The Language of Teaching
When you spend six to eight hours a day talking you're bound to say some strange things. Recently, though, I've noticed a couple of common phrases things that a lot of instructors use that they really shouldn't be. First, there are entirely way too many older (say 40+) male instructors who seem to think it's okay to scream, "You go, girl!" when one of their female students does something right. There's really no correct response so the student is left staring awkwardly at the instructor. Are the instructors trying to connect with a younger generation? Has the phrase has become so main stream that they feel it's okay for them to say it? I don't know, but it's just weird and it needs to stop.
Secondly, instructors have a strange tendency to use "that" and "those" instead of "your." I've heard several instructors describe a turn like this: "Take that knee and push it down toward those toes. And point that arm where you want to go." As the student takes off you'll then hear them scream, "Push down on those toes, push down on those toes!" I've caught myself doing this a few times and I don't know why we just don't say "Take your knee and push it down toward your toes." I'm currently making a conscious effort to use "your" over "those" but I'm just not sure where the habit started.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Padre Nuestro
Yesterday was my big Sundance day, with tickets to three films. I can't say I was expecting too much; the fact that I got tickets meant that the films weren't too highly sought after. But I was still excited; I could be in the same room as some celebrities! :) And, to help fill another New Years resolution (start learning Spanish), two of the films were in Spanish (with English subtitles, of course).
The first film, Padre Nuestro was my favorite. In a nutshell it follows a teenager from Mexico as he's smuggled into America and attempts survive in NYC. I haven't seen a non-Hollywood movie in a long time and it was nice to see a movie that (a) actually makes me think and (b) doesn't finish up all nice and perfectly. It gets two thumbs way up from me.
The second movie, Longford, is an English show about two of its most notorious convicted criminals and whether or not any human is incapable of being forgiven. It was originally a TV show in England (I think) so it ran a somewhat short 88 minutes. But it still felt like it was about 20 minutes too long. Maybe I'm just a product of today's fast-paced world, but Longford was just a little slow. But it was still interesting and (again) I always enjoy a film where I actually get to think.
Finally, I stayed up for a midnight showing of Summer Rain, directed by Antonio Banderas. The highlight of this film was having Antonio Bandares himself come out and introduce the movie (my first celebrity sighting!). He was a little long winded, but his speech helped set the tone for the movie. The point he made was that the movie is more like a poem; ideas are suggested, not necessarily shown. Without his set up I probably wouldn't have liked the movie at all. But after hearing his description I feel like he did a good job capturing what he wanted to. Sadly, I still wasn't very impressed with it. But I was 20 feet from Antonio Banderas!
Yesterday was my big Sundance day, with tickets to three films. I can't say I was expecting too much; the fact that I got tickets meant that the films weren't too highly sought after. But I was still excited; I could be in the same room as some celebrities! :) And, to help fill another New Years resolution (start learning Spanish), two of the films were in Spanish (with English subtitles, of course).
The first film, Padre Nuestro was my favorite. In a nutshell it follows a teenager from Mexico as he's smuggled into America and attempts survive in NYC. I haven't seen a non-Hollywood movie in a long time and it was nice to see a movie that (a) actually makes me think and (b) doesn't finish up all nice and perfectly. It gets two thumbs way up from me.
The second movie, Longford, is an English show about two of its most notorious convicted criminals and whether or not any human is incapable of being forgiven. It was originally a TV show in England (I think) so it ran a somewhat short 88 minutes. But it still felt like it was about 20 minutes too long. Maybe I'm just a product of today's fast-paced world, but Longford was just a little slow. But it was still interesting and (again) I always enjoy a film where I actually get to think.
Finally, I stayed up for a midnight showing of Summer Rain, directed by Antonio Banderas. The highlight of this film was having Antonio Bandares himself come out and introduce the movie (my first celebrity sighting!). He was a little long winded, but his speech helped set the tone for the movie. The point he made was that the movie is more like a poem; ideas are suggested, not necessarily shown. Without his set up I probably wouldn't have liked the movie at all. But after hearing his description I feel like he did a good job capturing what he wanted to. Sadly, I still wasn't very impressed with it. But I was 20 feet from Antonio Banderas!
Skiboot Shuffle
It's Saturday at 4:30pm. The sun has dropped behind the mountains and the temperature is 10 degrees and falling. For the first time in weeks clouds have moved in and it has started to snow. On stage Ozomatli is in full swing. Some guys are wearing ski goggles to keep the snow out of their eyes. Others are grabbing hand warmers between songs so they can keep their fingers warm enough to hold onto their instruments. For a minute I step back and think, "What in the world am I doing out here? It's snowing, windy, and I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers." But I look around and it's hard not to be happy. People are jumping around and dancing everywhere; partly with the music, but also just to keep warm. But everyone is smiling, laughing, and enjoying the music. There's really nothing to do but join in. I can thaw my fingers out later.
Ozomatli put a great show. It was shortened a little due to the weather (they're from LA and not quite used to performing when it's 5 degrees out), but they still managed to rock the ski resort. The crowd was small, so I was able to get pretty close. And to help keep the kids warm they had a few join them on stage. Oh, and I got a very short video of them coming into the crowd and playing with everyone.
It's Saturday at 4:30pm. The sun has dropped behind the mountains and the temperature is 10 degrees and falling. For the first time in weeks clouds have moved in and it has started to snow. On stage Ozomatli is in full swing. Some guys are wearing ski goggles to keep the snow out of their eyes. Others are grabbing hand warmers between songs so they can keep their fingers warm enough to hold onto their instruments. For a minute I step back and think, "What in the world am I doing out here? It's snowing, windy, and I'm starting to lose feeling in my fingers." But I look around and it's hard not to be happy. People are jumping around and dancing everywhere; partly with the music, but also just to keep warm. But everyone is smiling, laughing, and enjoying the music. There's really nothing to do but join in. I can thaw my fingers out later.
Ozomatli put a great show. It was shortened a little due to the weather (they're from LA and not quite used to performing when it's 5 degrees out), but they still managed to rock the ski resort. The crowd was small, so I was able to get pretty close. And to help keep the kids warm they had a few join them on stage. Oh, and I got a very short video of them coming into the crowd and playing with everyone.
Winter Sports
Whew, what a weekend. Park City is definitely not a big enough town to handle Sundance. But, as predicted, it's been empty on the mountain. I've taken the opportunity to attempt alpine and telemark skiing. I grew up skiing, but hadn't been on skis since I first strapped into a snowboard 10 years ago. I had no idea what to expect, but was expecting to spend a lot of time on the ground. However I discovered that skiing is way easier than I remembered it. It must be the new parabolic skis or something, but I was tearing up the mountain. Okay that might not be 100% true, but I got off the green runs in a hurry and spent the day on blue and blacks runs. I think skiing must be like riding a bike. Sadly my snowboard skills didn't carry over though. I tried a few 180s on skis and all I had to show for it was a face full of snow.
But the real reason I stepped into alpine skis was to get prepared for tele-Tuesday. Tele-Tuesday is a program where ski and snowboard instructors get half off on telemark rentals and a free lesson from 5:00 - 7:00pm. The picture above is me after about two seconds on the skis. Although I was standing then, I fell about five seconds later. Fortunately I got back up before they could get another picture. Tele-Tuesday was a lot of fun. I'm not convinced that telemark skis are the way to go, but it's worth trying out a few more times.
Whew, what a weekend. Park City is definitely not a big enough town to handle Sundance. But, as predicted, it's been empty on the mountain. I've taken the opportunity to attempt alpine and telemark skiing. I grew up skiing, but hadn't been on skis since I first strapped into a snowboard 10 years ago. I had no idea what to expect, but was expecting to spend a lot of time on the ground. However I discovered that skiing is way easier than I remembered it. It must be the new parabolic skis or something, but I was tearing up the mountain. Okay that might not be 100% true, but I got off the green runs in a hurry and spent the day on blue and blacks runs. I think skiing must be like riding a bike. Sadly my snowboard skills didn't carry over though. I tried a few 180s on skis and all I had to show for it was a face full of snow.
But the real reason I stepped into alpine skis was to get prepared for tele-Tuesday. Tele-Tuesday is a program where ski and snowboard instructors get half off on telemark rentals and a free lesson from 5:00 - 7:00pm. The picture above is me after about two seconds on the skis. Although I was standing then, I fell about five seconds later. Fortunately I got back up before they could get another picture. Tele-Tuesday was a lot of fun. I'm not convinced that telemark skis are the way to go, but it's worth trying out a few more times.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
New Years Resolutions
I don't know if this happens for anyone else, but every year I seem to end up with the same core set of New Years resolutions that I convince myself to tackle. This year is no different and I find myself again trying to be more social and to get out more often. It's easy to fall into a routine here of riding all day, coming home and just completely vegging all evening. Last week, inspired to get out more, I decided to attack the town a couple of times. The results were not good.
