On my way down the mountain yesterday, the road was closed temporarily due to blizzard conditions and that made everyone skeptical about whether or not the Remarks would be open the following day.



It wasn't.  The official "Snow Day" was called at 8 a.m. today because of blizzard conditions and dangerous wind gusts.  Many staff, after hearing the news, headed directly to the bar to celebrate (as is tradition, apparently).  I headed to the Hilton and had two rooms cleaned by the time my head of department called me to tell me that we were going to do inventory in the store or "stocktake" as they call it here.

We drove up in the ute, fitted chains halfway up, and were almost blown off the beginners hill while hiking up to the base building.  Then we spent the afternoon counting, counting and counting some more.


Everyone is excited about the badly needed fresh snow!

In our Crew Handbooks, there is a section entitled, "Say What? - A quick guide to terminology."  Not only am I learning lots of fun and different slang and phrases from Kiwis and Aussies, but I'm also exposed to all the lingo and jargon that the serious shredders and carvers use.  Here's just a few (word for word from my handbook) of the terms that we are encouraged to memorize and use:

Traveling up the "magic carpet" at the Remarkables

Piste: A marked ski run or path down a mountain for skiing or snowboarding.  In North America this would be called a trail, a slope or a groomed run.  Advanced skiers and riders can travel "off-piste."

Cat: A snowcat is a tracked vehicle used for maintaining and preparing trails.  Also called a groomer.

Corduroy:  When a cat freshly grooms a trail it will leave a finely ridged surface which is called corduroy.  Corduroy is nice for laying out clean turns.

Magic Carpet:  A type of surface lift (commonly called a conveyor) used to transport skiers and snowboarders up the hill.

Bluebird day:  A beautiful sunny day after an overnight snowfall.  It's a perfect skiing day with a clear blue sky, bright sun and fresh snow.

Yard Sale

Powder day:  A day after/during an amazing snowfall on the mountain where the ski area is transformed into a slice of heaven by light, fluffy, dry snow.  Many area businesses allow their employees one or two paid "powder days" in their contracts.

Jib: Jibbing, or "goofing around" on a snowboard or skis; doing small technical tricks in a playful manner.  The act of riding on something other than snow i.e. rails, trees, garbage cans, logs etc.

Steez: Style with ease

Corduroy snow

Snake:  A term used to describe someone who cuts in front of you in th elift line or drops in front of you in the terrain park.

Yard sale:  Bad spill that strips you of your hat, gloves, goggles, glasses, backpack etc.

Grommet (Grom):  Another name for a small, young snowboarder
  
Punter:  This is a swear word.  As with all swear word, please refrain from using.

One of the biggest current fads is to ski/board with a "GoPro" or a small camera attached to your helmet especially while doing tricks in the terrain park.  Here is a video one of the staff made of some of the regulars showing off at the Remarkables.

As employees we are required to wear helmets when we are on the mountain - but I don't mind!

Since school holidays are over for Australia and New Zealand, we haven't been so busy on the slopes lately.  Because of this, we get to take ride breaks at work and wait in shorter lines on the lifts.  I skied almost every day this week and am kind of getting the hang of it as well as enjoying myself a lot more than I did on day one.

I am up to level 3A and have taken that lesson twice so far.  Next up - lesson 3B.  I have also been getting to know some of the ski instructors who are ridiculously good skiers and have educated and skied all over the world.  I helped one of them order some special goggles from the shop last week and to return the favor he took me out for an hour on a free private lesson. It was a blast!

Group lesson with two Australians

Thoughts on skiing so far  . . .

What I like:

The spectacular view from the top of the mountain
Being outside
Learning something new
The sound and the feeling of rhythmically swish-swishing from side to side
People-watching while riding the lifts
The fun gear to use and clothes to wear
The green runs


What I don't like:

The feeling of going too fast or of being out of control
Falling/wiping out
Having to watch out for other out of control skiers/boarders
Getting on and off the lifts
The rocks and steep cliffs
Being too cold
The long drive up/down the mountain
Anything other than the green runs . . .  so far!



Sadly, rain and warmer temperatures are the current forecast and the weather has everyone on edge and anxious.  Here's hoping the rain turns to snow!

Goggles are fun!

Smile if you love ice skating!

Sean and I went ice skating last night - guess who was more excited about it?  I suspect Sean was looking forward more to the promise of mulled wine after hitting the rink, but he was a good sport about it anyway.

Total ice domination

On Fridays, Queenstown hosts "Friday Night Lights" at the local rink and turns it into a dance party/light show on ice.  It kind of reminded me of going to the roller rink in middle school and sure enough, we were some of the only non-adolescents there.

