Tomorrow and Tuesday I have exams, meaning right now I should be studying. I took my first test Friday, on Sociolinguistics, and it was extremely easy. I don't want to get too comfortable or over-confident, but I really don't think I need to study too much. I really can't understand it, all the Spanish students are studying all day everyday. I must just have really easy courses. Also, I'm sure less is expected in general of foreign students.
I really just wish I could go back to class tomorrow. School starts Thursday. Thursdays, when I have one class. Then the next week is Carnaval, so I probably won't have class Monday or Tuesday. I'm starting to wonder when anyone actually learns anything here. It is great for exchange students, though, plenty of time to travel and almost no homework to worry about. I only wish I had had the money over these three weeks, I would've liked to have gone to the south of Spain or Galicia. Plenty of British people I know just went back home! How I envy them...
It hasn't been a complete waste of time for me, mind. A while back I went skiing for the first time this year, and for the first time in Europe. Granted, Spain can't hold a candle to the Alps, and Asturias is a joke even compared to Spain's other ranges, the Pyrenees or Sierra Nevada (the original ones). Still, it was great to get out on the slopes, and to see a new part of Asturias.
After being seriously stood up at my first attempt at a skiing outing (alone in the rain at 7 in the morning, not fun), my friend Cecilia invited me to go with her, her flatmate Dave and his girlfriend Pernille. After an hour's drive south of Oviedo in Dave's bass-ackwards British vehicle, through some charming villages, we arrived at San Isidro Estación Invernal. Temperature: 1 degree Celsius (35 F). Base Altitude: 1,500 m (5,000 ft).
Up here there was a decent amount of snow, though I was certainly worried on the drive up; it was still green and bare of snow until about 15 minutes before we arrived. As you can see, shrubs are still visible. It was a nice view from the top (2,100 m/6,900 ft).
It was definitely a new experience for me. There was a disgusting amount of people at the bottom chairlift, which was giving me all kinds of anxiety. I have never seen so many people at a ski resort. Just all standing around the lodge and lift area, chatting, waiting, showing off their fancy one-piece skisuits. It's boggling to think a world class ski resort like Snowbasin or Snowbird doesn't have to deal with this kind of crowding, and poky little San Isidro does.
Once I got up on the mountain, though, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. For the most part I had room to maneuver. I was a bit amused and a bit perturbed to learn they blast cheesy elevator music from each lift tower. I guess this is very common in Europe, but I would have preferred a little more serenity.
The snow itself was also not as bad as I had (realistically) prepared myself for. It was like skiing in April, only this was January. I asked Dave about the powder situation in Europe, and he informed me that "powder isn't very big here." Powder's not big?? I still don't quite understand. When snow falls, it is powder, right? And then time or men in big machines make it not powder. I guess he means that everything is just cut runs, groomed for safety reasons or popular demand.
I learned a lot of things talking with these three. We got on really well. Cecilia and Dave are from England, and study English literature at Leeds University. Pernille is from Denmark and studies medicine. I, of course, couldn't help bringing up my own Danish and English ancestry more than a few times. Suffice it to say they are all well aware of Utah's immigrant history by now.
I also learned some new terminology, in both English and Spanish. Both "run" and "slope" are referred to as "piste" by the English (which sounds a bit too much like "pissed" for my taste, thank you), the Spanish equivalent being "pista." A ski pass is "forfait." The poma lift is very popular here, and goes by more or less the same name.
It ended up being a really enjoyable way to spend the day. Dave and I took turns teaching Cecilia to ski, and by closing time she was past the snowplow turn and starting on the Stim Christie. I got in some good turns as well.
We went again the next day and it was less than pleasant. It was a complete blizzard! I had to learn the Spanish word, ventisca, just to describe to people how bad it was. I really missed Utah that day. There was zero visibility and the snow had become choppy ice. I ate it hard when this madman cut me off and I hit a vicious patch of congealed slush. This in turn led to my explaining what a "yard sale" is . . .
Still, San Isidro wasn't all bad. It was a very comfortable temperature the one day, and the lodge had a liberal selection of après-ski refreshments the next . . . Also, it cost me a measly 30 Euros for a day pass and equipment rental. To make things even better, my student's dad lent me a coat, gloves, goggles, and snow pants. All in all it was very affordable, and a lot of fun, even when mother nature was uncoöperative.
If nothing else it's good to have the experience under my belt. I realized this was only my second time skiing outside of Utah (the other being New Mexico). This being only the first of many hopeful skiing adventures, I cannot yet comment on whether we Utahns do, in fact, have the greatest snow on earth. But I'm tempted to believe it. What I know for sure is that we are blessed with an amazing natural resource and I am definitely going to miss it, wherever life takes me.
