My roller coaster year

When I found out I was going to be working at an amusement park in L.A. during my gap year, I was so excited. I thought working there would be one long holiday. Boy, was I wrong!

Not only do employees in amusement parks work really hard - their days start early too! I had to get up at 6 a.m. every morning and put on my costume (that's what we called our uniform) so I could be at work at half past six. The first customers arrived an hour later so we had to get everything ready on time.

I learned a lot about dealing withcustomers too. Most people were nice. But you need to remember one important thing: Everybody is on holliday and they've paid a lot of money to be here. So they expect everything to be perfect -al the time! That can be a challenge. Also, some people got frustrated when the rides were busy and they had to wait in line. And believe me - you do not want to be surounded by a group of children when the ice cream machine stops working!

One of the things I loved about working here was that I had the chance to do lots of different jobs. Every day was different and I really enjoyed that. On some days I worked in the restaurant or the gift shop, on others I helped people getting on and off the rides.

I'm good at talking to people so I was often asked to dress as one of the parks characters and meet people as they came in. Nobody tells you before you start how heavy those costumes are or how hot you get when you're inside. And you have to be able to think on your feet too. I was dressed as a bat once and this kid sad to me, "But bats only come out at,night."

My favorite job was working on the ghost train. I was allowed to scare people and I got paid for it. That was awesome! I remember telling one man that I was the ghost of a German man who had immigrated to America in the 1800s. He didn't believe me. Then I started speaking to him in German and he almost jumped out of his skin! He couldn't wait to get off that train.

When I think about my time working there, Idon't really remember the long working hours or the rude customers. What I remember now is making children smile and givng them happy memories of their holidays. That's something that will stay with me forever.