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Bernd 5.13

15 Year old Bernd Roediger Stand Up Paddling Hookipa May 10th during a late season North swell. Second edit. SUP only.

A New Season

"I know its sounds kooky but this is a big deal for me. I have officially left Naish."—Bernd Roediger

This summer was kind of slow and really quiet and muggy air swept through the valley of Maui and created kind of a sluggish mood around the whole island. All of my friends felt the same thing, it happens every year but this year really was a boiling point. Everyday on the water was different, in a sense it was wrong. But it’s starting to change; the first swell has come in for the official start of the wave season. The tempo is picking up and the island seems to be waking up after a long slumber. Now the air is different, more crisp and fresh, there is static in the air. When you walk down the street its colder, when you look at the sky its bluer. The muggy air is gone, replaced with pure energy. Everyone is more excitable now; the first north swell of the season has hit the north shore, our shore. Everyone’s music is a little louder; everyone’s cars are a little cleaner. Maui is becoming a scene again.

But that is not the only change for me this season, something new is coming around that hasn’t gotten me this excited in years. Because of this change I sail with more energy, I put more power into my sessions, for longer periods of time. I’m constantly flowing with new ideas, like years of pent up energy has suddenly released in a flood of vision! I know its sounds kooky but this is a big deal for me. I have officially left Naish.

It’s a decision that we have been contemplating for awhile, but it’s not an easy decision for sure. We have always had good experiences on Naish and so it was hard to leave. I think the good thing is that I am coming away with really good feelings about Robby and the team. I’m lucky as a kid to not have the business side of things to really think of, I have only the fun trips and amazing sessions of surfing and windsurfing here at home. But in the end I have ideas to cultivate and directions that I want to follow now that will make me who I am in the future. That for me is why I left Naish; it was simply time to follow a different path.

It was like this summer’s doldrums, I was just in a stalemate with everything Naish and something had to change. I had so many ideas that seemed to be different than what Naish had. I wanted to just break out and start out on my own again. I wanted to be free and creative like when I started almost eight years ago. Back then I was a seven year old with a wild imagination and sense of determination to do so many cool things in windsurfing. It was time to get back to that.

So I left Naish. At this point am at a crossroad, with nearly infinite paths to follow. I remain independent; currently I’m testing Goya’s new four-batten Banzai sail. I am open to trying anything and so the excitement is beyond words. Right now I could go in a bazillion different directions with my athletics, its so exciting to have this kind of freedom again. Mark Angulo is shaping me a new windsurf board, it’s the first custom windsurf board I have ever had. He’s also going to make my stand up board, which I think we are both stoked to work together on insane projects in the future. Every time I go on the water it is electrifying, the feeling of being completely free to just sail again, incredible. Off the water I can’t stop drawing sails and boards, I keep doodling just to see if once I can get a graphic I would want on a board. Maybe someday you’ll see me on board with a poorly drawn dragon on the bottom but you know what, it’ll be my poorly drawn dragon and that is what is so exciting!

Time Warp on the Wave

"...it was on this trip that I discovered stand up paddling is capable of time travel!"—Bernd Roediger

Before any trip that I go on, my whole family will look at the travel dates and itinerary to make sure that we are all on the same page and not confused with what is happening and when. But on my trip to Japan I was still confused! For one you start out your trip with a 7-hour flight to Tokyo forward in time. You fly across the Pacific, over the International Date Line, and across into tomorrow! You only travel 7 hours but you lose 19 hours in total when you reach Japan. Figuring out how to add 19 hours to your clock is difficult, try thinking about it like Japan is 5 hours behind, but tomorrow! Weird huh? The really trippy thing was when I left Japan. I woke up in Tokyo at around 7:30 A.M. on Tuesday and ate breakfast with Marosan, the head of Naish Japan. Then I flew out, crossed the Date Line again and arrived in Maui at 7:30 A.M. on Tuesday and ate breakfast with my parents. So even though I spent the whole day in Tokyo, and traveled 7 hours on a plane, I actually went back in time…

It was on this trip that I officially went insane with juggling time differences; but it was also this trip that I discovered stand up paddling is capable of time travel! That’s right time travel; this whole trip has been one trippy episode of the Twilight Zone after the other. The best example was my session after the Nalu Surf contest. We left the contest and headed further down the coast to Omaezaki. When we reached Omaezaki the whole city was shrouded in fog. The mist really gave a creepy, disconnected, feeling to the whole town. On the water, the same fog created a bit of a phenomenon. When Osamasan, Isasan, (both representatives for Naish Japan) and I went to go surfing at this cool break along the road the fog drifted in. Before I had even put my fins in, the beach had gone from clear blue skies to complete gray all around. The three of us now wondered if it was safe to go out. If we couldn’t see the break from the beach, we wouldn’t be able to see the beach from the break; that would make it easy for one of us to get separated and lost at sea. Then a set came in, we couldn’t see it, but we could hear it crashing somewhere… With a kind of “well I’ll go if you will” attitude streaming between us, we finally worked up the courage to go out. We promised to always keep close watch over each other and to call out if separated. So we walked out over the massive beach that lined the mysterious coast of Omaezaki. Marosan, the head of Naish Japan and my guide for this trip, was standing on the beach with friends to make sure his temporary responsibility didn’t get swallowed into the mist! He asked me again if I thought this was a good idea. “Mon Dai ni,” I told him, which means "no problem" in Japanese. But I wasn’t so sure that everything was going to be peaches and Guri Guri during this session.

