Skiweek

To preface, prior to this week, I had never done any kind of winter/snow sport in my entire life. The extent of my experience was unequivocally zero, so naturally, me being me, I decided to start off snowboarding as it is *supposedly* the more difficult path to start on.

Thankfully I had no issues with the train network getting to Poprad for the meeting, which is definitely not the norm–I always have bad luck with public transport. As soon as I arrive we get thrown on busses and everyone is excited because this is the first time all the Czech and Slovak exchange students have been together since the very first meeting in our first month on exchange. I am caught up in many conversations and hellos, which continue as our busses start to head towards the Tatras where we will be sleeping and skiing. We rent our gear from a different location from where we will be for the week, which proves to be a very long process, so I begin talking with the new Aussie exchange student, Finn, whom lives in Kosice. After a handful of hours waiting for everyone to have everything they need, we head up the road to our final destination, and it seems that I’m also roommates with Finn and so we realize that we’ll be spending most of the week together.

The beginner snowboard group, which I was in, had a few of my close friends in it, as well as some I did not know too well. Throughout the week my friends and I proved to learn faster than expected, and for the last three or four days were able to take a little more liberty with our descent and enjoy ourselves. The beginning of the week it was often snowing and the snow on the ground was perfect, though as our days progressed the sun came out and made the slopes much icier. This proved to be interesting for us beginners, and led to a number of my trophies I left with after the week ended, but regardless I was enjoying every moment. Through the week Finn and I discover how similar our interests and hobbies are (to such a complete level that it doesn’t seem likely in the slightest) and we grow close, as well as the few others who would meet in our room to hang out together in the evenings.

In the middle of the week, we took half a day off from the slopes and made our way into Poprad to go to a large pool facility to relax from the slopes for a number of hours. This was a welcome reprieve as many including me were feeling quite tired and sore and some hot water and good company did me much good. We had some fun with the water slides in the facility, but I spent most of my time with friends in the sauna and heated pools.

I had several falls throughout the week, but thankfully no major injuries that proved permanent. I had some bad falls down a steep slope at speed and on my last run of the week, which many of us (me included) made shirtless. As the week came to a close we were all drained but still mustered up the energy to have a dance party on our last night, playing loud music into the morning before we packed into the busses to head back to the train station. I was quite happy as it was time well spent, and I believe I will look back on it fondly for years to come.