly cheesy, poor acting and unrealistic, but a lot of fun to watch! Didn't get in until half one after that, so that meant only six hours sleep! The next night I had a beautiful night's sleep!

Tonight we're all going for a last meal out and a dance afterwards! So that should be fun! We're using our tips, phew!

So some exciting news to tell you! My gap year has been extended by one week! I've been asked if I could go out and help out for a week in the Turkish resort! So I'm still going home with everyone on Thursday, but then on the 8th I'm flying back out to Turkey! Very exciting! Hermione and Em (manager and ass. manager from the ski season) are out there, so that should be great! And that also means one more email for you guys!

Prayer points:
- An awesome last week!
- Continuing to serve the guests whole heartedly
- I'm taking two windsurfing groups, so that means some days I'm teaching all day! So prayer for that!
- We have another guy on the waterfront here for about three weeks, and he's not a Christian so prayer for him
- For a safe flight home and that our goodbyes are easy!
- For energy
- For Minty as she stays here, and also the other staff staying
- For next year's (what?!) interns! That they have just as good a time, if not better,  as we have had!

Will x

 

 

August 18th

Hey guys,

Another week gone by, which means we now only have two weeks left here! Very sad times!

This week's guests have been great on the whole. There have been a lovely couple here and they're here for another week so that's great! I taught the lady to windsurf and the man I had great chats about finding a church, the pros and cons of big and small churches, and also leading music at church. Hopefully I'll have more great conversations this week! Another family who were out in the ski season were here. They live in Winchester and know some of our friends there. Very nice couple! I don't think we've really had any difficult guests this past week, so that's good. None of the guests were really experienced sailors, which was a little odd. A lot of amateurs, and on Wednesday it was quite windy so there was a lot of capsizes and so we were out all over the place on safety! There were a family (an older man and his two thirty year old sons) who were great windsurfers here! It was so good to see a seventy something year old man windsurf! He even wore a swimming cap whilst windsurfing! LEGEND!

This week's guests seems really nice, so it's looking hopeful! It's weird to think that the guests who are here for a fortnight will be leaving on the same day as us! We won't be on their flight though, as we're leaving in the morning, so that's quite good as it means the rest of the staff can focus their goodbyes on us... that sounds a little selfish, but I suppose it'd be harder if there were guests on that flight too. We do have the ministry leader's family on our flight though. Our ministry leader for the next to week's is a guy called Phil, and him and his family were out in the ski season for a week. His ministry is great, but I don't get to go to ministry a lot these days, because we finish later at work now and so it doesn't leave enough time to get back to the apartments to shower and get ready. I'll get to see him for the next two Sunday's though for Communion.

We said goodbye to Tom Murray yesterday for the last time, which was very sad. He's been a great inspiration to us and his enthusiasm will be missed! On Wednesday night we went round the corner to Psilli Ammos and had drinks on the beach, which was really nice! Although sand got in all our clothes!

This week will be tough for me. Nick has his family staying in Samos (not with Richmond though) and so he's asked for two days off. Now because we're busier, Stan won't allow more than one of us each day, so for Nick to have two days I offered not to have a day off this week and have two the following week instead, and then Nick won't have one. I had last Friday off so I think I'll have next Thursday off, so only a week to go. I've gone 12 or 13 days without a day off before so it hopefully won't be too bad.

Tom Vincent has his family out this week. I witnessed one of the funniest yet awkwardest things ever last night! So Tom and Fi, one of the kids workers, are a little more than friends now but they're discussing where it's going after here because both will be at uni etc. Anyway, Tom and Fi were walking one way down the road holding hands, and Tom's parents were walking the other. I had come down from the tower and was in the middle of the two. So when I saw Tom and Fi holding hands I thought "I'd better hang around a little bit to see what happens!" because I knew Tom didn't really want to tell his parents about Fi until they'd discussed their future properly. Anyway, they didn't realise Tom's parents were walking towards them until the last minute and Tom was like "Oh... hey!" and his parents were half laughing and said "Hi! Just, er, enjoying the evening air are we?" and Tom and Fi said "Yeah, something like that" to which Tom's mum replied "So are you two together then?" so I just said "Right, I'll leave you to it then!" Apparently it wasn't THAT awkward, but it was hilarious to watch!

On Tuesday night we went to Mytillini as there was a festival for "assumption day". I had no idea Catholics believed the Virgin Mary ascended to Heaven?! Anyway, there was a festival for that so a lot of us went to have a look! The atmosphere was great! The square was just filled with tables and everyone was eating together! There was traditional Greek dancing, and then after a while we just went to a bar. But it was a nice evening out!

 

I got allocated accommodation for Southampton! I'm in Connaught, which is catered and was my first choice so I'm very pleased with that! Hopefully I'll be happy there. Xander got into accommodation too... he got into the international halls at his uni! Hahaha!

Prayer points:
- For energy this week without having a day off
- One of our guests, Wendy, isn't a Christian but it sounds as if she is on the brink of it. She goes to church and comes along to the ministry but hasn't made a commitment to Jesus.
- For Tom to have a great time with his family
- For continued team unity
- I'm struggling to be encouraging sometimes, and also can say negative comments so prayer for that
- To carry on enjoying my last two weeks
- For our guests, that they have a great time and feel refreshed

Will

 

August 4th

Are we really already in August?!

So this week marks being three quarters of the way through my time in Samos, which means only four weeks left of this gap year! Scary stuff! In a way I'm quite looking forward to going back home. I'm looking forward to catching up with my friends and also just relaxing! I realised this week that I haven't had a holiday in a year! I suppose some of you are laughing as you read that due to how I'm spending my year, but it's definitely not a holiday! I am in a holiday destination, but working! And I am also aware that there are many many people who don't get to go on holiday. But yeah, quite looking forward to just being able to relax when I get back!

Anyway, enough of my moaning! On with the email...

So this week, what has it brought? Well it's been great! It's been so good to have both my family and Jamie's family out! I wrote in my email last week that I hoped both families would get on, and they were chatting away from the first afternoon! A lot of the staff team thought that we were long family friends and then I had to explain it to them that they'd only just met! All of us young ones got on really well with each other and the parents were never lost for things to talk about! They pretty much spent all of their time together! Jamie's family aren't really watersports orientated but I gave Jamie a taster windsurfing lesson and then my Dad took out pretty much everyone out sailing so that was great! Jamie's family left yesterday though, so that's a shame! Having friends and family out has been a bit weird though actually, as I was always eating with them so I didn't really get the chance to get to know any of the guests. They were all pretty much sitting as families anyway though. One of the couples who stayed over from the previous weeks were still very friendly and I was able to talk some more with them! Such a great couple!

On Tuesday I had my work cut out for me on safety! The worst was when my Dad went out on the Dart 16 with my sister. I get a bit panicked if I have to right a dinghy or catamaran because I'm not a sailor, I'm a windsurfer, so I feel a little incompetent. Anyway, Dad pitch poled the Dart so I went over to sort it out. The bow of the Dart was sticking up a little and the stern was partially under the water, which I thought was weird but didn't think much of it. Anyway, I was almost about to right it and then my sister goes "Will, do I need to keep hold of this?" and she was holding onto a hatch cover! So I was like "Flip, yes keep hold of it!" and then radioed in for back up, as the Dart was sinking essentially! So I righted the Dart, took my sister back in and then Sam Knott towed the Dart and my Dad back in! I feel a lot more comfortable with being on safety now, so I suppose that time was just what I needed!

This week we have 66 guests so quite a step up! Hopefully it won't be too manic. Again, more families. We have a family out, and the parents went to church with my parents in London I think. Or maybe mum trained with her in London? Either way, my parents know this family, so that's nice. They haven't seen each other in years!

The Knotts left yesterday. That was very sad and tears were shed by many of the staff. I've spent 17 weeks with them (11 this season and 6 last season) and it just doesn't seem long enough! Sam was a great guy to work for on the waterfront and also a great friend! He taught me a lot in windsurfing and encouraged us to go out whenever wind picked up! And Katie worked really hard and really looked out for us! It won't really be the same without them, but it's very exciting what they're moving on to do! It's a big step for them leaving here, as well. Katie told us that the longest they've stayed in a location as a married couple has been in Samos - 8 months out of 17 months of marriage! Sam has also been working here for the past six years, so this place almost seems like home to him!

Everyone's getting a lot more used to the apartments now, which is good. I do miss the hotel and my room at home though! It's great having a little communal area outside too! Great to hang out and chill. Although I think we're beginning to slip into danger with that, as sometimes we leave for dinner late and so by the time we get there all the guests have sat down and we can't mingle. I'm trying to encourage us to keep on top of it though, but I'm worried about sounding like I'm nagging!!

My windsurfing is progressing again! I've now done three water starts (where you use the wind to pull you and the sail up and so get back up onto the board without having to uphaul) so that's very exciting! Yesterday I was experimenting with carving, which is quite cool! I really want to try and do a jump again! I'm just a bit worried about breaking kit! I'm getting onto bigger sails now, which is good. Yesterday I went out on a 6.2m sail which was great for the first half of the sail bit then the wind really picked up and it was a little over powering. But hey ho, go big or go home is the motto we have here!

Prayer points:
- For continued team unity
- For a refreshment of service and being servant hearted
- For good sleep and lots of energy
- For safety this week and that we don't get stressed on the w/front
- For Sam and Katie as they spend some time at home and then for when they begin in Australia, which, I think, is the 4th of September.
- Katy Hamlin has been a bit ill - she felt a bit week but now she has a sore throat
- That I can get to know guests as well as spending time with my family
- There are a shed load of lessons, so prayer for that and the instructors!

God bless,

Will

 

July 28th

Hey guys!

This past week has been OK. A lot of us staff have found it difficult getting used to the new apartments so at the beginning of the week we weren't sleeping great and so we were getting on each other's nerves a bit at work, so that was quite frustrating. So we've been praying about it and then about half way through last week our moods got a lot better and we were working harder and encouraging each other, which is obviously brilliant! The guests this past week have been really nice too, so that was good! I think I mentioned in my last email that a boy I'd lead at camp last year was here with his family this week. I didn't get to chat to him a huge deal but I taught him Start Windsurfing so that was excellent. And then at the end of the week his parents privately thanked me and told me that their son really looked up to me, so that's good to hear!

Our ministry leader has been pretty good, I think. It's been hard to tell because the times I went to ministry were the times when I was pretty tired and so found it hard to concentrate. He's here for another week, so hopefully I'll be able to concentrate better this time!

I've been so excited for this week to come because yesterday my family and one of my best friends, Jamie, from Porthwater Bay (Porthpean, Morfa Bay and Bridgwater merged into one name) and his family are out this week! It's quite funny because I know Jamie and his family because I stayed with them for a few days last summer, but their family only know me, and Jamie knows Matt! Anyway, I was really hoping they'd get on well and so far so good so hopefully by the end of the week they'll be best family friends!

This week we have around 55 guests so we're getting busier, which is great! The waterfront will begin to get very stressful, but that's to be expected! Our waterfront manager, Sam, demoted himself, and Stan is now the new waterfront manager. This is because Sam Knott and his wife, Katie, are going back home next Thursday, as they are going to begin an internship in Australia with the company our manager from Samos last year works for. So Stan is having this trial week before Sam goes just to make sure he can ask Sam anything before he goes!

Last night some of us had an adventure. So as we were walking to the apartments Lizzie felt a really sharp, shooting pain in her foot, which quickly spread up her leg. After half an hour it still really hurt, so we convinced her to go to the hospital. Tom Martin and I went with Rob to the hospital with Lizzie. It was quite an adventure! I went along for the 'work experience' and obviously to be there for Lizzie! The doctors reckoned she'd been stung by a scorpion - VERY exciting! So she had a few jabs and was told to take pain killers. After that, we decided to go and eat a Gyros and grab a can of coke! Really good! Didn't get back until half one!

Prayer points:
- Better rest and energy
- For work not to get stressful
- To be able to spend time with my family and Jamie's family
- For Stan being waterfront manager
- For the Knott's last week in Samos!
- For our guests, that they have a great week!
- For our enthusiasm and motivation

Will x

 

July 21st

Hey guys,

Well this week has been quite a good week. About 20 guests this week so nothing major, but there were a lot of lessons going on on the waterfront so it did get quite hectic. There were a family here that are friends of some great friends of mine in Godalming who are coming out next week, so that was cool. But yeah, this week still didn't live up to the week we had a fortnight ago. I don't like looking back and comparing weeks, but that's just the way it goes!

Trevor, our ministry leader for the two weeks before this week, was having a week's holiday which was nice. Most of us spent our days off with him as he'd hired a car. So on Tuesday, Nick and I went with Trevor and we spent the day at this small beach where there were barely anyone else, so that was great! Before that, we went to the windsurfing centre in Kokkari and I bought myself a new windsurfing harness! It's beautiful! I haven't used it yet, but I can't wait until the time comes! On the beach I also got out my Speedos and tried to tan my thighs. It was a beautiful experience - the wind running past my thighs just felt so freeing! I think I'll do it again sometime. Perhaps not whilst working on the waterfront. Nick and Trevor were dismayed! On the Monday night, Trevor took me and the Tom's out for a meal which was so nice! Good conversation, good food and a beautiful view! He's such a generous guy and very inspiring!

This week we have around 35 guests, so we're getting busier! This will be the last week before it gets hectic and when we have 80 guests! There are a family here this week who's son (who is here) I lead at Morfa Bay last year, so that's great to see him again! Hopefully I'll be able to chat to him about how this last year's been and where he's at with his faith now.

Tom Martin and I have had some great chats about windsurfing and we're both very keen to progress and do bigger and better things. Next time the wind is big, provided we still have the guts for it, we're going to try and do a 'body drag', which is where you take your feet off the board and let them drag in the water! You have to keep your chin above the boom so that you can bring yourself back up onto the board... I'm not expecting it to go well!

On Wednesday, most of us staff moved out of the hotel and we're now living in accommodation about a kilometre up the road. The accommodation is nice and very spacious, however, it gets very hot and there's no air con. The first night I woke up with a wet pillow, but now fans have been bought and it's a bit more bearable. We'll get used to it I suppose. The apartments are owned by this elderly woman who lives above us, but I've not seen her yet and apparently she's also quite deaf, so that's good news for Lizzie, Minty and Tom who are just the loudest people you'll ever meet!

Stan arrived back with us yesterday - so great to have him back!

Minty has her vicar's family and her sister staying in the hotel with Thompson for the next two weeks, so that's nice. Some of the teens aren't really sure where they're at with their faith, so hopefully we'll get some good conversation in!

We revived a few old dinghies that Sam, who's done six years here, has never seen on the water yet! So the centreboard Stratos and the Hobie Teddy are now up and running, which is very exciting!

I think there has been a yacht race going on in Samos for the past two days because on Wednesday we could see about 30 yachts towards Pythagorion and then yesterday we saw them again and they were sailing straight past us going through the channel between us and Turkey! Such a spectacular sight!

Prayer points:
- That we can get used to the accommodation, getting a good night's sleep despite the heat. Specifically Nick who is very fussy when it comes to sleeping arrangements.
- For safety and fun
- For energy levels
- For the ministry this week
- For Rob who has a sore throat
- For my cold to go (I had to take an afternoon off work last week because I just felt awful)
- For my family and the Klair's to have a safe journey as they come out to see me next Thursday!!

Will

 

July 14th

Hey guys,

Sorry this is a little late again! Been windsurfing again!

This past week has been pretty good. It's so hard to go from a week that you've absolutely loved, to one where there are about half the number of guests! They loved it though and two of the guests, who are 22 and 18, were drifting away from God, but now they've been refreshed and want to get stuck into CU and church at uni! So that's great! We've had about 18 guests this week. The waterfront has been very quiet. There were some sailing and windsurfing lessons but outside lessons not a lot of people were wanting to get out!

One of the guests from last week knew of my parents from when they went St Helen's Bishops Gate in London, so that was pretty cool! Amazing who you meet! He was also a doctor and worked for a time in Southampton and also on the selection panel for the university, so he gave me a lot of advice, told me about the area and some churches! Really encouraging!

This week we have the same number of guests but all of them, except Trevor who is now having a week's holiday, are new! Which is really strange, but quite good. We have a large family, seven of them, who are here, but then others are just here for one week. I'm teaching windsurfing again this week, which should be good. I'm enjoying it but it'll be crazy when we get more guests and I'll be teaching up to six! I've only ever taught two people at the same time!

