Swans Rugby & Sleepy Teacher

Written in 2001

Watch out swans!
Swans are beautiful birds aren't they? Now imagine hitting them while water skiing at over 100 km/hr. That's what happened twice at a water ski club I skied at near Oxford, England. The part of the lake where the slalom course was was filled with swans. We tried to avoid and scare them away but they kept coming back. The first time it happened I was going through the slalom course at full speed when I suddenly slammed right in the middle of this adult swan, I heard a loud thunnk and was shot up off the water. Too bad for the birds.

Playing rugby
I had played a lot of Rugby while in high school and had wanted to play it again for a long time. One day I got my chance while I was living in the hostel in Oxford. One league team had injuries and needed players, so two of us went. The funny side was I hadn't played this sport in eight years and couldn't remember any of the rules or plays. Also I wasn't one of the big buys on the field anymore, this wasn't grade 7, some of these guys were trucks on steroids. So they gave me a crash course and we started the game. I was nervous but decided I would ram an elephant if it had the ball. I rammed, tackled, got slammed pretty good too. It was fun and a rush. My strength in these sports as always been my speed, so I found I hadn't lost too much of it and assisted on our first score. The best part came after the second half, even though I was out of shape and out of breath, when my teammate threw me the ball and I ran half the field and through a defender to score my first run in eight years. I was proud of it and it was fun. Our team demolished theirs. After the game all the teams joined up at the club and we had food and drinks, it had been a great day. The coach even asked me to play with the team, but they were based in London and I was in Oxford. Still a great time.

Re-enactment of me working hard

Sleepy teacher
Have you ever seen your teacher fall asleep while teaching? I haven't yet. But while teaching English in Oxford I was so tired at times I would be teaching the class and then just fall asleep for a few seconds on a chair right in front of them. You should have seen their faces. I was working as a bartender at night and lacking sleep. I would do the same thing in Russia but only once and it wasn't as bad. This time I just had many things to do some nights. It still has to be a funny sight to see your teacher fall asleep.