Wednesday night I ventured out to the No Name Saloon, a place I've walked past several times but never gone in. It's always looked fairly busy and lively. I picked Wednesday because I heard something about Wednesday being "locals" night. Wednesday night I learned that "locals" can be a frightening word. It's kind of like "rustic," another word that's done me wrong in the past. (Quick aside: one year on a trip to Whistler my family decided to stay at some place that was billed as being very rustic. Upon arrival we discovered that very rustic basically meant small, dirty, and poorly maintained. I've been wary of any place described as rustic since.)
Ok, back to the story. It appears that locals' night could also be described as hicks' night. I saw entirely way too many toothless smiles, straw hats, and I believe I even saw a couple pairs of jean overalls. Oh, and an overwhelming male to female ratio. I probably would have had more fun if I wore my cowboy boots (and, of course, if I actually owned cowboy boots), but as it was I wasn't too impressed with locals' night.
So I went home, recovered on Thursday, and on Friday was ready to try again. This time I headed to the Star Bar. Two reasons: first, my friend at the front desk said that the Star Bar was the hot place to be on Friday nights; secondly, a friend from work mentioned that Friday was $2 drinks. So I headed out around 10:00pm. I arrived at the front door and discovered that the club was actually in the basement. I'm always a little wary of basement venues; you can't see what's going on and it could be too packed or completely empty. And, the bouncer noted that there was a $5 cover because it was $2 beer night (note: it was originally $2 drinks, now just $2 beers). But I'm already there, so I might as well keep going.
I hand over $5, head downstairs, and there are three people there. Literally. Well seven people if you count the three bartenders and the DJ. But I've put my $5 down, I'm getting me some $2 beers! I walk over to the bar and I'm distressed to discover that it's not $2 beers, but $2 domestic beers (Bud, Bud Light, etc). Which are only like $3 anyways. The imported beers, of course, are still $5+. So I'm stuck at a dead club drinking bad drinks. At 12:30 I decided I couldn't stand it any more (they were up to about 15 people at that point) and I headed home.
So two attempts out, two complete failures. Fortunately I've got a million more chances this week. Amongst other things we've got a company bowling party, a great free concert (Ozomatli, an awesome, percussion heavy band that will be performing outside on Saturday), and, of course, the Sundance Film Festival. I managed to get a few tickets, but I'm more interested to see what the vibe will be like for the next 10 days. It looks like it's going to be more than a little elitist, most of the bars are actually closed out for private events during the festival. But that won't keep me from getting out and trying.
Oh, and I'm supposed to be here snowboarding, huh? As promised, it is dead, dead, dead here. I'm still up on the mountain almost every morning, but no clients and no fresh snow (we're approaching two weeks of no new snow) means that I don't have a strong desire to spend my whole day up there.
I don't know if this happens for anyone else, but every year I seem to end up with the same core set of New Years resolutions that I convince myself to tackle. This year is no different and I find myself again trying to be more social and to get out more often. It's easy to fall into a routine here of riding all day, coming home and just completely vegging all evening. Last week, inspired to get out more, I decided to attack the town a couple of times. The results were not good.
Wednesday night I ventured out to the No Name Saloon, a place I've walked past several times but never gone in. It's always looked fairly busy and lively. I picked Wednesday because I heard something about Wednesday being "locals" night. Wednesday night I learned that "locals" can be a frightening word. It's kind of like "rustic," another word that's done me wrong in the past. (Quick aside: one year on a trip to Whistler my family decided to stay at some place that was billed as being very rustic. Upon arrival we discovered that very rustic basically meant small, dirty, and poorly maintained. I've been wary of any place described as rustic since.)
Ok, back to the story. It appears that locals' night could also be described as hicks' night. I saw entirely way too many toothless smiles, straw hats, and I believe I even saw a couple pairs of jean overalls. Oh, and an overwhelming male to female ratio. I probably would have had more fun if I wore my cowboy boots (and, of course, if I actually owned cowboy boots), but as it was I wasn't too impressed with locals' night.
So I went home, recovered on Thursday, and on Friday was ready to try again. This time I headed to the Star Bar. Two reasons: first, my friend at the front desk said that the Star Bar was the hot place to be on Friday nights; secondly, a friend from work mentioned that Friday was $2 drinks. So I headed out around 10:00pm. I arrived at the front door and discovered that the club was actually in the basement. I'm always a little wary of basement venues; you can't see what's going on and it could be too packed or completely empty. And, the bouncer noted that there was a $5 cover because it was $2 beer night (note: it was originally $2 drinks, now just $2 beers). But I'm already there, so I might as well keep going.
I hand over $5, head downstairs, and there are three people there. Literally. Well seven people if you count the three bartenders and the DJ. But I've put my $5 down, I'm getting me some $2 beers! I walk over to the bar and I'm distressed to discover that it's not $2 beers, but $2 domestic beers (Bud, Bud Light, etc). Which are only like $3 anyways. The imported beers, of course, are still $5+. So I'm stuck at a dead club drinking bad drinks. At 12:30 I decided I couldn't stand it any more (they were up to about 15 people at that point) and I headed home.
So two attempts out, two complete failures. Fortunately I've got a million more chances this week. Amongst other things we've got a company bowling party, a great free concert (Ozomatli, an awesome, percussion heavy band that will be performing outside on Saturday), and, of course, the Sundance Film Festival. I managed to get a few tickets, but I'm more interested to see what the vibe will be like for the next 10 days. It looks like it's going to be more than a little elitist, most of the bars are actually closed out for private events during the festival. But that won't keep me from getting out and trying.
Oh, and I'm supposed to be here snowboarding, huh? As promised, it is dead, dead, dead here. I'm still up on the mountain almost every morning, but no clients and no fresh snow (we're approaching two weeks of no new snow) means that I don't have a strong desire to spend my whole day up there.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Mid-Winter Break
Early January has come and gone and, as promised, it has been much, much slower than the late December holiday rush. Some old-timers claim that snowboard instructors make nearly 50% of their income during the holiday break, an idea that I originally found humorous, but I'm now afraid might be true.
Fortunately, Park City Mountain offers all sorts of clinics for us to take to keep ourselves busy. This week I've taken a couple of freestyle classes and a very in-depth look at snowboard maintainence. All I can say is ignorance is bliss. In the (not too distance) past, snowboarding was as simple as throwing the board on and pointing it downhill. I've got enough knowledge about bases, edges, and such that I could easily spend an hour a night preparing for the next day.
However, too much of a good thing can be bad. We spent three hours yesterday tweaking our edges (I'm now the proud owner of a "power-bevel!") and applying various substances to the base of our board. I headed up to the slopes today, prepared to leave powder burns in the snow. I stood up near the bunny slope, aimed down hill, and ... my board didn't budge. Not even an inch. It felt like I was trying to snowboard through bubble gum. It made the day interesting (it's always fun trying to do demos for kids when your board doesn't move). I'll be spending a little extra time tonight attempting to get everything back in order.
Other thoughts I had while trying to keep up with my students today:
Storm watch, 2007: After a few weeks of very warm weather (and a steady drop in our snow-pack), we finally had a strong storm blow through last night. Nearly 8" of snow later things were looking good for today -- until I stepped outside. Wow, was it cold. Today's high at the base of the mountain was 10 degrees, with a slight breeze. My routine with the students today was: two runs (about 40 minutes total); head inside to warm up (for about 10 minutes); repeat. And even that was pushing it. Taking the chair lift up was an exercise in mental strength. And the wind was blowing up the mountain, so you'd get even colder snowboarding back down. The weekend promises to bring more cold weather, but hopefully we'll crack into the teens at least.
Fleeting connections: Last week I had a Mexican student in my class. Part of my morning chit-chat with him sounded something like:
It took a minute for me to convince him that I knew where Mexico was and I wanted to know where in Mexico he lived. He finally figured it out and started describing some place that I had never heard of, all I could do was nod and try to look like I knew what he was talking about. I felt like he kind of lost confidence with me for a while. Fortunately another student was a "magician" and was doing some card tricks. I showed off my only trick and Sebastian was totally mesmerized. At lunch he immediately pointed to the deck and said "again." Sadly I screwed it up (for the first time in a few years!) and he looked crestfallen again. Oh well, at least he thought I was cool for part of the day.
Real Salt Lake: And one thing I'm looking forward to later in the season is watching a Real Salt Lake soccer game. Freddy Adu was just traded to the team so I've been excited that I'd get to see a soccer superstar. And just yesterday David Beckham decided to join the LA Galaxy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Galaxy will be visiting Salt Lake before I leave.
Time to get bundled up and ready for the weekend. Oh, and Go Seahawks!
