I flew into LAX on Tuesday. The next morning I met up with the Australians and went up to Big Bear Mountain. We got there too late to do any skiing, (the slopes close around 4:00), so we spent the night in Engedi. That evening we went to Von's and bought groceries. There were about 16 of us so we decided to buy breakfast and lunch for the following day. That was interesting, we probably spent an hour and half shopping for groceries, and then weeding out the excess. The next morning we made eggs with spam and peppers, bagels with cream cheese, and some other food (can't remember). I met Gordy and his wife, we sang songs by the "fire." And in the morning after breakfast we went to the Summit. I'm just now starting to feel normal and its Monday already. Didn't get an pictures on the slopes, except for the ones that Svet took. Hope I get to see those soon. The whole snowboarding thing was quite exciting. After a few runs down I realized that I needed to learn how to stop. So I spent some time working on that. My foot positioning changed a few times as well, because I started out regular and then had my bindings switched to goofy. I still don't know which one feels more comfortable. People say that you should go with whatever foot feels more "normal" or "comfortable" but then they say that you will feel weird either way, just because its a new thing. I dunno, but after a day on the mountain I can go regular and goofy on my heels. I just hate riding on my toes because I always feel like i'm going to tumble forward.Thats about the only eventful thing that has happened thus far. Went to the beach the other day but it was cold and the yogurt I bought was way too expensive. Its the "PinkBerry" fad that's apparently sweeping through So. California. I'm not surprised, it probably got some momentum from the health movement, and then a bit from the celebrities that endorse it and are willing to pay $4 for a small bowl of yogurt.
Today the training starts, and my "vacation" shifts into panic mode. Ahhhh! I don't want to get tested. There are so many people out here right now, from everywhere. At first I was worried about how I would possibly be able to say hello to everyone, but now I've decided to just be reclusive and talk to people only if they initiate it. I get too wired up when I'm around lots of people, Its probably not good for me. Yea, I should try to be shy and introverted. We'll see how that works.
