New Beginnings in Switzerland

  Diego doesn't like me. This is because the ski instructor always sends me first.   I am not the fastest skier, but he says I have the best technique. We were told skiing is not only about speed but Diego takes great pleasure in overtaking me on our way down the slope. He is not friendly. At all. On our last day we had free rides. I queued for the ski lift with three other boys. Diego was one of them. The others were friends of Diego.   As we were going to sit on the four seat lift, the three boys pulled back on the last minute. I was left to occupy the four seat lift all on my own. I waved back to my not friends and got ready for a long lonely ascending into the Swiss Alps. It was cold, snowing, and intimidatingly quiet. As the snow was quietly falling and the wind was blowing, I visualised a map of Europe. I thought about where all my friends and family were.   The closest person was 1000 miles away.   Here I was ascending the Swiss Alps all on my own. I sat quietly and

This was a discipline I did not think I would survive. Swimming outside at -10*C seemed to have been the highlight of of the ski trip.   The water was pleasantly warm, but our hair had frost on it. If I had ever wondered about the expression 'my brain has frozen' I do not need to wonder any more.   It really did feel like my brain is freezing. My ears were already frozen and my hair was white with icicles. My brain was just about to hibernate when Mateusz, my friend, came up with an excellent idea!   You need to keep your head underwater as long as possible. Only come up for a breath if necessary. Now this has warmed my head, but I've read that after 5 minutes without oxygen the brain suffers serious and possibly irreversible damage.   This worried me a bit. There has been a genius in our group. He found a solution.   It was very simple, and hence the best solution. You would never have guessed! We simply followed his lead and used our hands to stop the water jets