Tuesday, August 28, 2007

don't tell me melbourne that i never gave you anything...

so my morning was so interesting that i couldn't even wait to post what happened. the following story is pretty much my # 1 most embarassing moment ever, so enjoy friends. laugh it out.

this morning at practice, it was finally decided that i needed to learn how to scull. for all of you non-rowers that means rowing with both arms by yourself in a small boat. i was excited to finally learn how to do this because it is a very useful way to train. now, in the states from what i gather, usually when you first learn how to scull its very hands on. you have people helping you, directing you what exactly you need to do in order to not fall in and actually move the boat. well, australia is not an individualistic culture but they are definitely not hands on in regards to sculling.

so, ian (one of the coaches) told me what boat to get, what oars to use and such. but then...he was gone. he had left down the river in his speed boat coaching his 4. I then gather that I am supposed to just figure it out on my own. thank god for really nice old men at the boat club who helped me put the boat together, and get off the dock because i probably wouldn't have even made it on the river without them.

i'm on the river and have absolutely no idea what i'm doing. not only am I zig zagging every where but I am incredibly off balance and i'm scared for my life. my goal was not to crash into anything...which i succeeded at, so that was a positive of the morning. but yes, back to the horrific sculling. all i was thinking when i was barely creeping down the river was "if I had someone teaching me what to do right now, I would be so much better off". however, that was not the case so i decided to suck it up and figure out how to do this. i started with arms only which ended up being not that bad and i started getting the hang of it a little. i slowly added my back into it, and i eventually even made it to quarter slide but then thats where things turned ugly.

as i have slowed down again (numerous times) to regain my balance and stability in the boat, i see a quad coming rapidly towards me. once again let I remind you that I was told NOTHING. at this point i am thinking "you know what would've been great karri, if ian would've told you what to say when another Boat is HEADING TOWARDS YOU". hmm yes, that would've helped. by the time i yelled "sculler", it was all too late. they didn't crash into me but we got a little tangled up. so as we were trying to push away from each other, it all ended. somehow someway, i ended up in the water. oh yarra. trying not to panic because i am a little fish, i realized that it would be impossible for soaking wet karri to maneuver herself back into the boat. lucky for me, the shore was quite close so i was able to swim to shore(with my boat), and with the help of two amazingly friendly aussies empty out my boat, regain what little composure i had left, and head back up the river.

although i finally sorta kinda not really got the hang of it, i was freezing. i was able to actually successfully cross the river twice without hitting anything or anyone and make my way back to the boathouse. phew.

i hope you have laughed very hard because despite my incomplete embarrassment of feeling like a stupid american who didn't know what she was doing...i'm finding much humor in it. i'm sure that i will be telling this story for many years to come. i mean its a great story. and NOW this makes two rivers, one on each continent, that i have inadvertently gone for a swim in. maybe i can get in some sorta guiness book of world records for swimming in the most rivers on the most continents or something. who knows.

the crazy thing is that i can't wait to get out there again. it might sound ridiculous but learning how to scull is like being able to go for a run. there is a certain amount of independence that is involved with it and it is about 98 THOUSAND times better then erging. now, i hope the second time around i have a little more direction but i will definitely have more experience. oh, and i pretty much am guaranteed to only go up from here.

oh and on a side note...in the process of falling into the yarra, i managed to lose my socks. sweet. my socks (new socks, might i add) are at the bottom of the Yarra River. so melbourne, australia don't ever say that I didn't give you anything. you have my socks and they will be forever yours.

2 comments:

Alison said...

Haha. I did get a very good laugh out of your entry, but only because I was laughing with you because I often do decidedly ungraceful things and need strangers' compassion as well. In case you didn't get my messages last night after I lost you, I had a wonderful time talking to you, and am definitely looking forward to being pen pals as well! You be careful out on the Yarra (which is a great river name, by the way. And which looks quite pretty from Google photos), and enjoy that sculling!

Lauren Deal said...

haha. Hey Karri. It's Lauren and I got this link from Dan Burd's blog. Let me just say this entry is a great way for me to start getting caught up on the hopefully super awesome time you are having in australia. hahaha.