Scrilla in our wallets...

So, another week in Whistler, another seven days of job hunting (which has increasingly turned into afternoon drinking)... We are happy to report that the three of us are now gainfully employed and start work later this week. Following the job fairs last week, Coote and I were offered second interviews at 'Brewhouse', a big pub/restaurant in the village. Inexplicably, they offered Coote the job and not me, but we shan't dwell on that... I've managed to secure a somewhat less appealing job, working at 'The Spaghetti Factory', which bears a depressing similarity to Pizza Hut. Meanwhile Leo has also got a good job, working as a waiter (or busser in Canadian lingo) at 'The Keg' - we've all got orientation days in the week and hoping we will be able to get as many hours as possible from then onwards. Most of the house are now employed and we've had some funny days sitting around the house waiting for calls from various jobs - the first person to get a call now expects a tirade of abuse from the rest of us; Emily can be particularly vicious.

Coote and I had our first nights work on Friday at a 'Casino Royale' event at a restaurant in town. It advertised itself as a charity event, but was seemingly an excuse for the socialites of Whistler and the surrounding area to come and get plastered... There were lots of fake breasts and somewhat pervy chaps around, but working it was pretty fun. We met a lot of people who were in similar situations to us, one of whom particularly sticks in my memory - a French guy called Pascal who informed me he was sleeping in his car for the season. I was imagining a camper van of some sort, as he seemed completely unphased by the approaching winter weather, but when I asked him if he had cooking facilities etc in his car, he simply told me he 'mainly eats raw foods' - It may be a long winter for Pascal...

While the job situation is looking rather more promising than at the time of the last post, we woke the other day to find the contents of our rubbish bags had been scattered across the rubbish room. It seems we're getting regular visits from some form of vermin, and despite the best efforts of our housemate Andy, we are yet to catch it. Indeed, whatever it is has seemingly got used to the way a mousetrap works, and has developed a technique of removing the food from the trap whilst avoiding destruction. Andy's fingers haven't been so lucky. While we were sleeping safe in the knowledge that the rat/racoon/elk could only get into the rubbish room, the pest control guy came round the other day and found animal droppings in our bathroom - directly opposite our bedroom. Thankfully Leo is closest to the door so Coote and I are hoping any rats will be joining him in bed rather than us, and the landlord assures us he'll catch whatever it is before long. Failing that, we assume it won't be long before they hibernate!

In other news, we are counting down the hours until the mountain opens for the first time on Friday. It's ahead of schedule and all the locals are 'stoked' about the first day 'shredding' so we've got high expectations; there's still no snow in the village so we're hoping that might come this week. While there still isn't enough snow on the lower slopes, the resort is massive so you get the lifts up to the higher section where the snow is good - we can't wait. We've also got to shell out for our lift passes this week but we do get a pretty decent discount as we're working. We're also hoping to exploit a loophole in the family ticket bookings - as an 18 year old, Leo is still eligible for a youth pass and I hopefully qualify as his parent/guardian meaning we get a further 10% off. The fact that I'm evidently his brother may prove a stumbling block, but fingers crossed...

We also had an exciting moment in the early hours of this morning - having stumbled to the bus stop from locals night at a bar in town, Leo and I came across a bear. My attempt at securing photographic evidence proved unsuccessful unfortunately, and a picture of a bus stop is all I have to remember it by... You'll have to take our word for it. It was pretty impressive and seemed unperturbed by the people milling around - they're desperate for food at this time of year as they're about to hibernate, so they end up coming right into the village.

Thankfully, our lack of jobs has allowed us to truly embrace the nightlife of Whistler. There are numerous clubs open every night of the week, and they already seem pretty busy so it will be crazy when all the tourists arrive. You'll also be happy to hear that Leo's managed to find his way into all the clubs despite being underage - using my driving license is working a treat so far. While we were initially worried that the cost of booze out here would be prohibitive, we've managed to find a way around it... in the form of cheap cider! They have a ridiculous range of flavours out here, and we're gradually sampling each one - last night was pomegranate, and grapefruit is next on the list. Peach flavour has been the only flop so far.

We've taken some more photos of the house so we'll put them on facebook in due course - I'm sure there is a way to incorporate them into the blog, but that's a bit too high-tech for my little brain unfortunately. Anyway, hope you are all well and delighted to see we have eight followers - it really makes us feel special. Josh Leo and Sam xxx