Early January has come and gone and, as promised, it has been much, much slower than the late December holiday rush. Some old-timers claim that snowboard instructors make nearly 50% of their income during the holiday break, an idea that I originally found humorous, but I'm now afraid might be true.
Fortunately, Park City Mountain offers all sorts of clinics for us to take to keep ourselves busy. This week I've taken a couple of freestyle classes and a very in-depth look at snowboard maintainence. All I can say is ignorance is bliss. In the (not too distance) past, snowboarding was as simple as throwing the board on and pointing it downhill. I've got enough knowledge about bases, edges, and such that I could easily spend an hour a night preparing for the next day.
However, too much of a good thing can be bad. We spent three hours yesterday tweaking our edges (I'm now the proud owner of a "power-bevel!") and applying various substances to the base of our board. I headed up to the slopes today, prepared to leave powder burns in the snow. I stood up near the bunny slope, aimed down hill, and ... my board didn't budge. Not even an inch. It felt like I was trying to snowboard through bubble gum. It made the day interesting (it's always fun trying to do demos for kids when your board doesn't move). I'll be spending a little extra time tonight attempting to get everything back in order.
Other thoughts I had while trying to keep up with my students today:
Storm watch, 2007: After a few weeks of very warm weather (and a steady drop in our snow-pack), we finally had a strong storm blow through last night. Nearly 8" of snow later things were looking good for today -- until I stepped outside. Wow, was it cold. Today's high at the base of the mountain was 10 degrees, with a slight breeze. My routine with the students today was: two runs (about 40 minutes total); head inside to warm up (for about 10 minutes); repeat. And even that was pushing it. Taking the chair lift up was an exercise in mental strength. And the wind was blowing up the mountain, so you'd get even colder snowboarding back down. The weekend promises to bring more cold weather, but hopefully we'll crack into the teens at least.
Fleeting connections: Last week I had a Mexican student in my class. Part of my morning chit-chat with him sounded something like:
Me: Hey, Sebastian! Where are you from?
Sebastian: Mexico.
Me: Oh cool! Where in Mexico?
(Here he pauses for a second and stares at me with a strange look.)
Sebastian: Um, Mexico. It's a country below the United States.
It took a minute for me to convince him that I knew where Mexico was and I wanted to know where in Mexico he lived. He finally figured it out and started describing some place that I had never heard of, all I could do was nod and try to look like I knew what he was talking about. I felt like he kind of lost confidence with me for a while. Fortunately another student was a "magician" and was doing some card tricks. I showed off my only trick and Sebastian was totally mesmerized. At lunch he immediately pointed to the deck and said "again." Sadly I screwed it up (for the first time in a few years!) and he looked crestfallen again. Oh well, at least he thought I was cool for part of the day.
Real Salt Lake: And one thing I'm looking forward to later in the season is watching a Real Salt Lake soccer game. Freddy Adu was just traded to the team so I've been excited that I'd get to see a soccer superstar. And just yesterday David Beckham decided to join the LA Galaxy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Galaxy will be visiting Salt Lake before I leave.
Time to get bundled up and ready for the weekend. Oh, and Go Seahawks!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Back Off!
For those who aren't familiar the picture above is of the Rabbit. A 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit, my family is its first and only owner. It was first passed down to me and now is my sister's primary mode of transportation. It has run into a few (well many) problems over the years (most notable being that it's not exactly waterproof anymore -- not good for a car in Seattle). But under the hood it has a strong will to live.
The last few years the rabbit has been blessed with two signature traits (well three if you count the ever-present scent inside the car -- a curious combination of rust, mold, and something else I can't place my finger on). First, when you start the car it emits a huge cloud of blueish gray smoke. This cloud is a bold signal to everyone in the parking lot (as well as to the poor pedestrians blocks in all directions who get to smell the noxious fumes) that this vehicle is no longer stationary. Second is the license plate holder on the back which proudly proclaims, "If you can't run with the big dogs, STAY ON THE PORCH!" I don't know what's more embarrassing: being driven around by my younger sister in that thing, or the thought that my mom used to drive to IBM in it. You know, where her coworkers saw her.
Anyway, this Christmas I felt it was time for an upgrade, so I ordered a pair of Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mud flaps. The purchase was mostly as a joke, but now that I've seen them on I think it's a perfect fit. The picture above shows all three signature traits in perfect harmony: the license plate cover, which is clouded by the toxic cloud of doom and the new applied mud flaps. My sister must be so happy.
For those who aren't familiar the picture above is of the Rabbit. A 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit, my family is its first and only owner. It was first passed down to me and now is my sister's primary mode of transportation. It has run into a few (well many) problems over the years (most notable being that it's not exactly waterproof anymore -- not good for a car in Seattle). But under the hood it has a strong will to live.
The last few years the rabbit has been blessed with two signature traits (well three if you count the ever-present scent inside the car -- a curious combination of rust, mold, and something else I can't place my finger on). First, when you start the car it emits a huge cloud of blueish gray smoke. This cloud is a bold signal to everyone in the parking lot (as well as to the poor pedestrians blocks in all directions who get to smell the noxious fumes) that this vehicle is no longer stationary. Second is the license plate holder on the back which proudly proclaims, "If you can't run with the big dogs, STAY ON THE PORCH!" I don't know what's more embarrassing: being driven around by my younger sister in that thing, or the thought that my mom used to drive to IBM in it. You know, where her coworkers saw her.
Anyway, this Christmas I felt it was time for an upgrade, so I ordered a pair of Yosemite Sam "Back Off" mud flaps. The purchase was mostly as a joke, but now that I've seen them on I think it's a perfect fit. The picture above shows all three signature traits in perfect harmony: the license plate cover, which is clouded by the toxic cloud of doom and the new applied mud flaps. My sister must be so happy.
Monday, January 08, 2007
"I think I need to tighten my pants"
(I'll explain the title in a second, I promise.) So yes, kids are a little stressful to teach. But they are in fact kids and spending seven hours a day with a group of kids is going to put you in some strange situations, there's just no way around it. Fortunately, the situations I've been in have been pretty mild so far.
Yesterday, for example, my class (two 12 year old sisters and an 8 year old boy) just got off the chairlift. As I'm talking to the girls about what we're going to do next the boy says (from behind me), "I think I need to tighten my pants." Confused, I turned around to see the kid's pants undone and unzipped, barely hanging around his butt. I have no idea how he pulled this off, we were sitting next to each other on the chairlift not even 10 seconds earlier and everything seemed to be in order then. But there's really nothing to be done but head over and help him pull his pants back on and button everything back up (I didn't want him to take his gloves off -- glove removal and reapplication can be a surprisingly time consuming task -- so I got the pleasant duty of buttoning everything up).
Aside from helping keep clothing on, I've helped kids with all sorts of interesting tasks that I wasn't informed that I'd be doing before I accepted the job. But my hat goes to fellow snowboarding instructor Matt, who's had the best (and worst) experience so far. At the end of the day of the day a couple of weeks ago he's talking with a parent, who's trying to figure out where her two daughters are.
"Well," he starts off, "something at lunch must have disagreed with Julia, she says she's not feeling very well."
"Oh no," replied the mom, "how is she doing?"
"Right now she's downstairs in the bathroom throwing up."
"I'll head down there right now, where's my other daughter, Leslie?" the mom asked.
"Actually, she's in the stall next to Julia. She was going to the bathroom and kind of went on herself instead. I haven't been able to talk her out of the stall yet."
"Oh, that must be disappointing for her," exclaimed the mom.
Two points here. First of all, the mom took everything way too calmly, the "that must be disappointing" line especially threw me off. Obviously I didn't know the entire story (although I wasn't all that interested in learning more). Secondly, I don't know the exact details how Matt's afternoon went, but the look on his face told me more than I needed to know. I can thankfully say that as a snowboard instructor I haven't yet spent any time in the women's bathroom. That is definitely a good thing.
(I'll explain the title in a second, I promise.) So yes, kids are a little stressful to teach. But they are in fact kids and spending seven hours a day with a group of kids is going to put you in some strange situations, there's just no way around it. Fortunately, the situations I've been in have been pretty mild so far.
Yesterday, for example, my class (two 12 year old sisters and an 8 year old boy) just got off the chairlift. As I'm talking to the girls about what we're going to do next the boy says (from behind me), "I think I need to tighten my pants." Confused, I turned around to see the kid's pants undone and unzipped, barely hanging around his butt. I have no idea how he pulled this off, we were sitting next to each other on the chairlift not even 10 seconds earlier and everything seemed to be in order then. But there's really nothing to be done but head over and help him pull his pants back on and button everything back up (I didn't want him to take his gloves off -- glove removal and reapplication can be a surprisingly time consuming task -- so I got the pleasant duty of buttoning everything up).