Almost fell over here; posing and skating is too hard

This middle-schooler has clearly had some practice - I caught him here mid-axel

It was Sean's first time on ice skates, which is surprising since Michigan is habitually covered in ice and full of ice hockey obsessed fans.  He did fine but got bored after about 20 minutes.  I myself had a grand time and enjoyed the lights, music and cruising around on skates.  But the mulled wine was pretty good too.

Totally want to sign up for figure skating lessons! (So does Sean!)

It seems like one of the trending activities for athletes and outdoorsy people is to go beyond the usual 5k and enter the world of adventure or multi-sport races whether it be a triathlon, Tough Mudder or a Warrior Dash.  Queenstown, being the hip and adrenaline-addicted town that it is, is no different and launched the Peak to Peak challenge a few years back.

Everyone at work this week was talking about the Peak to Peak challenge happening on Saturday, July 21.  The goal of this winter adventure race was to link together the two ski mountains in Queenstown: Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.  The challenge starts at the top of the Remarkables Ski Field with a 2km ski or snowboard down to the base.  Then there is a 17 km mountain bike down the mountain to the shores of Lake Wakatipu.  After the bike portion, participants kayak for 7km across the lake and reach Queenstown beach.  At the beach they don running shoes and run uphill for 9km to reach the Coronet Peak hotel.  The last part of the race involves a grueling 9km ascent on a bike to reach the top of Coronet Peak.



Today I watched the paddle portion of the event from the window in my bedroom.  A multi-sport race is one thing but doing it in the winter with snow, ice and cold winds is an entirely different matter.  Many of my co-workers were competing and there was stiff competition between staff from both of the mountains.  It will be fun to see who prevails this afternoon.



For awhile now, Sean had been wanting to do the Solar Eclipse Marathon in Cairns while we travel, but after reading about the event a little more closely we found out that you have to purchase a tourist travel package in order to run the race if you are not an Australian resident.  So instead we are going to try and be up in that area to see the event anyways, even if we can't run the race.  So far, trip planning is fun and rumor has it that sister Sue will join in on the action - can't wait!

Selling bus tickets at the bottom of the mountain

This week the weather has been beautiful on the ski mountain so all the baggy-pantsed snowboarders have been going around saying things like "What a cracker day, bro" and "It's a splitter day, dude" and so on. 

Morning sunrise view from the shed

Pickles likes the gas heater almost more than I do

With the additional snow and now constant sunshine, the Ice Bar has opened at one of the top of the lifts.  The bar is cash only and since there is no cash machine on the mountain, our little Sno Shop has been extra busy with debit withdrawals.  Lately, I have been the human equivalent of an ATM.

Reading in the sun and waiting for bus passengers

Working at the ski field is opposite in many ways to working in housekeeping.  The work is not physically demanding, I have lots of human interaction and I get to be outside a lot.  There's another important difference as well: hours worked per week.  At the hotel there was always more work to be done and our supervisors were always looking for volunteers to start early, stay late and come in on our days off.  I easily put in over 50 hours a week without even trying.  At the ski field, however, we all have to fight for hours which is really frustrating.  The company is very tight financially and tightening down more lately.  This means that I am always asked to leave work early from the shop or take extra long lunch/ski breaks.  This is all well and good but it doesn't add up to a very livable or saveable paycheck.  Currently, even though I am up on the mountain six days a week, I'm barely hitting 35 hours.

Ice Bar open at the top of the mountain

Luckily, since I am kind of a floater between retail and transport, it's not too much harder for me to try and float somewhere else as well.  Today I did two hours of cross-training with Guest Services and learned a whole lot about prices and procedures for booking lessons, rentals and lift passes.  The amount of information that needs to be understood and memorized is astounding and I was glad that I was merely shadowing for the afternoon.  I hope that Guest Services lets me continue to train and eventually pick up some shifts on my own.  In the meantime, it's not exactly torture to be forced to go out and ski or leave work early, I just wish Sean were there to enjoy the time with me.

Not surprisingly, the culture shock in moving to New Zealand has been substantially less than moving to China.  In China, everything about life and living was different - it was overwhelming and impossible to observe and understand everything at once.  In New Zealand, cultural differences exist but they are much more subtle.  Learning new things about Kiwis or New Zealand come as little entertaining surprises which pop up occasionally and rarely cause the frustration or emotional stress that living in China brought.  Frankly, one of the largest culture shocks here is getting over the high cost of goods and services - it's outrageous and now I can understand why so many Kiwis move to Australia in order to find a more affordable way of life.



