Tuesday 18 February 2014

Startune- First


First time at Startune and an interesting experience.
I say interesting because kids are quite meh to me. We drew things and folded things.
There was a lot of action happening, especially because we had so many boys. At one point we made paper guns and a war literally broke out. They wouldn't sit down or be quiet and it was hard to get them to focus. They hardly listened to our commands as well. I make them sound like animals but at that age, and those boys in particular, they were like animals. The girls were okay though, they didn't talk much but they cooperated well.
It really confuses me how girls and boys at the same age can act so differently. Actually that still applies to my age group now. Do girls mature faster?

Another reason why it was interesting-
They really were just normal kids. You don't see them as kids from low income mainland Chinese families, in fact they all speak perfect cantonese. I've realised that mainland Chinese families/people who come to Hong Kong always make cantonese their kids' first language.

I'd say that it was fun overall for a first time. They all did what they were told (sort of). But there's always that one kid that tries to be the smarty poopy and be like I KNOW EVERYTHING. This said kid is the one I am talking to in the video. Enjoy.

Saturday 8 February 2014

Ski Trip- Dolomites, Kiens// Day Five









Last day of skiing!
I'm really going to miss it. It's been an amazing five days.
The weather was absolutely beautiful today. At the bottom it was foggy, but on top, blue, blue skies and a bit of snow.
We did a race today! I got second in our beginner group. Apparently I was meant to have gotten first because the other girl cheated. Oh well, not that I really mind. It was fun and I'm happy with my time! 34.04- it was an obstacle course thing. I don't know what to call it.
Fell once only today!
I got up in two seconds so it's okay.
Quite a chill day today. Still fun though! 
Some beautiful views and whatnot. More skiing.
Did more parallel stops today. Can sort of do it now, if that counts.
Goodbye skiing!
Final bruise count: ~7

Here is the final compilation video that I made!

Ski Trip- Dolomites, Kiens// Day Four





We skied for three hours today. Went up to the mountain again, fell twice in the first couple of minutes. Ha ha. After that I didn’t fall though which is great. I think I have more control now. Still no control, but more control. I hope I’m getting better. I feel like I am getting better, but slowly. Sadly tomorrow is the last day skiing! Benny has been a really good instructor though, he’s so patient and leads us through everything and gives us good advice.
After skiing we took a one hour bus ride to a biathlon place. Not sure what it’s called. There were special skis- very thin and light and poles that were sharp at the bottom. It’s easier to move with those skis compared to normal skis, but you are more prone to falling. This was cross country skiing I think. We had to go up and down hill as well which was not very good. My first uphill went crazy. I kept slipping because I couldn’t get my skis into the right position. I got it in the end though. The key is to dig the insides into the snow and walk up in reverse snowblau. Going down though, I could not go down without falling at the end. I did it twice, both times I fell. He said lean forward, so I did! Still nope.
My favourite part was definitely shooting though. We had proper rifles and they taught us how to get down with the skis on. First time I did it, I got 4/5 targets, seconds time 5/5 targets. Not bad I think for a first time! It was easier than I thought it was going to be.
We had a race at the end. Five people in a group. We went one lap around and then got down to shoot. If you missed a shot you had to do a penalty round. Again, got 5/5 targets! No penalty rounds done J
Not going to lie, it was tiring. Especially with skiing and the biathlon both in one day.

Tomorrow is the last day of skiing! Hoping it will be a good one. We got back late tonight from watching a ‘ski show’ yet I am still up. Yay. We’ve been sleeping so early every night from exhaustion, there is literally no time to do my coursework. Ugh.

Ski Trip- Dolomites, Kiens// Day Three






Another good day!
Went up to the top of the mountain today. Wasnt as bad as i thought. It was sunny and foggy at first, then it just became extremelt foggy and heavy snow with no sun. I still cant do the stopping woth parallel skis, and i cant really control my speed very well, therefore i fall. I also keep leaning backwards. I dont know how to lean forwards!! Its so hard and it just makes me go even faster. And so my thighs burn every day. I think im going to go behind Benny more, i just copy whatever he does and i somehow have more control. Tomorrow we're going skiing and biathaloning!

Ski Trip- Dolomites, Kiens// Day Two



Joined the beginners for real today.
I actually had a lot of fun today! We went at a nice pace, anything we weren’t too good at, Benny would explain to us. We did little exercises that helped us in full-on skiing.
Towards the end we started to go properly fast. I loved it! I fell twice but it was okay because I got up in about ten seconds. Years ago when I used to go skiing with my parents, I was known for going really fast and going in a straight line. Not sure where that has gone, but slopes in Asia are probably not as intense as they are here. I really am not sure, it’s been a while.
Quite proud that I can turn parallel-y now and drift. Pretty cool.
I wish I could do stuff on my own though, then maybe I’d be able to explore and see what level I’m really at.
Nonetheless, today was so SO much better than yesterday.

Found two bruises today. I know one was from yesterday, not sure about the other though. But they’re both quite intense. Oh well. Battle scars.

Ski Trip- Dolomites, Kiens// Day One


Wow I look so happy! This was before we started.


After the first day. As you can see, I am severely unamused.

Extremely horrible first day.
I signed up for the intermediate because I thought, well okay if I did it five years ago maybe I can do it now. Haha no.
Literally went straight onto the slopes and I just could not keep up. I mean I don’t even remember techniques and things, there was no warm up!
The number of times I lost control on that first slope is uncountable.
I decided that it was too much for me, so I joined the beginner group. They didn’t do much, so I asked if I could do my own thing, so I did.
Went on a little slope a few times to try to familiarize myself again. After lunch I went back with the intermediates, again, I died. This time we went to the top of the mountain which was meant to be ‘the same difficulty’. It so was not. The fog and snow and everything just makes it so much less happy and sunny. Which is what it is like at the bottom. Which is what I like.
Again, the number of times I fell is uncountable. The rest of the group behind me were pretty mad because I was going quite slow.

All of this mixed together was just a horrible day for me.