Aside from helping keep clothing on, I've helped kids with all sorts of interesting tasks that I wasn't informed that I'd be doing before I accepted the job. But my hat goes to fellow snowboarding instructor Matt, who's had the best (and worst) experience so far. At the end of the day of the day a couple of weeks ago he's talking with a parent, who's trying to figure out where her two daughters are.
"Well," he starts off, "something at lunch must have disagreed with Julia, she says she's not feeling very well."
"Oh no," replied the mom, "how is she doing?"
"Right now she's downstairs in the bathroom throwing up."
"I'll head down there right now, where's my other daughter, Leslie?" the mom asked.
"Actually, she's in the stall next to Julia. She was going to the bathroom and kind of went on herself instead. I haven't been able to talk her out of the stall yet."
"Oh, that must be disappointing for her," exclaimed the mom.
Two points here. First of all, the mom took everything way too calmly, the "that must be disappointing" line especially threw me off. Obviously I didn't know the entire story (although I wasn't all that interested in learning more). Secondly, I don't know the exact details how Matt's afternoon went, but the look on his face told me more than I needed to know. I can thankfully say that as a snowboard instructor I haven't yet spent any time in the women's bathroom. That is definitely a good thing.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Breaking the Teaching Cycle
Teaching snowboarding is a (surprisingly) well planned out event, with a series of drills that we take students through to get them from standing on a board to confidently turning down the bunny slope (Ed. note - when I say "well planned out event" I, of course, mean in theory. In practice, the day is an exercise in controlled chaos and any learning that happens is purely accidental). We're so organized, in fact, that we have a "teaching cycle" that helps dictate how to teach a lesson. I won't go into all the details here, but a part of the cycle consists of "plan a task, present information, and check for understanding." An example of this would be something like the instructor deciding that we want to work on heel-side traverses (plan the task), the instructor telling the students what the students are going to do (present the information), and finally the instructor checks to make sure the students know what they're supposed to be doing (check for understanding).
In the course of the day I go through this process, I dunno, a million times. And after working for a few days straight it's pretty much all you're doing: outline the task and check for understanding. Unfortunately it gets so ingrained that you can't just turn it off. The first night my parents arrived in town we headed up to the mountain to rent my dad's ski gear and to pick up ski tickets for the weekend. Waiting for the rental guys to get my dad's gear figured out I decided to see how my mom and sister were doing with the tickets. Without thinking I turned to my dad and said something like, "Okay dad. I'm going to head upstairs and see how mom is doing with the tickets. You're going to stay here and get the rest of your gear figured out. When my mom and I finish up we'll head back down here and meet you by the check out. Understand what we're doing?"
I had accidentally snuck into instructor mode and was essentially talking to my dad like he was a 10 year old student.
Teaching snowboarding is a (surprisingly) well planned out event, with a series of drills that we take students through to get them from standing on a board to confidently turning down the bunny slope (Ed. note - when I say "well planned out event" I, of course, mean in theory. In practice, the day is an exercise in controlled chaos and any learning that happens is purely accidental). We're so organized, in fact, that we have a "teaching cycle" that helps dictate how to teach a lesson. I won't go into all the details here, but a part of the cycle consists of "plan a task, present information, and check for understanding." An example of this would be something like the instructor deciding that we want to work on heel-side traverses (plan the task), the instructor telling the students what the students are going to do (present the information), and finally the instructor checks to make sure the students know what they're supposed to be doing (check for understanding).
In the course of the day I go through this process, I dunno, a million times. And after working for a few days straight it's pretty much all you're doing: outline the task and check for understanding. Unfortunately it gets so ingrained that you can't just turn it off. The first night my parents arrived in town we headed up to the mountain to rent my dad's ski gear and to pick up ski tickets for the weekend. Waiting for the rental guys to get my dad's gear figured out I decided to see how my mom and sister were doing with the tickets. Without thinking I turned to my dad and said something like, "Okay dad. I'm going to head upstairs and see how mom is doing with the tickets. You're going to stay here and get the rest of your gear figured out. When my mom and I finish up we'll head back down here and meet you by the check out. Understand what we're doing?"
I had accidentally snuck into instructor mode and was essentially talking to my dad like he was a 10 year old student.
Happy New Years!
Hope everyone had a blast! As I've mentioned, I was most excited about January 1st because it would be my first day off in over two weeks. Apparently I was so excited about the idea of sleeping that I decided to get an early start on December 31st. Instead of heading out as planned I actually fell asleep at around 10:30pm. I woke up around 11:55, but my New Year's party consisted of listening to a couple of neighbors set of fireworks outside. I can't say I was terribly disappointed, though, I really like sleeping. :)
Since I did have a few days off, I decided to take some Colin-time to enjoy the non-snowboarding perks of my job (and it hadn't snowed in over a week). I spent my days off exploring a local tubing park (which has a rope toe to pull you back up!), ice skating at the mountain's outdoor (but tiny) ice rink, and riding the alpine coaster. The alpine coaster was definitely the most fun, it's basically a roller coaster on the mountain. You get pulled about a third of the way up the mountain and then cruise back down through a series of drops and spins. It's a bit steep at $15 a ride, but at $0 a ride it's a great deal and a fun way to spend 15 minutes when you're waiting for a lesson to start.
Although my couple of days off got me somewhat rejuvenated, I was still a little slow rolling out of bed early this morning. However, looking out my window I saw that the .5" inches of snow that was forecast had turned into a full on storm. There were a few inches on the ground and it was coming down hard. Nothing makes me happier out here than being out in fresh snow, so I was in a great mood all day. The snow kept up too and by 3:00pm we had over half a foot. I dropped my students off and immediately jumped back on the chair to get a couple of runs in for myself. I was still in my team uniform so I was limited to green runs (and a couple of easy blues), but new snow is new snow; I didn't have time to change.
And that's where things sit now. The snow is still coming down, I can't wait to see the damage tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, it was a little warmer today (in the high 20s) so the snow is a little wetter than the champagne powder we're used to. I'm sure I'll figure out some way to survive, though.
Hope everyone had a blast! As I've mentioned, I was most excited about January 1st because it would be my first day off in over two weeks. Apparently I was so excited about the idea of sleeping that I decided to get an early start on December 31st. Instead of heading out as planned I actually fell asleep at around 10:30pm. I woke up around 11:55, but my New Year's party consisted of listening to a couple of neighbors set of fireworks outside. I can't say I was terribly disappointed, though, I really like sleeping. :)
Since I did have a few days off, I decided to take some Colin-time to enjoy the non-snowboarding perks of my job (and it hadn't snowed in over a week). I spent my days off exploring a local tubing park (which has a rope toe to pull you back up!), ice skating at the mountain's outdoor (but tiny) ice rink, and riding the alpine coaster. The alpine coaster was definitely the most fun, it's basically a roller coaster on the mountain. You get pulled about a third of the way up the mountain and then cruise back down through a series of drops and spins. It's a bit steep at $15 a ride, but at $0 a ride it's a great deal and a fun way to spend 15 minutes when you're waiting for a lesson to start.
Although my couple of days off got me somewhat rejuvenated, I was still a little slow rolling out of bed early this morning. However, looking out my window I saw that the .5" inches of snow that was forecast had turned into a full on storm. There were a few inches on the ground and it was coming down hard. Nothing makes me happier out here than being out in fresh snow, so I was in a great mood all day. The snow kept up too and by 3:00pm we had over half a foot. I dropped my students off and immediately jumped back on the chair to get a couple of runs in for myself. I was still in my team uniform so I was limited to green runs (and a couple of easy blues), but new snow is new snow; I didn't have time to change.
And that's where things sit now. The snow is still coming down, I can't wait to see the damage tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, it was a little warmer today (in the high 20s) so the snow is a little wetter than the champagne powder we're used to. I'm sure I'll figure out some way to survive, though.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Lessons Learned, Part 1
As I've hinted at several times, my first few weeks as a snowboard instructor haven't been perfect. Mistakes are (of course) to be expected, I'm just not used to a job where mistakes can be so painful and stressful. For example, on my first day in the kids' school I was given a group of two kids who had never snowboarded before. We slowly made our way down to the First Time chair. As we started down the run for the first time it became obvious that there was a very large split in the two students' ability to pick up snowboarding. The girl was athletic, had great balance, and a strong desire to keep moving. By the time we were three-fourths of the way down the slope she was starting to put turns together. The boy, on the other hand, wasn't picking things up as quickly. To put it kindly, his body wasn't really designed for snowboarding. He was a little over five feet tall and easily weighed over 200 hundred pounds. Additionally, he was built like some sort of inverted pyramid; the bulk of his weight was quite high off the ground. Needless to say his high center of mass dictated a poor sense of balance, meaning he spent a lot of time on the ground. And when you've got that much weight meeting the mountain it hurts, no matter how you try to soften the blow.