Massive shore break pounded the beach at the river mouth in which we had walked along to get to the ocean from the lookout point. Marosan was already almost out of sight. When we got to the water’s edge Isasan launched first, a head high wedge dredged and pitted up towards him like an attacker coming out of the mist, he paddled and stroked out and over the wave until he was out of sight. Visibility was only 25 yards now. Osamasan went next, “Good luck Osamasama!” (The name suffix “sama” being a term of great respect in Japan, but more just a play on Osama’s name for me!) He smiled at me, ran through the break, and disappeared in the mist. Finally I went, the elements closed in around me as I plunged into the water. The fog felt closer than ever now, the water splashed and reeled at me, its cooler-than-Maui temperature sent shivers through my skin. Then a wave came out of the mist, hurdling whitewater towards me. I had no time; I got two strokes in and impacted with the wave head on. The whitewater flung into my eyes; I cleared them and for a second I thought I could see two figures standing in the distance. I paddled hard to their position, making it clear from the whitewater that had ensnared me before. I paddled hard, breathing heavy now, completely shrouded in mist, completely alone. I shouted out to Osamasama and Isasan and heard a return cry from two men in the distance. My gusto grew as I heard their voices and it wasn’t long before I could make out their shapes and then I was within feet of them. I passed through one more curtain of fog and entered a clearing. A circle of clear air about fifty meters around circled us, and behind us was the beach, barely visible on even the clearest of breaks in the mist. I turned around and found a break in front of us, it looked like there were some head high waves coming through, but just then something stirred the fog on the outside. A large shape rose and fell in the distance, just beyond the circle of visibility that we sat in the center of. “Maybe we should go back,” someone said. Too late, right before our eyes an over head set came rushing out from the fog, just a few yards in front of us, completely hidden until now. It rose and threatened us out of nowhere and then came hurtling towards us. Osamasama was deepest; he took it on the head, completely unprepared. I was lucky to be in the right place. I caught the wave late and turned hard down the line, Isasan was paddling out and the wave broke, whitewater shooting me out towards him, I buried the rail and turned back right down the line again. I turned and tried to hit the wave, watching as the gray wave blended in with the gray fog; but then a little bit of white broke through and I could make out the lip now, I hit it and made a satisfying yell!

More waves came, and my friends and I caught waves for what seemed like forever. We never saw anyone else, on the water or the beach; we were in our own little world, completely cut off from time and space. That is how I realized stand up, and surfing in general, is capable of time travel. It is the times that you experience when the world seems to stop, when everything and everyone around you seems to hit the pause button and you can forget about the worries of the day, and surf. Its when you catch a wave and nothing else is on your mind, its when you surf so passionately and so aggressively that your emotions pour out onto the water and it feels like the world stops to watch. That’s how stand up paddling is like traveling through time.

Finally I went in. “Back so soon Berndchan?” Marosan asked as I came off the water, “Oh!” I breathed, “Haven’t we been out for ages?” “No Berndchan, only about 20 minutes.” That was weird; I could have sworn we were out for longer than that. It felt like at least an hour. Finally I asked if he ever saw any of us. He replied that he never saw even any evidence that we even caught a wave. “Are you sure it was over head Berndchan?” I looked back now and saw that the sea had calmed and the waves had gone back down again. The fog had cleared to reveal to all the spectators that it was flat. But I had been in the fog, I had seen those waves, and I can’t help but feel like I had been there for longer than just twenty minutes…

"That's the power of the Home Depot!"

