Turkish vacations!

Fifty years ago this very day, I was leaving from Paris to Kuşadası, a beach resort on Turkey’s Aegean coast.

Along with my colleagues from the Avoriaz ski school, we were on our way to a one-week vacation at Club Med. Great spot, great vacation. We landed in Izmir, took an excursion to Istanbul, complete with a visit of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.

The trip was paid by a slush fund of sorts produced by some withholding from our earnings. It worked a bit like this:

A beginning ski instructor with a “Capacitaire” level, like myself, would see a 40% withholding from his or her earnings. A ski instructor with a “Kindergarden” level (mostly women in those days) would get hit for 50%. A “Auxillaire” level would only get 25% taken away, while the “National” level would contribute just 15%.

In addition, fluency in a foreign language, a mountain-guide or ski coach certification would shave 5% off the withholding.

These monies would pay for the rent, the administrative staff (generally one person), for the technical director (payed as much as the top-earning instructor) and the general director (top-earning instructor, plus about 15%).

When and if there was money left, it would be split between all the certified instructors and, in that particular case, it paid for this wonderful trip. It’s pretty clear that I contributed a good portion of my earning towards its cost!