Our team just finished all our midpoint assignments, we decided to take a quick mental break for this week, and continue to work strongly for the next few weeks. I think it could be nice to come out of the serious staff and talk about my biggest hobby, snowboarding. It’s right on time for the season-opening. So happy the winter finally comes back.
How I met snowboarding
I originally came to the US from China. At around 15 age, I was taken to a local ski resort by my parents. They found someone who just used a single board, which looked super unique and cool. Luckily, the resort held 5 snowboards for rental, they decided to try them without knowing how to ride them correctly.
That was a tough time, I remembered they have to sleep on their belly instead of the back after snowboarding because their butts hurt really bad. After talking to someone who can ride really well, my parents got the info that there was one Japanese instruction material online. Gradually, they learned how to snowboard. At that time, I was learning skiing.
After two years of skiing, my heart was toward snowboarding more and more. Because my coach really wanted me to attend a regional skiing competition. After a discussion with my parents, I transferred to snowboarding, which means no professional coaches at that time. Snowboarding would be just for fun! This was the reason I love snowboarding till today.
Pause to snowboarding
During my time at the university in Beijing, it was super hard for a student to go to a ski resort. I needed to take my snowboard bags onto buses and subways, spending over 1.5 hours to arrive at a ski resort. In these 1.5 hours, it was highly possible to be standing all the way. I just managed to go snowboarding once a year during my four-year university life. No progression at all.
This situation continued after I came to the US for my graduate school, University of Missouri. For the first year, I did not know there was a ski resort two-hour away. I went to the ski resort twice for my second year. Also no progression, just make sure I will not forget how to snowboard.
Get back the addiction feeling
After graduation, I moved to the bay area California. So close to the sea and so close to the mountain, a perfect place for me. I found a marketing specialist job in the bay area and I can afford my hobby. It was so fascinating to know how affordable a seasonal pass was compared to my hometown. I started snowboarding regularly and dragged my boyfriend down to the snowboarding hole.
Goals
My goals are super simple, make little and moderate progressions each season, keep healthy and snowboard for a really long time! I would like to see more unique scenes on different mountains!
