Limited typing ability as my wrists are thoroughly bruised. As are my knees, elbows, chest, and basically everything that can be bruised when you repeatedly tumble down steep and not so steep hills with a snowboard attached to your feet for a weekend.
After a painful day one that saw me hitting amazing speeds for a good 5 seconds before hitting the snow face first and then again hitting amazing speeds while being further thrown down the hill like a ragdoll, I was ready to call it quits. And then today, with initial pain and neverending mistakes haunting me, I took a long break for some German Hot Coco and other treats. And after pondering how disgusting German fast food is, not to mention the funky smell of cigarettes and Dutch ski tourists that smacks you in the face when you walk in the semi-lodge-shack, I got back on my favorite hill and started figuring things out.
Suddenly I had the occasional zen moments, not amazing stuff, but I learned how to manage the board and keep myself from being once again painfully thown on my ass. And then with some kind coaching and encouraging friends, I snowboarded my way through the rest of the day, and most amazingly – I was smiling.
Before getting back to world affairs and international issues this week, we’re certainly going to discuss my experience at a wonderful german sauna and all the social issues that it brought up. (or stripped way, would be a more appropriate phrase)