So I spent a lot of time with him, struggling to pull him to his feet, trying my best to keep him in control, and cringing as his body continued its futile assault on the snowy slope. Finally I yelled down to the girl, who had been waiting for way to long and desperately wanted to keep going, telling her to make her way down to the bottom as I continued my slow journey down. It took me a minute, but I slowly realized that, despite her skills, this was her first time down the slope and she shouldn't be left alone at any point or for any reason. I looked back down to where I last saw here, but (as she was told) she had continued down and was now lost in a sea of beginners.
Slightly panicked, I was able to get the boy down in some semblance of a reasonable speed, but as we approached the lift she was no where to be found. Slightly more panicked now, I told the boy to hang tight for a second while I took a quickly look through the First Time run to find her. He seemed happy to nurse his sore body for a few more minutes and I took off back up the lift, scanning the slopes the entire time. Five minutes later I arrived back at the bottom, without the girl and now in full-on panic mode. I was faced with the unenviable task of calling Radio Central to tell them I had a "misplaced guest" (we don't want to scare people by saying "lost child"). I then had little to do but continue on with my other kid as the ski school, ski patrol, and the girl's parents were all alerted.
A long thirty minutes later the girl was found. She had taken the right path but had jumped on the chair next to First Time (which had just opened that day) and was enjoying herself on that run. She was thankfully okay and her parents were also extremely understanding (they claimed she has a knack for getting lost). Regardless, it's my job to know exactly where she was at every second and it was a huge failing on my part. Expecting a painful talk with my supervisor, I headed toward him after my lesson finally finished. He was (obviously) not happy, but in the end just wanted to make sure I had my act together before the busy season started. I told him I would.
Three days passed -- two days off and one surprisingly successful kids class -- and the pain slowly left me. I felt absolutely horrible for the mistake I made, but in the end everyone was okay and I definitely learned something from it. On the fourth day I was again tasked with taking care of two kids for the day. They both picked up snowboarding fairly slowly and as we reached the bottom of the First Time run for the first time, they were still working on traversing across the mountain. The last hundred feet of the the First Time run are a little steeper and narrower than the rest of the hill and as one of my girl traversed across it, her board slowly pointed down the fall line and started picking up speed. "Keep your weight on your toes!" I yelled after her but as she picked up a little speed she started panicking. She shifted her weight towards her heels (sending the board straight down the hill), screamed, and fell backwards awkwardly where she lay still. I speed down to catch up with her. I sat in the snow with her, helping her breath and relax, but she was obviously in pain. "My wrist hurts real bad," she whispered, fighting back tears, "I think it's broken."
I gently took her board off and helped her get comfortable. She was still in a lot of pain, but was surprisingly calm. Together we walked down to the first aid HQ (which, for some reason, is right next to the First Time run), and started to get her comfortable again. Unfortunately, since she was a minor, the paramedics could to little until her parents arrived. Even more unfortunately, no one could get a hold of her parents. They were out on a snowboarding lesson too and for some reason it took us nearly two hours to track them down. I had to continue on with the rest of my class so I was unable to sit with her as she waited. After each run down I poked my head in, hoping I wouldn't find her still sitting alone in the waiting room, but there she was for two hours. Finally her father arrived, x-rays could be taken, and her suspicions could be confirmed: she had a fracture in her forearm.
I knew there was nothing I could to help and there was really nothing I could have done to help prevent it from happening, but I still felt awful. She was in from Florida and was going to be staying in Park City for seven days. Those seven days would now be spent laying at home, trying not to move her arm. I sat at home that night, thinking about my first four days as a snowboard instructor. My track record: one lost kid and one broken arm.
Teaching snowboard is not -- as I originally envisioned -- playing around with kids on the mountain all day. Every time they stand up I see a fall back down waiting to happen, every fall a possible broken bone or dislocated joint. Every time I turn my back on a student, even for a two seconds, there is a possibility that they will disappear. I've always considered programming to be a stressful job, but I've decided that stressful is an extremely relative term. A careless moment at the office never left a coworker lost (well maybe mentally, but never physically) and the closest thing to a workplace injury I've experienced was a sore wrist from too much foosball. But taking care of kids for a day is stressful. Taking care of kids for a day while trying to herd them around an incredible crowded mountain and teaching them a dangerous and painful sport is extremely stressful. Every day now I get home and let out a sigh of relief: no lost kids and no broken body parts means the day was a success. Everything (or anything) else that happens is a bonus.
As I've hinted at several times, my first few weeks as a snowboard instructor haven't been perfect. Mistakes are (of course) to be expected, I'm just not used to a job where mistakes can be so painful and stressful. For example, on my first day in the kids' school I was given a group of two kids who had never snowboarded before. We slowly made our way down to the First Time chair. As we started down the run for the first time it became obvious that there was a very large split in the two students' ability to pick up snowboarding. The girl was athletic, had great balance, and a strong desire to keep moving. By the time we were three-fourths of the way down the slope she was starting to put turns together. The boy, on the other hand, wasn't picking things up as quickly. To put it kindly, his body wasn't really designed for snowboarding. He was a little over five feet tall and easily weighed over 200 hundred pounds. Additionally, he was built like some sort of inverted pyramid; the bulk of his weight was quite high off the ground. Needless to say his high center of mass dictated a poor sense of balance, meaning he spent a lot of time on the ground. And when you've got that much weight meeting the mountain it hurts, no matter how you try to soften the blow.
So I spent a lot of time with him, struggling to pull him to his feet, trying my best to keep him in control, and cringing as his body continued its futile assault on the snowy slope. Finally I yelled down to the girl, who had been waiting for way to long and desperately wanted to keep going, telling her to make her way down to the bottom as I continued my slow journey down. It took me a minute, but I slowly realized that, despite her skills, this was her first time down the slope and she shouldn't be left alone at any point or for any reason. I looked back down to where I last saw here, but (as she was told) she had continued down and was now lost in a sea of beginners.
Slightly panicked, I was able to get the boy down in some semblance of a reasonable speed, but as we approached the lift she was no where to be found. Slightly more panicked now, I told the boy to hang tight for a second while I took a quickly look through the First Time run to find her. He seemed happy to nurse his sore body for a few more minutes and I took off back up the lift, scanning the slopes the entire time. Five minutes later I arrived back at the bottom, without the girl and now in full-on panic mode. I was faced with the unenviable task of calling Radio Central to tell them I had a "misplaced guest" (we don't want to scare people by saying "lost child"). I then had little to do but continue on with my other kid as the ski school, ski patrol, and the girl's parents were all alerted.
A long thirty minutes later the girl was found. She had taken the right path but had jumped on the chair next to First Time (which had just opened that day) and was enjoying herself on that run. She was thankfully okay and her parents were also extremely understanding (they claimed she has a knack for getting lost). Regardless, it's my job to know exactly where she was at every second and it was a huge failing on my part. Expecting a painful talk with my supervisor, I headed toward him after my lesson finally finished. He was (obviously) not happy, but in the end just wanted to make sure I had my act together before the busy season started. I told him I would.
Three days passed -- two days off and one surprisingly successful kids class -- and the pain slowly left me. I felt absolutely horrible for the mistake I made, but in the end everyone was okay and I definitely learned something from it. On the fourth day I was again tasked with taking care of two kids for the day. They both picked up snowboarding fairly slowly and as we reached the bottom of the First Time run for the first time, they were still working on traversing across the mountain. The last hundred feet of the the First Time run are a little steeper and narrower than the rest of the hill and as one of my girl traversed across it, her board slowly pointed down the fall line and started picking up speed. "Keep your weight on your toes!" I yelled after her but as she picked up a little speed she started panicking. She shifted her weight towards her heels (sending the board straight down the hill), screamed, and fell backwards awkwardly where she lay still. I speed down to catch up with her. I sat in the snow with her, helping her breath and relax, but she was obviously in pain. "My wrist hurts real bad," she whispered, fighting back tears, "I think it's broken."
I gently took her board off and helped her get comfortable. She was still in a lot of pain, but was surprisingly calm. Together we walked down to the first aid HQ (which, for some reason, is right next to the First Time run), and started to get her comfortable again. Unfortunately, since she was a minor, the paramedics could to little until her parents arrived. Even more unfortunately, no one could get a hold of her parents. They were out on a snowboarding lesson too and for some reason it took us nearly two hours to track them down. I had to continue on with the rest of my class so I was unable to sit with her as she waited. After each run down I poked my head in, hoping I wouldn't find her still sitting alone in the waiting room, but there she was for two hours. Finally her father arrived, x-rays could be taken, and her suspicions could be confirmed: she had a fracture in her forearm.
