The better at slalom I become, the less competitive I feel. Partly I think it has something to do with the spirit of slalom competitions in general, which are basically comprised of a bunch of people who share this bizarre and beautiful common interest, most of whom have a genuine liking for one another. There's little to none of the cattiness present that plagues fields like figure skating and dance. At least, when I was a kid, figure skating and dance were both full of bitchy girls. Now in slalom, most everyone seems to band together. The few times I ever thought someone was too-cool-for-school, I was wrong. Go figure. Me, wrong? Ha. :-)
Tomorrow begins the competition in Cologne. I am a bit nervous because it's the first battle in awhile, and I have improved a lot so I would like to show that fully. I am going to try not to worry about beating other people because they are all likely to have learned a lot too, and this is what makes going to battles still worth it. For awhile I thought to myself, "Hm. It's the same thing all the time." But then I wasn't paying attention to all the changes going on from battle to battle, both within myself and from other skaters. It's really exciting to see someone pull off a trick you know they've been working on, especially if it's someone you haven't seen in awhile. I tend to feel enormously proud of other people and take satisfaction in their successes.
So yeah, I still like going to battles.
In other news, I started the next level of my Dutch class. I think it would be --technically-- year 7 out of 12. When I finish the whole course I will have the equivalent in Dutch classes as a high school graduate, or so they say. Being that I have taken a combined total of 6 weeks of lessons since I arrived here last year, I think I'm doing pretty well. The more Dutch I speak, the faster I learn it, also, so it becomes less and less frustrating as time goes on. It's exactly like slalom, actually, so if you're still in that place where you are trying to learn basics, take heart: it DOES get easier. Of course I still make numerous mistakes (you should ask my Wednesday night slalom students, ha! They have to deal with my Dutchlish), but then again, I still fall down a lot while I'm skating so it's just something you get over pretty fast.
I am actually several chapters into reading "The Ring" in Dutch, which I picked because I figured it wouldn't be either too hard or too easy or too stupid, and in fact it is just about right. A few months ago I gave it a go with a Pieter Aspe novel, but it did nothing for me. Although my skills were significantly less developed at that time, even then I was rolling my eyes with how cliched the phrasing was. I was disappointed because I wanted to read something originally written in Dutch, something that showed the range of expression of the language as written by an actual native speaker. So I know he is a famous Belgian author in the thriller genre and all, but I have to be honest and say I don't recommend him. I'm much happier reading my Dutch translation of a Japanese novel. :-)
Well, I will do my best to dutifully describe the Cologne battle. Until then, keep practicing everybody!
Upcoming Workshop dates that will definitely happen (more to come):
Belgium (February 2011)
Boston (June 2011)
Thanks for reading!
xoxoxo
meg
No comments:
Post a Comment