It's Fun to Be a Kid

Days off are the best, I really enjoy taking some time for myself off snow, especially after a great day of training, you know leave on a good note. The time off is important in keeping the balance of mind and body, also to get hungry again for the snow. Besides much easier to take time off when the skies are full of low lying grey rain clouds complete with showers.

I spent my day hanging out with my roommate who is a close decade younger then me and a friend from Germany who I met three years ago but is finishing up his law degree down here in New Zealand.

I had a vigorous workout in the gym where at the end I taught Palmer, the teenager, a handful of core workouts with explanations included of how they were beneficial to snowboarding and general health. I am a firm believer in strength to battle injury; this is what I was trying to pass on to my younger protégé for the day. She did great and after we had a foam roller party to loosen our tired snowboarding muscles.

After a very satisfying lunch we left for Puzzling World, a tourist attraction in the town of Wanaka. It’s full of optical illusions and different rooms to leave your mind boggled or expanded. It was really fun hanging out with the carefree and fresh teenager and old friend whom I had not seen in about a year, something I have not done in a while. Spending time with Palmer made me want to be seventeen again. We had so much fun shooting video with my Cybershot camera and running around the place. There were a cluster of tables at the exit of the attraction with various puzzles on them and this is where we sat for a good length of time getting puzzled. This was perfect way to spend the afternoon when it was wet and uninviting outside.

This day ended with a Thai dinner where the kid rookie and my national team teammate joined us. Supper was full of conversation that crossed all age groups and we old dogs enlightened the new ones on life lessons and the culinary delights of Thailand. Right now, as I yawn to myself, I am very surprised at how tired I am from all the excitement of my day off the snow. I have a feeling of delight that I get to pass on things I have learned from my experiences and practices. Furthermore, I may not be seventeen but I can still appreciate the excitement that encompasses being that age.