Last Saturday evening was awesome. As staff we were going to sail over to this remote beach and camp out over night! But we left it a little too late and there wasn't a great amount of wind, so we just had an evening sail instead. It was amazing! I helmed (steered and controlled the power) the Dart 16! It was awesome! We weren't going THAT fast, but still! I did at one point get it to hum, which was encouraging! Got some good photos too (one's attached!).

On my day off I took out the Laser 1 in a red flag (about 20 knots) which was great! It was the first time I'd taken it out, and I capsized A LOT, but it was so much fun! Got it planing too! On Sunday, for the regatta, I took a girl out on a Pico with me to compete, and, out of three races, we came first and second! I was ecstatic!

Robin went home on Thursday and won't be back for two weeks. He went home for his parents' significant wedding anniversary or a significant birthday . But he went a week early so that he could go and visit Joel too, which will be good for him. So this week we have a guy called Tom Murray come out and help. He's SO keen it's unreal, but such a great guy!

My windsurfing is improving! I am now pretty confident getting into the foot straps and I even tried to do a jump! I think next time I need to work at bringing my front foot up higher and then slamming down harder... maybe... I'll look at the theory behind it!

Oh, an amazing answer to prayer! So Josh, the boy I was talking to and gave my Bible to the other week, messaged me and told me his relationship with this girl had ended! Amazing, but the best part is how it happened! So I told him about an ex-girlfriend who wasn't a Christian and that I felt I needed to end it because of that and then was a bit nervous about doing it. Then when I next met up with her I was psyching myself up to doing it and then she broke up with me! So when I prayed for him I prayed that a situation would occur where he felt comfortable ending it or maybe that she would end it, and then he told me that pretty much the first thing she said to him when he came back from Samos was that she wanted to break up with him! So good!

Prayer points:
- I have an awful cold and feel really bunged up
- For my lessons this week
- That we as a team can continue to be encouraged to encourage one another
- For Robin being at home that he has a great time to relax and be refreshed
- That Trevor can have a great holiday and relax

Will x

 

 

July 7th

Hey,

I honestly do not know how to describe this week except for "wow"! This week has just been INCREDIBLE! Honestly, the best week of the whole gap year so far! I'm not sure how the remaining eight weeks can top it, it's hard to think that anything could top it! So we had around 34 guests this week and almost all of the them were families. A lot of older teens as all the GCSE and A-Level exams have finished. There were also a couple of students in their second year of university. It was great to have people my own age again who I could relate too!

God was so present this week. It's just incredible what has happened actually! Five out of the six of us interns felt God speaking to them, which was pretty awesome! I'm sure they won't mind me telling you what happened:
- Tom had a prophesy this week and I only found out after it had happened. He kept waking up at about half six in the morning and was going to the beach to read his Bible and stuff and then he felt God telling him to give a message to a woman who wasn't a Richmond guest which was "You'll see them again." He was really unsure about it and confused as to whether or not it was from God so he continued praying about it. Anyway, he wasn't sure how to tell the woman this message and then he found out she was German, which Nick happens to be able to speak fluently! So he wrote out for Tom what to say to her! And then Tom prayed that God would make it really obvious to him that this is what God wants him to do and so he prayed that if it was what He wanted him to do then she'd be wearing a hat the next day... guess what happened the next day! So the morning after that he woke up accidentally (well, by God!) at half five in the morning and Tom felt that he should go to the beach because he thought she'd be there. As he got there the woman was getting out of the sea and then started walking down the road with her friend. So he ran up to her and gave her the message in German. His accent must have been quite bad because the woman's friend asked if he was English, and this friend could speak fluent English. So Tom was talking to her and it turned out that they were both Christians! So Tom has no idea what the message meant, but God knows what it's for!
- There was a girl this week who Minty had a few conversations with. She was a really nice girl and was also Minty's age. Anyway, just before she left she wrote a letter to Minty and gave it to her. It really encouraged her and this girl also gave her a Bible passage. This passage also happened to be the same one that a woman at Minty's church gave her just before she left for this gap year! So that's pretty awesome! Minty has also been thinking about what to do next after this year and she told me a couple of week's ago that she'd quite like to get involved with women's ministry and felt she had a passion for that. A couple of guests this week, out of the blue, asked her if she'd considered doing that and that they thought she'd be great at it!
- On Wednesday Nick really encountered the Holy Spirit. He was praying with this guest and then all of a sudden he started shaking and uncontrollably crying! He said he'd never cried that much in about 6 years and that it was the first encounter of God on that scale he'd ever had and that it just felt amazing!
- On Wednesday morning Jenny was feeling a little annoyed about the whole Nick situation (everyone is still confused!) and so she prayed that something would happen specifically at lunch that day, and it did!
- I felt God speaking to me too. So I have this Surfers Bible that I got given by a guy at the Tube Station surfer's church in Polzeath, Cornwall, two years ago. It's an ordinary Bible except it has Christian surfer testimonies at the beginning. Anyway, on Friday night I went to ministry and then went straight to dinner so I still had my Bible with me. Rob, our manager, saw it and asked to have a look through and then I just had this thought come to me out of no where, and that evening I realised it was from God. The thought was that I should give this Bible to Josh. Now Josh is a seventeen year old guy who was out on holiday. Such a great guy; really on fire for God, loves his watersports and especially surfing. At school he'd had some trouble with some people bullying him because of his faith, because apparently he can't stop talking to God, which is great! So I felt I needed to give my Bible to Josh to encourage him and also because he loved surfing and would have heard of more of the surfers in there than the one that I had! So on Wednesday night I asked him if he wouldn't mind having a chat on the beach, and he said OK! So we went and I just told him how I felt God telling me to give it to him and told him about how I got it. He was was thrilled by it and said he would really cherish it! So I prayed for him and encouraged him to carry on living boldly in Christ despite the hard times he may face. After that he then asked me if he could chat about something while we were here. It was then that I realised that God didn't only want me to specifically give Josh my Bible but also to have this conversation with him, for my benefit and for Josh's. So Josh told me that he's in a non-Christian relationship and wanted advice on it. My advice went on for half an hour, which I thought was incredible! I was telling him my own personal experience of being in a relationship with non-Christian girls, passed on some words of wisdom my Dad had told me, and also pointed out various bits in the Bible. I was quite amazed about how much Scripture I remembered because I'm not normally one who remembers it! But I told him about how Joseph FLED from Potiphar's wife and also about what Jesus preached on serving two masters. So I think, and I hope, he found my advice helpful! I then again prayed for him about it and then after he said something really encouraging to me. He said "Will, I'm sorry I'm going to get all soppy now, but I've really looked up to you this week. You're a great guy and a really cool Christian." That was just what I needed to hear and encouraged me so greatly! I have such a passion for 15-18 year olds to give all of their life to Jesus and I know when I was his age I really looked up to older Christian teenagers! His family have relatives in Southampton so they said it'd be great to meet up in when they're next there, which will be sweet! And also, Josh said if I wanted then I could go surfing with him in Bournemouth which would be good!

The ministry this week has also been astounding. Our ministry leader is an Irish guy called Trevor Gribben. Very inspirational and his talks are excellent! I've tried to go to ministry most nights because they're so good! He's here for another week and then also here on holiday the week after that, which is great! We all get on really well with him as a team and it will be sad to see him go! The music was electric this week. The guests had great voices and a lot of them harmonising too - extremely powerful!

This week we have only 15 guests and it feels very different to last week. There are six teens and no children, so the kids' workers have a doss this week!!

On Wednesday, Stan, the assistant waterfront manager, went back home for a couple of weeks to see his wife and kids again. So on Tuesday night we all went Go-Karting which was awesome! The go-karts were proper adult karts and had a lot of power behind them! We had put our names into the hat and drew names out to find out who would be in who's group (there were four in each group) and then after that race, there would be a 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and 4th place race to establish overall positions! I came 7th out of 15, so at least I did better than most! It was very frustrating in my first race though because I was second and was so close to overtaking to be in first but then I span out on a corner, so my hopes were trashed! Until next time.

The last kids' worker, Fi, arrived yesterday and Tom arrived back from Turkey on Wednesday night so we're now complete as a team... minus Stan. Tom had quite an amazing story from Turkey. He said there was a spiritual attack on the resort because guests were being violently sick. At first they thought it was just food poisoning but then it was extremely violent and then when people were giving their testimonies in ministry they would faint in the middle of it. So everyone went around the site praying for it and there was no trouble after that! Amazing but scary!

So I think that that is all I have to update you on for now!

Prayer points:
- For Josh, that he could make the best decision about what to do with his relationship and that he'd carry on being a light to his friends despite being beaten down for it.
- For Robin's friend, Joel, who had a car crash and is in Intensive Care. He is recovering but is still in an induced coma.
- Energy
- That the kids' workers would make use of their time productively!
- That the teens would feel God's presence this week
- We have two guys, 18 and 21, who aren't Christians but are very open to it. So prayer that we can reach them!
- That we can carry on with enthusiasm for serving the guests this week and not compare it to last week
- For Trevor's ministry

And let me know your requests!

Will x

 

 

June 23rd

Hello,

Man alive these weeks are going by faster and faster!

This week has been quite a good week. The guests have been very nice and friendly and it's going to get busier and busier here on in! I had my first windsurfing class this week which had it's pros and cons. It was great to be able to teach but it was quite difficult as I had two pupils both of whom were completely different learners and picked it up at different rates. One of my pupils picked it up really quickly and the other just couldn't remember the sequences at all. The wind was very irritating this week as well, since up until Tuesday it was either red or white flag so it was too strong to teach a lot of the time. This meant I didn't have enough time to finish the course but the pupil who didn't pick it up so well is here for another week so there's still hope! The pupil who was here for just this week managed to do all the practical but there was some theory we hadn't covered. Teaching up to six pupils is going to be a nightmare!

The temperature has been mixed this week too. At the beginning of the week it was really hot and one night recorded 31 degrees at night (roll on air con!) but then it really cooled down and a couple of evenings I needed to wear jeans and a hoody! But tomorrow brings July and I think that is when the air con gets switched on!

I went to Ephesus on Saturday for my day off, which was great! It was so exciting to stand where Paul once stood and preached! I was amazed by just how cast the place was and that only 15% has been uncovered! Ephesus used to be a major city and had a population of 240,000! I suppose I hadn't appreciated that it was actually a city, before I'd always just thought of the church of Ephesus that Paul was writing to. Another thing I hadn't realised, but seems so obvious now, was that it was around a lot longer before Paul got there and it was a very Pagan city, so there were a lot of temples for various gods. It was awesome to stand in the Amphitheatre, which could hold 25,000 people! I went by myself on the trip as Sam and Katie had their day off too but their friends have been here in Samos this week. It was great actually because it was nice to get out of the hotel and go and do something by myself! I did befriend a slightly eccentric, sixty-something, Argentinian woman called Mary! I sat next to her on the bus taking us to the site and that was nice but there was a bit of a language barrier, despite her English being excellent. One of the things I found hilarious on the way to Ephesus was I saw a Dominos Pizza. Since when has Turkey had Dominos?! Whilst waiting in the port to get onto my ferry, I managed to Haggle some boardies and a T-shirt - got it down by €20! In the photos below, the one with me in is the Library and the other one is the Amphitheatre taken from a street in front of it.

This week we have around 28 guests, and about 5 or 6 families. All of them will be from Scotland or Ireland I suppose. It will be nice to have some younger people around! I expect the waterfront will begin to get manic now! Three out of the four kids' and teens' workers arrive today which seems slightly strange! The last kids' worker arrives next Thursday. The ones that arriving today were all working in the ski season so it will be great to see them again!

We had a nice motor-yacht moored in the bay for a couple of days this week. Not as impressive as the super yacht, but still! it was sat right where put our outer marker buoy to mark the sailing area, so one morning I went to put set up the outer marker and I was literally ten metres away! The crew came out to greet me and then ask if they were disturbing us, I said no but warned them a few boats might be sailing close to them... when I got back to the beach they were on their way!

Prayer points:
- For our kids' and teens' workers that we can make them feel welcome in the team and that they can inspire many young people this summer
- That my confidence in instructing windsurfing increases and that my group handling skills improves
- Energy
- For safety on the waterfront
- That we wouldn't feel rushed or stressed on the waterfront
- That we can continue to enjoy our time here
- For guests leaving us today, that they wouldn't be affected by the Passport Control strikes at the airport
- For a nice and relaxed day off today (I only found out at 07.45 this morning that it's my day off!)
- Jenny's friends are staying in Pythagorio this week, so prayer that she can catch up with them and have a nice time

Let me know your requests!

Have a great week,

Will

 

 

June 16th

Yasu,

So sorry this is late - it's been pretty windy the past couple of days so my evenings have been spent windsurfing!

Well, what a week! So it's been a very different week this week, as I was doing my Windsurf Instructor course. It was extremely intense, having five twelve hour days, with only 45 mins for lunch and dinner! Each morning we would start at nine and finish at about nine in the evening, it was mental! Because of doing this I didn't have a chance to get to know any of the guests, which was a shame because the others were saying how nice a few people were! I was gutted that I wasn't able to get along to ministry as well, because our ministry leader, last year's manager's Dad, was really good! I went to one of his talks last Friday and he also gave morning devotions about three times so I got a taster! At our celebration evening last night it was very encouraging because at the end of the guests stood up to tell everyone how he and his wife felt about their holiday and said that he'd never been on a Master Sun/ Richmond holiday with such a great team! Also, one of the guests who's been with us for the past two weeks rang up the office in England yesterday morning to book in another week with us, so we've still got her company until next Thursday! She's such a lovely woman!

So, my WI! Well it has been extremely tiresome, but very rewarding! We were trained by a guy called Andy Crocker and I don't think we could have had a better trainer to be honest! He was in the top two candidates to be chief of windsurfing for the RYA and lost out to the woman who actually got it because she was more PC, but he trained her apparently! Through the course I learnt how to use the simulator, how to give theory presentations, how to coach students, how to do demos on water and also improved my personal sailing! Andy is a great guy but was quite frustrating sometimes because of the way he could sometimes be a bit rude. It was quite a shocker to venture out of the bubble slightly, as he isn't a Christian and so had no issues with swearing or blaspheming! The Toms and I managed to talk to him about God and our faith too, which was awesome! On the first night, he said to Sam Knott "Your whole ethos is different with you guys isn't it." he was saying how he noticed that we weren't here to get wasted all the time and that we respected the girls, which is different with staff at Mark Warner, Neilson etc He managed to see that Christians weren't boring and could have a lot of fun! When he was giving our final debrief he mentioned how he should probably get to know The Lord a bit more! He does believe that there is a god but he never had a relationship with him. He grew up going to a Catholic boarding school where you had to go to church and stuff, so he got put off from a young age. It's also really cool how he came here to be our trainer. Sam Knott did his Intermediate Windsurfing Instructors course about a month before here, and Andy was his trainer too. After it, he felt God telling him to employ him to be our trainer for Samos but Sam wasn't entirely sure just because he knew what he was like and stuff. But he asked him to come and look what happened! Amazing! Anywho, I PASSED my WI so I am now a qualified windsurfing instructor, woo!

This week is the photography week, which Katie Knott is running! We have a similar number of guests with us, around 24, so that should be good! Minty's mum and sister are out this week, so that's nice for them! It's nice to be working back on the water front again!

Prayer points:
- For Andy to find out more at home
- For Katie leading the photography week
- To get to know the guests really well

Speak to you next week!

Will=

 

June 9th

Hello,

This week has been a bit of a weird one because of the girls and Nick taking their DI. Most of the time there were about 5 of us on the waterfront and the guests were fairly keen to get out on the water so it could get manic sometimes! Their week was also pretty full on so we didn't get to see or spend time with them a huge deal, which was a shame. However, it all ended for them yesterday! To celebrate, we all went out to Pythagoria where we had a few drinks in this bar and then went dancing! It was a lot of fun and the DJ was whacking out all the tunes! Although sometimes he mixed songs together that really didn't go. It was a lot better than expected - I thought it was going to be a pretty sleazy club, like Bruyeres in the Alps, but no, it was great! We turned sailing actions and windsurfing actions in dance moves which were hilarious! Hermione was the moderator for their last day so she came to Samos and then came out with us too, and it was so good to see her again!

