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My first experience with snow

I had never been in snow back in India, so when I heard about the ski and the snowboard trip, I was on my toes and ready to go. Let me tell you that it is my first time experiencing snow here in Canada and I love it.

I felt like I was in one of those magical Disney movies. It was -10 degrees outside, I was all excited, geared up and ready to learn some skiing. One of the best perks of working as a student ambassador: You get paid to have fun and can travel places that were on your bucket list. I was the last one to wear my jacket, snow pants, boots, and other ski equipment before stepping outside in snow. Everything was very heavy (I am pretty sure everything weighed more than my body weight :p ); it is difficult for a tiny and skinny girl to handle that much weight (this reminds me that I have to work out more and eat more).

So I step outside all alone trying to find my friends and I couldn’t move for few seconds. So I put in all my energy and carried the skis and ski poles to reach the station where I saw the instructors teaching skiing basics. There this sweet instructor helped me wear my skis and gave me basic instructions and a little push to move forward. After a certain point it felt I had no control over my body and I was slipping down.

My heart raced very fast and I screamed “HELP!!!”. The other instructor came in the front and made me stop. My expressions were so funny that she couldn’t stop laughing and she had that “aww” look on her face. Later, she literally dragged me with the help of ski poles and took me to the next station where the other instructor was helping the students with the next stage of skiing. He asked all of us to walk and showed us how to wear and remove our skis. The next stage was learning how to balance and stop while skiing.

I was walking up the station and I came back sliding down. It felt like the toughest job in the world, so the instructor had to give me a push and then I reached my destination. I went uphill and learnt to balance my feet and other few techniques. So I started moving down slowly and I started skiing. I had an adrenaline rush, I was breathing heavily and I was sweating (isn’t it funny that this sport makes you sweat even when the temperature is freezing cold?). I felt like I was going to fall but I balanced myself. It felt like a very big achievement. I went uphill five more times and fell twice during those five tries! :D .I felt like I was a kid again! I had a nervous face while I was trying to balance and this instructor cracked me up with a joke and I laughed and went ahead and fell down… Hehe…! but it was worth it!

In the end, it was worth the fall, the pain in the wrist and legs and the sweat  The only thing that I regret is not having taken enough pictures. This is the only picture I could capture. Overall the journey was a lot of fun. If you are new to Canada, you should definitely indulge yourself in this sport. It is challenging, fun, exhausting but truly worth a shot, something you will remember for a lifetime.

This article has been written by our International Student Ambassador, Krupali Shah.