I knew there was nothing I could to help and there was really nothing I could have done to help prevent it from happening, but I still felt awful. She was in from Florida and was going to be staying in Park City for seven days. Those seven days would now be spent laying at home, trying not to move her arm. I sat at home that night, thinking about my first four days as a snowboard instructor. My track record: one lost kid and one broken arm.
Teaching snowboard is not -- as I originally envisioned -- playing around with kids on the mountain all day. Every time they stand up I see a fall back down waiting to happen, every fall a possible broken bone or dislocated joint. Every time I turn my back on a student, even for a two seconds, there is a possibility that they will disappear. I've always considered programming to be a stressful job, but I've decided that stressful is an extremely relative term. A careless moment at the office never left a coworker lost (well maybe mentally, but never physically) and the closest thing to a workplace injury I've experienced was a sore wrist from too much foosball. But taking care of kids for a day is stressful. Taking care of kids for a day while trying to herd them around an incredible crowded mountain and teaching them a dangerous and painful sport is extremely stressful. Every day now I get home and let out a sigh of relief: no lost kids and no broken body parts means the day was a success. Everything (or anything) else that happens is a bonus.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Merry Christmas!
As advertised, things have been busy this. Remember when I said "it certainly doesn't feel like a grind yet"? That was so last week. I've been teaching for about two weeks now and although I'm not a seasoned veteran by any stretch of the imagination, I feel like I've been in the trenches for a while. And I've got a big circle around January 1st, 2007; that'll be the first day I get to sleep in past 6:45 and I plan to stay in bed well past that time. But, yes, I've got some good (and bad) stories to share.
But I won't be sharing them quite yet. Today is one of busiest days on the mountain, but I'm not working this morning. I have a couple free minutes to relax before heading back up there for the afternoon. I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I was lucky enough to have my family join me in Park City for the holidays. It's been a great holiday gift and fun to (finally) share a white Christmas with them. I hope everyone else is enjoying the holidays with friends or family, too.
As advertised, things have been busy this. Remember when I said "it certainly doesn't feel like a grind yet"? That was so last week. I've been teaching for about two weeks now and although I'm not a seasoned veteran by any stretch of the imagination, I feel like I've been in the trenches for a while. And I've got a big circle around January 1st, 2007; that'll be the first day I get to sleep in past 6:45 and I plan to stay in bed well past that time. But, yes, I've got some good (and bad) stories to share.
But I won't be sharing them quite yet. Today is one of busiest days on the mountain, but I'm not working this morning. I have a couple free minutes to relax before heading back up there for the afternoon. I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I was lucky enough to have my family join me in Park City for the holidays. It's been a great holiday gift and fun to (finally) share a white Christmas with them. I hope everyone else is enjoying the holidays with friends or family, too.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Starting the Grind
Today marked the beginning of the first rush season at Park City. From now through 2007, the mountain could be generously described as controlled chaos (and controlled is very generous). There are people all over the place, it's amazing how fast a town can go from quiet and relaxed to bustling and overflowing. Of course, lots of people means lots of work, so we're in full swing right now. I'll be working every day till January 1st, 2007. It's a long stretch, and I've been told that I may be half-dead by the time all is said and done.
But it's hard to imagine that right now. I spent this morning as a "runner," meaning I greet kids (and parents) as they arrive outside and talk to them to figure out which class the kid should be in. After separating the kids and parents (which can be very easy or very hard) I then take the kid over to his group. There's always a few things that come up when you're doing this, today was no different. I ran back to the rental room with a woman who decided that maybe her beginner would be better off with a helmet. I also go to run a kid downstairs who needed to use the toilet, urgently (fortunately we require all students to be potty trained before they can take a snowboarding lesson...).
So not exactly an exciting morning, but I helped a couple of families relax on their vacation, which always feels good. And since I wasn't teaching kids I was free for private lessons and ended up booked for a couple of lessons in the afternoon. The last lesson didn't end until 4:30, so I was out in the snow (and the 18 degree weather) from about 8:45am to 4:30. It's a long time to be out there, and I was (and still am) tired. But I had fun. Then I realized that someone will be paying me for my time out there. And all I was doing was helping people out and snowboarding. So it certainly doesn't feel like a grind yet, but talk to me in twelve days. :)
Today marked the beginning of the first rush season at Park City. From now through 2007, the mountain could be generously described as controlled chaos (and controlled is very generous). There are people all over the place, it's amazing how fast a town can go from quiet and relaxed to bustling and overflowing. Of course, lots of people means lots of work, so we're in full swing right now. I'll be working every day till January 1st, 2007. It's a long stretch, and I've been told that I may be half-dead by the time all is said and done.
But it's hard to imagine that right now. I spent this morning as a "runner," meaning I greet kids (and parents) as they arrive outside and talk to them to figure out which class the kid should be in. After separating the kids and parents (which can be very easy or very hard) I then take the kid over to his group. There's always a few things that come up when you're doing this, today was no different. I ran back to the rental room with a woman who decided that maybe her beginner would be better off with a helmet. I also go to run a kid downstairs who needed to use the toilet, urgently (fortunately we require all students to be potty trained before they can take a snowboarding lesson...).
So not exactly an exciting morning, but I helped a couple of families relax on their vacation, which always feels good. And since I wasn't teaching kids I was free for private lessons and ended up booked for a couple of lessons in the afternoon. The last lesson didn't end until 4:30, so I was out in the snow (and the 18 degree weather) from about 8:45am to 4:30. It's a long time to be out there, and I was (and still am) tired. But I had fun. Then I realized that someone will be paying me for my time out there. And all I was doing was helping people out and snowboarding. So it certainly doesn't feel like a grind yet, but talk to me in twelve days. :)
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Winter Wonderland!
I know, I know, 3 feet of snow fall in 2 days and the best (and only) picture I have is of my car? Well, it's the first thing I saw walking out of my building this morning, and pictures of trees, buildings, mountains, etc. covered in snow really aren't that impressive. I tried though. I took a bunch of pictures of me laying (and getting covered by) the snow, but there ended up being too much Colin, not enough snow.
So, yes, the snow has finally come. This was probably the deepest snow I've ever snowboarded in, it got to the point where I had to find some "less" powdery places because it's just too hard to snowboard in snow up to your hips. But I won't complain. Plus, a great day in the snow can help ease the highs and lows of the previous days. I'm officially a snowboard instructor now and my first three days have been filled with (a few) highs and (a few more) deep lows. There are details that I don't want to go into now, which is fine cause I've got snow to play in.
Tomorrow is my day off and it was supposed to be the day that I get all my Christmas stuff figured out, do my laundry and all that jazz. Unfortunately, when the snow gods talk, I listen. So I'll be up on the mountain again. True, some Christmas gifts may suffer, but that's the price my friends are going to have to pay so I can enjoy my life a little more. Sorry!
I'm off the gym right now, I'm actually going to snowshoe over there! I feel so Nordic.
I know, I know, 3 feet of snow fall in 2 days and the best (and only) picture I have is of my car? Well, it's the first thing I saw walking out of my building this morning, and pictures of trees, buildings, mountains, etc. covered in snow really aren't that impressive. I tried though. I took a bunch of pictures of me laying (and getting covered by) the snow, but there ended up being too much Colin, not enough snow.
So, yes, the snow has finally come. This was probably the deepest snow I've ever snowboarded in, it got to the point where I had to find some "less" powdery places because it's just too hard to snowboard in snow up to your hips. But I won't complain. Plus, a great day in the snow can help ease the highs and lows of the previous days. I'm officially a snowboard instructor now and my first three days have been filled with (a few) highs and (a few more) deep lows. There are details that I don't want to go into now, which is fine cause I've got snow to play in.
Tomorrow is my day off and it was supposed to be the day that I get all my Christmas stuff figured out, do my laundry and all that jazz. Unfortunately, when the snow gods talk, I listen. So I'll be up on the mountain again. True, some Christmas gifts may suffer, but that's the price my friends are going to have to pay so I can enjoy my life a little more. Sorry!
I'm off the gym right now, I'm actually going to snowshoe over there! I feel so Nordic.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Utah -- Embrace the Difference!
Who new that traveling within the US could be as fun and strange as traveling around the world? Well I guess everyone knows that Utah is a little different, so it's not really a surprise. But it's been fun discovering the little things that make Utah -- well Utah.
I already mentioned that I was asked for ID while purchasing a lighter. "Welcome to Utah!" the clerk exclaimed, perhaps a little too excitedly. She also mentioned that they give away matches for free. Asked her why, but she decided against attempting to explain the difference.
Before arriving in Utah, everyone had told me their horror stories of the strange liquor laws here. So I was surprised (and happy) to see beer at Albertson's. I was wary, though, as I had heard lots of strange tales. On closer inspection I was dismayed to see that all of the beer was capped at 4% alcohol by volume (aka extremely weak). I don't consider myself a heavy consumer, but if I'm going to pay for alcohol it'd be nice to actually get some alcohol with my purchase.
