The American Contingent

It is safe to say that many South Africans are westernised. When we travel, our accents are commonly mistaken for Australian or American. I guess it may be due to the TV shows, movies and music that we are surrounded by. I always had a bit of a grudge against both the "ozzies" and the US, mostly because the Oz cricket team was always beating us, and well, it's not hard to criticize the American foreign policy. But just lately I have had to review my generalised dislike as i have had the pleasure of meeting five extremely intelligent, outgoing and totally sane Americans. We have had some great conversations about many things, including Bush, Oil, religion and other sensitive topics that would ordinarily spark some fierce debate and cause the hackles on the backs of the less reasonable to rise. Hence i must admit, i like them a lot and they have changed my opinion quite substantially. Anyway, enough of the political and the serious, on to WINDSURFING!!!! Windsurfing happens to be my latest hobby. I can't say when i have had such a thrill in a long time. To give you a little background, I do enjoy a touch of adrenalin now and then and have "king-swinged" off a bridge and a 40 m crane, I have sky-dived from 3000 feet, I learned to ride a motorbike and joined a club for a while and for one sweet afternoon I helped crew a yacht in the North Sea in some pretty rough water. So it has been a while since i have done anything exciting, but just recently i joined the university sailing club and took to the task of mastering both board and sail. My first experience was extremely fun, unfortunately i got so badly sun burned i couldn't move for a week and i had to wait a little before my second attempt. Yesterday Craig and I went to the beautiful beach in Kleinemonde where a shallow lagoon provides the perfect spot for beginners to learn. The wind was very strong and it took quite some doing to get the sail out of the water. Once we had it, the board almost lept from the water with sheer speed, it was awesome. Unfortunately my attempts were cut short because the wind was too strong and snapped the wishbone that holds the sail up. Ag nee man! Oh well, it wasn't too bad as there are many more i am told.