The week of guests was a bit mixed. The guys were really great and friendly, and a lot of the women were too but there were also some very bizarre guests. One of the guests was so rude I couldn't believe it! During communion on Sunday she was sat in the front row and half way through the sermon she got her laptop out, turned it on (which caused the laptop to make noises) and then read about the Amazon Kindle! Couldn't believe my eyes! And then that night I went to sit on a table where there was her and another woman so I politely asked "Would you mind if I sat here" and they said that was fine and then the other lady said "That's nice that you want to sit with us, I thought staff sat together" so I said "no, we like to sit with guests and get to know them" (more politely than that!) and then the other woman says "Well sometimes we don't want to sit with young people. We just want to sit by ourselves." so I felt extremely awkward and just replied "Would you prefer it if I sat elsewhere?" and then they both said no and the other lady tries to make things better by saying "Sorry, we're making you feel awkward aren't we..." Oh well! About 4 of the couples are staying on for another week.

This week we have a similar number, but it's also the dancing week! Gonna get my groove on! We have a lady here this week who was here last time we were here so that's really nice! We also have our manager from last year's parents with us this week, as Sam's dad is doing the ministry! So that's really exciting! I'm not sure how many of the ministries I'll be able to get to as our WI starts on Saturday. We'll see. I went to the first one tonight and it was really good!

Yesterday, the Toms and I had our day off together. It was really nice actually. In the morning we were preparing our theory presentations for the WI, and then in the afternoon we drove into Kokkari and had a crepe. The crepe was a bit awkward as this Hungarian girl was serving us and she was just trying to be funny but it really wasn't happening. So the first thing she asked us was where we were from and we responded with England, and she just couldn't deal with it! She didn't think we had a British accent and thought we were either Australian or North American! Anyway, after that she asked how long we were here for and then when we said we were were she asked where so we told her. She then told us that she would come and visit her if her manager gave her a day off. When she was saying that she was saying it loudly so her boss would here, but the boss didn't here so she said in a jokily way "She's really mean! Will you let me have a day off boss?" and then her manager just shook her head without a smile on her face and the Hungarian said again "See, she's really mean!" and we were like "Awkwaaaaarrrrrrd". And then she was telling us how it would take us ages to choose a crepe so she left us for five minutes and then when she came back she was like "You chosed already?! I'm really jealous of you. Let me eat it for you!" so we managed to order our crepes! And then half way through eating it, she just strolled out right next to us in her bikini and then went for a swim! We didn't say goodbye when we left.

Amazing answer to prayer today - for the past three days the wind has been onshore, which means loads of waves, and we were all hoping and praying for a cross offshore wind, and what happened during ministry? It changed to a cross offshore wind! Amazing!

 

I'm really nervous about my WI now. Hopefully it'll be OK, but I'm really looking forward to it being over! When we went to Kokkari, we visited the windsurf centre there where we nabbed a lot of their ideas for storage of sails and boards etc, anyway we were looking at their kit and Tom V said "If I pass my instructors course first time I'm going to buy a sail" SO TEMPTED TO DO SO AS WELL! When he said first time, it's because in an instructors course you can either pass, fail or get an 'action plan'. An action plan isn't a fail but it isn't a pass either, the trainer gives you some things to work on to improve your sailing or maybe to assist in a few lessons before you actually pass. It depends on how good or not you are. Our trainer is a guy called Andy Crocker and he used to race for team GB! Crazy! Anyway, he's not a Christian... yet! So mega prayer for him!

Today is my Dad's birthday so a big happy birthday shout out to him! I just had a Skype conversation with my family and got to see him open his presents and also blow out the candles! The wonders of Skype! Felt like I was there whilst being in a nicer location!

Prayer points:
- For this guy Andy Crocker to know more about God and that we might have some conversations with him about the big G
- For confidence and perseverance with our WI!
- For continual refreshment of serving guests
- For our ministry leader that God speaks through him
- Some of the guests from last week are finding the transition from last week where it was youngish, to this week where it's quite old. One guest is even trying to get home early so prayer that they'd feel comfortable!
- for Katie Knott as she is doing her WI this week as well as trying to prepare for the photography week next week which she is leading
- For Rob's tooth which is really hurting him. He's going back home at the end of June for an operation on the root canal.
- That we can continue to be a witness to hotel staff, Richmond guests and other guests!

Let me know your requests!

Will x

 

 

June 4th

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's later than normal - the internet was down in the hotel yesterday.

I am writing this sat from the tower on the waterfront gazing over the Aegean Sea with Turkey on my left and the sunset just above the mountains on my right. God got creation right didn't he!

Anyway, what has this past week brought? Well, our guests were lovely! We had around 21 guests, which was great and it felt a lot easier to get stuck in! Unfortunately I didn't get to know the guests as well as I could have done, due to being on kids' ministry, but I had a fair chance! Two of the guests we had were on holiday for the two weeks that my family and I were on holiday for in July back in 2008 so it was really nice to see them again!

Kids ministry was varied. I think I mentioned in my last email that the boy we were looking after had Asperges. It was really quite difficult to communicate with him as we often just got shrugs or 'yes' and 'no' as an answer! Our relationship with the boy got better as the week progressed, which was great, but it was still hard. We had it fairly easy in terms of work to be honest. Our hours of work were 10-12am and then 5:30pm (for kids tea) until about 8 ish. So in the morning on the first day we played in the pool with him, which was great! And then every morning after that he learnt to sail, so I got to learn to sail with him! We then had the afternoons off. The theme for the ministry we ran for him was 'Heroes of the Bible', so we looked at David, Joseph, Daniel, Moses, and Jesus. The ministry was difficult because we pretty much just had to talk as if no one was listening, as he would never engage with it and if we asked him questions he'd just shrug! I'm not really sure where his faith was at either because he'd blaspheme all the time, say 'damn you' and would refuse to say Jesus' name. At the end of each session we'd pray and always ask him if he wanted to pray, and every time except one, it was always no! But that one night he did pray it was so exciting for us! He literally just said "Dear God, thank you for today. Amen." but that's better than nothing!

So yeah, I got out sailing quite a bit this week, feeling competent in a Pico now and I also helmed the Stratos Keele on Wednesday! After my WI course I'll get on it with the sailing! Over Skype Dad told me that he expects me to be able to take him out in the Bahia by the time he comes out! Do I dare do one better and raise it to the Dart 16?! We'll see!

On the subject of boats, this super yacht that we had moored up on the water, I said it was 66 foot but I meant 66 metres! Incredible! One day last week, assistant manager Katie and I kayaked up to it to have a closer look and to see where it was flagged (the Cayman Islands although they've never been there...) and one of the crew was there so we chatted for him briefly. Anyway, at the end I jokily said "Hey, tell the owners that if at any point they want to take out any of our boats then I'm sure we can arrange something!" to which the crew replied "I think it will be alright thanks, we've got two Oppies and two Picos on here"...

Our guests this week are roughly the same number. It's the 40+ week this week so there are a lot of singles, and also a lot of women!! They seem pleasant so far, especially this one couple who are great! I sat with them for dinner tonight and I can talk for ages with the husband! I think the guests are very keen to be on the water, which is quite tough with four waterfront staff out of 11 doing their DI! Hopefully we'll be able to stay on top of it!

So the girls and Nick are doing their DI course this week. Everyone was very nervous about it but I think they all enjoyed their first day so that's excellent! Hopefully they'll find the rest of the week OK too. The way the DI course works is that it's a full six day course, so we have a women, Anna Wells, out this week running that, but also on the last day someone has to moderate it to make sure that the trainer isn't just passing them. So on Wednesday, Hermione's flying out to be here, which is so exciting! Really looking forward to seeing her again!

Prayer points:
- Robin got stung by a Weaver fish the other day, so a quick healing for that!
- One of the guests is having a holiday for two weeks without his wife and kids because he's needing to be refreshed and to get away so prayer for that
- Confidence for the guys doing the DI
- For the ministry leaders and for their talks
- For practice for those of us doing our WI next week
- I feel we're not as on it with getting to know the guests as we were when we were fresh on the job, so prayer for renewal for that!
- A safe journey home for my family from Cornwall tomorrow!

Sorry, no photos this week!

As ever, let me know if you want me to pray for anything!

God bless,

Will x=

 

 

May 19th

Howdy!

This week has been a bit of a weird one having only five guests. I found it quite difficult to really get to know the guests as none of them used the waterfront and it was more likely at dinner to end up sitting with staff than sitting with the guests as there were so many more of us than them! But they all enjoyed themselves, one guests claiming it was her best holiday ever, so that's really encouraging! Rob, our manager, was the ministry leader this week and his talks were great. I went to two of them as well as the communion service on Sunday and it was really encouraging stuff.

So this week we have around 20 guests. Neil, who has been working with us for the past two weeks fixing broken boats etc, is now having a week's holiday and his wife flew out today. He was extremely excited about the reunion with his wife, so much so that this morning he banged on all the staffs doors as he was on his way to breakfast!

The wind this week has been really frustrating this week. Last Saturday it was amazing and it was our first day back on the waterfront (Friday was my day off) and we got out practicing and improving our windsurfing... SO good! Pretty gusty so it wasn't amazing but I was on the plane most of the time and even got into the foot straps a couple of times too! I felt really excited after that and I am looking forward to my windsurfing instructor's course in a couple of week's time! The wind since then has been fairly non-existent, and when there has been a little wind, it was literally changing direction all the time! Sam was trying to teach us how to beach start with our kit but we had to constantly adjust the position of our rig and board because of the wind direction!

We received some new windsurf sails from a windsurfing centre on the island the other day and they are so nice! I am really looking forward to taking them out on the water! Sam can get it for trade price from them and said that if we wanted to buy some kit then we could... I am so tempted to buy one! It'd cost me about €150-200... only trouble is I'd then have to buy me a mast, boom, harness and board. We'll see! I could buy all the rig and use a board at the sailing club at Southampton...

On Wednesday it was Katie Knott's birthday so on Tuesday night we all went out for a meal in Samos town. We were hoping to go to a restaurant called Solo Pasta but a) that wasn't opening until Thursday and b) it was no longer Solo Pasta! So we all went to this other restaurant and it was delicious! Tom Martin and I shared a Mixed Grill For 4 between two of us... the waiter claimed it was 1kg of meat each but I was slightly dubious. Anyway, we managed it and I even had room to finish some of the other's plates! The diet has now kicked in! During the meal, Christina, one of the hotel restaurant staff, was asking us a few questions about our faith. It seemed to be more of confirming that we believed we could and couldn't do as a Christian, i.e. sex before marriage and getting drunk. Anyway, it was a start and hopefully there'll be more conversations! After that we went and had a drink at a bar along the harbour front which was great! We sang "Happy Birthday" to Katie and then this absolutely wasted Englishman in his late fifties came over to us and started chatting. He was very odd. Although I did learn something of interest, the actor who played the Godfather got his cheeks and his voice the way he did because he put cotton wool in his cheeks! I did only discover that the morning after and at the the time I did wonder why he'd put tissue in his mouth!

This week, Tom Vincent and I are running the kid's work. There is only one child! He is 12 and has Asperges so I'm not really sure how it's going to pan out. Prayer for that would be brilliant!

Today caused some massive excitement for us on the waterfront! So we saw this yacht on the horizon with this massive blue sail and then it gradually got closer and closer to our beach! It was about 400m out and then two port patrol boats, one from the left and one from the right, came along side it to talk to it! Anyway, it eventually moored and then they got their RIB (Rigid Inflatable Dinghy) out on the water and came along to the beach. We walked to it to welcome them and Nick said that he thought it was Alan Sugar! So we rushed and then they came ashore, but it turned out it was a family with two little children. We didn't really want to be invasive so we didn't approach them. I suppose they could've been celebrities but we didn't get close enough to see! But this yacht, wow... her mast was 80m tall and she was 66 feet long! Sam reckoned the whole thing would've cost about £25,000,000!

Prayer points:
- For the kids ministry that that goes well and that he learns something new about what Jesus did for him
- For our guests this week that they have an amazing holiday
- For our ministry leaders, that God can speak through them
- For Niel, that he can have a really relaxing holiday
- For us preparing for our instructors course, especially Lizzy who is really nervous and isn't very confident with her sailing
- That we can really encourage one another! I noticed today how much banter we have with each other, but it can be quite negative!
- For continued conversations with Christina and that something would stir up in her

And let me know your prayer requests!

Lots of love,

Will x

 

 

May 13th

Hey guys,

I hope you enjoyed your three weeks without any emails! And now they all begin again, for the next three and a half months!

So almost everyone (except from Minty, Lizzie and our assistant manager) flew from Manchester Airport at 08:10 on Thursday morning. Nick came to Lincoln the day before so Dad drove us to Manchester Wednesday evening, and, from there, picked up Jenny from the train station. We then proceeded to a Premier Inn, had a meal and then went to bed. Within a minute of Dad saying goodnight to me, he had fallen asleep (he was snoring!)... how quickly can he get to sleep?! And then on Thursday morning we woke up at 05:45.

The flight seemed to go very quickly, despite it being four hours. I had a row to myself, which was great, and there was on-flight entertainment! Gulliver's Travels, with Jack Black, was showing so I watched that. It was pretty good, but I wouldn't watch it again!

The weather here is mixed. Yesterday was cloudy and cool, very similar to the weather in England on the Thursday. Today was warm but pretty windy, which made it very chilly! With the wind, I didn't think I needed sun cream... however, after having a shower I noticed that I have got definite flip flops outlines and I also lightly burnt my neck! I will be more careful from now on!

The only people that haven't been to Samos before are our manager, Rob, our assistant waterfront manager, Tom, and our assistant manager, Katie. We feel quite sorry for them because the hotel looks very derelict from the winter weather! Those of us who have been here before can picture it as it will be, but obviously they can't yet! Tom, the ass. waterfront manager is 21, has done two years at uni and has had this year as a year in industry, and so will do his third year next year. Me and the other Tom are sharing a room with him and he seems like a great guy! So far everyone seems to be bonding well and team unity is something we are all praying for and hope will happen.

 

I'll talk briefly about pack down at the end of the chalet because you haven't heard about that! So on Easter Sunday we had a day off. We woke up and had breakfast, which consisted off Hot Cross Buns, strawberries, cereal and champagne! It was very nice - we put two of the sofas onto the balcony and ate out there! Then, just in time for lunch, the guys from the Sainte Foy chalet and Meribel came to us, where we had lunch and then caught up! In the afternoon, it was left to us what we wanted to do. Some stayed in the chalet and relaxed, and some of us went to the closing party at La Folie Douce! That was great fun! I already miss it! In the evening we had a service which we all chipped in to do. We had songs, readings and a service. Then after that we had Roast Pork. And then finally, after that, we went down to the Les Menuires centre, went to a bar and then onto a club, which was great fun!

The rest of the week was cleaning, but we had Wednesday off so that was nice! We attempted to have a BBQ for the last meal but we started the fire too early and it had cooled down too much when we wanted to cook the food! So we ended up grilling it!

It was very sad to say goodbye to the chalet on the last day, but we were ready to leave.

So my time spent at home! On the Friday morning I went to one of my best friend's house where I watched the Royal Wedding, and the rest of my best friends in the group I hung out with at school came too! It was so nice to see them all again because most of them I hadn't seen since November and wouldn't see again until this September! And then after the wedding we drove down to Devon to stay with my grandparents which was lovely. The weather wasn't like the rest of the country though, with rain for most of it! We came home on the May Day. At home I met up with a couple of friends, went into school to see my teachers and also went down to Southampton to visit the uni! I really liked it and I am looking forward to going in September!

Anyway, I think that's all to update on now!

Prayer points:
- That set up is enjoyable and not too tiring
- That we can get on really well as a team
- For Minty, Lizzie and Katie to have a safe journey out
- That we can get everything done well
- For the safe arrival of our first guests next Thursday
- For good relationships with the hotel staff and that we can be a witness to them
- For an EXCELLENT season!

Hope you're all well!

Will x

 

April 16th

Hey guys,

So we're now into our last week of guests! Crazy! Today was our last proper (departures + arrivals) transfer day, thank goodness! 

This week has been pretty manic! The guests were less demanding and full on, but evening meals were a nightmare! It seems that this week was advertised as the week for people with special dietary requirements - we had two vegetarians, two lactose intolerants, and two gluten free guests! On top of all this, despite the young children, none of the parents signed their kids up for kids' tea! That meant we had 41 guests sitting for dinner, and we normally have 4 staff sitting down too. However, we can only seat 42 people! So we had to squeeze two of the children onto an end and some staff weren't allowed to sit down! Tonight's meal seemed so much calmer! 

