The Odd and Unusual Snowboarding Lessons
I first learned how to snowboard in the middle of the desert. It definitely seems ironic since snow and desert cannot exist in the same place, in a common sense. I used to live in Dubai, which is a city in the middle east, during my teenage years. Although I lived there for only about 3 years, many things within me changed a lot, and one of the memories that I can never forget is the first year I started to learn snowboarding.
Dubai was and still is a magical city where many unreal things actually happen in real life. They have the tallest building in the world, artificial islands that has rows of private villas with their own beach in the backyard, and even an indoor skiing slope in a shopping mall. Thanks to the 'ironic' indoor skiing slope idea, I had a chance to take snowboarding lessons as part of school's extra-curricular activities.
It was no fun at all at first, as I wasn't even able to stand up and stay still on the slope with both of my feet strapped on to the snowboard. However, as I slowly got over myself and completed each little steps of basic snowboarding, I started to feel the real fun of snowboarding. I was able to ride down the slope with some speed after two full semesters of snowboarding lessons in such tiny indoor skiing slope. I surely felt the sense of accomplishment, wanting to get to the next level as soon as possible.
Then, my PE teacher suggested me to join in for skiing and snowboarding trip to Switzerland in the following semester. Even though It was my first time going abroad without my parents, I was able to get my parents' approval to join in the snowboarding trip, which made my life change in various perspectives.
The biggest impact that I have gained from the trip to Switzerland is to always dream for travelling. Seeing around in a completely different country makes my point of view widen in a way that I could think more diversely. Switzerland, especially, has beautiful sceneries everywhere and such sceneries evoke myself to be more adventurous and curious of new things. I was a type of person who does not like to get out of the comfort zone at all, but learning how to snowboard and actually flying over to Switzerland and feeling a complete different culture made me change my thoughts.
Furthermore, my personality also changed through the whole journey of learning how to snowboard. I was mostly a shy girl until almost the end of elementary school, but mingling with other people while sharing the common interest, skiing and snowboarding, taught me how to be more open minded to others, and it is completely fine to be open to strangers. I guess the difference in the eastern and western culture in terms of strangers had quite affected my personality during the young age at that time, but the trip to Switzerland was a turnover of my life to be more active and enthusiastic in what I like to do.
I still dream of going back to Switzerland to go snowboarding, and one day I will go back to update my most memorable and wonderful memory of my life with whole new experiences that I could never imagine.
201502643 Lee JiWon
ReplyDeleteReading your essay, I could feel how meaningful and important that experience would be to you in terms of growing up, but I was little bit confused of whether you want to talk about learning snowboarding or your good memory in Switzerland. And I want to suggest that it would be better if you write the beginning that can more capture the reader's attention! Any other thing was well organized!! I want to know more about the detailed procedure when you learned snowboarding, maybe you can use conversation between you and your PE teacher.
The Odd and Unusual Snowboarding Lessons
ReplyDeleteSnowboarding in the middle of the desert; can you imagine it? It definitely seems ironic since snow and desert cannot exist in the same place, in a common sense. I used to live in Dubai, which is a city in the middle east, during my teenage years. Although I lived there for only about 3 years, many things within me changed a lot, and one of the memories that I can never forget is the first year I started to learning how to snowboard in Switzerland.
Dubai was and still is a magical city where many unreal things actually happen in real life. They have the tallest building in the world, artificial islands that has rows of private villas with their own beach in the backyard, and even an indoor skiing slope in a shopping mall. Thanks to the ‘ironic’ indoor skiing slope idea, I had a chance to take snowboarding lessons as part of school’s extra-curricular activities.
It was no fun at all at first, as I wasn’t even able to stand up and stay still on the slope with both of my feet strapped on to the snowboard. However, as I slowly got over myself and completed each little steps of basic snowboarding, I started to feel the real fun of snowboarding. I was able to ride down the slope with some speed after two full semesters of snowboarding lessons in such tiny indoor skiing slope. I surely felt the sense of accomplishment, wanting to get to the next level as soon as possible. Then, my PE teacher suggested me to join in for skiing and snowboarding trip to Switzerland in the following semester. Even though It was my first time going abroad without my parents, I was able to get my parents’ approval to join in the snowboarding trip, which made my life change in various perspectives.
The biggest impact that I have gained from the trip to Switzerland is to always dream for travelling. I was completely excited to be in another country with my friends from the time I arrived at the airport in Switzerland. The air was the first thing that I was able to realize the difference. I just felt like that I was just a frog in a well, being awed at every single thing I felt with my five senses as I made my way out of the airport. The whole atmosphere and the sceneries seen through the window on the bus were so attractive and beautiful; it seemed like I was in the middle of a fairytale. There was snow everywhere, very unlike Dubai, and the brown and wooden European houses and buildings were just enough to amaze me, making me wanting to actually live there.
My snowboarding trip was consisted of 5 full days of snowboarding, staying up in the mountains basically all day. The instructors took us separately in small groups, teaching us some professional skills on the slope, so that we could practice as we learn. I was able to improve my snowboarding skills incredibly, staying up in the slopes for almost about 40 hours throughout the whole trip.
201503676 Hong Chae-ryoung Final Draft Part 1
The natural snow up in the mountains were unlike with the ones that I used to see either in indoor skiing slope in Dubai or in Korea, the snow exactly felt like caster sugar that you would normally use in baking. It was not tiring at all to snowboard all day; the physical exhaustion was easily conquered by the astonishing sceneries all around myself. I just could not think myself as if I was dreaming. There were no such thing as artificial things up in the mountains in Switzerland, which was absolutely stunning to be surrounded by the natural beauty that you could not see anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteSeeing around in a completely different country makes my point of view widen in a way that I could think more diversely. Switzerland, especially, has beautiful sceneries everywhere and such sceneries evoke myself to be more adventurous and curious of new things. I was a type of person who does not like to get out of the comfort zone at all, but learning how to snowboard and actually flying over to Switzerland and feeling a complete different culture made me change my thoughts.
Furthermore, my personality also changed through the whole journey of learning how to snowboard. I was mostly a shy girl until almost the end of elementary school, but mingling with other people while sharing the common interest, skiing and snowboarding, taught me how to be more open minded to others, and it is completely fine to be open to strangers. I guess the difference in the eastern and western culture in terms of strangers had quite affected my personality during the young age at that time, but the trip to Switzerland was a turnover of my life to be more active and enthusiastic in what I like to do.
I still dream of going back to Switzerland to go snowboarding, and one day I will go back to update my most memorable and wonderful memory of my life with whole new experiences that I could never imagine.
201503676 Hong Chae-ryoung Final Draft Part 2