A Great Success

By request...A true story...

Tropical sun was beating down on my face as I ran across the black sand beach towards the Pacific ocean, crashing its waves like a rhythmic $10 "Sounds of the Ocean" CD. With my bodyboard in-hand, my new sleek rashguard shirt sticking to me like cellophane, I was ready for my first adventure in my new Hawaiian home.

My two buddies and I were straight off the plane from the "mainland", and about as awesome any three guys from Montana could be. ;) We had decided to move to Hawaii to attend school on an exchange program. Hilo, Hawaii, would be our home for the next three and a half months. We were intent on studying and getting the best education we could while we were in here...except not.

Within the first week we had ventured to the local Wal-mart and bought ourselves new, made-to-look-expensive bodyboards and headed out to the local beach called Honoli'i. (See top picture) Of course we rode in style in our cheaply bought and poorly insured gray Grand Caprice. Pulling up to the beach we could see that the "Waves Were Pumpin'!!!" Pure excitement and nerves arose in all of us as we looked at eachother and tried to act as macho and stoic as possible. Except, how do you look macho and stoic when you are standing next to a 1982 gray Grand Caprice?

As we approached the beach I could see some locals about 100 yards off the shore catching what looked to be 12 foot waves. Insane, right? I gauranteed myself that I would stick to the less-certain-death size waves a bit farther down the beach. We made our way past the showers and a few hotties sunbathing on the small patch of grass behind the thin strip of beach. Well, here we were three "haolis", that means "white people", standing seemingly ready for this new adventure. I took my t-shirt off. I could feel the stares piercing my skin. "I know I am white but geez, at least try to make your stares less obvious," I said to myself under my breath. Was I missing something? Did I have my boardshorts on? Were we really that obvious of newbies?

I turned at looked at my buddies Jim and Shane and said, "I ain't standin' around just to get stared at! I'm running in!"

In a Baywatch-esque scene the three of us pasty, inexperienced, adventurous, mainlanders ran barefoot across the beach, down into the water.

"SPLASH"

The water was at least warm, but the waves sure looked at lot bigger from my flat position on top of my bodyboard. I had watched some people out in the waves already swimming around just fine on their boards and navigating the waters like they had a motor attached to them. But I have to say, swimming with a bodyboard is like trying to swim with a coffee table between your legs...impossible.
The waves kept coming and we kept paddling, doggy-paddle style, to essentially no end. I looked behind me and realized we still only about 60 feet from shore. This was ridiculous. It was like trying to run up a descending escalator, but even worse, every step/paddle I took the escalator/ocean just kept getting infinitely the same size. 20 minutes of struggling later we made it out past the waves. You see the key to bodyboarding and surfing is being faster than the waves and therefore being able to catch them from behind. How were we going to be faster than the waves if it took us 20 minutes to paddle 50 yards? I was already huffin' and puffin' and in need of some Gogo-gadget webbed feet and hands.
Then I see my buddy Jim catch a wave, well more like a wave caught him, but either way he was speeding along a wave, looking like he was Kelly Slater on a bodyboard.
I had to match that so I gave it a try. I looked behind me and saw a good size wave coming. I paddle hands and feet as fast as I could. I thought I was going faster than the wave but apparently not. The wave crest caught me and tipped me face first into the water. It had to have been quite a scene with legs flailing in the air and a wave smashing towards shore. I don't know because I was trying to find which way was up after being rocked by an innocent "baby wave". Maybe this was a MISTAKE. I found my way to shore coughing up water and dragging my board behind me. I hear a "local" voice yell to me, "Hey haoli! Where yo fins bra?"

Confused by the question I thought to myself. My fins, huh? Does he think I am merman? Am I missing something? I yell back, "What?"

"Your fins bradda?" as he holds up a pair of special rubber fins that you wear to propel yourself easier through the water. "Wow! We are a bunch of idiots!" I scream silently.

I yell back nervously, "I forgot them at home....."

"That's stupid bra. Big MISTAKE, you coulda been killed"

Really? I realized that, after being tossed like a rag doll underwater for a good 30 seconds.

Needless to say I didn't end up going back into the water that day. I wouldn't go back in until I had my "fins". What strangers we were, thinking we could conquer the waves without proper, necessary equipment.
Yes, it was a big mistake on my part. I was almost killed. I overcame it though with the advice of a local, and now a friend. He kindly showed us where to get the best and cheapest fins and offered to show us the ropes of bodyboarding. I now can say that my big mistake has turned into a even bigger success. I have found another passion in my life and one that I may never be really good at but one where I know I can be mistake-free...kinda...because that wasn't the last wave that made me ponder life and death. My advice...first time bodyboarding, go with someone who knows what their doing. I have been bodyboarding since then and I can say for certain that if you don't wear fins you could end up like this guy (See Below).
The End.
Can you just imagine what happened to this guy? OhMyGUSH!!!

Clutch timing

This weekend in Bansko marked the start of the ski season. The weekend's events included a legends ski race, concert, and VIP only silent auction. So much hype, so many Greek college students, so little snow, and only 2 Americans.