The days brought my stress levels down though, as the boys from last year were out and they were great fun! Yesterday we hit the park after having been to La Folie Douce and having one beer made my confidence a lot higher! So I have now achieved doing 50/50s on the grind rail (where you grind sideways along the rail) and also did a 180 on a blue jump! I think I might have to have another beer before I next go to the park! Photos were taken but by the other guys so I don't have it... it will be on Facebook within the next couple of days though apparently! 

So this week we have 28 guests. We were only meant to have about 22 guests, however, there were only 6 guests booked for Meribel so they've been moved to our chalet! Two of our guests are Ben and Poppy Turner (RIchmond's CEO and his daughter). Our ministry leader this week is a guy called Tom Price, who did a few sessions with us in our induction back in September and also on our Bible week in November. He's a great guy, very knowledgable and very academic! 

Our ministry leader last week was a great guy too. Spoke very well, although he always started the meetings with an awful joke! When he skied he definitely needed a big sign above his head saying "DANGER!" because he was just so out of control! He'd had a few lessons on a dry slope before coming out, so this was his first time on proper snow! He came on my guide on Thursday, which I was rather reluctant about, but he was actually OK! 

So my guide! It went well! Split it into a morning and afternoon guide, coming back for lunch. In the morning, on paper, I started with 6, however one of the guests told me there son wasn't going to come, so one down. So the five of us headed out and hit some runs into Meribel. I lead from the back and noticed one of the guests was extremely slow compared to the rest and also didn't look very comfortable! His posture was all wrong and was snow ploughing on a red run guide! Anyway, I was considering asking him if he'd be alright for the rest of the guide, but he dropped out half way down the slope so I didn't need to embarrass him! And then at the top of the next lift another guest was only wearing a headband so she got too cold and went back. Then in the afternoon I had a family and the ministry leader! We hit the Summit of the 3 Valleys (3230m) and came back... after they'd bought me a hot chocolate of course! Oh the benefits of doing a guide! I'm leading an all day guide tomorrow as well... hopefully that will go OK! 

The weather this week has dropped considerably - Sunday and Monday were still very warming and we were skiing in our thermal and a T-shirt, but then the rest of the week has been between -5 and 5 with two days of snow! It was really weird skiing in something that wasn't slush again! It got pretty icy in some places though. However, it's now looking more hopeful that the snow will stay for this week! 

On Monday it's Robin's birthday and then on Friday it's Tom's birthday! We bought Robin this T-shirt of the Old Spice (http://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice#p/u) because he does an amazing impression of him! And we also bought Tom some Oakleys, because he doesn't have any sun glasses.

Tom has been teaching me guitar and I'm picking up the chords pretty quickly! I can now play, not very fluently, Heart of Worship (Matt Redman)! But my strumming isn't very good. 

Our local pub closes tonight so I'm about to head off there! But tomorrow they're putting on a BBQ for all the staff in the village, which should be good! However, because of my guide, I won't be able to go for the whole thing :( 

Right, I think that is about all I have to tell you! 

Prayer points:
- To make the most out of this last week ski wise and also guest wise
- To carry on serving at our best
- For my ski guide to go OK
- No accidents
- For the weather and snow to last
- Energy levels

Chow x

 

April 2nd

Hey guys,

Sorry it's a day late! I hope I haven't messed up your Saturday night/Sunday morning routine!! Yesterday was just crrraazzzzy! 

Firstly, let me just clarify something. My father seems to have a different definition to the word 'grinding', and claims that everyone from his generation will think it's something that it really isn't! For my generation it's a form of intimate dancing. 

Last week was good fun! It was no way as full on as I'd expected it to be. We were full, with 41 guests, with guests being mainly families. They were all very nice and helpful. The children weren't that annoying either, although I didn't have to do kids' ministry where they're usually at their worst! There were a couple here who knew my parents from St Helens so that was cool! One of the guests was 19 and on a gap year, and knew two people I knew! He was currently working in London and going to church at HTB where two guys I know are doing their gap years working for them!

Minty had some eye candy this week - our ministry leader's son. He seemed to be able to do everything; plays guitar, sings, is hench, good looking, tall and surfs! She said when he walked in last Saturday "I literally couldn't breathe!" Bless her! 

This week seems like it is going to be very hectic. Only 8 kids this week though, down from 12 last week. Robin and Hermione had a bit of a dilemma this morning as only one of the children had signed up for kids' tea, so both were confused as to whether or not the parents had forgotten to sign them up or whether they do want adults tea. But that means 44 people will be sat down (including staff) and we can only seat 42! And Robin is panicking a bit because he doesn't have enough pastry for the starter for an additional 8. 

Breakfast this morning was pretty mad. EVERYONE came at 8 and it was all over by half past! Thirty minutes where you had no time to think! 

Em has everyone she wants to see out this week! Her parents and sister are staying with us, her two best friends who she grew up with and their families are in a chalet down the road, and the guys who did the Richmond gap year last year are staying in Reberty 1850! She's a bit unsure as to how she's going to balance seeing them all!

I found out this week that a good friend of mine from Porthwater Bay (a mashup of Porthpean, Bridgwater and Morfa Bay) is starting at Southampton Uni this year too, so that's great! We can go church hunting together! I can't remember whether I'd told you before, but there are also another three people from Porthwater Bay already there, although one at Southampton Solant. Very excited about it all now! 

Just how soon we're going home has started to hit home now. I was talking to a five year old we have this week yesterday and he was asking me a million and one questions. Anyway, he asked how many were living in our chalet this week, so I replied "50", then he asked the same for next week and I said "34", and then again for the following week and I replied "We don't have any more guests after that!" I am looking forward to coming home now though. It seems to be like the end of the season in Samos where everyone was packing up and the weather had turned - it's stupidly hot, the snow is melting, runs are closing and the finish line is in sight! 

So yeah, the weather! I think it's been about 28 degrees at it's hottest in the day! I've barely been skiing this week because of how slushy it is! I went with Tom last Sunday and I went by myself on my day off yesterday morning. Yesterday morning was good because the snow was still solid as the sun hadn't hit it yet! All week we've pretty much been chilling on the balcony getting out brrrroooonnnnzzzeee oooooooooonnnnnnn! It's been so hot I've had to go topless! It was so nice just sitting there in just my boardies! We've skipped spring here! Although I hear it's been hot in England too! I'm ski guiding all day on Thursday, so that could be interesting!

On Wednesday, most of us decided to go for a walk. It was a lot of fun! So we made our baguettes and set off. We Walked down to the bubble lift, got off at the half way point and then walked to Val Thorens! We then stopped for our lunch facing the VT skiing area and the mountains! Very picturesque! And then we had a small Bible study and a pray, which was great! 

Xander and Robin did the best thing ever when they went shopping last week. They bought us steaks! So yesterday, for lunch, we had steak and homemade chips! It was so good! 

It's great having Nick here to do our kids ministry! Takes a load off our backs, and it makes him feel useful!

Prayer points:
- Energy and continued motivation for this week.
- Not to think that because we're getting to the end we can slack. We want to finish better than when we started! 
- THE TEMPERATURE TO COOL! And for snow..
- That my guide goes OK. For no accidents and that I have the knowledge of where is best to ski. 
- For Em's back to heal and for her to spend time with all her friends and family.
- For Robin to not get stressed about tonight's meal. 

That's all for now! x

 

26th March

Hello all,

Another week has flown by! I can't believe we only have four weeks' worth of guests left! The guests we just had were a mixture of young and old, as well as couples and singles. We had another bizarre guest this week, on par to the guest we had over Christmas and New Year, except more lovable and a male version. So the first thing to comment on is his laugh; pretty annoying AND he laughs at his own jokes! On Tuesday he got taken out by a skier and he hurt his shoulder. So he came back and told the WHOLE chalet at least twice about it and every time he moved he groaned. And then last night at the ceilidh he was just SO eager for it! He kept making cowboy kind of noises in a bizarre way! And there weren't enough women for the men, so Phil, our ski guide, willingly danced with him. Now before the dance, Hermione announced you needed a partner, so guest X just goes "I'm a man." as if we didn't already know! So when we started the dance, it turned out Phil was in the male place, and guest X in the female place. It just looked so funny watching him get spun around! 

One of the guests was a bit... bizarre. I was talking to her and her friend last night about university and stuff, so I reeled off my issue with Southampton and my Chemistry grade. Anyway, she just goes "Wouldn't it be easier to just do a whole other A-Level rather than resitting a Chemistry module?" and, in my head, I was like "WHAT?! Are you SERIOUS?!" I mean, how in any way is learning a whole A-Level, here, in four weeks easier than resitting some coursework to gain two marks?! 

Our ministry leader this week, and next week, is nice but I'm not really gaining a lot from his ministry. He kind of reads it off his sheet, word-for-word it seems, and it just removes the personal element of it. What he's spoken about has been good, but he's not really engaged with the congregation. He has ministered to us and the guests informally though, which is great! Anyway, we'll see what next week's like. I didn't experience it first hand, but there's a funny story about Tom in ministry yesterday! So they did communion and then just before, there was a time of quiet prayer of confession, and there was a huge snow storm on outside and all of a sudden Tom bursts out "Flip, a tree just flew past!". One of the most inappropriate times tom could have said something like that EVER! But then, he is renown for doing things like that!

This week we have twenty guests! The calm before the storm. It should be nice! But then next week the Easter holidays begin, woo -_- So roll on the kids and child supervision! I'm just hoping they're not as rude and annoying as the eleven year olds we had over half term! It's in consideration of getting a youth minister out, which would make our lives a lot easier! 

So, as you've gathered by now, I'm still alive! I didn't die from the paragliding! It was SO much fun! It was incredible to be flying over the slopes I've skied over! Stef, the instructor, said that the conditions were the best they'd been all season! So we got up to 3000m and went into the cloud! I still had my skis on for it, and initially I wasn't sitting far back enough on the seat, so my hips hurt a bit. 

 

On Monday, one of the guests from the 30s/40s/50s week rang Hermione, and then texted her twice (accidentally), to say how great it was to meet her and that he'd love to keep in contact and meet up at the end of the season! So that's three of us who have been hit on by guests now! 

The weather this week has, again, been warm! In Meribel (at 1400m) it was 16 degrees! It's been pretty warm where we are too, at 2000m. There's a lot of slush about now - we could do with the temperature dropping considerably! The snows still been pretty good though.

No news on the remark yet. It went in on Monday so I'll probably find out sometime next week.

Nick, aka Brother Bear, had a skiing accident yesterday. We weren't with him, but apparently he fell over and tore his ligaments in his wrist and he had surgery on it this morning. No news on how he is yet, but it can't be that bad because he ate at his chalet before going to the hospital! He probably won't be able to ski for the rest of the season though.

Prayer points:
- A quick recovery for Nick
- A drop in temperature
- Continued enthusiasm for all of us to serve the guests, especially this week as there are less guests
- Peace while I wait for my remark
- Energy
- Guest and team unity
- For our ministry leader, that he'd speak well and that God would speak through him
- Em's hurt her back

Until next week... x

 

12th March

Well hello again everyone! 

This week has been great! The guests have been very nice and the weather's been amazing (although it is melting the snow!)! 

So yeah, the weather! I guess it's probably been about 5 degrees most days? Felt very warm and my goggle tan is coming along nicely! Skiing through the trees and seeing the views with the sunshine has just been so beautiful! We could really do with some more snow though! It's meant to rain on Wednesday :/ 

On Tuesday night Minty, Jenny and I went to a local discotheque! It was so much fun! We ventured down to a place called Bruyeres and made some shapes! The place was pretty dead, and we may have been pretty much the only people on the dance floor, but it was great! At one point, Minty and Jenny went to the toilet and came back to find me dancing by myself! We got back in at the reasonable hour of 1, and I was on second breakfast, but I was on fire that morning! My energy levels did decrease in the evening though!

Lent. I've given up Facebook. Although I'm not sure I'm doing it properly, as it's not that I'm resisting temptation to go on Facebook, it's the fact that Hermione's changed my password so I actually CAN'T go on Facebook! Me and Em are doing together, and so far it's not really been a problem! Now I seem to be on Twitter a lot more. 

This week is 30 somethings week, which hopefully will be OK again! Not too much maintenance I hope! It does mean we get no kids this week (last week we had seven) which means no kid's tea, yay!

So you're probably dying to know my A-Level resit result! Unfortunately I only got 8 more marks, and so I am now 2 marks away from getting an A! You kind of think "It's only two marks, just give it to him!" but what can you do! Yeah I was pretty gutted about it! I've emailed Southampton though explaining the situation so maybe they'll make an exception?! We'll see! I've also applied for a remark to see if I can get those 2 extra marks. It's quite amusing because when I'd finished my ASs I was also 2 marks off an A overall, and so I got the paper (the same one I just sat) remarked and got the two marks! Will it happen again with this paper? Well I should not within a week or two. Don't worry, I'll keep you updated! I've also emailed my Chemistry teacher asking her if I can redo some coursework when I get home from here, as that'll be a lot easier than flying home from Samos in May/June to do another resit! 

Tom's mum got my headphones that they bought me for my birthday sent to this week's ministry leader, so hopefully I'll get them today! My earphones have broken so I don't have anything to listen to my music with now! So sometimes I borrow the headphones we bought Minty for her birthday! 

I led a ski guide group for a whole day this week! I was quite nervous about it the day before and then when I woke up on the day, Tom and I prayed about it, and then there only turned out to be two people on it! It was great! We did loads of runs in Meribel! I made a lot of it up as we went along, but that was fine, I don't think they noticed! It was really nice because that meant I got another night to sit at the table for dinner! 

Prayer points:
- Snow and a change in weather
- Motivation and energy for the week ahead
- For God's hand to be over this university situation and that I trust fully in what happens
- Guest unity
- Continued team unity

I forget to say, but if you ever want anything for me to prayer for do let me know!

 

5th March

Hello! 

This week has been a lot of fun! The guests were really nice and easy to get along with! As I said last week, Dad and Matt were here this week, which was really nice! They arrived about 4 hours late due to someone cutting the Eurostar power supply and also the snow! But they got here in the end! It was great to ski with them both and see Matt progress!

I mentioned last week about a bum boarding incident and that the girl didn't break anything... when she got back to England she went to A&E and it turned out that she had broken her pelvis! How the French missed that I have no idea! 

My birthday was on Monday, so that was really nice to have my Dad and brother here and also to spend it on the slopes! It was very funny because the guys here bought me a pair of headphones, and it was meant to get delivered to my house and my Dad was supposed to bring it out. However, Tom got an email the day before my Dad and brother arrived saying they were out of stock. The day after Tom had bought the headphones I had also bought some new board shorts and flip-flops for Samos. My family thought that that was what the guys here had bought me, and so my mum wrapped them all up and Dad brought them out! Well at least I know they fit now! In the end Tom ordered the headphones off a different website and got it sent to his house so his Dad could bring them out today. The headphones arrived, however, Tom's dad got confused when Tom emailed him about it and thought that he had bought them for his brother, also called Will, for his birthday! SO, all being well, I'll receive them NEXT week when next week's ministry leader comes out!

On Wednesday we had my birthday celebrations - the team here, my dad and brother, and the Meribel crew all had lunch in the pizza place next door and we were meant to then go onto La Folie Douce to bust some moves! However, the food came out in drips and drabs and it took an hour after ordering (they'd forgotten to cook some of the pizzas!) for all of it to come! So by the time we'd eaten, it was half two, and the Meribel guys had to be back for four! So in the end we had a little ski all together and then went back to the chalet! 

I was assistant chef and it all went well! I think I forgot to tell you about last week's disaster... I was made the cake, took it out the oven and it looked beautiful! When it cooled down I went to take it out the cake tin, turned it upside down but no movement. Robin: "try cutting round the sides with a knife." Still nothing. Minty "You did grease it didn't you?" Me "Ah." Robin: "And you did put some grease proof paper in at the bottom didn't you?" Me: "Oops." We got it out in the end and it still tasted good! 