However, the locals seem to have a good sense of humor regarding Utah's better known stereo types. The beer isle is filled with local brews, most of which make some joke about something Utahian. My favorite so far is "Polygamy Porter" (see picture above), who proudly display their tag line: "Why have just one?"
Speaking of large influences in Utah, I was able to spend a day last week down in Salt Lake City. I didn't have much to do, so I started the day at Temple Square (Mormon HQ). The square was very nice and I would have loved to take some pictures to share... Unfortunately, it's impossible to make it more than 30 steps inside Temple Square without being accosted by a pack of Mormon missionaries. I actually took a guided tour of the square with two sisters, which was fun. I learned a lot about Mormon and Utah's history. And talking with the sisters wasn't too bad, they are two of the most content and relaxed people I've met (I wasn't completely at ease, though -- I made a few comments that I'm pretty sure offended them, which left me afraid to laugh or make jokes at anything).
At the end of the tour I was left in the middle of Temple Square with the charge to "enjoy the atmosphere." I thanked them again and turned to look check out the Tabernacle. I immediately ran into two more (very nice) sisters who wanted to know all about me, the tour I just took, and my religious history. They were very friendly and polite, making it difficult to end the conversation. Ten minutes later I finally bid them farewell and continue on my trek. And, of course, I meet some more friendly Mormons. And have another mind-bending ten minute conversation. I look around and realize it's impossible to go anywhere without this repeating, so I resign and head for the exit. Oh, but of course there's a group posted by the exit, waiting to say goodbye.
Fortunately the rest of the state doesn't seem as eager to discuss my religious history, but my guard has been raised. In New Zealand and Australia I learned that it's much easier to avoid politics than to attempt to agree with with the rest of the world and simultaneously defend the US. In Utah I'm learning it might be easier to avoid religion, too. :)
Who new that traveling within the US could be as fun and strange as traveling around the world? Well I guess everyone knows that Utah is a little different, so it's not really a surprise. But it's been fun discovering the little things that make Utah -- well Utah.
I already mentioned that I was asked for ID while purchasing a lighter. "Welcome to Utah!" the clerk exclaimed, perhaps a little too excitedly. She also mentioned that they give away matches for free. Asked her why, but she decided against attempting to explain the difference.
Before arriving in Utah, everyone had told me their horror stories of the strange liquor laws here. So I was surprised (and happy) to see beer at Albertson's. I was wary, though, as I had heard lots of strange tales. On closer inspection I was dismayed to see that all of the beer was capped at 4% alcohol by volume (aka extremely weak). I don't consider myself a heavy consumer, but if I'm going to pay for alcohol it'd be nice to actually get some alcohol with my purchase.
However, the locals seem to have a good sense of humor regarding Utah's better known stereo types. The beer isle is filled with local brews, most of which make some joke about something Utahian. My favorite so far is "Polygamy Porter" (see picture above), who proudly display their tag line: "Why have just one?"
Speaking of large influences in Utah, I was able to spend a day last week down in Salt Lake City. I didn't have much to do, so I started the day at Temple Square (Mormon HQ). The square was very nice and I would have loved to take some pictures to share... Unfortunately, it's impossible to make it more than 30 steps inside Temple Square without being accosted by a pack of Mormon missionaries. I actually took a guided tour of the square with two sisters, which was fun. I learned a lot about Mormon and Utah's history. And talking with the sisters wasn't too bad, they are two of the most content and relaxed people I've met (I wasn't completely at ease, though -- I made a few comments that I'm pretty sure offended them, which left me afraid to laugh or make jokes at anything).
At the end of the tour I was left in the middle of Temple Square with the charge to "enjoy the atmosphere." I thanked them again and turned to look check out the Tabernacle. I immediately ran into two more (very nice) sisters who wanted to know all about me, the tour I just took, and my religious history. They were very friendly and polite, making it difficult to end the conversation. Ten minutes later I finally bid them farewell and continue on my trek. And, of course, I meet some more friendly Mormons. And have another mind-bending ten minute conversation. I look around and realize it's impossible to go anywhere without this repeating, so I resign and head for the exit. Oh, but of course there's a group posted by the exit, waiting to say goodbye.
Fortunately the rest of the state doesn't seem as eager to discuss my religious history, but my guard has been raised. In New Zealand and Australia I learned that it's much easier to avoid politics than to attempt to agree with with the rest of the world and simultaneously defend the US. In Utah I'm learning it might be easier to avoid religion, too. :)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Christmas Blues
Christmas has always been a stressful time for me. Well not Christmas itself, but the month leading up to it. Christmas shopping is like a perfect storm of bad things: big lines, crazy people, and stressing out over finding the "perfect" gifts. I've discovered a couple of new wrinkles this year that make the experience even more exciting. First is shopping in a new town. As a new resident to Park City and Salt Lake City, I have no idea where to find what I'm looking for. And it's not like I even know what I'm looking for. Usually I just wander around hopelessly until I stumble across something that works (hrm, that sounds like a familiar pattern actually, wait for my next post). Unfortunately, it's hard to wander around when you don't know where the good wandering places are.
Fortunately, there's a great fall-back place called the Internet. As someone who has (recently and repeatedly) bought toothpaste, deodorant, and soap online, I'm more than happy to do my Christmas shopping there too. Sadly, the "home" I'm staying in doesn't really have a shipping address. As you might guess, this makes it exceedingly difficult to actually purchase things online. So, I'm being forced to think up drastic new alternatives. On the bright side, I don't really have that many friends, so I don't have that much stuff to buy. :) Still, I can't wait for December 25th, cause then I won't have to worry about it anymore.
Christmas has always been a stressful time for me. Well not Christmas itself, but the month leading up to it. Christmas shopping is like a perfect storm of bad things: big lines, crazy people, and stressing out over finding the "perfect" gifts. I've discovered a couple of new wrinkles this year that make the experience even more exciting. First is shopping in a new town. As a new resident to Park City and Salt Lake City, I have no idea where to find what I'm looking for. And it's not like I even know what I'm looking for. Usually I just wander around hopelessly until I stumble across something that works (hrm, that sounds like a familiar pattern actually, wait for my next post). Unfortunately, it's hard to wander around when you don't know where the good wandering places are.
Fortunately, there's a great fall-back place called the Internet. As someone who has (recently and repeatedly) bought toothpaste, deodorant, and soap online, I'm more than happy to do my Christmas shopping there too. Sadly, the "home" I'm staying in doesn't really have a shipping address. As you might guess, this makes it exceedingly difficult to actually purchase things online. So, I'm being forced to think up drastic new alternatives. On the bright side, I don't really have that many friends, so I don't have that much stuff to buy. :) Still, I can't wait for December 25th, cause then I won't have to worry about it anymore.
Making Connections -- Well Almost
Due to a series of miscommunications, I haven't actually started teaching yet. I'm scheduled to start Thursday, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have been up on the mountain a couple of times, though. This morning I was cruising on "First Time," the bunny slope. I was watching some other beginner classes and working on a few tricks (the bunny slope is a great place to practice freestyle moves).
In line to get back on the lift I notice a family that's sort of freaking out about something. I ask if I can help out and it turns out they're not sure how to get their (very young) son on lift. I offer to help out, and we survive the lift without any incident. On the way up I mention that I'm a snowboard instructor and learn that the family has a couple of other sons that may need some snowboarding lessons in the upcoming week. She asks for my name so she can request me if they end up getting lessons.
So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Helped a family get up the lift and made some possible connections. I cruise off the chair and go back to work on my freestyle moves (in this case, some nose and tail rolls). Of course, I immediately catch an edge and eat snow right in front of the family. Oh yes, I certainly left them with a great impression!
Due to a series of miscommunications, I haven't actually started teaching yet. I'm scheduled to start Thursday, though, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have been up on the mountain a couple of times, though. This morning I was cruising on "First Time," the bunny slope. I was watching some other beginner classes and working on a few tricks (the bunny slope is a great place to practice freestyle moves).
In line to get back on the lift I notice a family that's sort of freaking out about something. I ask if I can help out and it turns out they're not sure how to get their (very young) son on lift. I offer to help out, and we survive the lift without any incident. On the way up I mention that I'm a snowboard instructor and learn that the family has a couple of other sons that may need some snowboarding lessons in the upcoming week. She asks for my name so she can request me if they end up getting lessons.
