September 5, 2003 Surf lesson

Today, I had my first surfing lesson at the world famous Bondi Beach. Pictures of Bondi are on Snapfish, but sadly there are none of me surfing. Hard to do both at one time, you see.
I started by getting to the surf shop 10 minutes late! Technically, I was in Bondi 30 minutes early and got within 100 yards from the shop before getting “lost”. SO CLOSE! Whoever designed the streets here should be shot, that’s all I have to say. Streets shouldn’t merge into another street, then spit off and continue further down the road. And heaven forbid you have numbers on your buildings and street signs at intersections.

Thankfully, almost no matter your physique pretty much everyone looks cool in a wetsuit. The water was a little chilly, but the wetsuit works very well so I didn’t notice it at all. The first thing I remembered when we finally got in the water is why I don’t like swimming in the ocean—It has SALT in it! It is so annoying. I caught on quickly as we practiced catching waves without standing up. This part was easy; I even went up on my knees on the first try. I then spent the next hour and a half trying to stand up without succeeding. In my old age, I have mellowed quite a bit and my competitive streak rarely surfaces anymore. But I was nearly getting very MAD because I couldn’t stand up. I kept getting stuck trying to get my legs underneath me. The frustrating thing was that I knew what to do, I knew what I was doing wrong, and I knew how to fix it…I just wasn’t doing it. The part that sucked the most was that there were people who were standing up, but doing everything wrong! It just didn't seem fair. I guess the silver lining is that I bought a 5 session package so I have 4 more chances to get it right. I just hope I don’t get tired of the structure after the 3rd lesson.

I somehow managed to slice a layer of skin off of my foot, but don’t remember how or when. I also almost sprained my hand when I got tossed by a wave and tried to stop myself by putting my hand down. All in all though, I got home in one piece…and tired! Surfing is hard work. I thought about it, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fat surfer. The only bad thing about the day was that I have water in my ear and it REFUSES to come out!