Oh the funniest thing happened on Sunday! Tom asked me to shave his side burns, so I did. And then he asked me to trim the sides of his hair a bit. I may have completely shaved them off ACCIDENTALLY! Oh it was so funny! It looked awful! It looked like such a 90s style! I told him if he cut the back a bit too then it wouldn't look so bad, but he wants to grow his hair so I didn't! Unless he's serving, he now always wears a hat to cover his hair! It doesn't look as bad as it initially did though! 

I didn't go paragliding on my birthday in the end. I left it to late to book and the weather wasn't supposed to be very good on my birthday so I thought I'd wait another day. I bumped into him on the slopes on Wednesday, and he said next week he'll be flying every day. Tom wants to do it too though, so I think I'll wait until I know when we have a day off together before I book it. 

So it's the dreaded results day this Thursday! It's also my day off on Thursday, so it'll either be a great day off or a really bad day off. So yeah, next week I'll let you know if I got in or not! 

My enthusiasm to get to know the guests has returned, which is great! It makes me enjoy the work more and also puts me in a better mood! 

Prayer Points:
- Continued enthusiasm to get to know the guests for me and the rest of the team
- A bit more snow
- Energy
- That whatever result I get on Thursday I am content with the outcome

God bless! x

 

27th February

Howdy,

Half term week... need I say anything else?! ALL the lifts had queues and the slopes were taken up by everyone! 

It was really great to see all my friends who were around this week! On Sunday I skied with my Godfather for a couple of hours, on Tuesday I skied with my sister's Godmother and her son, and then on Thursday everyone met for lunch and then I skied with my sister's other Godmother's family in Courchevel! I then stayed the night at their's (SO good to be back in a double bed and have a room to myself again!) which was lovely!

It finally snowed this week! Quite a lot actually - we only had three days of clear sky! And it's still going! We could still do with a little bit more!

Got a rejection from Sheffield on Monday night. I was expecting it - that morning I checked a student forum to see if anyone knew what was going on. Someone had posted within twenty four hours that he has rung them and they said that their UKCAT cut off score was now 2870 (I got 2850) and that they weren't going to lower it anymore. Sure enough I got my rejection that night! But I'm kind of glad in a way, as it means Southampton, providing I get my grade, is definitely where I should go! Results day on the 10th of March so not too far now! 

Friday was full of accidents! Rob, our youth minister, had dislocated his shoulder just before Christmas, and on Friday he partially dislocated it twice! His insurance wouldn't cover a dislocated shoulder, so he didn't go to the medical centre or anything. Then, that night, I was helping with youth ministry, and Rob and I took the kids outside onto the piste to go bum boarding. Two of the guests were going really fast and hit a restaurant sign. We saw it in slow motion and the thud that was made is still clear in my mind! Anyway, one of the guests was only winded, so that was OK, but the other guest couldn't move and we were sure she'd broken ribs or a leg. So Rob prayed for her, and I went and got Hermione. Some French people nearby rang the paramedics for us and they arrived pretty rapidly. Anyway, to cut the story short, she was taken down to hospital but amazingly she hadn't broken anything! A great answer to prayer! She was just badly shaken up and bruised! She came home that night. It didn't happen on Hermione's day off, which she's pleased about!

This week my Dad and my brother are here, which is really nice! I've been looking forward to seeing them! Unfortunately the Eurostar was delayed. They were stopped in Albertville for two hours because someone had cut the power supply! And then, because of the snow, the mini van got stuck in La Croisette, so Hermione had to drive down uber fast to sort it out, and to get the mini bus back in time for the last departures! They just got their train! Jenny's family and Hermione's mum are also here this week, which is nice!

I'll be home on the 28th of April!

Prayer points:
- Continued healing of my knee
- For my Dad and brother (And ALL the guests!) to enjoy themselves
- Guest unity
- Some of us are beginning to struggle to want to get to know the guests now, and are seeing them as work rather than people to serve and get to know! So our attitudes to change
- The other staff not to get homesick with the rest of our family here

 

Have a great week! x

 

 

19th February

Yo,

Wow this week has been even more full on than the last! As I said last week, it's been Scotland's half term. We had quite a few younger children last week. Two of the most adorable boys (6 and 4) were there! I just wanted to keep them. Every night before they went to bed they gave me a kiss on the cheek! 

So anyway, this week we've had to do child supervision, which has been a little hectic! It was added to the role where you are on potwash and afternoon tea, because we decided that at the beginning of the season it would be better to have one housekeeper role where you just don't ski, than to have two where you get limited skiing. So this was the day of Housekeeper 3 this week: wake up at half 8, take kids to ski school for 9, clean the lounge and rooms, pick up the kids at 11:45, feed them lunch and then entertain at 2, at 4 set up afternoon tea until 5:45, at half 6 entertain the kids while ministry was on, and then straight after that into potwash! Fun times! Fortunately this week we have more teens than little children, and we also have a youth minister! 

Yeah, this week is half term! One of the families here were in Montchavin when I was there last year so that's nice to see them again, and another girl from Porthpean is here too and I haven't seen her in a while! More guests yet to arrive so maybe I'll no more? Loads of friends in Les Trois Vallees this week though - my friends who stayed in Courchevel over New Year are back this week; my Godfather's family is staying in Saint Martin (about a ten minute drive/15 minute ski away) and my sister's Godmother's family are staying in the Richmond chalet in Meribel! 

Tom received an unconditional offer from Belfast last week, which he's really stoked about! It's for Ancient History and History, which he's a little disappointed about because he also applied there for straight History but got rejected from that, but he really wanted to go to Leprechaun-land so we're all really pleased for him! Waiting for my resit result (10th of March) is killing me! I want to know NOW! 

This week Tom and I took on the Grand Couloir (literally means Big Corridor) and, oh my goodness, it was scary! Tom and I prayed before we did it because we were worried for our lives! It's supposed to be the hardest piste in Europe or something! To get to it you have to go down this 30m track on the top of the mountain that is literally only about 6ft wide and if you fall off that then you'll either end up dead in Meribel or Courchevel depending on which side you fall. That was probably the scariest bit about it! I would not dare tackle it in windy weather or take guests there on a guide! Then the slope itself has moguls about 4ft tall and it is SO steep it's unreal! But we survived and can now tick it off on my piste map! 

Yesterday (Friday) I had my day off and it was great because Dan and Nick, in Meribel, had their day off too so I slept in until about half ten, had breakfast then met up with those two at 12. We then skied in the afternoon, and, at three, met up with the others from my chalet and went to dance at La Folie Douce! Dan and I have this app on our phones that uses GPS to tell you how far you've travelled and max speed etc, so on one run, where you can absolutely razz it down, we switched it on and I got a max speed of 55mph, which I'm pretty pleased about! Dad and Matt, you're going to have to keep up with me when you come out! 

Em told us the other day that we are now at the half way point for the season! Have I really been here that long?! Where's the time going?! 

Phil, our new ski guide, has got an admirer! It's extremely humorous! One of the girls on the 20s-30s week texted Phil on Saturday saying "Hey Phil, just wanted to say I had a great week last week. I really enjoyed getting to know you, but it would've been great to get to know you even more! If you ever find yourself in London, give me a shout." and then he replied with a really closed response of "Hey, yeah last week was great too. I must admit, I don't go to London that often, but next time I'm down I'll let you know." she then replied with "Well I could come to Plymouth and see you? Or we could meet half way or just about anywhere really!" FLIPPIN' 'ECK! She then proceeded to tell him everything she'd done since being back. ANYWAY, on Valetines Day she sent him a text saying "Happy Valentines Day Phil!" Hahaha! And then he's not replied to the last email or text but she's made another form of contact! As staff, we are giving him so much banter for it! It's so funny!  

Our ministry leader last week was pretty jolly! Always had a smiley face and just so full of beens! It was a little tiring actually! Our new ministry leader is with us for the next 3 weeks and has just finished 5 weeks being ministry leader in Meribel! He seems like a great guy and is willing to help out!

We had about two dustings of snow. Very disappointing, and I don't think it's forecasted to snow this week. Oh well! 

Prayer points:
- For Hermione to make the right decision about her contract offer
- My knee still hasn't healed
- Thanks for Tom's offer
- Great guest unity this week
- Energy levels and motivation to be increased/maintained 
- For time to sloooooow down so this gap year doesn't end so quickly
- For Rob (youth minister) and Brian (minister) to lead well and for God to speak through them
- Great skiing and catching up with the friends who are staying here this week

Mo' love x

 

 

13th February

Hey guys,

Man this week has been TIRING! 20s and 30s week! They were fun, but then they were also guests who stayed in for breakfast until ten, even though it ends at half nine, and stay chatting after dinner for aggggggggggeeeeeeesssssssssss. As I said last week, three of the guests were in Samos when we were there, so it was great to see them again, although we didn't get as many chances as we did in Samos to chat to them. 

I lead two ski guiding groups this week, which was great! One of them wasn't really much of a guide as Phil, our ski guide, said his and my group were going to get to La Folie Douce for about half two. So I literally just skiied there, boogied away for an hour and a half, then skiied them back! My other ski guide group was great though because there were only three of them, all very beginner, but I took them across to Meribel and then we even did two reds! It was great to see them progress! 

One of the guests this week had a bit of difficulty settling in which was unfortunate. He didn't like his initial room, so he moved but then moved again because that was near the bar so loud at night, and then one night he actually moved his mattress into the dining room to sleep in there. He broke his wrist on Tuesday and so went home after that, which was a great shame.

I was assistant chef on Thursday. I think it will probably be for the last time. I made an amazing chocolate covered flapjack for afternoon tea! However, for dinner (Savoy sausages and creamed potatoes a.k.a. bangers 'n' mash) Xander asked me to get the sausages out from the fridge and I SWEAR he said to get two bags. So we put them in the oven and everything, and then we got to the last ten guests, we only had ten sausages left (we serve two each) so Xander was like "You HAVE to be kidding me!"... turns out he said "Get all the sausages, there'll probably only be two bags". Luckily my Sticky Toffee Pudding redeemed the situation.

This week is apparently Scottish half term because ALL our guests, bar three elderly people, are from Scotland! We have 7 younger children this week, which means hard work! We haven't had to do child supervision yet, but this week parents have requested it! Two of the children are really young and pretty sweet! Although their room is opposite ours and their Dad says "Do you have a lock on your door?" and we said "No." His response "Ah..." So fun fun fun this week! They do seem very nice though! 

I really don't think some of you guys have been taking notice of my prayer requests because it STILL hasn't snowed! Amazingly, the snow has still been alright but today it was icy. The good news is that it's forecasted to snow for four days straight this week! Let's just hope it does! 

French half term also began this week and lasts until the end of February, so next week is going to be full of joy and laughter on the slopes -_-

My injuries - my shin and other leg are fine now, but my right knee hurts! Think it's from dancing at La Folie Douce...

So yeah, Hermione going away! A little weird without her, but everything ran smoothly! She says she's probably even more indecisive about it now but got a lot of her friends' opinions about it which she noted down! 

Prayer points:
- For the snow to come
- Healing of my knee
- Sanity and energy for this week
- Relaxing holiday for the parents
- We have a non-Christian this week, so prayer that she might get an insight into our faith

Adios! x

 

5th February

Hey guys,

Man this week has gone so quickly, it's crazy! This past week has been so nice because we only had twenty guests! Pretty much all of them were very nice too, but one of the guests was a bit odd. He said everything in a matter-of-fact or "You're asking a stupid question" sort of tone! But he meant well. There were three guests who were in Samos in September, so it was really nice to see them again! 

Last Sunday we had Burger Sunday with the Meribel guys, which was really good fun, even though they were twenty minutes late! Tomorrow we're having Pizza Sunday with them again in the restaurant outside our chalet! 

On Monday I received an offer for Medicine at Southampton University and I am ecstatic about it! I think it's where I want to go, but it's a conditional offer  so hopefully I'll get that A in my resit! It was quite funny because I was on afternoon tea at the time and my iPod was plugged into the HiFi system and then my iPod made the noise it makes when it receives an email. So I went to check it out and saw it was an email from UCAS saying that my status on UCAS Track had changed. My initial thought was "Oh great, Sheffield have rejected me" because at my interview UEA and Glasgow said they wouldn't let me know until March/April, and then Southampton also said they'd let me know between Feb-April (by this time it was still Jan), but I was pleasantly surprised when I logged on to see that it was an offer from Soton! So I threw my fist in the air and let out a "woop"! Tom also received an offer that day from UEA to read History combined with International Relations, so Monday was a very good day! He really wants to go to Belfast though, but he's not heard back from them yet.

Wednesday night I went over to Meribel, which was very nice! Although both Lizzie and Nick had forgotten I was coming, and after texting them at about 3 in the afternoon to find out where they were so that I could meet them and then go to the chalet with them, they didn't reply! So, I had to venture up the hill, still in my ski boots without the foggiest idea where I was going! Eventually Nick picked up his phone and gave me directions... which turned out to be wrong! He said turn right at the bins... turns out it was the second set of bins and not the first -_- Anyway, I got there in the end, and the cup of tea was very appealing! Their chalet was nice, but I think I prefer us! The fact that ours is ski-in ski-out makes it much less effort! The general layout of rooms in their chalet is bigger, but ours also has a wooden interior which gives it that traditional feel! It was nice to have my own room in their chalet too! I was in a room on their staff floor, which had no windows! I loved not having windows because it meant that I didn't wake up from the light in the morning! Although I still woke up naturally at half nine, which was rather tedious! Anyway, the next day I had a nice day skiing by myself. Yes I was a bit of a loner, but it's so hard to get alone time in our chalet seeing as I'm sharing a room with three other guys, so it was much appreciated! I also had a good catch up with Nick before I left. It was great because we hadn't had a proper chat in ages, or ever even! But yeah we were letting each other know how the season is going for both of us, our spiritual lives, and what we wanted prayer for!

Two guest accidents this week, and I think our only ones so far! So on Wednesday one of our guests, from what I can make out, just blacked out on the slope and banged her head and then became concuss. She's now got a black eye, and two cuts on her face. Another guest, on Thursday, fell, broke and dislocated her shoulder. She was in Meribel at the time so she got taken to the hospital or medical centre in Meribel and had an operation on her shoulder that night. Her husband spoke to the doctors and she was discharged today so they were able to make their way back the way they'd planned and booked, which is good. 

Our ministry leader and his wife this week seems were very nice! They were young too, which was nice. They're also here next week so it'll be good to continue building up a relationship with them! 

This week is 20s and 30s week, so it's going to be pretty full on! We're pretty much full as well (36 guests) so yeah, back to late nights in potwash! Three guests who were there for the 20s and 30s week in Samos are also coming this week, so that will be nice to see them again! An early start this morning, but we only had five guests arrive on the early morning Eurostar, so it wasn't too full on at half six for breakfast! It's been quite nice with arrivals today because they've all been spread out - five at half six, some more at about half twelve, half three, seven and then ten! Em, Xander, Tom, Phil and I made use of the empty drives to do ice clearance... it was so satisfying when big chunks of ice broke apart! But I now have blisters, yay! 

My wisdom teeth have been killing me this week! I was on ibuprofen to numb the pain, but now the pain isn't that bad. My right shin has started hurting from pushing my leg right up against my boot and my left leg has started hurting from a failed jump I think (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuOzA6wniOw). I checked out some ski boots in the ski shop just above us, and they're niiiiiice! €249 which isn't that bad for boots, but Hermione said that one afternoon she's going to drive down to Bourg St Maurice to look for boots because it'll probably be cheaper down there. 

On the subject of Hermione, she's going home on Tuesday until Thursday because Ben Turner has offered her a long term job contract with Richmond, but she didn't think she could make a valid decision while she's out here and not at home where she'll be with the things and people she'll be leaving behind. So Ben said she can go home to think about it. So on Tuesday she's leaving and will be coming back on Thursday. Em will be working as the manager, Robin ass. manager and then our ministry leader and his wife will be helping out too (they've done a few seasons with Richmond before). I asked Em last week how she was feeling about it and she said she wasn't too worried about it because of how strong a team we are, but the thing she is worried about it the work because she wasn't too sure exactly what Hermione did in terms of the accounts and everything, but I think she's spoken to her about that now. 

Prayer points: 
- The knowledge of whether Southampton is the place where I should be going or not, although at the moment I don't have any offers for medicine!
- That this week wouldn't be too tiring for us, physically and mentally
- Group unity
- A painless journey for the guest who broke her arm
- That Hermione can know what the best decision to make about this job is
- For Em and Robin to stay on top of it while Hermione is away
- I'm doing this week's morning thoughts, so knowing what to speak about

Will out!

