Lifeguard Log Day 1

The coolest people I'll ever meet SO FAR

We arrived at 7:30 in the morning. It was hot, humid, and cloudy. It was the feeling that you would never want to feel at the first day of work. Waiting in the car, minutes passed and not a single classmate had shown up. We began wondering whether if we were too early, everyone was late, or it was on a completely different day. By this time, it was 8:00, the official time to begin the lifeguard work, yet, no one had showed up. Sitting on the car, we reminisce about the times training together, how we may not see each other again in the same room altogether, or the fact that when school begins, we won't be able to send time in the water for a while. It was depressing, knowing and worrying about the future. I guess that the past and present is much less depressing to think about in current situations as such.

The time turned 8:30, so we decided to head into the lobby and ask if our instructor was late. Apparently, 實習--or the two days after you take the test, and if you pass, you need to spend 16 hours volunteering as a swimming pool lifeguard--had nothing to do with our class, but everything with the selected swimming pool. In other words, we wasted about an hour waiting in the car when all we needed to do was report for duty at Headquarters. Allow me to just say that this is not a good way to start off the day.

Well, a few minutes later, we were led by wonderful girl that gave us a tour of the place and assigned us lifeguard positions. She was a very nice girl, with a very nice swimming body shape.Anyways, I was assigned to the indoor pools, which along with the sauna and hot baths, was indeed very hot. Sweat exploded from my skin and in addition, the moist muskiness made it all the better. However, children and their grandparents laughed and smiled inside the pool. They were having fun. I guess it's the inside of me that felt good, instead of the sweaty outside; for I felt honored to be safekeeping someone's life. Watching them have fun was just about enough for me, not to mention number of bikinis I counted <creepy>.I cannot understand why people need to wear swimming caps, without them it would have made my observing hours more "fun", in other words, it would have been a great view.

An old lady hitting on my classmate

Soon, a rotation occurred and I migrated outside. There, a swimming class was in session, I saw in the class a few old folks and teenagers. I said to myself, "Wow, there's a bad-ass bunch of old people and teenagers that are actually doing something rather than going to the mall, or playing video games. I respected them due to the fact that even if they're old, they are still excising and completing their bucket list. For the teenagers, I saw that they had fun, fun without joking around, hurting their eyes, or offending someone. Thar was when I saw my friend Billy. He told me that his dad forced him to take the lifeguard class. Ironic isn't it, but Billy did not resist, instead listened to his father.

My friend's tower, mine was 6 times taller

Soon, I was assigned to the towers. I climbed the tower to the top and sat on a worn chair without a leg. I got to see the entire pool from this view, every corner, and even into the water. I realized that lifeguarding is such an underrated job, I feel as if I was not seen as a guardian angel watching the citizens swim, but as a coaptation of mediocre swimmers walking around a pool for the whole day. The thought of that made me sulk, thus I climbed down the tower and walked for a bit. I thought of anything else that I could do, perhaps, assist the class during their session.

What do you know, being a lifeguard has its benefits, and its forms of luck, I was called to be the "drownie" <lifeguard jargon> in their class. All I had to do was float. This was better than sitting under the hot sun on a tower. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pool, a few employees turned on a water vacuum machine and called me over once the demonstrations were complete. Pretty busy for a lifeguard volunteering is his 4th hour. Soon, I found myself cleaning the pool. A few days ago, the typhoon struck this exterior pool and left its trail of leaves, soot, algae, and filth inside the pool (It's only filth if dipped in mud, otherwise, nature is pretty great). I sent the next two or three hours sucking up all the waste in the pool, leaving my skin soggy. I reckoned that they'll want me to dry up and sit back onto the tower, so automatically headed to the class and helped them out.

It was also time to leave. the first day of being a lifeguard was, not very exciting, except for the parts with two pieces. Furthermore, seeing the few old people and teenagers was heart lifting. I suppose being a lifeguard only officially matters if there is a person drowning, but in the meantime, certain everyday chores must be done. Personally I don't mind, so I look forward lifeguarding in the next 8 hours of 實習!

Goodbye and Farewell

Today was the last day of the 19 day course of Lifeguard Training, also the testing day. Two days before, my instructor had given us a written test, in Chinese of course. It showed how everyone did not care to read nor study the textbook, for the 30 minutes spent writing the test was "group discussion". Soon we realized that the test was easy and there was nothing to worry about. With the written part of the test done, we were confident with the water part. However, we predicted incorrectly. The weather had gone from sunny playful skies to dark cold gloomy clouds in the time period of one day. Like I said, we were confident, but in times like these, confidence tends to wear off.

