Michael What I've always wanted to share: For over two years, a pair of skis has been lying under our bed. We had them shipped over here to the U.S. with our furniture back then because I thought I would get a chance to go skiing here, but that didn't happen. So far, I haven't managed to go to Lake Tahoe, a fairly large ski area in the Sierra Nevada. Then one Friday, my colleagues Chris and Larry asked me if I wanted to go to Sugar Bowl near Lake Tahoe on Saturday to take a snowboarding course with them. Since I was living the bachelor life at the time, with Angelika being in Germany, I naturally agreed right away. So, the next day at half-past five in the morning, we set off in Chris's 4-wheel Explorer, and by nine, we arrived. We paid 55 dollars for a lift ticket, rental snowboard and boots, and a two-hour beginner's course -- super awesome! Now, there's a huge difference between skiing and snowboarding; just because you can do one doesn't mean you can do the other. Snowboarding is like being strapped to a skateboard or surfboard, and without instructions, you can't get anywhere without constantly falling on your face.

The ski instructor then patiently showed us how to first strap one foot in and then push off with the other foot like on a skateboard, leaning the board into the turn. Once you strap both feet onto the board, you can't even stand up at first, and when you finally manage to, you immediately fall over again, which is always good for a laugh. But after two hours, we all got the hang of it and started surfing down the slopes--still beginner hills, of course--but we got better and better. We kept going up with the lift and couldn't get enough, even though I crashed about 50 times. The muscle soreness the next day wasn't in the legs, as is usually the case with skiing, but in the arms from getting up so many times after contact with the snow.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Stranger in one's own country
  	Dual Citizenship
  	Firefighter Angelika
  	Liability Craziness in the U.S.
  	"Perl Power" spotted at Stanford
  	Working conditions in the USA
  	Buying a Car
  	German accent when speaking English
  	Motivation by Tony Robbins
  	Price Of Gas
  	AOL buys Netscape.