 

 

29th January

Hello! 

Sorry you have to endure ANOTHER update email with little time between the last! 

So I think I explained to you that all our guests from the week just gone were all part of one big group, the Keith Wilby group. Whilst it was great fun and there was a lot of banter, it was extremely tiring too! We had about 30 guests in total, but because they were all together they all woke up and had breakfast at the same time. It did mean that we got breakfast done with straight away, but it meant it was pretty manic trying to serve breakfast, clear crockery, and replenish food at the breakfast table all at once !

Dinner also took forever because they had "The Hat Nominations". Basically, one of the members in group knitted a hat (a pretty amazing hat to be honest!) that had rainbow kind of colours and made to look like a chicken's face at the front. So each night they would nominate each other for anything that happened during the day, e.g. wipeouts, getting lost, stating the obvious etc. And then the nominee that received the loudest cheer would have to wear the hat all day for the next day. Now this took a long time! Dinner normally finishes by about 21:15, and then we begin to wipe down tables and set up for breakfast, but with this group dinner didn't finish until about 21:45 and they then hung around for ages talking and looking at photos. So we didn't usually finish until about 22:30!

Tom got awarded the hat on the Thursday night because, when we were coming in from skiing, Tom and I were walking back to the chalet and we got to an icy bit on the track. So I took it slow, as I almost slipped there the day before, but all of a sudden I was down! What was it? Tom slipped on the ice taking me out! This was in full view of the guests who were also walking back at the same time! Part of the nomination rules is "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story", so, when Tom got nominated, the story was that he deliberately took me out, as well as two French people and a dog! 

I think this year was the first year that I have ever celebrated burns night! And also the first time I had had haggis, although admittedly it didn't have the stomach lining or heart etc! But it was good! On the Monday night, one of the Scottish guests had a little contest where four people had to dress up, out of items provided, to look like a true Scotsman, and then do their best imitation of a bagpipe whilst leading the haggis bearer! this was done to decide who would lead the haggis procession on Burns' night. I happened to be in potwash on the  Monday night listening to music, and I was also nominated! The guests hustled me out of my lair, and I had NO CLUE what was going on! Anyway, I got dressed up and it was quite good fun! Picture attached.

Eileen, Richmond's photographer, was out again this week! So we had some more team photos which was great fun! I'll attach a good photo of that too! 

 

This week we have twenty guests! It's so nice! Three of the guests also happened to be in Samos for my very first week back in September, which is great! Two of them are friends of Hermione! There's quite a mix of ages (I think our eldest guest is 85!) but at dinner tonight everyone seemed to be mingling and getting to know each other, which is great! 

Between our chalet and the Meribel chalet, we're taking it in turns to have a "sleepover" at each other's chalets! So the night before our day off we will eat in the other chalet, sleep there (and obviously wake up...) and then have our day off the following day! My day off this week coming is on Thursday, so on Wednesday night I will be over there, which should be good! I have got it so good actually - On Wednesday I'm Housekeeper 3 (the one that does potwash), which means that I get to wake up at nine o'clock, clean rooms, then ski and not have to do afternoon tea or potwash! I'm VERY excited about this! 

Right I'm really tired as I had to wake up at 05:15 this morning, so I'm going to bed! God bless and have a great week! 

Prayer points:
- More snow
- Guest unity
- The chance to really get to know each guest individually and meet their needs and expectations
- To carry on helping each other out as a team and looking out for each other
- One of the guests' dad was meant to come out with him, but his mum's ill so the son is just here by himself. Pray his mum gets better and that this guest can enjoy his week
- To carry on wanting to work to provide excellence and quality whilst serving and worshipping God through it.

 

 

26th January

Hey guys, sorry it's a little late!

So I'm now back in my small bedroom in Chalet Des Neiges, Reberty, France! It's nice to be back :) Yes mum and dad it was nice to see you too, and also to sleep in my double bed again! 

My journey back on Tuesday morning was long and tedious! After waking up at 04:15 on Tuesday, leaving at 05:00 and then getting my train at 06:15, I arrived into Geneva Airport at about 09:30 and then had four hours to wait before my flight! So I had a Mocha Frappucino in Starbucks and read my book, and it actually went quite quickly before my flight! Landed at about 14:30 English time and then realised I was a little overly cautious when booking my train back, which was at 18:00! So I rang one of my best friends from home who's at uni there and I met up with him! Almost got beaten up by a local in the process who'd asked if he could borrow £1, to which I responded "Sorry, I've come straight from France and only have Euros!" and his reply? "Can I at least have some Euros then?!" so I gave him two! 

Anyway, got home safe and sound and I opened my Christmas presents! That was very nice! I also got my new slippers, as my old ones had been destroyed and also smelled REALLY badly! And I got to sleep in my double bed, aw yeah! 

Then had to be up at seven the next day to get to Norwhich -_- But it wasn't that bad because it was effectively 8 in French time! So we left, then I chilled at Dad's work for a bit and then we went for the interview. So I got there and then there were 6 other people in my interview block. When the time came a woman showed us to where the interview was to be held, and then just before she goes "The interview is done in an OSCE style. There will be seven stations and you will spend five minutes at each station. It's a bit like speed dating..." so after that I just thought "Great... my interview is running like a speed dating service"! My first question was just a nightmare. It was along the lines of "Dave has had diabetes for ten years. Some research has shown that smoothies made with blueberries makes insulin more sensitive than smoothies made without blueberries. Volunteers are currently being tested on drinking the smoothy twice a day for six weeks. Dave wants to know whether drinking the smoothy at breakfast will make his diabetes better. Raise the issues and give your advice" So I just had no idea what it was asking me! Was it saying that Dave was going to drink it once a day, or was that the time he'd drink the first one? So I had to ask the interviewer to rephrase it, which took about two minutes so I only really had three minutes to give an answer! So that kind of made the rest of the interview seem as if it went badly! I didn't like the OSCE style because I didn't feel that five minutes was long enough for the interviewer to really get to know what I'm like! But hey ho, I find out in March! 

The exam the next day went pretty well! I then went to visit my teachers which was really nice! I also had a much needed haircut! 

So on the Friday I woke up late, and then got on a train to Leeds to see my aunt and uncle because I flew from Leeds Airport the next day! Really nice to see them and also their new house! 

Oh Minty's birthday! That was last Monday and was great fun! We had our ski guide training in the morning and then we were Meribel and at about half twelve, Danny says "Now as it's someone's birthday, we're going to have lunch in Meribel with everyone!" So we went to this Taverna and met up with the Meribel crew! So good to see them! And good value as well! €10 for a burger, chips and a pint! Well, it's good value for the Alps! 

Hit the park on Sunday! That was fun! Me, Xander and our ministry leader Fred! Good fun and we got some good snaps! And I led my first ski guide group yesterday, which was good! They were veerrrrrrryyyyy slow and took a while to heed my safety instructions, but it went well and they said they enjoyed themselves! 

Anyway, this week we have the Keith Wilby group, which has been hyped up for a while! It looks like it's going to be a fun week! It will be very tiring though... they're the kind of group that are all up for breakfast at 8 and then stay at dinner until half ten -_-

Adios! 

 

 

Prayer requests:
- Continued safety on the slopes
- Energy
- To meet the expectations of the group
- Witnessing to the other seasonnaires

 

 

16th January

Hey guys,

This week's guests have been really nice! There were a couple of guests that really made it for us this week! Oh and for those of you that used to go to St Helens, Helen Tucker was a guest last week! She knew of my parents, but Rupert, she said she was good friends with you! It was so good to be down to half the number of guests too! Pot wash was a dream! This week we have about 26 guests. 

On Wednesday we had an awesome team day! We did jobs in the morning, as standard, and then in the avo we went for a team ski which was great, and then we went to La Folie Douce, the highest bar in the world! Their motto is "Party on top of the world"! It was so much fun! There was a uni trip here as well last week, so it was packed! The guys from Meribel came over too, which was nice! Oh and one thing I really need to mention; Minty fell off the chair lift! FUNNIEST THING EVER! Before you worry about her, it was as we were getting on the lift, it wasn't half way along or anything! So it was a four-man chair and me, Tom, Jenny and Minty were getting on. Now for some reason, Jenny sat in the middle of two seats, which caused Minty to sit on Jenny's lap and then fall off! So it was Jenny's fault, but it was so funny!  

Today and tomorrow we begin our ski guide training! VERY exciting! Danny, our ski guide, leaves on Saturday. We've really got on well with him and it will be sad to see him go! Our new ski guide arrived yesterday and he seems very nice too! Quite funny because it turns out he was working in the same village that my grandparents in Devon live! 

It's Minty's birthday tomorrow so that will be good! We all chipped in to buy her some Skull Candy headphones because her old headphones broke. When I went to get them, it turned out I got a 10% seasonnaire discount! Score! There are SO many perks of being a seasonnaire! 

We finally got some more snow! It was great, it snowed heavily for about two days! Unfortunately, the temperature has got higher again though so it's got a bit icy! I think it's meant to snow again on Friday or something.

Last week I received an unconditional offer from Leeds University to study Pharmacology, so my backup is secured! I'm going to uni next year, yay! I also received some news from Sheffield Uni too. Some time last week I emailed Sheffield asking them if they could look at my application now to decide whether or not they want to interview me so that I could be interviewed when I come home. They replied and said that at the moment they're interviewing people with a UKCAT score of 2900 and above, and that they needed to monitor the interview to place ratio before they would consider lowering the score. So I looked at my UCAS form to see what I got... I got 2850 -_- But it's kind of reassuring because the night before, Tom, Xander and I were praying that God would give me and Tom clarity over where he wants us to go! So I guess Sheffield may not be where I should be going! 

Bright and early Tuesday morning I leave to come back to England, you lucky people! My train from Moutiers is at 06:15, so that means leaving the chalet at about 05:30 - fun times! It was quite funny because before I booked the train I asked Hermione whether that was OK and she said she was willing to take me. I had my one-to-one with her last week and she asked me to remind her what time my train was, and I said "Six fifteen". Hermione: "PM?", Me: "No am... I did ask you whether that would be ok..." Hermione: "Did you?!" Me: "Yep!"! And my flight from Geneva is about half twelve. So yeah, just to remind you all what I'm going back for, my interview at UEA is at 13:30 on Wednesday and my Chemistry AS resit is on Thursday at 13:30. I am SO excited about being in my own bed, let alone a double bed again. Mum & Dad please remind Matt that he's going to be kicked out of my room for those days so that he doesn't kick up a fuss when I'm back :) And then I'm flying back to France on Saturday morning.

 

OK I think that's all! 

Prayer points:
- Safe journey home on Tuesday
- The burden of work isn't too great for the rest of the team without me
- Group unity (there are a group of eleven here and also two individual people here who came by themselves)
- My interview goes OK 
- My exam goes OK
- Ski guiding training is fun and we retain what we learn
- Safe journey home for Danny

 

 

9th January

Hey gang,

Yesterday was yet another change over day, woo! It wasn't as tiring as previous ones though so that was OK! 

Last week was been quite strange having the guests here for only five days! It was difficult to get to know them and I didn't have a day off during there stay so I couldn't eat dinner with them either! They were a great group though and really servant-hearted! A few of them helped us out with drying up in the bar even though we'd told them not to do it! it was very different to the previous two weeks though because the guests were families, but families with (except for one anomaly) older children in there twenties. 

This week we are down to eighteen guests! It's very strange having gone from a full chalet (37 guests) for the past three weeks down to only half that number! it makes jobs a lot easier though, ESPECIALLY pot wash! I was on pot wash last night with Minty and there were actually times where we had no washing to do! We can pretty much fit in all there main course plates, starter plates and dessert bowls in the dish washer! And good news, I'm getting faster at it! We see this week as a great opportunity to get to know each guests really well and make sure there expectations are met! Not that we don't meet them anyway...

We received an email from HQ the other day with some extracts of guests' feedback and that was so reassuring to here! On our feedback forms as well, the only negative comments have really just been a comment on the size of the rooms, which isn't in our control! Two of the families this week also wrote us a card with their personal thanks on it. It's little things like that that really make you realise you are doing a good job! 

Being assistant chef was good but I was definitely given the short straw! So that day around 20 guests ordered packed lunches, whereas for the rest of the week there were only around 8; I had to do the shopping trip, which actually wasn't too bad (except for picking up a box of coke someone had been sick all over!); and then straight from shopping straight to work getting everything ready for the meal! Apparently my Upside-down Pineapple Cake was mean, which is good news! 

So we had our first major staff incident this week! Mike, our youth minister, came out second week in and this past week was his third week with us. He came a complete beginner at skiing, but now he's not bad! Anyway, he came skiing with me and Tom that day and we went up quite high. On the gondola up he said "I'm not going to lie, I'm quite nervous about this" but when he got to the top he was fine. So we set off skiing, Tom first followed by me and then Mike. I skiied for about 100 metres and decided to stop to wait for Mike. After a minute I decided he must've skiied in front of me without me noticing and be with Tom. I skiied on and got to Tom. No sign of Mike! So we waited a little longer and still nothing! We then prayed he was OK. I could then see a ski instructor and her class coming down so I signalled her to come over and asked her if she'd seen a skiier with brown salopettes and a black jacket. Her response: "Ah yes, ee dislocated 'is shouldeurgh and ze piste patrol are on there way" great! So Tom and I dug out two holes for us to sit in and shelter ourselves from the wind while we waited for him! A few minutes later along came the piste patrol with the body bag Mike was in! So we skiied down with him to the medical centre and he had dislocated his shoulder. the irony is that another conversation we'd had in the gondola on the way up was that none of us had broken a bone or dislocated anything! God has a sense of humour eh! 

Fortunately that was Mike's second to last day so he isn't hanging around the chalet doing nothing all day! 

It's my day off tomorrow (Monday), yay! Having spent my last two days off skiing with the Sachaks, I haven't had a chance to lie in for a while! So tomorrow the plan is to wake up whenever (although sharing a room with three other guys, that seems unlikely!), go skiing depending on the weather, lunch, and then more skiing! 

So bookings for the summer are now going, so get on it guys! Oh and that reminds me, on really quiet weeks here, we can offer discounted rates for our family and friends! The rate is £50 per night per person, but that's excluding transfers, ski hire and lift passes. But still, if you fancy it, let me know! 

I think that's all! Until next week!

Prayer points: 
- I can get stuck into interview prep for my interview at UEA on the 19th
- We can really get to know the guests this week and meet their needs
- More energy
- A well rested day off
- Tom's gradma's ill
- A speedy healing of Mike's shoulder

 

 

3rd January 2011

Good evening,

So, tomorrow I will have been here a month! Crazy days! 

This week has been SO GOOD! All the guests got on so well with each other and so did we! The guests were just brilliant and it was so hard to say goodbye to them today! I feel sorry for this week's guests as we compare them to last week's in our head. Today I had to really remember what Sam Hudson, the Samos manager, told us while we were there - "Don't let that feeling stop". Yes it puts us down for a whole day, but it means that we've really got to get to know the guests! I hope I feel like this next week, and for the rest of my year, too.

Oh, and happy new year guys! I hope you enjoyed yourselves doing whatever you did at New Year's!

In the evening there was a torch lit descent put on by the ESF instructors in La Croisette (about 200m down from us)... but I had to set up for dinner. After dinner we had our ministry and then played some games. At about 11.45 we had champagne. As soon as it hit midnight I pretty much rang my mum and dad! Although I didn't talk to them for too long because we then began to sing Auld Lang Syne (correct spelling?!). It was quite funny because at about 12.15 almost all the adults left for bed but all the 'young people' stayed up, and the reason why? Well it wasn't technically New Years in England yet! So we had to wait until one before they'd go to bed. So we didn't get to sleep until about 1.45 and then had to wake up at 7.30... fun times! 

One of the guests I already knew because he went to Porthpean with me, which was really cool! It was great to catch up with him. Em's (my assistant manager) boyfriend came on holiday this week, but not with Richmond. He did the gap year last year so it was good to see him again. His sister also went on Porthpean and I hadn't seen her for around 4 years, so that was nice! 

It was quite funny this week because we discovered that we had a post box, which had accumulated a month's worth of post! So when we got out the letters I had a few Christmas presents! I was very excited! 

Oh, I feel the need to tell you this, I can now just about do a 180, which I'm pretty proud about! I can also do grabs now! 