Those two Americans, myself and Matty "Ice" Sierra. Ever felt like you were in a foreign country with no language skills. Ya, right, we are in Bulgaria. Except by this point we have a decent grasp of the language. Well, while standing in line for the gondola ride up to the ski season party at the base area, I had that same feeling like I was back in PST, mute & unable to communicate. Nope, I didn't lose my Bulgarian. Matt and myself, found ourselves smothered in hoards of Greek tourists flocking to the ski hill, like the Salmon of Capastrano. (Dumb and Dumber reference)

Once at the base we both were underwhelmed with the site that we witnessed. No snow underneath my feet to make me feel like it is winter. No concert that was worthwhile to stare at. All there was a maybe 200 yard long field of man-made snow stretching up the hill. This was the track for the dadanunaaaaaa!!!! "LEGENDS SKI RACE"....ummmm not all legendary and frankly forgettable. The afternoon however was not a complete bust because we did find a sledding hill to practice our....cardboard box-sled-riding skills. This was actually quite entertaining, albiet quite cold and rocky, eeek.

Oh, and what do you know....It snows for the first time on Monday....clutch!!!

You Cheaters!!!

Shouts of Bulgarian slander ringing in my ears. Ne pipai! Byagai! Mooshenik! Luzhets!

What am I doing here?.......Oh ya I am playing a board game that has absolutely no skill involved. Simply rolling the dice to see who is luckiest. I should try my luck in Vegas the way I am playing tonight.

6, 6, 5, 1, 6, 4, 5. The high rolling doesn't stop. I am making this game my......ugh ya! The excitement doesn't stop there. My unofficial partner in crime, Radi, and I are ganging up on the girls. You see, when you play board games, friendships are forgotten and gender alliances form only for the benefit of watching the others become frustrated with our tag-team efforts. I almost felt bad, then I realized how much I hate losing. Not saying I am a sore loser, but hey lets face it, winners (at least with board games) get all the glory. However miniscule that glory may be.

The night started with the intention of me teaching an english lesson to my new friends at the, what I refer to as, house next to the police station. But really it is an transitional facility for former orphans who are too old for an orphanage but still do not have the means to be out on their own. Either way, the formal english lesson was scrapped for a cooking lesson.
Why not learn english and cook at the same time. It worked and it definitely was better than me sitting there pointing to a worksheet and saying the word over and over. We cooked, we learned food items in English, we tested cologne, and we cleaned. And then we tryed not to cheat......sure, right O!!

If you play with Bulgarians you better know the words, cheater, liar, don't touch, and get the hell out of here! Thankfully I did.

"Wan, tu, tree, fow, fife, seex." I don't want to sound condescending but at least we learned the numbers one through six really well. In fact, I love these kids. They actually enjoy learning english and it is nice to have an informal class room of a home. I know they loving have me around too, based on the smell of my clothes from the cologne testing. My favorite kid (he is actually 21) goes around saying "You are" all the time, and whenever it most inapplicable. Haha, now if I can get him to just finish that sentence.......

Okay now back to the game. "No cheating!!! You mooshenik!!!" I plan on winning or at least helping my ally defeat the evil feminine empire.

This is what you do when you win.

Jump for joy and land softly!!!! (and take a blurry picture)

Here's Some Advice For You.

I haven't blogged in so long my fingers are stiff and I need to once again re-tap into my "train of thought" which creates much of the blogging brillancy you read. Today's train = _________ hold on...I'm thinking. Ah yes, advice.

I have always been one to offer advice whether the advisee wanted it or not. I can't control myself sometimes. I have also been told that I am a good at reading people. So far, so good. Advice, is not really something anyone wants to hear unless they specifically ask for it. Americans especially don't like "un-asked-for" advice. It takes a special trust to ask for and also receive worthwhile advice.

Recently, relationship advice has been a topic of discussion between myself and one of my great friends in the states. So far, we have basically called each others shots from afar and predicted what was going to happen eachothers lives. We also have offered eachother advice that was trusting and productive. The funny thing is...we don't even know the person that we are advising about. I mean I know my friend and she knows me but the other factors in the equation are unknown to either of us, other than a brief description the people and a bit of the situation. What is really cool though, is that we both knew exactly what to say to eachother. And this leads me to my point.

Advice is really helpful. (Wow, Right? Deep!!!) Instead of living through life thinking that we can handle any situation that comes our way is really....well....stupid. Life is meant to be lived together and shared. Here is the real kicker though. While my friend and I are exchanging advice, we are seeking more information about but the whole time we really are focused the person we are advising not the situation at hand. Knowing that person better and better and finding out new peculiarities about their personality is unexplainably addictive. Discovering new and fun facts about our friends that, even though they may 6,000 something miles away, is something that I have enjoyed in my life recently.

So this brings up another point that I mentioned briefly earlier. I mentioned that we both have a very little information about the situations we are both in. But, what is fascinating is, that we both have been really good at calling the shots in these respective situations. You know why? Because we know eachother. We know eachother well enough to know how these situations will most likely end up. I don't credit for being a fortune-teller but I do take credit for being a friend, and vice-versa for her.

We did not need to know the entire situation to know the truth, the outcome. We knew eachother, our tendencies, personality.

-Do we need every fact about everything before making a decision?
-Do we know enough about ourselves to make a decision? If we don't, are we confident and trusting enough to ask someone?
-Do we have to be doctors to lend someone meaningful advice?
-Are we bold enough to give advice that hurts? Not, just be a "YES" man.
-Are we bold enough to act on someone else's advice and not our own intuition?

Give me some advice on what I should write about next. Funny, sad, poetic, artsy, deep, story, real life, etc.