I really just wish I could go back to class tomorrow. School starts Thursday. Thursdays, when I have one class. Then the next week is Carnaval, so I probably won't have class Monday or Tuesday. I'm starting to wonder when anyone actually learns anything here. It is great for exchange students, though, plenty of time to travel and almost no homework to worry about. I only wish I had had the money over these three weeks, I would've liked to have gone to the south of Spain or Galicia. Plenty of British people I know just went back home! How I envy them...
It hasn't been a complete waste of time for me, mind. A while back I went skiing for the first time this year, and for the first time in Europe. Granted, Spain can't hold a candle to the Alps, and Asturias is a joke even compared to Spain's other ranges, the Pyrenees or Sierra Nevada (the original ones). Still, it was great to get out on the slopes, and to see a new part of Asturias.
After being seriously stood up at my first attempt at a skiing outing (alone in the rain at 7 in the morning, not fun), my friend Cecilia invited me to go with her, her flatmate Dave and his girlfriend Pernille. After an hour's drive south of Oviedo in Dave's bass-ackwards British vehicle, through some charming villages, we arrived at San Isidro Estación Invernal. Temperature: 1 degree Celsius (35 F). Base Altitude: 1,500 m (5,000 ft).
Up here there was a decent amount of snow, though I was certainly worried on the drive up; it was still green and bare of snow until about 15 minutes before we arrived. As you can see, shrubs are still visible. It was a nice view from the top (2,100 m/6,900 ft).
It was definitely a new experience for me. There was a disgusting amount of people at the bottom chairlift, which was giving me all kinds of anxiety. I have never seen so many people at a ski resort. Just all standing around the lodge and lift area, chatting, waiting, showing off their fancy one-piece skisuits. It's boggling to think a world class ski resort like Snowbasin or Snowbird doesn't have to deal with this kind of crowding, and poky little San Isidro does.
Once I got up on the mountain, though, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. For the most part I had room to maneuver. I was a bit amused and a bit perturbed to learn they blast cheesy elevator music from each lift tower. I guess this is very common in Europe, but I would have preferred a little more serenity.
The snow itself was also not as bad as I had (realistically) prepared myself for. It was like skiing in April, only this was January. I asked Dave about the powder situation in Europe, and he informed me that "powder isn't very big here." Powder's not big?? I still don't quite understand. When snow falls, it is powder, right? And then time or men in big machines make it not powder. I guess he means that everything is just cut runs, groomed for safety reasons or popular demand.
I learned a lot of things talking with these three. We got on really well. Cecilia and Dave are from England, and study English literature at Leeds University. Pernille is from Denmark and studies medicine. I, of course, couldn't help bringing up my own Danish and English ancestry more than a few times. Suffice it to say they are all well aware of Utah's immigrant history by now.
I also learned some new terminology, in both English and Spanish. Both "run" and "slope" are referred to as "piste" by the English (which sounds a bit too much like "pissed" for my taste, thank you), the Spanish equivalent being "pista." A ski pass is "forfait." The poma lift is very popular here, and goes by more or less the same name.
It ended up being a really enjoyable way to spend the day. Dave and I took turns teaching Cecilia to ski, and by closing time she was past the snowplow turn and starting on the Stim Christie. I got in some good turns as well.We went again the next day and it was less than pleasant. It was a complete blizzard! I had to learn the Spanish word, ventisca, just to describe to people how bad it was. I really missed Utah that day. There was zero visibility and the snow had become choppy ice. I ate it hard when this madman cut me off and I hit a vicious patch of congealed slush. This in turn led to my explaining what a "yard sale" is . . .
Still, San Isidro wasn't all bad. It was a very comfortable temperature the one day, and the lodge had a liberal selection of après-ski refreshments the next . . . Also, it cost me a measly 30 Euros for a day pass and equipment rental. To make things even better, my student's dad lent me a coat, gloves, goggles, and snow pants. All in all it was very affordable, and a lot of fun, even when mother nature was uncoöperative.
If nothing else it's good to have the experience under my belt. I realized this was only my second time skiing outside of Utah (the other being New Mexico). This being only the first of many hopeful skiing adventures, I cannot yet comment on whether we Utahns do, in fact, have the greatest snow on earth. But I'm tempted to believe it. What I know for sure is that we are blessed with an amazing natural resource and I am definitely going to miss it, wherever life takes me.
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