Something I've been meaning to tell you for a couple of weeks is about how we are as a team! I LOVE MY TEAM! We get on so well and we're really close! If one of us needs a hand with their jobs then we'll help each other out. Em and Hermione are amazing and they know how to be a friend as well as a manager. I've been very fortunate with my managers so far! Tom and I are also becoming pretty good friends now.

I met up with my friends, the Sachaks, twice this week! We had private lessons both times with instructors they've been having for about 12 years or something! I want to do paragliding on my birthday and when I was waiting for the Sachaks at the top of a lift, I came across a bloke that does paragliding trips for €70 including photos. I then mentioned it on the lift when I met up with them, and their instructor was like "Ah that one is not very long because they go straight down to Mottaret, but if you do it with me then I can do it cheaper and for longer! We start at the top and we finish at the top!" so that's all very exciting! I spoke to mum and dad earlier today and mum got a bit worried about it! She said she wished I didn't tell her! Hah! 

I'm assistant chef tomorrow and I think we're going shopping... yay -_- another day of no skiing. This week's guests are only here until Saturday as well, which means two change over days this week, and so three days without skiing! 

Ok I think that's everything! Have a good week! 

Prayer points:
- More snow
- We treat this week's guests just like we did with last week's

 

27th December

Hey guys,

I am writing to you straight from pot wash so please excuse any grammatical/spelling mistakes, or anything that doesn't make sense! 

So Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a good one! It was really weird but good fun here! On Christmas Eve we sang carols, and then as staff we all went out to the local bar and had a couple of beers. On Christmas morning everything was chilled out and guests woke up later for breakfast so it worked out we were kinda all eating at the same time! Secret Santa was fun too; I bought Jenny a photo frame with skis on and a photo of the team! Slight incident whilst wrapping it though - I flipped up the frame quickly and the glass panel flew out and smashed on the floor! It was very film-like and it happened in slow motion. Anyway, it looked good without the glass so that's ok! I got a pen knife with Les Menuires engraved on the side! 

I felt a little homesick on Christmas Day as all my relatives were at my grandparents' this year, so I missed out on seeing them! But I rang them and they put me on loud speaker, which was nice! Then spoke to my parents on Skype! 

This week the guests have been really nice!

I've discovered that I am really no good at pot wash this week. One night I was in there until half eleven and then had to get up for half seven the next morning. That was not a good day! Think I'm getting better at it though, but we'll see! It's ridiculously hot in the pot wash room, I drip in a mixture of sweat and steam from the sink. Not cool.

There were a family with some children my age-ish (20 and 19) so they were nice to hang out with! Unfortunately, due to the snow in England, a group of 8 couldn't get here last week, which was a huge shame because they'd been out in Samos this summer and were apparently really cool and nice! 

Oh that reminds me, bookings for next summer open on January 2nd so you should all book to come and see me in Samos then! Here's the website! http://richmond-holidays.com/summer-2011/samos-2011/hotel

On Thursday night and all day Christmas Day we had snow! About two feet or so in total! Boxing Day was SO good because the sky was blue, whereas it had been cloudy all week and so the visibility of the snow was poor! Anyway, Xander, Robin, Em and I went off-piste and the powder was just amazing! So nice to ski in! 

This week's guests arrived all in one bulk! We have a full chalet this week with 34 guests I think? Three of the guys I know from Porthpean/Morfa Bay! For those of you that go, Ali, Rob and Simon Pepper! Nice to see them again! We have 20 under 20-year-olds so this week should be good! 

Tomorrow is my day off and I'm going to ski with my sister's godmother's family (the Sachaks) who are out in Courcheval this week, so that should be nice! 

I had a free beginner's snowboarding lesson this week, which was good but frustrating! I can now turn on a snowboard, woo! I still prefer skiing though! 

Right, I think that's about all I have to update you on now I'm afraid! More next week! Oh wait, sorry Sam and Lex about the cricket ;)

Prayer requests:
- More energy
- We can cope with our jobs with a full chalet
- Victoria doesn't get on our nerves too much!

 

 

18th December

Hey guys,

So our first week of guests have almost all left! It's weird how different the interaction with guests is to how it was in Samos. As we are working in the evenings, except for our day off, we don't get to sit with the guests at dinner, which is a shame because it is nice to get to know them! One of the guests this week was SUCH a legend! He's called Andy, maybe late twenties, and he's Irish! He has to be the most genuine guy I've ever met! He was so funny but also so generous! He bought the ski guide lunch twice this week, and also offered another time, and last night as a celebration for the week, we went to the local bar to have a drink. Andy bought me, Tom, Xander and Minty a drink, and when a pint of beer costs €4 each, it all adds up! 

The work hasn't been too bad, but I HATE potwash! I find the fact that I can't sing along to my music because the guests would here quite annoying, because that's what I do at home, as I'm sure my family will tell you! I think the worst thing about it is that I'm quite slow at it so it takes me ages to get it all done! I'm sure I'll get faster the more  I do it! I really enjoy being Maitre D' though, that is VERY exciting... well it's quite fun balancing three plates on two hands! 

The hot tubs and sauna here are amazing! On Sunday it was my day off, and at 12 o'clock I stopped on the piste by the chalet (because we're a ski-in ski-out chalet, ohhhh yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!) to check the time to see whether it was lunch time or not, and I just heard the girls laughing. I thought they were on the balcony, so I got al ittle closer to get in view of the balcony but no one was there! I then saw them all getting into the outdoor hot tub! So I skiied onto the terrace, took my skiis off, went to my room, got into my swimming shorts and went into the hot tub! It was so good! One other night this week after work, Tom, Minty, Jenny and I went into the outdoor hot tub and it was a clear night, so you could see the stars and we also saw a few shooting stars! The funniest thing about it was the fact that if you got our hair wet, after a few minutes the water on the hair froze! 

In terms of work, waking up varies on what housekeeper jobs I'm doing for the day. Housekeeper 1 is on early breakfast, so has to get up to get breakfast ready for 8, but you can get most of it ready the night before. After that they have to clean the dining room and fire place, clean the boot room, and then in the evening, is Maitre D' and then after dinner, set up for breakfast. 
Housekeeper 2 has to be ready to work for 8 and helps serve breakfast, but mainly does potwash. After that, cleaning rooms and then in the evening, second server and running ents. 
Housekeeper 3 doesn't have to appear from their lair until 9, which is amazing! However, HK3 then has to clean rooms, clean the lounge, then in the afternoon runs afternoon tea, then has to go to ministry, and then does potwash for the main meal! It's pretty full on! 
Last week we were finishing our morning jobs at about 12, then having lunch followed by skiing. So we were getting about 3, 3 1/2 hours skiing every day. This week may be a bit longer because all the rooms are occupied... I just hope the guests put the "I don't want my room cleaning today please" sign up! 

One day before the guests arrived last week, we went out to the opening of this bar. As seasonaires we also get discounted prices on drinks, but it's still extortionate! It was really nice and all the other seasonaires were there too! One guy, Henry, came to our table and was chatting up the girls. It came out fairly quickly in conversation that we are working for a Christian holiday company and so we are Christians. He had the funniest presumptions of us EVER! He thought that we weren't allowed to drink, he wondered if we had to pass a test on how Christian we were to be able to work for Richmond, and then went on to tell us how he went to a C of E school! Minty and Jenny went out one night this week, and Henry was there again. He then went on to introduce them to his friends as "The Christians"... so at least it's out there early I guess!  

Over night on Thursday we had a huge dumping of snow! We had about 2' which made yesterday's skiing very interesting! It was essentially off-piste on the piste because it hadn't been piste bashed! I was only out for an hour because I had to shovel the snow from the drive, balconies and terraces, but an hour was all I needed! I am very much looking forward to it tomorrow though! 

We've established a Secret Santa amongst staff and I've got Jen Babb... I've got no idea what to get her, so any ideas would be much appreciated! We have a €10 limit.

So we've had new guests arrive today. This week is funny transfer wise, because we've had guests arrive today, guests arriving tomorrow, and guests arriving on Monday! All because Christmas is on a Saturday this year! Anyway, the guests that have arrived seem really nice! One family have a 20 year old daughter, a 19 year old son, and a 14 year old son. They're really nice and are very talkative! We have more teenagers yet to arrive as well I think! There were meant to be more guests arriving today, however, because apparently it's been snowing in England, some guests' flights have been cancelled! So hopefully they'll be arriving tomorrow or Monday! 

Wow sorry for the essay! I think that is all for now! I've attached a photo of (from left to right) me, Tom and Xander 

Prayer requests:
- I have cracking knuckles which are annoying me!
- That the guests whose flights have been cancelled can get here
- The work load isn't too great for us with three times as many guests
- Rest

 

 

9th December

Hey guys,

I'll put you in ease at mine first by letting you know that I got to Glasgow OK and managed to exchange bags with Dad! I feel my interview at Glasgow was alright as well, although it's hard to tell! Good news too - I have managed to rearrange my UEA interview to the day before my exam that I was having to come back to too, so that's handy! 

So, Saturday we all flew from Gatwick airport. My luggage was underweight, which was a huge relief, although the woman on check in told us that they weren't going to charge anyone for overweight luggage because of the snow! Oh well! Our plane was about an hour late which was annoying, but not too bad! We were then met by our manager at Geneva airport and drove to the chalet, which took about two and a half hours. 

Our assistant chef is a guy called Xander (short for Alexander) and he's 18, so it's great to have another guy my age here! He's sharing a room with me, Tom and Robin (we have bunk beds.) so there's a lot of laughs and banter in our room! 

Our chalet is SO nice! I've attached a few pictures below, so hopefully you can get a feel for what it is like here! The piste is literally about 10m away from our chalet, so you're pretty much on the piste from the door step!

On Sunday, Hermione, our manager, let us have a day to relax, which was nice, but we didn't have our ski passes so we couldn't go skiing. Instead, we drank A LOT of tea, played Monopoly, Ligretto, and went bum boarding! it was a lot of fun! 

On Monday we did maintenance around the chalet, and Tom and I put together four shelves and a table... I now have a massive blister on my thumb from it! In the evening we all watch Mr Bean's Holiday, which was fun! 

Tuesday we did cleaning in the chalet, so now I know how to clean sinks, showers, and la piece de resistance, toilets! It wasn't so bad actually! In the evening we had the Meribel crew come over for dinner, which was awesome because we hadn't seen the other guys since Saturday, which is a long time when you spent every day with them in Samos! We also had another English couple who are the managers of another ski company come over for drinks, they are really nice! 

Yesterday we went skiing! It was so good! Although it's been quite hot here (about 5C) so some snow has melted. It's supposed to drop by 15C tomorrow and snow, so that's good! A lot of lifts aren't open as well, so we were restricted as to where we could go, and it was cloudy so the light was pretty bad! But it was great to be back on the slopes again! My skis are amazing too! Normally, as a seasonaire, you get rubbish skis, but our rental company seem nice (the guys are called Frank and Alejandro!) and I asked them if I could have twin tips (where the ends go up on both ends, so you can ski backwards) and I got some! 

We've also set up some Christmas decorations in the chalet, so we're getting in the festive spirit now! We were blaring Christmas songs earlier! 
Today we did a lot more cleaning and preparing the rooms for our arrivals. I spent half a day cleaning the windows that look out onto the slopes! They look good but half a day is a really long time!

Slight problem though, my feet have really started smelling! Not sure why, but I've now put my slippers in the washing machine and hope that they get better!

I think that's about all I have to update you on for now, but I'll send another email next week when we're midway through the week of our first guests! 

Prayer requests:
- That we get everything done around the chalet to a really good standard before out guests arrive on Saturday
- That we can build up close relationships with other managers in our village and also our ski rental shop and that we can be a witness of our
- That we get a bit more snow for our first guests
- That my feet stop smelling!

God bless,

Will

 

 

1st December

Hello everyone,

I hope you've enjoyed your break from reading my emails, but now it all starts again!

So I've had six or seven weeks at home and I've been doing various things, but I've generally been quite bored! So on arriving back into England on the Monday I went straight to my friend's house in Woking until the Friday morning. From there my parents met me at Newark (an hour after my train got in!!) to take me to Devon for my grandparents' golden wedding anniversary. That was great fun; brilliant to be back with my family and also to see the Devonshire coastline! The following two weeks was horrible - I did 'proper' work in the accounts payable department of Lincoln Hospital... after three days I didn't want to go back! But at least I earned some money! The week after that, as part of the gap year programme, we had a Bible course in Kingston-upon-Thames. It was amazing - we learnt so much; Daniel living in a Pagan World, The Gospel, Essential Truths (i.e. The Bible, The Cross and The Holy Spirit), a Bible Overview and Galatians. On the Wednesday we had a conference where all the managers from the summer resorts gathered together and did presentations on the challenges of the summer and how they got on! It was so good to meet everyone who works for Richmond, and also to see our manager and his wife, Sam and Lex, for one last time! The house we stayed in was incredible! Five bedroom I think and it had four bathrooms! It was a dream house. And then the past three weeks have been a complete bore! I couldn't do any more work because they had no space for me, so I just slept in, watched 24 and played on the Playstation. Put it this way, one of the weeks I spent two days straight in my pyjamas. Thankfully this week has been a bit more exciting! At the weekend I met up with my adopted parents from Samos who live in Lincoln! We went to church and then ate lunch in a lovely restaurant! It was so nice to see them again and catch up! Yesterday (Tuesday) until today (Wednesday) I have been in Sheffield visiting some friends, which was great! Getting home was a nightmare though because of the snow!

I have an interview at Glasgow University this Friday so I'm leaving for there tomorrow (Thursday) and staying over at my friend's, so I'm quite scared and excited about that! I think I'm more scared about the train than the interview itself because all the timings have changed and services are delayed because of the snow! Returning home on Friday will be a mission as well! My interview is at 12:30 and I've been told will last for about 15 minutes. So I have a train at 14:00 booked, and for £3 extra I'm travelling first class! Amazing! Anyway, I'm travelling down to Chichester where Minty from gap yah lives, because our flight on Saturday morning is fairly early. But on the way, Dad, hopefully, will be meeting me at Newark Northgate (a stations close to home) on the platform with my luggage. If everything goes to plan I will give him my suit and overnight bag in exchange for my bags for the ski season. If it doesn't go to plan then I will be going to the French Alps with a suit and a ski jacket.

So this is all very exciting but has much potential to go wrong! And to make matters worse, Gatwick airport was closed today, so hopefully it'll be ok for Saturday!

As well as my interview in Glasgow, I was informed by the University of East Anglia on Tuesday that I have an interview n the 11th of January so that's quite exciting!

Hope you're all well!

Prayer Points:
- Safe travel to and from Glasgow on Thursday and Friday and that luggage exchange goes smoothly
- That my interview on Friday (at 12:30!) goes OK
- For safe flights on Saturday morning at 09:55
- That my luggage is under the 20kg limit!!

Anyway, that's me for now! I'll email next week when I've arrived and settled in!

Lots of love,

Will

 

 

17th October

Kalespera, 

Have the past six weeks really just happened? Where have they gone?! 

Yesterday (Thursday) we said farewell to our last guests of the season, all 9 of them, and now it's just us in the hotel! 

This week has been very different! From this week I have really appreciated the older generation more and been able to talk to them with more desire than before this week! It's been like having adopted grandmothers (all the guests this week were women), which means that so far on my gap year I have had adopted parents and adopted grandmas! My AG has told me that she's going to knit me a blue and grey bobble hat with Will stitched across the front for the ski season! 

On Sunday our regatta was so much fun but so different! We had a dry sailing race and the guests had to "Adopt an Intern"! Basically, we had 7 teams each with a wooden boat some of us had made with a race-course set up that had forty squares on. We had four rounds (Sweet round, General Knowledge round, Bible round, and a Pictionary round) where the first three rounds were out of ten. At the end of each round each team's boat moved the number of places of the answers they got right. When it came to the pictionary round, it was the first person to cross the finish line (the number forty) that won! I hope I haven't confused you with this... Anyway, the point is, Mary and I (team name The Exodus pt. II), came second! (Picture below)

Weather wise this week has been mixed - a few cold days but also a few very warm days! The cold and cloudy days I would describe as England in August, but the warm days probably England in June or July! Yesterday saw thunder and lighting which was very exciting, but Minty got very scared and spent all of it doing the work crouching close to the ground because apparently that makes you less likely to get struck... no one got struck anyway! 

