Not long after finishing catering school, I got a job as a chalet girl. There was a rigorous interview process and I had to cook a three-course meal for a board of tasters. By then I was an excellent cook and had spent hours on social media studying how a chalet girl tends to look and how she is expected to behave. Even though I had never been near a ski resort, let alone a ski chalet, I aced the test and a few weeks later, I left for the Alps.

That was my first time outside the UK. Anna helped me apply for a passport and even paid the fee for me, though I’m sure she’s not really allowed to. It was also the first time I’d been on a plane. I felt like I was holding my breath the whole way; it seemed so unreal. Meanwhile my new colleagues, as I guess you’d call them, chatted and joked like it was nothing at all to them. It probably was nothing at all to them – I imagined most of them had been on several flash holidays every year since they were tiny.

Nonetheless, there were a few exclamations of ‘ooh, look, snow!’ as our coach drove in the resort. Only ever having seen short-lived sprinkles of snow at home, I could hardly believe my eyes. There was so much of it! It was like something from a film, or a Christmas card. Everything was white and glistening. Enormous icicles which looked like they could kill someone if they fell hung from the chocolate-box-style buildings.

As well as paying for my passport, Anna also helped me buy a decent pair of walking boots before I left. ‘Call it an early Christmas present – can’t have you getting cold feet!’ she’d said. Thankfully, the chalet company provided not only a uniform but also a logoed ski jacket which we had to wear at all times while outside the chalet, even when we were not officially on duty. This was a huge relief to me, having seen the price of ski jackets.

When we arrived, we were divided up between about six chalets. Many of the girls had put in requests to share rooms with other girls they already knew from school or from previous seasons they’d worked, so I lucked out and got a room all to myself.

It was by far the most beautiful room I had ever been in. The bed was enormous and there were fur throws everywhere. I touched one – it felt like stroking a pedigree cat. I’d never seen towels so white or so thick – each one was monogrammed and had a snowflake embroidered on it. There was both a huge shower and a massive claw-foot tub in my bathroom.

I flung myself back on the bed. It was like lying on a cloud.