Update: Activity Clubs

I managed to narrow down my list of clubs, but admittedly still probably joined too many.

• Surf
• Canoe
• Rifle
• Archery
• Softball

Saturday I showed up for my first Canoe Club meeting. I apparently misunderstood the email that listed what stuff we should bring. Note for the future - "swim toggles" means swimming suit or swim trunks, not swim shoes. So when I showed up without a swim suit and it was time to put on the wetsuit, I was out of luck. Fortunately one of the members was able to run home quick and bring me an extra set of trunks.

At noon we got our kayaks in the water (yeah the ocean water, which was surprisingly warmer than I expected). It took a little while but I think I picked up the paddling techniques pretty well. We ran a bunch of paddling drills and games. There was one game called Chariot. In pairs, one person got in the water behind the kayaks. The other had to stand-up with one foot in each kayak and try paddling - which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was the one who stood up in the kayaks and my legs started shaking after a couple minutes because I had to use my leg muscle to keep the kayaks from separating.

Our last drill was a capsize. We had to turn over our kayaks, hit the sides three times with our hands (to make sound to alert anyone around us), and then pull the cord that allows us to slip out of the boat. Finally, at about two o'clock we pulled the kayaks out of the water, changed into dry clothes, and headed to a nearby restaurant to hangout and chat. I met some fun people and had a great time. I was pretty exhausted for the rest of the day, so I mainly worked on stuff in my dorm room.

Today I'm going to go to the Surf Club meeting to sign up for the surf trip that's happening this next weekend. There are only 70 spots available, so I'll need to try hard to get there right away. Tomorrow night I'm going to attempt to make it to Softball from 4-6, Archery from 6-7, a Kayak club gathering starting at 7:30, and then Rifle at 8:30. Yeah - it could be a very busy evening. But that's what I'm here for - to try tons of new things!