surfer, dude

the trip down under obviously satisfied the annual goal to take a trip out of the country but it also allowed me to knock another goal off my list.

that's right, kids. i learned to surf.

as in, in approximately 20 attempts, i actually stood up on a surf board five times and rode it all the way in.

feel free to be massively impressed. at the very least, you might consider uttering a very aussie-like, "good on ya!"

in the interest of full disclosure, i will confess that i was completely and totally exhausted at the end of a two hour surfing lesson on sydney's manly beach. you might not know this from watching matthew mcconaughey do it (since it is fairly safe to assume that anything he does can't be that hard), but surfing is no joke.

for one thing, my board was enormous. i pointed this out to the instructor, rob, and he responded, "the bigger the better. trust me," which he somehow managed to say in a totally non-creepy way. but seriously. i couldn't even get my arms around the board to carry it into the surf.

and then, of course, there is the issue of pushing the board through all that incoming water to get it to a spot where the waves are good. (the waves are sweet? gnarly? wicked? i don't quite have the lingo down.) you feel like you've been pushing your way out for ages only to turn around and discover you are still standing on the beach. practically.

and then, naturally, you have to get yourself on the board, on your stomach, paddle like mad, basically do a push-up to launch yourself into a squatting position and then attempt the greatest feat of balance ever known to man.

in five seconds.

while looking all hip and relaxed.

but, i did it.

five times.

and drank approximately 137 gallons of sea water during all my other attempts.

as i think should be pretty obvious from my totally awesome stance, though, i am well on my way to the intermediate level at least. maybe more.





surfing, i think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.