Living with two Kiwis offers daily funny insights on 'normal' daily life in New Zealand.  Sean and I end up doing most everything that Andrew and Kathryn do because we get along really well and have similar schedules.  We go to the pub, watch rugby, share nightly 'tea' (what they call dinner), make fun of each others' accents and vocabulary, watch the weekly popular Kiwi shows and try each others' new foods.  Our housemates particularly like it when we make "American" pancakes, brownies, cookies, casseroles and pizzas.

Tonight, Andrew and Kathryn invited me to share their tea with them - they were baking "savories" which are tiny pies filled with meats, potatoes, veggies and cheese.  They reminded me of pig-in-the-blankets and were delicious.  My favorite thing about the pies were that they came in a bag which claimed they were "Tasty As!" as well as "Proudly Kiwi."  Like I've mentioned before, Kiwis add the word "as" to every adjective like "heavy as", "easy as", "crazy as" etc.  As far as I can tell the "as" on the end means something like "super" or "very".  In any case, the savories were indeed "tasty as."

Working as a housekeeper:

Your English is really good, how long have you lived here?
So . . . which part of South America are you from?
That looks like back-breaking work, don't you get tired?
What's that - some kind of fancy cleaning gadget? (while pointing to my Nalgene water bottle)
(If they find out I'm from the U.S.) What do you think of Obama?
You're from Michigan? Is that by California?
Do you mind if I stay in here while you clean? I like to watch.
I'm so glad that there's not a lot of Americans around - they are always the loudest and most obnoxious, don't you think so?
You're from the U.S.? Really?

 Working at a ski resort:

Do you sell cigarettes here? Do you have one I can borrow? No? How about alcohol?
Do you have those leashes you can put on kids? (this is actually a popular request)
You're from Canada, right? Isn't Michigan a part of Canada? (while looking at my name tag)
We didn't really come here to ski or snowboard, do you sell sleds or toboganns?
(After glancing at the jar for tips) I'll take my ten cents change but I will give you a good tip, 'Work hard and save your money.'
When is it going to snow again? How much is it going to snow tomorrow?
Can I pay for this with Australian or American dollars?
Do you have any shirts that aren't as ugly as the ones you have out on display?
If we are just here for the day, can we buy some goggles and gloves and then return them?
This shop seems really expensive, can you tell me the cheapest place to get _____ ?
Do you sell backpacks here? You really should sell some backpacks here.
(while standing directly in front of the rows and rows of sunscreen) Do you guys sell sunscreen?
(from a coworker) Is it true that you're married? Aren't you a little young to be married? Was that your husband we saw you with at the bar? We all thought he was your brother.

And don't get me started on all of the different English words we use for everything such as:

Do you have any . . . . ?

bobbles (hair ties)
stubby holders (beer coozies)
braces (suspenders)
plasters (band aids)
water balls (snow globes)
beanies (hats)
hats (caps)
sunnies (sunglasses)
etc.

I could probably add something on to this list every day.  Working in tourism? Never a dull moment.

At the top of the mountain there is an entirely different animal friend - the Kea parrot.  Keas are the world's only alpine parrot and since I've started working at the ski field I've wanted to see one.  During orientation we were warned of the Kea parrots because they are somewhat of a nuisance for NZSki.  They destroy peoples' cars, beg for food and steal guests' backpacks, keys etc. and are generally very destructive and overly curious.  They are also very loud and got their name from their constant sqwaking which sounds like "keeeeaaaaa keeeeeaaaa."



Although I had heard of many guests and staff talking about seeing Keas during the day, I still hadn't seen one until yesterday.  When I was walking down the mountain to the bus, I saw a giant green bird flying directly at me.  When it flew right over my head I saw the bright colors of orange, blue and green up close.  I was amazed at how big it was and how striking the colors were against the white snow.  The bird was too fast for me to get a picture of it so I had to use some pictures from Google.  I can't wait to see another one!

Finding animal friends where I work and live has always been something that I really like doing.  I've written about Obie the cat who is a neighborhood favorite but it was a little harder finding furry friends at the hotel (unless you count all of the mice).  The closest I got was a flock of small sparrows that would follow me from room to room.  They would hop over the outdoor patios and balconies and rush in the slider door as soon as I opened it.  They were experts at spotting crumbs and other bits of goodies left behind on the floor and tables.  They weren't afraid of me at all and as far as I was concerned it was a win-win: they got a snack and I didn't have to vacuum.  Except for the occasional avian poo, it worked out just fine.