In terms of work this week, only two of the guests wanted to use the waterfront, and even then they used it about twice, so we started packing down everything early! This involved bringing in the moorings, bringing in the weights of the moorings, packing and washing the boats/sails, packing the windsurf boards/sails, stripping the boards of its grip, and stripping "The Shack" of it's netting and metal frame leaving only the scaffolding behind! We finished today (Friday), which means that now we have two days to relax! 

Our assistant manager, Zoë, is driving, yes DRIVING, home tonight! She lives in Ireland and she says it should take her five days! It took her ten days to get out here because of the riots in Athens. I'd much rather take the plane any day! Anyway, it'll be sad to see her leave and then there will be only ten of us! 

Now that the restaurant staff have left, we have to prepare our own breakfast, lunches and dinners. The hotel have given us loads of beer and soft drinks that would just go out of date by next season, which is pretty awesome! Last night we eat out at a pretty good restaurant along the harbour front in Pythagorio and Sam Hudson, our manager, managed to haggle free garlic bread and six carafes of white wine! The evening was very enjoyable and filled with great conversation! We then went along to a creperie for dessert where Sam managed to haggle, once again, ten per cent of the price of our dessert! All in all, for eleven people, our meal cost €130 which I think is pretty exceptional! All of this was paid through our staff tips! Tonight we are ordering some pizzas, tomorrow I think is Gyros (pronounced Euro) night, which is a pork kebab with tzatsiki salad and chips in pita, and then who knows what on Sunday night! 

On Sunday I think the plan is to hire a mini bus and do a tour of the island! Should be pretty awesome, and hopefully the weather will hold up, but we'll see! 

The other day I managed to get my UCAS form sent off, finally! Such a relief to have it gone, but now it's time to wait! Let's hope I'm more successful than last year!

Wow I really can't believe that in three days I will be back in England! I love it so much out here with the rest of the staff, it's just amazing! I have to keep reminding myself that I still have another ten and a half months left of my gap year with Richmond, so it's not all over just yet! Sam and Lex, the manager and his wife, won't be returning here next year unfortunately, as they plan to start their family,

I just hope next year's manager will be just as good as Sam! 

Prayer points:
- A safe journey home to Ireland for Ireland, that there are no major delays which may affect her ferries home
- A safe journey home back to England for the rest of us on Monday. We leave the hotel at around 07:00 monday morning, have a seven hour stop over in Athens, and then, all being well, arrive back into Heathrow at 19:20
- Great weather for the next two days so that we can really relax after the hard work we've done
- Thanks for the end of a successful season
- My grandpa (the one from Devon) had a heart attack on Monday night; last I heard he is well and was awaiting tests and an angiogram
- That the farewell on Monday wouldn't be too difficult! 

Any way, I'll see some of you soon! 

Will

 

9th October 2010

Yo, 9 days until we're back in England, now that's a scary thought! 

Last week was pretty good! Very different in terms of guest unity, but still an enjoyable week! As I said, the photographer who takes photos for the Richmond brochure was out last week, so I'll attach a few she took onto this email! Ben and Clare really enjoyed there stay which is great news, but they were still pretty caught up with work! 

So, the end of the season is really showing now! This week we have 9 guests, which means there are more of us Richmond staff than there are guests! Only two of the guests want to use the waterfront as well, so this week is feeling very strange! We have started to begin to pack down our equipment now until we come back next year. The weather is so cold, well I say cold, I'm still wearing shorts in the day but I have to wear a hoody as well! It's around 23 apparently, but the wind is quite chilly and it's apparently feels around 29 in the wind. I am so grateful for buying my thermal rash vest! This week will also be used for us to develop our windsurfing/sailing. Yesterday I managed to get myself into the foot straps on my windsurf kit, and it felt awesome! Sam, the waterfront manager, said that my standard is almost there in terms of being able to instruct which is really encouraging to hear! 

I am writing to you today on my day off! Managed to get loads of sleep which was good, because Robin has left now and I was sharing a room with him, so I had no one fumbling about this morning whilst I was trying to sleep! Tom and I were really excited because we'd hired quad bikes, but when we got to the rental place the guy looked at our licenses and it turned out we had to be 21 to hire! Gutted! Anyway, this afternoon we cycled from the hotel to Pythagorio which took about half an hour, and we still have to cycle back! But we've just enjoyed a really really nice chocolate waffle each which we managed to haggle a euro off! 

One of the women here told me she'd knit me a bobble hat for the winter for me, how sweet of her! 

Our last four days without guests should be great! The fact that we're beginning to pack down now means that we'll have less to do towards the end, and I think Sam, resort manager (different to the Sam who is the waterfront manager!), is planning on hiring a bus for the day and we'll all do an island tour! All the restaurant staff are leaving on Thursday as well so we have to cater for ourselves until we leave. Richmond provide us with a budget for food, but the plan is to use the tips we have, combine it with the budget, and eat out every night! Finding open restaurants and tavernas will be a mission though because a lot of people have gone home for the end of the season now! On Thursday afternoon we had the afternoon off so I sat on the beach for a bit, but I was pretty much the only person there, it was all deserted! It's like a ghost town here now!

Jenny and Nick update: it's actually really annoying now. They're so sweet it's sickening. Understandably, Nick looks out for Jenny, but he's noticeably a lot nicer to her than he is to the other girls! It just makes me want to chunder everywhere! 

Prayer updates:
- High spirits are maintained for the last week despite the cold weather
- We can still work hard for our guests
- We can pack down efficiently and in good time
- My own personal prayer life still isn't very good, so prayer that I can spend time and also concentrate on it! 

That's all for now!

Will

 

 

Hello again!  2nd October 2010

It's amazing that each week I send an email to you so much has happened in between! Relationships have been built with guests, they go home, new guests arrive and the process starts all over again! It's strange that on a Thursday morning at 10:30 we say goodbye to almost all of the guests, go and clean some boats, and then at 13:00 go and greet new guests with the Richmond smile! 

So last week I mentioned that it was Creative Writing week and that the age of the guests had increased! Oh they were so nice, even if they did wear socks with their sandals! 

On Sunday the wind was unbelievable! It was on-shore wind as well, so the waves were big (for Samos)! Unfortunately it meant that we couldn't allow guests out on boats, but we were allowing them to go out on Kayaks. It also mean that the regatta was in the form of a table tennis tournament! By the way, I'm playing table tennis almost every day so think twice if you challenge me to a game when I get back! Anyway, on Sunday afternoon the waterfront was dead, so all of us staff took the kayaks out and went kayak surfing (picture attached!), which was so much fun! 

I mentioned last week that we were going to go Go-karting for Lizzie's birthday, but unfortunately it appears it's closed down for the season :( Instead we finished off the cheese and wine that guests didn't finish for the wine and cheese tasting that took place that night! I have never tasted such a good blue cheese in my life! 

Update on the love situation - Nick and Jenny have had a series of evenings after the entertainments where they have been down to the beach together. So now they have both declared their love for each other, so things are definitely looking up for them! Before the season had started, Nick, who's 27, was a bit down about the fact that he's not been with someone for ages and thought his time was running out! So he's a happy bear! We call him Brother Bear because he is literally a bear.

This week there are around 22 guests (we had around 28 guests last week) and the new ministers who will be with us until the last guests of the season leave. This week we also have Ben and Clare Turner (the couple who run Richmond Holidays!) on the guest list! Yesterday Ben had a lesson in windsurfing which was great to see and apparently he found it very enjoyable! It is photography week this week, and the photographer is also the person who takes the photos for the richmond brochures, which means there will be a series of photos appearing on facebook soonish that she has taken of us! 

Yesterday I spent two hours out on the water practicing my windsurfing, and I was taught the heli-tack (a fancy way of turning round basically)... it took me a fair few attempts to get it but I got there in the end! 

I've realised I've not really told you a lot about my role here - I work on the waterfront, which involves preparing any boats that guests may want to take out, going out on the safety boats to ensure guests are safe, and as a look out in the 'tower' to check that guests are within the sailing area and that they are safe. Next summer I will also be working as a windsurfing instructor! 

The island itself is two miles off the coast of Turkey, and we can see in the distance Patmos, where John wrote the Revelation! Our manager is such a great guy, and he is Australian which makes him ten times cooler! Unfortunately he and his wife (who is also here) won't be returning next summer, but I think Ben T is trying to persuade him to work here again next year! 

Anyway, I've attached some photos so you can see what's going on and what it's like here! Included is one of my foot when it swelled up! 

 

Prayer requests:
- more energy
- that Ben and Clare would have a good rest on their holiday here
- that the weather would brighten up a bit more for the guests!

Will

 

 

Hey everyone, 24th September 2010

Well this week that's just begun is Creative Writing week, how exciting... the average age has vertainly increased and the appearance of socks with sandals is more frequent! The guests are lovely though!

I said goodbye to my new parents on Thursday (sorry mum and dad!), they were lovely and the couple from Lincoln! On Tuesday we went to an outdoor cinema and saw the Mel Gibson film Edge of Darkness, and as I was looking where to sit, Carol says "Will, come and sit between Mum and Dad" and they also bought me a Coke :)

Man the wind on Tuesday and Wednesday was phenomenal; we couldn't let anyone out on Tuesday afternoon it was that bad! Fortunately I'd got a good hour's windsurfing in before it actually closed - awesome planing going on! Quite scary towards the end of the day though because Tom and Minty went to collect the sailing area buoys, but Tom's engine wouldn't work so he started drifting towards Turkey (which is 2 or 3 miles away), so Minty went to tow him back in. So she got to him and attached her powerboat to Tom's but then her powerboat wouldn't start, so they were both drifting to Turkey. We'd taken the third powerboat out of the water because it's the end of the season, so Sam (the waterfront manager) quickly jumped on a kayak and had to paddle all the way out to Tom and Minty. When he got there he managed to get one of the boats started and brought them both back in! Quite scary!

My foot, thankfully, is back to normal size now and I'm back at work!

Today had a day off and the wind was light so I decided to get out on the water and teach myself how to sail, since I won't be taught how to sail until next May/June after I've done my windsurfing instructor's course! Was very exciting and really enjoyed it (hope that puts a smile on your face Dad!)

Tomorrow (Saturday) is one of the girls' birthday, so that will be nice, and I think we're going out Go-Karting after the ents tomorrow night which should be fun!

Love interest is blooming, which is exciting! Nick has told us he likes Jenny, but apparently she's surprised he likes her? So I don't know what that means or what will happen... girls, eh!

So I think that's about all I have to update you on!

Prayer points:
- Safety for this week as the wind is meant to pick back up again
- An enjoyable day for Lizzie's birthday
- Energy
- I've not been sleeping well for the past two nights, so for a good night's sleep!
- Continue to build good friendships with everyone

 

Kalespara! (Greek - Meaning …Good evening (for after the sun has gone down) 17th Sept 2010

Another week has gone by already, crazy! Four weeks on Monday and I will be leaving here and returning to wet and cold England; now that is frightening!

Yesterday we said goodbye to another lot of guests, which was again very sad! Some of them had been here since we arrived and had really got to know them over the past two weeks! I can't remember if I told you, but the theme for the past two weeks has been 20s and 30s week, so we got on extremely well with the guests! They all loved it too - Wednesday nights are a celebration evening where we look back on photos on the week and award sailing certificates; this week about ten of the guests wrote their own lyrics to the tune of "Thank you for the music" by Abba, which was hilarious! This week is 30s, 40s and 50s week. There are around 28 guests this week which is more than the previous two weeks, and there is a definite difference between the group we've said goodbye to and the group that have just arrived, but so far I've got on with these guests, which is good!

Some of you may have known that my foot has swolen up! I noticed it on Sunday night and on Monday a small swelling appeared, but by Tuesday the whole foot had swolen up, so much so that you couldn't see or feel my ankles (no joke!). Unfortunately this has meant I have had to take two days off work to rest, which has been frustrating because I really enjoy working on the waterfront and being with the other staff and guests! Today I had an official day off (as well as Tuesday) which was nice as I have felt less guilty about not working! Since Wednesday I have been on antibiotics (Augmentin) taking three tablets a day. This morning when I woke up I noticed that there was no pain from my foot anymore and that the swelling has reduced, so now I can see my ankles! Hopefully I should be back at work tomorrow (Saturday) but we'll see what the boss says!

On Sunday we experienced some heavy rain! I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to go the six weeks without rain and just have beautiful weather and to return home to the wet and cold, but you can't always get what you ask for! It was very funny because communion had finished and then Sam, the waterfront manager, got up to give an announcement about the regatta when he looked up and just said "Flip!" immediately everyone turned round to see what he was looking at, and in the distance there are hills, except this time there weren't any hills as the rain was in front of it covering the view! Sure enough, the rain came but only lasted for around ten-fifteen minutes! It was nice because it meant that, as waterfront staff, we couldn't operate the waterfront and so had the morning and a bit of the afternoon off!

Prayer points:
- That my foot would heal and that I can get back to work
- That this week the guests really enjoy themselves
- For last week's guests, that they find going back to work OK and giving thanks for the time they have enjoyed
- For the ministry, that it would speak to the guests
- For David, this week's minister, that he would have the words to say
- For Godfilled conversations between staff, guests and hotel staff

Over and out!

Will

 

Hello one and all! 9th Sept 2010

So I am now a week into gap yah, and I am still loving it! Really really feeling at home with everyone and I love the job!

Our flight left Heathrow airport on Friday night at 23:00 (and was supposed to leave at 22:15!) and we arrived in Athens airport at around 04:15 (amazingly the same time we were meant to land anyway!) before boarding our connecting flight and departing Athens at 06:30 and arriving in Samos at around 07:30. Fortunately on Saturday morning we were allowed to sleep, and oh boy did we need it! In the afternoon we had an introduction to the waterfront and the type of work we'd be doing throughout the season.

Sunday was amazing as we had communion in the morning and then for the rest of the morning we had a regatta, which involved splitting into three groups and building a Pico (a type of boat). There was a safety boat on the water with stones labelled with different parts of the Pico and we had to paddle out on Kayaks to obtain these stones and then exchange them for parts of the Pico! Needless to say, my group won! It was a very special moment for me.

And then Monday and Tuesday I have been instructed to drive the powerboats and have now obtained my Level 2 in Powerboating, and so can now go out on safety - yesterday (Wednesday) I had to rescue a stranded windsurfer that had gotten too far down wind! I felt like a hero.

I really enjoy the Christian input of this gap year - every morning we have a staff bible study and then split off into twos or threes to pray for whatever, and then before and after that waterfront we pray for safety and to say thank you for the day. It's been great to worship God in this way. 

Today we said goodbye to guests and said hello to the new guests! It was very surreal because at 10:15, the majority of the guests left, with only four remaining. We were then on maintenance - washing the boats and sails with water to get rid of the salt water. We then saw a coach arrive at 13:15, sprant from the beach to the lobby of the hotel whilstp utting on our richmond polo tops, to then greet the guests and take their luggage to their rooms!

The guests from this week were so amazing and very hard to say goodbye to! This week and next is 20s-30s week (albeit with a few past that margin!!) and there are only around 15 guests, which is nice, as we have the opportunity to get to know all of the guests!

This week there is a couple from Lincoln (live in Navenby and go to TCM) which I was very excited about!

Getting very tired in the evenings and waking up in the mornings though!

So, for those that want to, prayer points:
- Energy!!
- Good conversations with the new guests, and that they'd feel very welcome
- Safety on the waterfront
- an easy transition from life in Samos to life in home for the staff and guests that left us today

Speak soon!

 

Hi everyone, 2nd Sept 2010

So I've just finished my first day of team training, and what a day it's been!
We started the morning at 9am by having a little bible study and prayer with all the staff before we got on with the day. Between 10-1 (with breaks!) a philosopher and bible college teacher at Oxford spoke to us about our year, forgiving each other, and our accountability with each other.

In the afternoon we split into two teams and prepared to give a welcome talk to each other (and to the boss!!). After that we had inflatables and competitions - bungee run, bouncy castle assault course, and bucking bronco!

This evening we all ate together and then after that we had a talk on customer service.

I'm really enjoying my time so far and we've all bonded really well! One of the girls is having doubts as to whether or not this is for her, however.

Tomorrow we have another full day of first aid training and some sort of RYA training, before our flight to Samos from Heathrow at 22:15.