Other than this past week being hell week (see last post for details), some pretty amazing and great things did happen. First, I found out that my best friend from 4th grade, who I hadn't seen in 10 years, is studying in the UK this year. Secondly, I had my very first archery competition (today). And additionally of note, I wrote a newspaper article and had some more tutorials.
So let's start with another endearing story that reminds me that this world is ever so small. When I was in fourth grade (That's 5th year for you Brits or 10-11 years of age), I met a girl named Naoko. She was Japanese and her father had been relocated to the US branch of his company 3 years prior. She spoke perfect English, was smart and we became fast friends. Actually with very few exceptions, Naoko was the closest friend I have ever had. We hung out at each other's houses and talked endlessly. When I found out at the end of that year that rather than staying for 7 years, as had been initially the plan, Naoko would be going back to Japan that summer, I was devastated. I still remember rushing to my room and bawling for hours.
For the next couple of years, we tried to keep in touch through email and letter, but those eventually died away as we became more busy and the nearly 12 hour time difference didn't help. Right before I entered college (university), I managed to find her on facebook and we remained facebook acquaintances talking every once in awhile. Well last Friday, I noticed that she was on-line. I realized that given I was in England and the time zone was closer to that of Japan, we might have a chance of chatting. I messaged her telling her about how I was abroad in England. Shortly after, to my surprise, she told me that she was also in the UK, studying at the University of Edinburgh. She was a mere 6 hours away. I haven't been this close to seeing her in 10 years.
My mind was blown and all those feelings of nostalgia rushed over me. We have tentatively made plans to see each other and I couldn't be more happy. Just a reminder that really, the world is such a small place.
On the other half of the coin, today was my very first archery competition. Over the course of the week, the gear for archery had come in. I now own a quiver (blue and awesome), a bow stand, a bow stringer, a chest guard and a fancy finger tab. It feels great to have all the equipment. Makes one feel like they are legitimately doing a sport. It certainly made getting up for a 6:30 am practice Friday morning bearable.
An archery competition of the sort we were doing put two target faces on bosses 20 meters (?) away. Each face has 10 rings of colors starting with yellow in the middle two, red in the next two, blue, black, and white. Each set of two represents two numbers, 10-9, 8-7, 6-5...ect. There are two people assigned to each face and you take turns shooting. You have 2 minutes to shoot 3 arrows. Once both people have shot, the arrows are scored. If an arrow touches the line of the next closest ring, then it is scored by the closer ring. So an arrow on the line between the 5-6 rings would be scored a 6. You repeat this 20 times. for a total of 60 arrows and a potential total of 600 points.
After the first two rounds got the nerves out, I shot pretty well. I was consistently getting at least one yellow (9 or 10) and then plenty of (5-8s). I was really proud of this and felt like I had found my form. Then everything started to go frustratingly wrong. My sight fell down and my next two arrows hit the very top of the target. From then on I progressively got misses and scores around (3-6). By the end I was just beginning to get my groove back.
My total was 296, which is a little less than half the total points. It isn't bad for someone who has only been shooting for 3 weeks and it was the 5th highest out of 10 of the novices on our team and the highest of all the girls. The score was also a 20 point improvement on the game I shot two days before. That being said, the next 5 scores were all within 11 of me. It was tough to remain focused and positive, especially when I was continually frustrated in the later leg of the competition. I was also told that when I shoot the arrow, I have a habit of clenching my teeth in a snarl, which my fellow team-mate took a lot of amusement out of.
All things considered, it wasn't a bad tournament and I can tell that I am making some great friendships among the novice squad and experienced squad a like. It is fun and I look forward to doing better in the future! Maybe one of these days I will get a medal. If anything, I really love the sport and it feels great to be back in competition!
As for the minor things I mentioned above, I was asked by one of my sisters back at Jewell to write an article for a study abroad column in the Jewell newspaper. If it is on-line, I will like a copy to the blog when it is published. If it isn't, I will have to get a Jewell student to save me one of the issues and I will post the article directly to the blog. I wrote an article about the role alienation has had in my study abroad experience. It wasn't meant to be sad, but I think it is a topic which is rarely discussed when it comes to the study abroad experience and it has really opened my eyes to some of the more valuable aspects of this experience. Secondly, I had a few more tutorials and they went fine. I managed to successfully write 3 papers and this was helped considerably by one of my essays being pushed back an additional 3 days. The next couple weeks shouldn't be too busy.
Sorry to bog you down with so many details. A lot has happened this week. In a few days, I think I will talk about my future travel plans and some of the more traditional British culture I have encountered recently. Until then:
Adventures Await!
KH
No comments:
Post a Comment