The morning was tiring; getting up seemed to shed energy, even the thought of waking up was a nuisance. Honestly, I'd much prefer school, at the time being, but then again, I'd rather swim than sit in an empty classroom hearing one person's voice for 90 minutes straight. I began thinking to myself, about the swim, about what happens after, and about failure. Worrying didn't help cope with the tiredness, but the Maple sugar sure did the trick. I realized that worrying was one of the worst things you could do just before the test, so I decided to think happy thoughts. I recalled the Happy Working Song in the movie, Enchanted and began humming it along the way to the swimming pool. I noticed that like Pi, the simplest of things in life became the most treasured items you could afford. For me, a catchy tune, and a maple sugar french toast.

My class number

We arrived at the pool and began our warm-up. Our instructors had always talked about the lining position, the greetings to the teacher, and the importance of time management to us before this day, so we were pretty militarily prepared for the test. However, still an urge of panic and enthusiasm rushed through my veins, into the lungs, which made me feel sulked. Nonetheless, with a bit of song and dance, the heavy feeling changed.
It was quiet throughout the entire course of the test, a bit eerie in fact. Uncle by this time of the day had probably made about more than 5 different inappropriate jokes for entertainment, but today was not the day. It's funny how a serious thing may seem all fun and games right before the start of the pain. Similar to pressure, all is relaxed, but when the bubble bursts, it's not fun for everyone.
Luckily, our behavior reflected upon our performance. Disciplined, and well trained, most of us pasted the test. One by one we were ordered into the pool to show what we have learning in the past three weeks. To my surprise, I was not at one bit tired treading water for a few minutes, and CPR progressed through like a feather in the wind, gone. Overall, the test went pretty well, (I think) and pretty much, we were fully prepared for it. I guess at first the worrying kicks in, and overconfidence adds onto the worrier, but in the end, I quote from a renowned actor, "All is well!"

Saying goodbye was the hardest part, we took several pictures, but none of that can cherish or digitize the very memories that were made in the past three weeks.

Never will I forget the blue, pool and sky,

Never will I forget ravishing smiles,

Never will I forget the anger out of love by Coach,

Never will this summer end without saying goodbye.

So, based on the "poem" I just wrote, we decided to rendezvous after all the tests are done, including the Association and ILS tests held the day after tomorrow. Luckily, Coach handed us a handbook that included all of our phone numbers, addresses, emails, social security numbers, etc. Truly a Stalker's Handbook.

"Stalker's Handbook"

This has been an extremely pleasant, exciting, and AWESOME experience for me. I hate to be locked away indoors, unable to break free from the claustrophobia. Which is why I am announcing that starting 7/22~7/26, I will be going to  a volunteering counseling job on the high mountains of Xindian. Also, I plan to join the instructing class next year for further experience in this field of life saving.

There are 9 song/movie/book references above. Can you find them all?

Experience

For the past two weeks, Lifeguard  training has been very exciting. Everyday, there is something new to learn and something new to experience. From getting wet inside the pool, to staying dry performing CPR, I feel as if the more you learn, the more you bond with this line of work. Its almost like an addiction, but healthy. At first, (keeping modesty) I was a pretty top-notch swimmer. However, as the course continues, I realized that there is so much more than what I have become; there are so many more styles of swimming, variations of bringing people back to shore, and most importantly, self-defense. One of the key ingredients of becoming a Lifeguard is protecting yourself. If you cannot save yourself, how can you have the honor of saving someone else's life? Soon, I noticed that I was able to swim faster, with ease, not to mention the shrinking of my belly. Nevertheless, I feel more attracted to medical and life saving careers to pursue in my future. In fact, I learned that lifeguarding, paramedics, and firefighting have very many characteristics in common. Knowing that, I hope that one day I may experience more medical lines of work and save lives. There is no doubt that when I do save one's life, I would be extremely proud of myself and thankful for the fantastic instructors I have. Furthermore, I have always been fond of swimming for my entire life. I love to spend my time in the water, especially doing water activities including: scuba diving, snorkeling, wave boarding, river tracing, and diving. Although the process and the steps of CPR is quite confusing (partially due to the fact that it is taught in Chinese), it is a process that I think is completely necessary to accomplish, for many people in this world lack the skills to save another's life. In conclusion, I believe one of the most important things in life is to learn how to save someone. Learning how to save one's life is truly a respectful and captivating experience.

