A trainee’s salary is not that large but it is enough for me to pay a small contribution towards my keep and to save a little towards my future life. It is worth accepting though because my employer pays for me to attend college two days a week for any training that is not done in house. The training follows the usual term patterns of college which means I have to work in the office five days a week out of term unless I’m on holiday. One aspect of training is that we trainee’s have to help the senior staff carrying out audit work for our clients, which allows us to get an insight to various industries and how they operate. This is the only time I’m out of the office.
I think this is where my employer makes most of their profits as they charge our time out at expensive rates. Still I can’t complain it’s what pays my salary as well. Office work has a serious edge to it and we are expected to keep our heads down and get on with things without too much chatting. I have several friends who are at different levels of qualification but they are all male which is fairly typical for the job. There are females in the office but they tend to be on the secretarial side of things.
It’s different at college where at least 25% of the students are female in most of my subjects and life is a little more relaxed and as we are all closer in age we tend to socialise together. Often we gather in the local cafes or bars after college and chat about our lives and what is going on around us. I think as these ladies feed into the male dominated system that exists then there will be a lot of changes which will be interesting to watch for.
The object of me studying accounting is that when you are fully qualified then the rewards are very generous and hopefully the more I will be able to do with my life.
Apart from infants school my school life has been in all male settings, although I have some female friends who live locally and a few from college. If truth be told I haven’t had a real girlfriend but not for want of trying. Study has always been a priority and it’s not easy to mix a social life with it.
I have an older brother who qualified as a solicitor just when I was starting my training but he left home and has a job in a town about two hundred miles north of us now so I rarely see him. We had always had family holidays up until that point but in recent years I have taken my holidays separately from my parents. I have spent my time exploring the British Isles and have found it really enjoyable although sometimes the weather leaves a lot to be desired.
Anyway this year I have planned to raid my savings and travel somewhere a lot warmer. What I really want is a relaxing holiday where I can enjoy the sea and sun and catch up on a bit of reading. I’m not one of those guys who go on holiday and spend most of the day around the pool drinking and then clubbing at night trying to pull whatever girl they can for a quick bonk.
I’ve selected a small bed and breakfast hotel in the village of Kardamena on the Greek island of Kos. It was reasonably priced with air-con included and its own small pool in a walled garden. There was a direct flight from Bristol airport which was a bonus as I didn’t have to travel to one of the UK’s bigger ones.
I had booked for ten days at the end of August which would give me time to get myself organised for some more specialised training when I got home. The flight out was an evening flight leaving Bristol at 18:00 hrs and would take four hours. This meant that as Kos was two hours ahead of UK time it would be midnight when we landed.
The plane was full, mainly families and some small groups of people of similar age to me. I appeared to be the only one travelling on my own. Anyway once we had taken off and settled the crew brought drinks and snacks around. I just had a coffee although a lot of the groups were already on the booze. I had a quick perusal of the in-flight magazines and then settled to read one of my books.
I had obviously dozed off as the cabin lights suddenly brightened and I heard the captain advise the crew to prepare for landing. He then spoke to us passengers giving us information for the airport at Kos. There was a load cheer when he said we were on time and would land at midnight and the air temperature would be 32c.
We traversed the airport quite quickly and I was soon in my transfer taxi to the hotel. A short trip and we were welcomed and booked in. We were told that the mornings breakfast times had been extended due to our arrival being late in the day, at least we could have good night’s sleep.
I slept really well and awoke to bright daylight creeping around the blinds. I showered and dressed and popped to the dining area around the pool where a buffet breakfast had been set out. A young waitress brought a choice of drinks once I had selected a table.
After finishing breakfast I decided that I would have a restful day on the local beach. I gathered my clothes and after lathering myself with sun cream I walked to the beach and quickly hired one of the plentiful beds. I read for a while and then people watched for a bit.
People watched isn’t strictly correct. I girl watched is more the truth and there were quite a few of them. All shapes sizes and colours were wandering in the sun. A group of guys had set up a hand ball court in the sand and were showing off the muscle and certainly attracted some attention.
I went for a swim to cool off but found the water surprisingly warm. Its funny how people are more inclined to smile at each other when they are relaxed and enjoying the warmth of the Mediterranean sunshine. I would describe myself as reasonably fit but not muscle bound. Even so I realised that I had attracted some glances but part of me wondered are we all just looking. I had some small talk with some of the British people and then returned to my sun bed. The ball games on the beach had become a bit more rowdy and you could see it was annoying some of those people who just wanted to relax.
The day continued until it was early evening and people drifted back to their hotels or B & B’s to get ready for dinner. I did the same and then had another peaceful night. I took a boat trip the next day which was enjoyable and the following day I took an escorted tour of the island.
On my fourth day I decided to stay at the local beach again and it was similar to the first day to start with. There was a bit of a change of mood later as the ball games started. It looked like teams had split into nationalities and it became very rowdy again.
As I struggled to relax I decided to walk along the sandy beach that stretched for miles in both directions. It was much emptier the farther I walked from the village and about a mile and a half later I came across a group of about six sun beds. There was a small shack selling drinks and snacks the other side of the road at the top of the beach.