Christmas jobs: Santa’s elf
December 16, 2009 by admin
Filed under Career News and Advice
Rupert Jones masters the elf wave. Photograph: Graham Turner
My Mr Benn-style transformation is complete and I survey myself in the mirror. Stripy top, plum-coloured jacket and huge buckle belt, unflattering, grey drawstring trousers and purple curly-toed elf shoes, all finished off with a fur-edged hat complete with bell, and dabs of blusher on my cheeks à la Barbara Cartland.
I feel faintly ridiculous, but my get-up seems to be drawing approving glances from colleagues. “You are officially an elf,” my companion/minder Tony tells me. Tony is an elf, too, but we don’t call him Tony. Here at LaplandUK, everyone has an elf name. His is Tonni (to rhyme with Bonnie), while it is decided mine is Rupy.
Curly toes and smiley rhymes are the order of the day. Photograph: Graham Turner
Tonni and I emerge from the changing area, but then Sarah Sinclair, the attraction’s brand and marketing manager, catches sight of me and frowns. Something is wrong. She walks over and removes the golden bell attached to my hat. “You only get it when you finish your day – and only if you’ve been good,” she tells me.
By now you’ll have gathered this is a place where all world-weary cynicism has to be checked in at the door. I’ve (been) volunteered to be an elf for a day, so what better place to come than LaplandUK, an “inclusive interactive theatrical experience” set in 10 acres at Bewl Water Estate near Tunbridge Wells in Kent designed to “celebrate a child’s belief in Father Christmas”. It’s certainly a magical setting, with (artificial) snow-covered …
Read the original article at Guardian