在過去兩個星期，救生員培訓一直是非常令人興奮的。每天都有學習新的東西，新的東西來體驗。弄濕池裡面，住幹進行心肺復甦，我覺得如果你越了解越多，你的債券與這條線的工作。它幾乎喜歡上了癮，但健康。起初，保持謙虛，我是一個非常頂尖的游泳運動員。然而，隨著課程的繼續，我意識到有這麼多我已經成為有游泳，這麼多的款式變化，使人們回到岸上，最重要的是，自衛。成為一名救生員的關鍵因素之一是保護自己。如果你不能拯救自己，拯救別人的生命，你怎麼能有榮譽嗎？不久，我發現，我能遊得更快，運用自如，更何況我的肚子萎縮。不過，我覺得更吸引我的未來在醫療和拯救生命的事業追求。事實上，我了解到，救生員，醫護人員，消防有很多共同的特點。知道了，我希望有一天，我可能會遇到更多的醫療工作方針和拯救生命。毫無疑問，當我做拯救一個人的生命，我將非常為自己感到驕傲，並感謝我有夢幻般的教官。此外，我一直喜歡游泳，我的整個生活。我喜歡花我的時間在水中，特別是做水上活動，包括：潛水，浮潛，波登機，溯溪，潛水。雖然過程和心肺復甦的步驟是相當令人困惑的（部分由於事實上，它是教中國），它是一個過程，我認為是完全必要來完成，為在這個世界上的許多人缺乏的技能來挽救另一個人的生活。總之，我認為生活中最重要的事情之一是學習如何救人。學習如何拯救一個人的生命是一個真正的尊重和迷人的體驗。Translated by: Google

The Dirty Chair

It started yesterday, when terrible Suli Typhoon flooded my entire room. I didn't think much of it, only draining the water. Luckily the only things left on the ground were the completely soaked boxes of cardboard stored underneath my desk. Gradually I had cleaned everything out; spotless. However, after a few minutes of sitting back onto my chair, the ground apparently turned back into havoc. Moist air drifted everywhere, whilst thinking how the heck the floor got dirty again. The floor had many spots of condensed dust spread all under the table. I continued clean the floor, rolling backward on my chair to lean forward in the laziest fashion. After some time, the floor was dirty again. Frustrated, I cleaned the floor again; but this time, kneeling with my two overwhelmed knees from CPR training. Twas when I realized that the source of the disgust was from the wheels of my chair. They clung onto blocks of dust consumed periodically since the beginning of its arrival. Why did this happen you might ask? Well, as shown above, I am a pretty lazy person, the gradual increases of dust bunnies in the wheel sure showed their true power of making sure nothing is clean to this day. Its funny how the past events or things we ignored comes back to haunt you and make your life miserable; its sort of like the plot of the Iron Man 3 Movie without the action, sci-fi, a hot red head. Nevertheless, I began to clean not only the floor for the upteenth time, but also the dirty chair.

Skills Upgrade

Today, was probably the most exciting day in my life so far. Filled with the first time I ever drove, ATVs, and new pairs of snorkels and fins, it's funny how these few items would make me feel so--and I know this sounds cliche. but--awesome. Yang Instructor handed out lifeguard uniforms yesterday as we walked into the swimming pool. It was a yellow T-shirt, and a red short short with my name stitched on the side. I didn't know if it was only me, but seeing your name patched onto something felt good, in fact, happy. It almost felt like you mean something, like someone idolized you and needed desperately to engrave your name onto a plague. Then again, I do have a history of pride issues.

Learning how to swim is the easy part throughout the lifeguard training sessions; the difficult part was knowing how to cope with the strain and pain, how to bring people back to shore, and how to revive them with CPR+AED. Swimming has always been my favorite sport, it's relaxing, sweatless, and all around healthy, thus, a passion grows. That passion has led me into the 11th day of lifeguard training, and I realized that the combination of swimming +apparatus+the coolest bunch of people for class+a military trained instructor--yet still has a great sense of humor=Happiness (at least for me). Previously the month before, I spent at least 5 hours playing Modern Combat 4 on the iPad and yet continued the day after. However, I noticed that the act of trying something new brings joys. A fulfilled accomplishment describing those acts.