At the base of the mountain I have made a new buddy - a small dog named Pickles.  During one of my first days at work I looked up and was surprised to see a stray mutt nosing his way into my little cabin.  The dog walked right in, hopped up on one of the chairs and looked at me as if to say, "Right, sorry I'm late, let's get down to business" and also "So . . . why isn't the heater working?"  I have since found out that Pickles was a regular visitor to the NZSki cabin last season as well which makes sense considering he knew the job better than I did.



I was worried about the little fella because he seemed old and lost so I called the number on the collar which also said, "Hi, my name is Pickles."  An older lady answered and told me not to worry.  She said that Pickles lived on a nearby farm and "Just liked to go for a wee wander in the mornings."  She told me that Pickles was very friendly and that as soon as I had to leave that I was just to point in the direction of the farm and say, "Go home Pickles!" and everything would be fine.
Pickles visits me about every day and has become somewhat of a celebrity as of late.  All of the regulars who take the bus absolutely love him and ask about him every day.  Today, someone brought their own dog along just to meet Pickles.  The other day, Pickles' dad, a farmer, drove up on his tractor to have a chat with me and to make sure it was O.K. that his dog was hanging out with me at the base of the mountain every morning.  Since it can get a little lonely in the cabin at times, I am more than happy to share my working hours with an exceptionally curious and friendly little dog.  

This past week I've started working with two new students: Tatiana and Jan (pronounced Yan).  They are friends or co-workers from some of my current students who gave them my contact information.  I'm happy about this becuase now that I'm not housekeeping, I have more time and energy at night and with Sean working a crazy amount of hours it's nice to have something to do.

Tatiana is from Brazil and is meeting twice a week with me to practice basic English.  She is a twenty-six-year-old biologist by trade who is a housekeeper here saving up money to return to Brazil and buy some property.  According to Tatiana, it is way easier to find a job and save money in Queenstown than in Brazil.  It is worth it to her to stay here for a year or two even if she doesn't want to be away from her family simply because of how much she will be able to save and bring back.  Considering that I think the wages here are horrible and competition for jobs very steep, I find this news about Brazil slightly alarming.

Jan is a twenty-eight-year-old Czech who is studying for the IELTS exam in preparation to move to Canada.  His dream is to live and work in a hotel in Vancouver but needs a good score on the IELTS in order to get the right visa and a good job.  It's been fun working with him because his level of English is already so advanced and because he has a specific goal in mind and test to study for.

Things are still going well with my other students.  I am reading "Matilda" with the other Czech couple and we are having a good time discussing the book along with learning a lot of new vocabulary.  Dan, my British student studying Spanish, has made it to about the equivalent of Chapter 3 of any introductory Spanish book and is conjugating verbs and speaking in sentences. It's actually really exciting and cool to watch him catch on to new things every week.

I am really enjoying teaching and it makes me miss school.  With working for NZSki, we are required to do a course on our own which earns us a certificate in New Zealand tourism.  It's actually quite a lot of busywork and writing and has consumed most of my mornings when I am not selling the occasional bus ticket.

During the week I spend the afternoons in the Sno Shop at the top of the mountain but I spend the mornings all alone at the base of the mountain in a little hut at the start of the access road to the top.  My job from 8-noon is to sell bus tickets to the occasional tourist or local who wants to catch the bus at the base of the mountain instead of driving all the way into Queenstown and catching it from the Snow Center.

When I met with the head of department of transport about the position the first thing he said was, "I hope you like to read because you're going to have a lot of time on your hands," and I knew it was the job for me.  I sell bus tickets to people who drive to the base and park and I also sell bus tickets to people the driver has picked up along the way from Queenstown (the drivers don't have time to deal with the money and tickets).  How many tickets on average do I sell from 8-12 every day? About 13, give or take. Other duties include advising drivers on road conditions and explaining the chain call for the day (the km marker where everyone has to stop and chain up).  



Things that I like about the job is that I get to read a lot, I get to talk with friendly locals and tourists, I am getting to know the drivers and I get to talk on the radio and listen to all the chatter on the radio.  I get to say things like "Go for Sarah," "10-4," "Copy that," "10-9" and "What's your 20?"  It makes me feel like a spy or something, except that really I'm just a ticket-taker on the side of a dirt road in a portable hut.   I also like that I get to be outside and when the weather is nice I am quite happy sitting in the sun and reading.



