OKAY, I AM HOOKED

　Sport has never been my cup of tea. Even living in a snow area I can hardly ski or snowboard. But last weekend after continuous pressure from my friends I decided to become a bit sportier and try rafting.

　I was not very enthusiastic because, first of all, I am not a big fan of cold water and, second, I can hardly swim! Getting up at 7.30 Sunday morning we left Rusutsu at 8. And here came the first pleasant surprise! I took us only 15 min to get to the Rafting Centre in Kyogoku, the place famous all around Japan for its spring water. It’s the starting point for all rafting companies in the area, where we were provided wet suits, helmets, life jackets and paddles. There were 7 boats in our team on that day. Our instructor Emi, a nice girl, explained to us how to paddle, to jump when the water is shallow, to squat down when there are trees, etc.

　And we started! The paddles wouldn’t agree at the beginning, all five of us in the boat paddled in different directions, which made the boat turn rather than move. However, with time following Emi’s instructions, we formed a good team, and our boat started to move smoothly. There were a couple of shallow places where we had to jump to make the boat go, and a couple of places when we had to squat to avoid bumping into tree branches. We even swam in 3 places! The water was surprisingly warm, which was probably a result of wearing wetsuits. But I didn’t know it before I tried, so this pleasant surprise added to the fun of the experience.

　It was so quiet. Do you know the feeling when it seems that all the problems disappear and total peace comes to your mind? That what happened to me! I was completely in my nirvana state of mind when Emi said fun time had come! She commanded us to splash water with our paddles to people in other boats as a special “river greeting”.

　Well, we all are serious people, who are used to greeting each other with words and shaking hands, not with water splashes, aren’t we? Or at least our team was, and people in other boats, who happened to be medical team from a hospital, were the same. At first, we all felt uncomfortable splashing water or showing any emotions. However, with Emi’s cheering, screaming, and probably with some river blessing (was I the only one who felt that way?), we started being more and more enthusiastic. You should have seen faces of middle aged people who got covered with water, splashing each other… They were kids again! No problems existed at that moment! There were just them, the river and the splashing competition!

　We arrived wet and happy at the finish of 7.5 km course in about 2 hours. In the bus on the way back we were told the course wasn’t difficult, level 1. Nothing compared to level 3 in spring after snow melts and the water level rises some 1.5 m higher, but we enjoyed it very much. It was a really nice experience, and I am considering challenging the Shiribetsu River next spring. Maybe even in a ducky!

Anna Herasimenia