In addition, today I rode a 4-wheel drive ATV along the shores of Bali in Taipei, Taiwan (you wish it was the Bali in Polynesia). That can be considered the first time, physically I drove a more than 100 kilo vehicle, any other time is virtual. Although the annoyance of the dust and sand in my eyes led my first experience to be overwhelmed with tears, I grinned the entire way--still avoiding the sand and dust. I tried to drift, fly over hills, and popwheelie stunts (failed), which left my hand with several blisters, red swollen fingers, and a sweat soaked top. If ever, I could ride one of those again, no questions asked, get on the ATV.

Minutes after riding the ATV, I hopped into a car for my very first driving lesson, taught by a fellow lifeguard classmate. Number 11, we called him, what a coincidence since today is July 11th. I felt the worst butterflies in your tummy anyone could perceptually endure, honestly. The adrenaline kicks in, and all you want to do is drive fast; turning and braking have been a "pre-taught" chapter, since experience have been earned by playing Gran Turismo 5 on PS3. Nevertheless, driving in the real world is different from a physical engine provided by Nvidia. It's crucial to pay attention to the road due to the fact that there is no pause button, and you feel the forces acting on the car that acts upon you as well. Furthermore, knowing that your passenger has sacrificed his life to sit inside of the car with you adds to the pressure of the car not owned by you. Luckily, there were no scratches...for now. As I drove, I thought to myself, as usual instead of paying attention to the road, my sister would by super jealous of me since she is 13 months older than me. Interesting how people expect the eldest sibling to be the first at everything than the youngest sibling, perhaps something like that happens if you are close to your sibling and have an accrete childhood. However, turns out, my sister caring little about driving, she'd much prefer someone else driving her around rather than wasting the time she could be spending inside the car sleeping or studying. Soon, my mother called me to "check up" on me. She asked what I was doing as usual, but this time, I told her I was driving. She freaked out. I'm the kind of guy that would tell you a complete lie, yet you would believe due to the way I deliver my lie, well, my mom realizes that. So, she thought I was lying. The conversation goes on for about another few seconds, and finally my mom says with those famous words of a wise man: "PROVE IT!"

The Tan-like complexion of a Redwood Tree due to outdoor lifeguard training.

Lifeguard Training

This is where it all starts

It has been 9 days since the start of my lifeguard training. Seems as if everyday there is something special that keeps time running on and on without stopping a moment for me to process. Lifeguard training is fun, you learn something new everyday and you master a new "set" of skills as well. The difficult part is the fact that lessons are in Chinese. As a CBC, adapting to a new cultural language is quite an exhausting task, not mentioning the lifeguard Jargon which almost is impossible to understand. Nevertheless, training is fun, partially because I've always been fond of spending time in the water and playing around. Give me anything to do with water and I'll be as obedient as a lab rat.

My skin has by now turned from a white-ish Asian color to a dark tan, almost as if nations are devolving into small nation-states (especially when the boundaries are so clear). This lifeguard program takes place in the hot tropical mornings of Taipei, under the clear blue sky. The funny thing is, in the afternoons, dark cloudy skies level above and begin to drench the ground with water. In addition, it begins to rain just after I leave a comfortably dry building heading home. At this time I'd play a game I call Fate. It works like this:

Due to the fact that as I am just walking out of the building, it starts to rain, there must be a certain number of minutes that I wasted inside the building which led me to encounter with the rain. I think back at the events and the places that I walk through, the times I took to descend the escalators, or the little conversations I make with ongoing by-passers. Fate works in mysterious ways, had I not stopped and wasted those times, would I have made it out of the building earlier and into the train station to get back home and not met with the rain? Well, currently, nothing comes to mind.

Fate brought me to meeting 16 new people, diligent and amicable people, whom are currently training with me. Just in these few days, since July 1st, I have created a bond with them. At first, we were all assigned numbers, which led on to be our names. However, today, each of us identify one another with specific nicknames created by the actions, the appearance, and the possessions, each of us had that inspired these names.
Allow me to introduce Uncle, a 23 year-old security guard working nearby the swimming pool. He has a good sense of humor, often gets into trouble (by swimming extra laps), but he is modest person, a friendly figure that will do anything to keep you happy--including showing a bare side of his butt that is completely white while his thighs and hips are sunburnt. He is named after his white strands of hair and wrinkled complexion, hence, Uncle.
Next, 28, for appearing younger than Uncle is actually 28 years-old. As an ex-swimming he is challenging himself to take on the lifeguard course further expand his knowledge of swimming.

For now, these two, analyzing all of them will take longer than I think, until next time Steven.