Things that I don't like about the job is that it's COLD.  I have a little heater but sometimes it's so cold that the darn thing won't start.  It's so cold that my e-book doesn't work - I have now resorted to paperbacks from the library.  My camera and sometimes my cheap Chinese phone doesn't work either.  Also, I have to use a porta-potty every day. Not so fun.  In addition, not all of the locals or tourists are friendly and many complain to me about the price increase for the bus rides.  Last year it cost $5 round trip and this year it costs $15.  It has caused quite a big stir in town and I hear a lot about it from disgruntled customers who pull out a $5 dollar bill and then are shocked when I ask them for $10 more.  Again, not so fun. 




But am I enjoying this job more than housekeeping?  Is that even a question?

In the afternoons I work at the retail store up on the mountain.  It's just a tiny little store jam-packed with anything from super pricey gear to tacky souvenirs.  I work with Lucy (the head of department) and Becky (the full-time employee).  Lucy and Becky are both from England and say things like "bobble" instead of "hair tie" and have never heard of commonplace things like "potlucks."



One of the coolest things about working in retail is that we get to go to a lot of training sessions with lots of different reps from ski and snowboard companies.  I've had classes on helmets, goggles, gloves, socks, beanies . . . it goes on and on.  I had no idea that snowsports retail would require this much memorization and concentration.  The cool thing, however, is that at each training session we always get free stuff.  So far I've gotten free Electric goggles, free Bolle goggles, SmartWool socks, loads of beanies, stickers, and POW gloves.  This is a nice perk as ski gear is ridiculously expensive.


Here's some of the things we sell in the store: Sunglasses, knee/wrist guards, stomp pads, hats and beanies, shirts and sweatshirts, socks, goggles, stickers, Kleenex, chapstick, neck warmers, helmets, gloves, mittens, sunscreen, long underwear, magnets, shot glasses, board bags and locks and newspapers.  The Remarkables SnoShop: it's a pretty happening place.

Driving one of the buses for the ski company is actually one of the most coveted and revered jobs you can have during the winter season here.  And they don't drive just any buses, the buses they drive are super expensive, four-wheel-drive monstrosities that can handle the steep, snowy, icy and unpaved roads that lead up to the ski fields.  Many times the weather is so bad that the drivers have to pull over and put chains on all the tires - a huge task that most of them can do in about 10 minutes.



Since half my day is working with transport, I am getting to know the crew quite well and am finding them to be a lot of fun.  Many of the drivers have told me that they like the job because of the ego boost and adrenaline high that they get from it along with the challenge of driving in the mountains.  They also tend to be extremely "Kiwi" in that they are very outgoing, sarcastic, confident and love to joke around.  They also tend to be very big and manly (some are ex-rugby players) and all have nicknames used on the radio like Hoover, Lofty, Brownie and T-Bone.



The road up to the Remarkables is especially treacherous and many people choose to take the bus instead of driving themselves (a wise choice).  The road is 13.5 km of dirt, snow and ice with sheer drop offs on one side and many steep curves and twists.  The first time I drove up it I was amazed that they could actually transport hundreds of people up and down it safely every day.  Last year, a You Tube video became popular when it caught one of the buses sliding on some ice on one of the trickiest parts in
the road.  See for yourself:

The ski field where I work is called "The Remarkables" and is one of the two ski areas in Queenstown.  The other local mountain here is called "Coronet Peak."  The lodge is called The Remarkables because it's the same name as the mountain range in which it's located. 



People say that the mountain range got it's name because of one of two reasons:  1)  The range is considered "remarkable" because it is one of only two mountain ranges in the world which run directly from North to South  2)  Some of the first people to settle in Queenstown named the mountains as such to describe how incredible the sight was.



Compared to skiing out West (so I hear, at least), the ski field at the Remarks is pretty small.  It has three quad chairs and three "magic carpets" for the "learners' area" (they don't like to refer to them as the bunny hills here).  The Remarks also has a terrain park for snowboarding and a tubing park.  It's considered to have 30% area suitable for beginners, 40% intermediate and 30% advanced.  The ski field is open from June to October and is open from 9-4 every day.  Inside the lodge there is an area for rentals, a retail shop, guest services, a coffee shop, a restaurant and a separate building for medics and ski patrol.


The Remarks is popular for families because there are lots of good beginner areas, tubing and sledding and many classes and clubs for kids.  The ski field is especially popular for snow boarders because of the terrain park which is essentially a giant skate park made for snowboarders.  The terrain park at the Remarks is called "The Stash".  I'm very confident that I will not be 'shredding' or 'carving' down "The Stash" anytime soon.