Spain 2006 - The Video

It was about seven months ago when I came back from Spain.
4 months being an entertainer.
4 months working on a campside and in a hotel.
4 months making new experiences.
I will never forget this part of my life.
Take a look at the new video about these four months!

Lean back and enjoy it :)
Have fun, Marcel

Spain 2006 - small (4 MB)
Spain 2006 - big (8 MB)

Entertainment is an experience!

Back home in Austria...

As I supposed the last few days passed really quickly in Spain.
Just when I left I realized that being an Entertainer for a summer is a nice experience where I learned a lot about people, their habits, how to treat them and so on. It was quite sad to leave Benalmadena because some children that I always made the activities with said to me that they don't want me to go home...
But people leave and meet and maybe one day I will meet again some of the people that i got known to during this summer.
The next adventure is already waiting...

...ok, till next year I have to do social service in my city Bregenz :)

It´s near the end...

Nearly four months I have been now in Spain to work as entertainer. In only 5 days I´ll be already in Austria again and start another part of my life.
The last four weeks here in Benalmadena - where the hotel "Bali" is - were really amazing and different than the entertainment life before. Today in the evening I will do one of the last shows here, which I will really miss. For example sometimes to be alone on the stage in front of a few hundered people to make a playback in a "baby dress costume" with a big lollypop in the hand; or to dress like a cat for the musical "cats"; or to play the role of Sky in "Grease" show; or to make a striptease together with all the other boys of the entertainment team for the "Full Monty" part of the "100 years of cinema" show and so on.
Now I will enjoy the last few days here in Spain where I got known to so many new people from all over the world which is one most beautiful part of the animation life.

In Málaga

Two weeks ago the chief entertainer at the campsite told me that Animatur is searching for a new workingplace for me because I have the contract till end of september. So he said to me that I just should be prepared if they tell me maybe just a few days before I have to leave, where I will go to. And it was like that...
2 days before I left Torroella di Montgri he told me that I will have to go to the hotel "Bali" in Benalmadena near Málaga. So I left the "El Delfin Verde" after more than two months, flew to Málaga and arrived at the hotel "Bali" where I met my new chief entertainer and all the other entertainers that are working there for already more than 4 months.
Now I´m already here for two weeks and I can say that entertaining at a campsite and in a hotel is really different. First of all the tourists that I have to entertain are sometimes really lazy people that just come to the hotels to relax and they even don´t think about making some sports. I´m right now responsible for the Junior Activities. That means that I make pool games and little games during the day. In the night we have everytime a show - if not from the animation team, than another professional show.
By changing the workplace it is also changing the whole structure of timeplaning that I had before but I think I could integrate good into the group and all the activities we do all day long. So we have a lot of fun here in the hotel "Bali".
Another difference to the campsite is for example the meals we get. At the campsite we were really lucky if the woman at the kitchen gave us a good plate to eat and if somebody didn´t like it that he gave it to the others of the team so that they have enough to eat... Here in the hotel we have a buffet where the entertainment team has the privileg to eat together with the tourists. In the beginning this was really like paradise for me ;)
During the shows it´s sometimes pretty funny - maybe because I am tought all the dances we have to do in the evening at the same day in the morning or in the afternoon. But here it´s really not so strict with all the performances than at the campsite.
Time is passing here so quickly - maybe because currently I experience every day something new. In three weeks I will already fly back to Austria, but till then I will surely enjoy my work here in Spain :)
Let´s entertain them...

Highseason at "El delfin verde"

It's beginning of August and a lot of tourists are arriving day by day at the campsite. That means for us (the 18 entertainers of the campsite) a lot of work during day and night. At the weekends it's quite easy because no competitions are going on. But during the week I have to organise Ping Pong Competitions, Petanca Competitions (last time with 40 people, when it suddenly started to rain - action pur ;) )
Currently we have four shows: Grease, Around the World, Saturday Night Fever and Hollywood Night. On some days we are doing different shows with the audience (like Men against Women), or sometimes professionals are coming (Singers, Fakirman, etc.). I really got used to live togther with 8 people in one room. That you have to use one sink at the same moment in the morning, that the others hear everything if you go to the toilet and that you have to be respectfull for the others.
Last Sunday we were all in a little medieval town near the campsite to have dinner outside. Because normally we are always at the campsite and it's hard to get out of here. First of all because during the week we are working; and second that we don't have a car to get out of here at our only free day on Sunday. But in high season it is here like a little city. Until 8000 people that camp here and which makes you feel not like in the middle of nowhere.
The time is passing by really quickly, maybe because we always have to do something.
I will maybe stay here till the end of August or the 12th of September. Afterwards the the organisation will send me maybe to another place where they need entertainers for the rest of the summer season - but I will see... :)

