Hi All - just a quick note to let you all know what I have been up to since I left UK.

I left on 11th Jan. very cold day but I had no idea what cold was or was going to be like! The flight was delayed by only 30 mins as we had ice on the wings (not a good announcement from the pilot in my mind as I'm not one for flying!!) Flight was pretty smooth and some how the pilot had managed to gain time and we were arriving at montreal airport 45 mins earlier than scheduled! pretty good!!!! I had managed to rope in a guy called Henry who is also on the trip to help carry my bags! Some people dont know how I managed it - personally I think it's because I'm small and he felt a bit sorry for me!
We were picked up at the airport by the Ski Le Gap team and 3 classic American school buses! That night was pretty weird as we were all still on UK time even though the majority of us did has a quick nap on the plane. We arrived at the chalet at around 7.30 / 8 pm (12.30 is uk time) Canada time so we were pretty tired. The night consisted of food, a quick intro into what was going to happen on Tuesday then back to our rooms to unpack! I think I hit the sack around 12pm which wasn't good for the jet lag but I think I was one of the early ones to go to bed!

Tuesday 12th - The Shopping Day. The 'regime' is pretty good - there is a rota and depending on what colour you are (Red or Blue) depends on what bus you get in the mornings to the mountain. I'm on Red floor (1st floor) so this week It has bee 'early' mornings. (But to be honest after the 6 months of work I have just done these times are lie ins!!!!!) Breakfast this week has been at 7.45 which is cool and the food is brilliant! Full cooked breakfast every morning and cereals, yoghurts, toast and pancakes. Then our bus is at 8.15 to the mountain to ski but today was different as some people didn't have any equipment (I kind of wish I didn't have any equipment as you will find out!) So my buying was pretty simple - I just needed a helmet, a balaclava, gloves and socks. We also went and had our photos taken for our lift passes - which we also get discount with as we are with the Gap! We met our mentor who they say will be our big brother / sister for the time we are here. My mentor is called Daryl - he's pretty cool but doesn't stop talking. It's quite funny! He took us round the villiage on the mountain - went into a sports bar and (as un-canadian as I could be as they all drink beer!) I had a fruit smoothy - it was delicious!
In my mentor group its full of guys and another girl Emily - so sweet! After a very cold day on the mountain (-15 what they call average! Crazy people!) we all came back to the chalet and found freshly baked cookies and milk waiting for us. This is a daily treat - very tasty - lets hope I dont get fat!!! After dinner everyone went to the bar onsite and mingled etc. even our mentors who gave us some free drinks tokens but to my dismay they were only for beer - so I put my thinking cap on and sold them to the boys for a cheaper price than what a normal beer would cost. This was tougher than I had anticipated as they just wanted to tokens for free. But there was one guy (the oldest one here 27 but there are alot of us oldies!!!) who has come from Australia and he bought them from me. Very kind!

Wednesday 13th Jan - Skiing Time!! Today was slightly warmer only -8! what a laugh! We have been split into groups and in that group we are just being assesed ready for the real skiing next week. In the morning I discovered I had been put in the wrong group and so whilst everyone was testing out new skis, me and Dan (who had bought skis with him like me but is a much better skier than me!) went down some easier roots and did some chilled skiing! Oncwe everyone had chosen their skis it was lunch time - my toes were frozen so I took my boots off at lunch and really relaxed. After lunch we had to go and get our photos taken for head shots (for the records and also for when we pass our exams) but as we were walking to the shop my boots were hurting my shins and I couldn't walk. I then went to the shop where we had all bought our other stuff and they told me the store in enland had given me boots 1 size too big. Cut a long story short I have to get some new boots. So wednesday afternoon I came back to the chalet in pain and tried to relax.

Thursday 14th - not such a good day. I went back to the boot store hoping my legs were a bit better ready to have a new boots fitting. They had put one aside that they thought would fit, which on the soul it did but my legs were still swollen and as they tried to do them up they could see I was in pain and have told me to wait until there is no swelling and the pain has gone. I came back to the chalet about 11am - had some lunch and cookies with the staff and hung out with them for a while. Went back to the room about 2pm and palyed around on the web and watched a movie and waited for the rest of my room mates to get back from the mountain. Then had some more (!!!!!) cookies at 4pm with everyone else. Chilled in the room with everyone until dinner then hit the bar as we were told there was going to be a pub quiz!!! It never happened!!!! But we all still had a good time in that bar as it was ladies night! so we had a small selection of drinks that were cheaper. At this point I thought I should pay Henry (the bag guy) back for carrying my bags. So for th whole night I 'bought' his drinks (only one and he payed the rest) so he would get cheaper drinks for the night!

Friday 15th - The worst day! Today I had no intention of going on the mountain as I was waiting for the swelling to go down ready to start again on Monday! But I was told to go to the doctors just to get it checked out. I went to the doctors expecting him to tell me to rest over the weekend and i'll be ready for monday but he told me I would need physio and a week off skiing. Not a very good start to the trip!!!! I was very upset and had to talk to mum and dad - get a bit of advice. Then spoke to the team and they have reasured me that I should be ready on wednesday and I could have private tuition to get back on the slopes! Tonight is mentor night so we are having dinner with our groups and then having a party! Good fun! Steak Night too for dinner yum yum yum!!!

Hope this kept you all busy. Lots of Love xxxxxxxxx