背包走天涯之纽约

Skiing in Delhi

I am having the "Currency Exchange Effect". The Effect explains the phenomenon that when a person changes his currency for a stronger currency, he is under the delusion that prices are lower even though they are exactly the same. That is precisely what happened when I bought my ski pants to get ready for the Christmas skiing in Delhi, which is in upstate New York. I am already in upstate, Delhi is even further upstate and the further you get up north, the colder it gets. I bought the ski pants for 29 dollars and it seemed so cheap I bought it without any second thoughts. As I walked out of the shop it dawned on me that the price was 45 singapore dollars and suddenly it didn't seem so cheap anymore. I have to constantly remind myself to convert prices back to Singapore dollars before making any purchases in future.

I have done ice skating before and although I wouldn't say that I am those who can skate around the rink at monstrous speed , I can manage pretty well. At least I can brake and braking is important. If you can't brake in any snow sports you cannot slow down. If you can't slow down you can only get faster and the next thing you know you are hurting yourself or other people you knock into.I can't brake in skiing. Not with the slopes. Not with the most gentle slopes.

When I put on my boots I felt like a penguin. Clumsy was the word. It wasn't easy to walk in ski boots, and I was completely rooted when I slotted them into the ski boards. Well, not actually. I did manage to move, only uncontrollably. There was a gentle slope and I started moving towards a 5 year old kid standing right in front of me. Shit! In that split second I knew I had to do something to avoid hitting that boy. I didn't know how to stop, so I had to make myself fall to the side. I missed that boy by a few inches. Phew. When I looked up at him he had a blur look. He was almost smiling back to me. I doubt he had any sense of the danger he just averted, but the parents were seething.

Once I got to know how to get moving a little and braking a little, I was presented with yet another challenge--to get myself up the "lift" which would bring me to the top of the slope. The "lift" resembles a cable car. It doesn't stop for skiers to get on. Skiers would have to go with the flow: to ski to the position in between 2 seats and wait for the next seat to bring them up. How could I possibly slot myself in when I couldn't even move easily? It takes perfect estimation too and as I expected I was too slow and I got knocked down by the incoming seat before I could get in position. They had to stop the "lift" for me and I kept apologising profusely. Once I got on it I wondered how I was going to get down. When I approached the end the service man shouted,"Lift up your pole!"
"Pole? What pole? You mean my pair of skis?"
"Ok. Obviously you don't know what I am talking about," the man grunted and there was an apparent impatience in his voice. He stopped the "lift" again and lifted up my restraining bar to let me get off. I wished I had the guts to tell him I call that a bar, not a pole. Sometimes instructions don't make sense and you have to rely on common sense. I wished I had.

Brian's 19 year old son, Marcus, is a pro snow-boarder. Snow boarding is more difficult than skiing. He is a pro, so that makes him many many levels more skillful than me. He completed four laps and I completed one. Brian told me he was worrying I would get stuck up the slope and he would have to send rescuers up for me. I was quietly glad he didn't have to. Haha, even though it was tough and I got a few knocks I totally enjoyed the experience.

(uploaded album "Christmas in Delhi")

posted by wayne @ 7:47 PM