As of yesterday, I had officially been at the Mountain
School for a week! It’s probably not
surprising that it feels like forever!
That sounds cheesy, but it really does.
So much has happened in a week – I learned to snowshoe, to cross-country
ski (kinda of…), to identify trees (even more of a kind of), and even cut down
a tree. I’ve also scrubbed potatoes,
shoveled snow, and cleaned a toilet.
None of those are that astounding, but for me they’re new
experiences. I feel as if The Mountain
School is allowing me to fill in gaps in my life…
Unfortunately,
I still have not seen any of the animals… which sucks. The Derby girls and I are planning on
venturing down to the barns today, but first comes homework. I think a lot of people forget (including both
the students and employees here) that the Mountain School first and foremost is
a school. So ya, most nights are filled
with homework. We have a “silent time”
from 7:30 to 9:30 in which the library and classrooms are filled with students
studying. It’s strange adjusting to
having time scheduled for you to do homework.
Yes, there are long periods of night where you can work when you want
and we have frees, but at home I would start homework at 4 and work till
10. Here, I’m still in class at 4. Classes here actually go till 5:55. Intense right? Not when you realize that right after lunch
we spend two and a half hours in work period.
Work period can involve a science hike, wood crew, outdoor program, an
activity, or work.
My
activity is swing dancing. I didn’t
exactly expect to end up swing dancing on a mountain, but it’s actually kind of
fun. There are four of us in the class,
two guys and two girls, and a very very experienced teacher. I have some trouble with the spinning, but
otherwise I think I got it. Other than
the fact that I fell flat on my face at one point. Actually, I’ve done a lot of falling, much to
everyone’s amusement. I’ve officially
been deemed “Clumsy Christina.” I fell
at least twenty times in skiing, multiple times trying to walk through the
heavy snow, multiple times in broom ball, and of course the wonderful dancing
fall. Oh, what is broom ball you
ask? Only the most awesome sport in the
world! We spent all week trying to clear
the snow off of frozen over Derby Pond. Now, that it’s done, we can play. Broom ball is kind of like field hockey on
ice with a stick made out of a tree branch with a mat or blanket tied around
it. You play with a soccer ball and
there’s no need to worry about skating – you play in shoes. Thus, everyone falls. A lot.
It’s amazing. I managed to let my
aggressive side come out and run into another player, seriously jarring my head. So that was the end of my broom ball career
for the day.
I think
this ends my post considering I have … homework! See you next week!
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