Holidays in Socialism, part two

[Bassim]

Would you please correct the mistakes in the second part of my text?

We would travel by a train or by a bus together with dozens of workers and their families who were my father’s colleagues from the state-owned building company. It was a long journey in crowded trains and buses without air-condition, but we had so much fun during the journey that nobody cared about the heat. In every compartment, there were at least one or two people who could endlessly crack jokes and tell exciting stories from their own life that in my mind hours passed like minutes. When we finally arrived, and the scents of the sea, pine, lavender and rosemary wafted in my nostrils while the seagulls floated in the blue sky, I felt elated as if I could fly too. The endless sparkling sea had a hypnotic effect on me. I wanted straight away to run down to the beach and throw myself into the water.

At the train station, we were met by the representatives of the company, who gave us the address of our accommodation and the name and the address of the restaurant where we were going to eat our meals. Lager factories and companies had their own holiday centres, but smaller ones, like the one where my father worked, used to hire rooms in private homes and also hire restaurants during the summer season. Father, sister and I would stay in one room with three beds. The rooms were clean and equipped with basic furniture. The toilet and the shower were in the hall, and were shared by other guests, but this did not bother us at all because most of the time we were outside. Our hosts were for the most kind and obliging. They must have been glad that all their rooms were rented out and the costs were already paid in advance. They did not need to go to town every day searching for guests and compete with others, for the competition was hard.

I felt as if I were visiting my relatives. We could walk freely around the house, go into the kitchen and make coffee or tea, and we could watch TV whenever we liked. If our hosts had their own children, we would play with them in their garden and talk with them about their hobbies and interests. My sisters gathered dolls, and if the host’s daughter did the same, they immediately made friends. Whenever our hostess made a cake, she would invite us to eat it with her children and treat us as if we were her own. In all those years I went on the collective holidays I never heard anyone complain about accommodation, never heard a noise or disturbance of any kind.

The food we were served was passable, with just two meals to chose from at lunch and dinner, but again, I didn’t care. For me, the quality of the food was of no concern. I would have probably been satisfied even if I ate just bread, only if I could spend the rest of the time on the beach. The restaurants were usually large, and you could hear a constant chatter over the tables, broken by a burst of laughter when someone cracked a joke. I would finish my breakfast and then hurry back to my room, changed into the swimming trunks, take a towel, and then impatiently wait for Father and my sister, who would come a few minutes later. None of them was a keen swimmer as I was, and they were not in hurry to go to the beach.
As I felt the sand under my feet and saw an endless stretch of sparkling water, my breast filled with sheer happiness. I ran into the water and started swimming away from the shore. I could not believe that the sea could be so clean that I was able to see every little stone on the bottom. The water was calm and warm and you could stay in it as long as you wanted without feeling cold.
TO BE CONTINUED

 

[teechar]

We would travel by train or by bus together with dozens of workers and their families who were my father’s colleagues [STRIKE]from[/STRIKE] at the state-owned [STRIKE]building[/STRIKE] construction company. It was a long journey in crowded trains and buses without air-conditioning, but we had so much fun during the journey that nobody cared about the heat. In every compartment, there were at least one or two people who could endlessly crack jokes and tell exciting stories from their own life that [STRIKE]in my mind[/STRIKE] made the hours [STRIKE]passed[/STRIKE] pass like minutes. When we finally arrived, and the scents of the sea, pine trees, lavender and rosemary wafted in my nostrils, while the seagulls floated in the blue sky, I felt elated as if I could fly too. The endless sparkling sea had a hypnotic effect on me. I wanted straight away to run down to the beach and throw myself into the water.

At the train station, we were met by the representatives of the company, who gave us the address of our accommodation and the name and the address of the restaurant where we were going to eat our meals. Larger factories and companies had their own holiday centres, but smaller ones, like the one where my father worked, used to [STRIKE]hire[/STRIKE] rent rooms in private homes and also hire restaurants during the summer season. My father, my sister and I would stay in one room with three beds. The rooms were clean and equipped with basic furniture. The toilet and the shower were [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] down the corridor, [STRIKE]hall,[/STRIKE] and were shared [STRIKE]by[/STRIKE] with other guests, but this did not bother us at all because most of the time we were outside. Our hosts were, for the most part, kind and obliging. They must have been glad that all their rooms were rented out and the [STRIKE]costs were already[/STRIKE] the money was paid in advance. They did not need to go to town every day [STRIKE]searching for[/STRIKE] and compete with others to find guests. [STRIKE]and compete with others, for the competition was hard.[/STRIKE]

I felt as if I were visiting my relatives. We could walk freely around the house, go into the kitchen and make coffee or tea, and we could watch TV whenever we liked. If our hosts had their own children, we would play with them in their garden and talk with them about their hobbies and interests. My sister, who had an interest in collecting [STRIKE]gathered[/STRIKE] dolls, would immediately become friends with [STRIKE]and if the[/STRIKE] host’s daughter who had the same interest. [STRIKE]did the same, they immediately made friends.[/STRIKE] Whenever our hostess made a cake, she would invite us to eat it with her children and treat us as if we were her own. In all those years I went on the collective holidays, I never heard anyone complain about accommodation, never heard a noise or a disturbance of any kind.

The food we were served was reasonable, [STRIKE]passable,[/STRIKE] with just two meals to chose from at lunch and dinner, but again, I didn’t care. For me, the quality of the food was of no concern. I would have probably been satisfied even if I ate just bread, only if I could spend the rest of the time on the beach. The restaurants were usually large, and you could hear a constant chatter over the tables, broken by a burst of laughter when someone cracked a joke. I would finish my breakfast and then hurry back to my room, change into [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] my swimming trunks, take a towel, and then impatiently wait for Father and my sister, who would come a few minutes later. [STRIKE]None[/STRIKE] neither of them was a keen swimmer as I was, and they were not in a hurry to go to the beach.

As I felt the sand under my feet and saw [STRIKE]an[/STRIKE] the endless stretch of sparkling water, my breast filled with sheer happiness. I ran into the water and started swimming away from the shore. I could not believe that the sea could be so clean; that I was able to see every little stone on the bottom. The water was calm and warm and you could stay in it as long as you wanted without feeling cold.
TO BE CONTINUED

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