Writing from Maine-Part 1

(Sudbury Inn—Bethel, Maine)

Hi readers! Long time no see, I guess that’s quite the big understatement since I seem to have not written a blog entry since August. That’s completely my fault and I apologize. Senior year at W&M is filled with all sorts of fun, or it can be filled with all sorts of work and one never has time to get around to nearly everything on his checklist (including blogging), unfortunately, the latter just happens to be me.

To tell you the truth, I’m blogging to all of you from all the way up north in Maine today. And I figured the story of how I got to be in this northern, cold, state is in and of itself blog-worthy.

This is a blog entry to prove to all of you non-believers that William and Mary students have fun and we know how to have fun. In actuality, I’m up here skiing and freezing my butt off, but having a great time and I’m doing it for college credit through a 1-credit kinesiology class I decided to take this year aptly named: skiing and snowboarding in Maine.

For all you non-W&M folks, there are certain classes that you can take at William and Mary on a “pass/fail” basis. These are usually electives for certain departments ranging from government to religious studies that are offered in addition to the major 3-credit courses. Kinesiology just happens to have the most fun, active ones around.

I mean, in all honesty, who wouldn’t want to ski around for credit? Or throw people around in Judo? Or do team-building exercise in Adventure Games? Or climb sheer cliffs in Mountain Climbing? Or…you get the picture.

So here I am, (thankfully by a warm fireplace AWAY from the freezing cold) blogging about Maine.

Our class has been quite far. The nearly 16-hour bus ride up here was a bit of a pain to handle. (Might need a massage once I get back south) and the slopes have been a bit icy.

But our instructors have been amazing. Each day is basically a lesson filled day from morning, a couple hours of free-ski during lunch, and then lessons again in the afternoon.

I personally am part of the intermediate ski-group, with an instructor named Paul, who I think is completely awesome. He knows what he’s doing, and will give you very accurate advice as to what you need to improve on.

In my case, I am incredibly slow going down slopes. The rest of the group speeds down at mach 3 while I’m in my little dinky vespa taking my sweet time down slopes. Not to mention my right turn is also horrendously bad, think wedge shaped skis, and that wouldn’t be too far off from the truth.

All in all though, that’s what I’m here for. I know how to ski like a beginner, but I don’t know where to go from here. And, as Paul has so graciously taught me so far, there’s really nowhere to go but up from here. (Or, in the case if being on a slope, down.)

And so here I am, in the lobby of the Sudbury Inn (which is the only place with wifi ack!), sipping on hot chocolate and writing about a class I’ve been looking forward to for the greater half of a semester.

Oh it’s going to be a great week.