Sledding

My Pakistani student was one of the first down the hill.

There was plenty of snow and ice for sledding, skiing, skating and tobogganing Saturday afternoon. Betsy, Libby, Logan, Naomi and I met international students, American students and a couple of teachers at the City Forest. 

The international students weren't the only ones who hadn't been sledding before. It was fellow teacher Aimee's first time to go sailing down a snow-packed hill on a piece of plastic. I offered to accompany her. On our first trip, we were only three-quarters of the way down the hill before we spilled. True to my Michigan up-bringing, I sat up, brushed the snow off my jacket and asked, "Want to do it again?" 

So we climbed the hill and headed down a second time. This time we truly wiped out. Aimee, the sled and I went in three different directions. Snow caked against my socks inside my boots. I struggled up and turned to check on Aimee. She had just picked herself up when, whoosh! A kid on a sled shot down the hill and plowed directly into Aimee. Her feet flew in the air and she landed on top of the kid. It took a minute to untangle the arms, feet and sleds but when they did everyone was laughing and no one was hurt. 

It was a successful introduction to snow fun in Michigan.

It didn't take long for this Saudi student to follow.

The students all seemed to have a blast and didn't complain about being cold!

Another teacher, Che, demonstrates his sledding technique. 

This Brazilian student stood at the top of the hill, looked at the kids sledding and said, "That is dangerous. What parent lets their kids do that?" Eventually, we managed to get her on a sled too.