Diary of a Sailor: Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Tougher...

Hello again everyone,

It has been a very hectic week! I’ve been crammed with everything from tournaments to school and Mandarin courses; however, this week has seemed to just blow by in an instant.

I was so ecstatic because this weekend was my first junior tournament in the 16s division. Unfortunately, I quickly realized how much bigger and stronger the older girls are, seeing that my opponent was over six feet tall and built very muscular. I was defeated pretty quickly and it was very upsetting looking around to see that I got one of the toughest players in the first round; but, I still have to realize that the tournament was a designated national, so of course the competition is tight. I think I am going to start with some lower-level tournaments that I think I can advance in and just gradually build up my ranking.

Not only did I have a junior tournament this weekend, but there was also an adult mixed doubles tournament going on at my club. I loved watching the open level adults play, and it feels great to notice that I am not very far behind them in skill.

I also started my Mandarin course this week. It was really fun and a lot more interesting than I would’ve thought. And, although the language and character writing are very complex, I felt that I was grasping the topics we discussed and left every lecture confident in what I learned, which is a good feeling always.

School this week has been pretty boring. I was disappointed because my Art History class has now switched back to the art portion instead of the history portion. Even though I like to draw, I absolutely hate just sitting around for two hours and doing art opposed to learning interesting things and doing fun activities in history. Plus, the history teacher is super fun.

Well, I’ve had an informing week filled with new experiences and can’t wait to see what the next week has in store.

Enjoy your week everyone!

Kate