Moving In

When you get to Employee housing you have to sign in at the office in building 1 and get your room.  After that you go straight to ‘The Cabin’ to register with the ski school and get your staff pass sorted.  You don’t actually get your staff pass right away, and when you do they want to take a photo without your hat on.  So don’t go to pick it up after a day’s skiing, hathair does not agree with anyone! You also get the option to join Club Shred which is a network for employees that gets you discounts around town and things like free buses to Vancouver, heavily discounted trips to hockey games, movies, ice skating, the gym… And of course privileges at Merlins, the staff bar, which has the biweekly payday party, and $1 pint Thursdays.  It’s well worth joining, it only takes $2 from your pay check, so you make it up in the pints even if you don’t do anything else.

As I am in employee housing I am not entitled to a staff locker so we have to get our gear up and down the hill ourselves.  Luckily the gondola will start running until 8pm soon, so we won’t have to rush to get back up home straight away, and will be able to enjoy a spot of apres and still get back for free.  Hopefully soon there will be snow enough snow to actually ski in ski out, and not have to take the gondola all the time anyway!

Location is about the only thing that staff housing at Whistler has going for it if you are over the age of 21.  Imagine student halls and then make each room half the size and put bunkbeds in it.  That is our room. We have a regular sized living room, but it’s a bit of a dive.  It gets messy really quickly, and there is no space to do anything.  The internet does not work.  I have to go to Starbucks to upload this.  Our kitchen is surprisingly spacious, but has no oven.  We are not allowed overnight guests so I have no idea how I’m going to smuggle Martin in here for 7 weeks.  There is absolutely no accommodation available anywhere anymore.  I use alliteration for emphasis.

Still, it’s a roof over my head and only about £150 a month, so I guess I’m not allowed to complain.  I just wish I had my own room, then life would be so much better.  I sure as hell miss our pad in London.  Someone has had the awesome idea of buying an RV and parking it in the parking lot and living there.  The RV is twice the size of a bedroom here and he doesn’t have to share.  I am exceptionally tempted by this idea.  We might have to get one anyway, so it’s definitely a thought.  This is how desperate I am, oh sweet jesus!  Although an RV would be incredibly cold and have no running water.  Any water you bring in with you (for a cuppa in the morning, for example) will freeze overnight anyway!  I find this incredibly amusing!

Anyway, moving on from that little rant.  Whistler itself is really nice, there are a few good bars dotted around, and it is absolutely beautiful!! The backdrop is fantastic, the air is clean and people are very friendly.  My staff pass gets me 25% discount in a lot of places which is rather handy too.  Not on booze though!  Which is actually really expensive in this country. There are two supermarkets in Whistler as far as I am aware, and the one further away from the centre is the cheaper one, of course!  There are also 3 Starbucks and that makes me lightly sad, but they do provide me with free internet.  Also they are almost a local company, so it’s slightly different to the 17 Starbucks along Oxford Street.  But only slightly.  Anywho, I have found a lovely little independent coffee shop that seems to be the ski instructors hang out.  It’s really twee, and serves hot soup as well as the usual tea, coffee and crumpets.  Located right next to Whistler Kids in the village, it has an outdoor seating area with sofas and throws to keep you warm.

Settling in is just fine here is Whistler, I do love the place so much already, I don’t really know if it’s going to be possible for me to give up the ski instructor lifestyle any time soon….

My Office

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