A few years ago, I worked as an elf at a holiday resort in Lapland, in the north of Sweden. The resort was in a forest. Visitors and workers stayed in small wooden cabins all around the forest. There was one large cabin where people ate meals. I started work there in mid November and stayed until just after Christmas. Tourists used to stay at the resort for four days. On the first day, they arrived at the airport and travelled to the resort by coach. I didn’t have to work until the evening. Sometimes I went skiing. Then, while the guests had their evening meal, I worked behind the desk in reception. I helped people find their cabins, told them about the itinerary and sold tickets for extra tours. I didn’t dress as an elf at that time; I wore the hotel uniform.

On day 2, I and three other elves got up at about eight o’clock. Of course, it was still dark at that time. In Lapland it gets light at about half past ten during the winter, and it gets dark again soon after two o’clock. We dressed in our elf costumes and drove across the snow on skidoos to a cabin in the forest. Inside the cabin, there were huge presents and huge tools. We had to wrap the presents and pretend to make toys with the tools. There were mirrors in the cabin windows. These made us look very small. When tourists looked through the windows, they saw tiny elves using normal-sized tools!

On the third day, we went to a different cabin – Santa’s cabin! This was the day when the children finally met Father Christmas. The children would meet Santa and get a toy. Then they came into the elves’ workshop to meet us. This room was full of toys and beautifully decorated with a Christmas tree. I and the other elves pretended to make toys and chatted to the children in our own elf language.

The next day, the tourists went home and the next group arrived. I worked on reception again.

Working as an elf was great fun, and a magical way to spend Christmas!

Answer the questions in writing form:

1 Where did the writer stay while working in Lapland?

2 How long did she work at the resort?

3 How many nights did tourists stay at the resort?

4 How did she spend day 1 of the tour?

5 On which days did she wear her elf costume?

6 What did the writer do on day 3?

7 Which activity does the writer NOT mention?

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vadik46    2   22.10.2020 10:36    6