In Torroella di Montgrí

First of all – Yes, I’m living…
I was in Barcelona four weeks ago and since then a lot happened in my life as an Animator. I went to Salou where I had the course for animators. It was really interesting and I got known to many people from all over the world that wanted to do the same thing as me – entertain tourists in hotels or campings. We learned a lot of stuff like for example working with kids, making games, speaking with the microphone and so on. But of course I was also at the beach, enjoying a little bit the week there because I didn’t know where the company will send me afterwards.
Right now I am at a camping place to do my entertainer job. First of all I was really like : “Wow where am I?” Because around the camping place there is like absolutely nothing and the next village which is super small is maybe 15 kilometers far away from the camping place. So if you come from Shanghai directly to this place in nowhere you feel a little bit strange. But never mind, the team of 18 people is super and the job is a little bit different than I thought because I’m not enclosed in a small hotel but in a really big camping where I am right now responsible for the sport club (Volleyball, Tennis, Football and so on). I sleep now with 8 people in a biiig room that is called “Big Brother” and it’s the “Big Brother 2” because directly besides this one is “Big Brother 1” with another 8 people that you can hear in the night although they are speaking really not loud because the walls are so thin.
Every day in the morning we get up at nine to get our breakfast which is always the same: Bocadillos – that is like a sandwich with tomato and ham. It’s quite good to start a day into the day of an animator.
In the evening I always have to do the Mini Disco with the other 17 animators – that means dancing to songs like “Veo Veo” or “Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil”. Quite funny after a few days if you already know some children and they come to you and also know you.
We already had two shows – one was “Around the world” and another “Saturday night fever”. I really enjoyed it and the next show “Grease” will be on stage soon. Now I have to go and play tennis with all the people from the camping that are ready to do some sport activities in the afternoon. In the evening we have to practice again for our show and then the Mini Disco. It really starts now the high season of the camping site, which means that we will have even less spare time than before. My usual day looks right now like this:
9:00 getting up, 8 people using one sink at the same time
9:20 going to have breakfast, Bocadillos with tomato and ham
9:50 meeting in the office and rehearsal what everybody will do at this day, preparing for the activities
10:20 going to the places and activities (e.g. playing darts, then go to beach volleyball), organizing games, matches and competitions
12:30 practice for the shows
14:15 lunch and break
15:50 meeting in the office, rehearsal
16:20 making activities, (e.g. playing Boccia with all the French people), organizing games, matches and competitions
18:30 practice for the shows
20:00 Mini Disco
21:00 Dinner
21:30 If not to tired, going to the Pirata Bar at the beach or sitting together with all the animators

Estoy en Barçelona

Today in the morning I left Bregenz and flew from Zuerich in Swiss to Barcelona in only one and a half hour. Arrived here in Spain it´s not as hot as I thought. With the bus from the airport directly into the middle of the city and then orientating where I am. The first man I spoke to in Spanish was a policeman who explained me how to get to the youth hostel. Quickly I found it and also (like in Austria) everything seems to be so small and tiny - altough it is a 1,6 million inhabitants city - compared to Shanghai. But that could be an advantage because I´m getting familiar with a big city like Barcelona quickly. In the afternoon I went to a Chinese restaurant to have some lunch-dinner. The waiter explained me in Chinese how to get to some places and gave me his telephone number if I have any problems :) really nice... Then I went through the famous street "La Rembla" where all the tourists, shows and actors are. The heaven I visited and did my first ride with Barcelona subway. Wow they have like 10 lines here for 1,6 million people and Shanghai had just 4 lines for 16 million people... I drove to the famous Sagrada Familia church to have a look and walked through the streets till I found this nice Internet Bar. I will see where to go next... Barcelona is waiting :)