Dragon Boating 101

So... this happened today. You could find me in the last row of the engine room, keeping Mr. Dragon slightly on pace despite my incorrect form, mostly incorrect timing and incredibly weak arms, core and legs.

Let's rewind a bit.

Tuesday night, at the HKIS (Hong Kong International School) New Family Mix & Mingle, I was working on mixing and mingling when I was introduced to another mom, Jamie, by my other new mom-friend, Natasha. Jamie and her family arrived in HK and moved into their apartment on nearly the exact date as us. Jamie is from Michigan (three cheers for "Midwesterners in Hong Kong"!!). Jamie's daughter is in 10th grade, runs track, cross country and plays basketball just like my daughter. Jamie joined the AWA (American Women's Association) immediately after arriving last week and signed up for Dragon Boating for Beginners.

"Hey!", Jamie said. "You should sign up too!".

And, well, I didn't have a single lame excuse as to why I shouldn't. Not one thing on the calendar, no more window cleaners coming, no more air conditioners needing repair, no deliveries of microwaves or tvs. So, I just politely smiled and said "I'll think about it". Secretly thinking... "Uh, no way. I am about as unathletic and un-fit as they come!"

The next morning I woke up thinking about the open invite again. And I really couldn't come up with a reason WHY I shouldn't at least give it a try. I sent Jamie a message saying I was thinking about it and she replied:

"I don't think you'll regret it".

What other response could I possibly have to that but "I think you're right". Gulp.

So, today at 9:30am, I summoned all my courage and inadequate strength and made my way down to the meeting point. Not knowing the first thing about Dragon Boating, and having a past history of a clear inability to coordinate paddles on kayaks, canoes, or boats of any sort, I convinced myself "Hey! At least I'll get some pics and have some laughs!".

The group only had 1 hour on the water, so it quickly became very apparent that it was ALL business! I'm sure the veteran paddlers on board were losing their minds at our pathetic attempts, but I'm happy to report that eventually we could pretty much keep in time and not hit each other TOO often with our paddles. By the end, the event coordinator and former Dragon Boat Captain even said I was "doing MUCH better"! Hey, I don't care what she was saying between those lines, I'll take it.

After we were done with the more-strenuous-than-I-expected-for-beginners session, we quickly showered up in the beach shower houses and headed to a really great Mexican place for lunch. During the course of lunch, I got to know a few of the more experienced Hong Kong expats who were a great source of information on where to shop to find certain things I still need and general answers to how to live life here. I'm feeling really thankful tonight for Jamie – who pushed me to step out and show up, even though right now my ARMS are NOT thanking her. Also, thanks to Jamie, I now have a non-family emergency contact to put into the required school database. Win win!!

(The jury is currently leaning heavily towards DON'T join the Dragon Boat Team, but never say never!)