So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Helped a family get up the lift and made some possible connections. I cruise off the chair and go back to work on my freestyle moves (in this case, some nose and tail rolls). Of course, I immediately catch an edge and eat snow right in front of the family. Oh yes, I certainly left them with a great impression!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Road Trippin'
Well it's been a long, long trip, but I've finally reached my new home for the next five months. I pulled into Park City, Utah a little after 7:00pm last night, 10 days after leaving Kirkland. Sure there was an extended break in California, but that's still a lot of driving. Some things I learned on this trip:
So that pretty much sums up the last two weeks of my life. I've been in Park City for about 24 hours now and Utah is definitely a little different (who knew you'd get carded for buying a lighter?!). That's good, though, I like different. Tomorrow will be my first day on the mountain and I start teaching on Monday. Between getting acclimated with Utah and struggling not to ruin my students' first day on the snow, I should have some fun times coming up soon.
Until then.
Well it's been a long, long trip, but I've finally reached my new home for the next five months. I pulled into Park City, Utah a little after 7:00pm last night, 10 days after leaving Kirkland. Sure there was an extended break in California, but that's still a lot of driving. Some things I learned on this trip:
- I hate Oregon. It's basically a state that no one knows or cares about, but it takes forever to drive through. The biggest problem is that Oregon has decided that 55mph is a reasonable speed limit throughout a large part of the state.
- One fun fact from Oregon, though: you're not allowed to pump your own gas. In a throw back to the 50's, Oregon has some strange law that requires gas attendants to do all that dirty work work you. Fortunately, they don't tip them (or if they did I missed my queue), so I can't really complain too much.
- Nevada, on the other hand, is great. Yes, it's a beast of state to drive across, but the speed limit is a dreamy 75mph and the roads are straight. There's something to be said for setting cruise control at 90, kicking back and cruising.
- Driving from Seattle to San Francisco is too much for one day. As I found out, it's 13.5 hours of in car driving time (not including the rest stops), and you end up sore in all sorts of weird places for days afterwards. So on the drive from SF to Park City I opted for the two day route, which was much, much better. But since it was a two day trip, I needed some place to stay, which leads me too...
- Casino's are a great place to stay for a night. I stopped in Reno to grab dinner and watch some Monday Night Football and decided to eat at the El Dorado Casino. The bartender mentioned that rooms were going for $38 a night! That was way, way better than crashing in some motel in Elko, Nevada.
So that pretty much sums up the last two weeks of my life. I've been in Park City for about 24 hours now and Utah is definitely a little different (who knew you'd get carded for buying a lighter?!). That's good, though, I like different. Tomorrow will be my first day on the mountain and I start teaching on Monday. Between getting acclimated with Utah and struggling not to ruin my students' first day on the snow, I should have some fun times coming up soon.
Until then.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Greatest Snow On Earth
And we're back! I realize I've probably lost pretty much anyone who may be reading this, but I've enjoyed my little vacation at home. For those of you who haven't been following the news in the great northwest, we're currently enjoying the wettest month in the Seattle's history. We're up to like 16 inches of rain and counting, with rain forecast for the remainder of the month. Of course, all this rain means that we've got a lot of snow, too. The mountains opened last Thursday and I was able to kick off my second consecutive winter up at Mt. Baker last Friday.
Which brings me to the second season of my endless winter. Starting December 11th I'll be a snowboard instructor at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah. I've never been to Utah before, but I'll be spending the next five months enjoying the self-proclaimed "greatest snow on Earth." I've really enjoyed relaxing in Seattle, but now that snow is falling, I can't wait to get out to Utah. And one reason I can't wait to get out there is because you will be out there too. Yes, you. I'm going to have a one bedroom apartment to myself for the next five months, and I'm more than happy to offer up a place to crash, entertainment, and free snowboard lessons to anyone who is interested. Park City is only 45 minutes from Salt Lake City, so I'll even play the role of chauffeur. So you let me know what I need to do to get you out to Utah and I'll make it happen. Deal?
My journey actually starts early tomorrow morning with a 12 hour drive down to San Francisco. I'll be hanging out down there for a week or so before continuing with another 12 hours over to Utah. Should be a lot of fun, or -- failing that -- a lot of driving. And now that I'm back in "travel mode" I'll try to keep this area a little more active.
Until then, happy Thanksgiving!
And we're back! I realize I've probably lost pretty much anyone who may be reading this, but I've enjoyed my little vacation at home. For those of you who haven't been following the news in the great northwest, we're currently enjoying the wettest month in the Seattle's history. We're up to like 16 inches of rain and counting, with rain forecast for the remainder of the month. Of course, all this rain means that we've got a lot of snow, too. The mountains opened last Thursday and I was able to kick off my second consecutive winter up at Mt. Baker last Friday.
Which brings me to the second season of my endless winter. Starting December 11th I'll be a snowboard instructor at the Park City Mountain Resort in Park City, Utah. I've never been to Utah before, but I'll be spending the next five months enjoying the self-proclaimed "greatest snow on Earth." I've really enjoyed relaxing in Seattle, but now that snow is falling, I can't wait to get out to Utah. And one reason I can't wait to get out there is because you will be out there too. Yes, you. I'm going to have a one bedroom apartment to myself for the next five months, and I'm more than happy to offer up a place to crash, entertainment, and free snowboard lessons to anyone who is interested. Park City is only 45 minutes from Salt Lake City, so I'll even play the role of chauffeur. So you let me know what I need to do to get you out to Utah and I'll make it happen. Deal?
My journey actually starts early tomorrow morning with a 12 hour drive down to San Francisco. I'll be hanging out down there for a week or so before continuing with another 12 hours over to Utah. Should be a lot of fun, or -- failing that -- a lot of driving. And now that I'm back in "travel mode" I'll try to keep this area a little more active.
Until then, happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Birthday Bungy!
My sister really enjoyed my bungy videos from New Zealand and was convinced that she would do it some day, too. I decided that "some day" would be sooner than she expected and, as a birthday present, told her it was time for her to put her money where her mouth was. We gathered up six fellow victims and headed down to southern Washington to jump off the "highest bungy bridge in America."
Being the birthday girl, Kelsey was nominated as the first jumper. It's set up so you do two jumps in a row. You dive off the first time, get pulled back up, and then you immediately jump off backwards for your second jump. I was a little concerned when they started strapping my sister in, she didn't look like she really wanted to do this. And I was even more concerned when they pulled her up after the first jump, it looked like she was to start crying. Thanksfully, she was very happy afterwards and is already ready to go again.
Note: if you watch the video of her jumping, you'll her a lot of screaming. Kelsey is responsible for the first, short, high-pitched scream you hear. After that everything is drowned out by the two girls who were standing next to me. There were absolutely terrified for Kelsey. I really should have panned over to them instead of trying to follow Kelsey, they were quite a site. I think one of them (I won't name any names) might have peed a little during that jump. Good times all around.
There are a few more pictures online, but nothing too special. We've got some professional pictures being sent over, they should be much better.
Oh, and of course my sister videoed my jumps as well. Since I was the "seasoned veteran," I was nominated to go last. I managed to keep things in control for the most part. The first jump was great, but the second jump (jumping backwards) scared the hell out of me. If you listen to the two videos (below) carefully, you'll notice a subtle, but distinct, change in scream. The scream in my first jump is a "I'm the man, this is awesome!" scream. Jump two starts off the same way but quickly changes to an "Oh my god I'm going to die!" scream. I think you can hear the jump master making fun of me on that one as well.
My sister really enjoyed my bungy videos from New Zealand and was convinced that she would do it some day, too. I decided that "some day" would be sooner than she expected and, as a birthday present, told her it was time for her to put her money where her mouth was. We gathered up six fellow victims and headed down to southern Washington to jump off the "highest bungy bridge in America."
Being the birthday girl, Kelsey was nominated as the first jumper. It's set up so you do two jumps in a row. You dive off the first time, get pulled back up, and then you immediately jump off backwards for your second jump. I was a little concerned when they started strapping my sister in, she didn't look like she really wanted to do this. And I was even more concerned when they pulled her up after the first jump, it looked like she was to start crying. Thanksfully, she was very happy afterwards and is already ready to go again.
Note: if you watch the video of her jumping, you'll her a lot of screaming. Kelsey is responsible for the first, short, high-pitched scream you hear. After that everything is drowned out by the two girls who were standing next to me. There were absolutely terrified for Kelsey. I really should have panned over to them instead of trying to follow Kelsey, they were quite a site. I think one of them (I won't name any names) might have peed a little during that jump. Good times all around.
There are a few more pictures online, but nothing too special. We've got some professional pictures being sent over, they should be much better.
Oh, and of course my sister videoed my jumps as well. Since I was the "seasoned veteran," I was nominated to go last. I managed to keep things in control for the most part. The first jump was great, but the second jump (jumping backwards) scared the hell out of me. If you listen to the two videos (below) carefully, you'll notice a subtle, but distinct, change in scream. The scream in my first jump is a "I'm the man, this is awesome!" scream. Jump two starts off the same way but quickly changes to an "Oh my god I'm going to die!" scream. I think you can hear the jump master making fun of me on that one as well.
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