Racing

This summer has been pretty flat with lots of wind, perfect for stand up racing. Everyone and their grandpa has been paddling down the coast on whatever stand up boards they can find; race boards, long boards, short boards, whatever! I am pretty stoked with my new board. The 2012 Javelin is designed as a flat water board, but with its narrow shape and low nose rocker, it is an incredibly efficient board! Especially for a smaller rider, bigger guys have problems with it but at 100 hundred pounds I can still paddle in over head seas! With its constant speed and efficiency, this board has given me the tools to unlock my racing potential.
Having a new board that I can really go fast on has inspired me to train harder, longer. Now I am really working hard to be in a strong racing condition for the upcoming races. Other Maui racers are paddling everyday too; a lot of them are training for upcoming races and channel crossings as well. A bunch of Naish riders have been through here this summer to train for their own events. The last few days we have been paddling with Karen Wren. She currently lives and trains in Hood River where she can flat water train in the winter and downwind train in the summer. She is really focusing on perfecting the right lines to take down the coast for different runs. Karen will be competing in the Naish Paddleboard Championships, where there should be a pretty strong Naish presence!
The Naish race isn't the only event that everyone is training for. There are several channel crossings, that I will unfortunately miss, that are the focal point for racers specializing in the unlimited class. For everyone else there is the Battle of the Paddle California which is going to be big event for every competitive paddler across the country. I will be competing in the BOP and the Naish race as well as the Gorge Paddle Challenge later in the year. With all of these race events ahead, I am pumped to train and try to eek out as much speed as possible!

I apologize...

Ok, so first of all I want to apologize for spacing on the blog... There are a bunch of reasons why I haven’t posted anything new in a while. First I was really worn out. At the beginning of spring I wrote a little entry about how I had a ton of events planned for this summer. Well I’m about half way through them and after Santa Cruz I took a break from writing day to day blogs. I took a little time off to go to the movies, play video games, network on Facebook, kid stuff! The last nine months have been the busiest of my life. Starting with my trip to Punta San Carlos, then California for the BOP, after that the Honolii SUWT Championships, next I went to Japan, followed shortly by the Sunset Beach Pro, and then a week later the Dakhla Festival in Morocco. But it wasn’t all a non-exciting month! I was busy day in and day out preparing for upcoming events. I had to head to the south side to practice my stand up surfing for events like the Pistol River stand up contest, the Nalu Kai Beach expo/contest in Japan, and a bunch more SUWT contests. Then I had to stay on the north shore and practice my wave riding and jumping for the AWT contests ahead. Then, if I had enough time to fit it in, I would train for the future stand up races. Juggling all of these sports kept a constant stream of water time for me. But the sessions this summer were different than in the winter. In winter time each session was one single episode after another. Each day was a whole new experience and a whole new learning curve. But this summer the days blended in together and every time I went out I was picking up where I had left off the day before, keeping a constant cadence as the weeks went by. So it really didn’t seem fit to write about individual days but rather to give an overview of the last view weeks.

In stand up surfing I have been working on a new board, the same size as my older one. A version of this will be put into production for 2012. The one I have has really helped my surfing, in fact sending it back to China before Santa Cruz was near heartbreak for me! This new board has helped me improve my surfing and I’m dying to compete in Pistol and in contests later in the year. In windsurfing I have really been focusing on refining everything that I do in a heat. I took what I had done in Santa Cruz and tried to perfect it and make it more effective for Pistol River. Finally, stand up racing has really been a larger focus than ever for me this summer. I have been going on more and more runs trying to get faster and faster. In the end, this hasn’t been much of a break at all; but it has been a way to re-energize for the Pistol River contest. And now that I am on the I-5 to Gold Beach I feel more ready, more focused, and more energized than ever!

Three Epic Days and my first Goiter!

The last three days have been epic! I’ve managed to have some major breakthroughs, and what great timing! With the AWT contest in Waddell Creek, I feel really comfortable.

The first day was the biggest breakthrough. There were head high waves coming out of the west and light wind at Hookipa, perfect for airs! I sailed out and caught a nice wave. Then the wave formed up on the inside, it set up perfect for a big air! I shot down the line with tons of speed, but this time I wasn’t going for an air. I had been working on goiters throughout the spring, and this was the perfect setup! I shot down the line and leveled into the flats, then I came up and rolled over the lip into the flats, a perfect goiter! I couldn’t believe it! I had been working on this move for so long and then, it just happened! The whole rest of the day was sick. I landed six goiters and really felt like I made some serious headway there!

On the second day, I got a call from Levi Siver that the Oxbow Ride the Sky Exhibition contest was on. When I got there, the wind was up and the waves were still head high coming more from the North which made it peaky. This new direction made it easy to plane out between the peaks and boost some jumps! I met up with Levi, Jake Miller from EpicSessionsTV, and the organizers for the event.

Today was more of an exhibition to show people how cool the live broadcast could be. But it was still really good practice. I realized that this was an opportunity to get back into the rhythm of throwing down everything you know in 15 to 20 minutes. It was also going to be a great chance to practice getting over the nerves of competing against other people, which is always a mind boggling problem of mine. So I strapped on a tracker and went out. Right away I felt a heightened sense of the jitters. My blood pumped faster and my thoughts raced, but it was a good thing! I was so amped on this anxiety that I forgot how scared I was of doing high jumps! On my first run out a set wave came up perfectly! I stayed locked into a fast stance, determined to win even though it wasn’t even a real contest! I hit the over head ramp with tons of speed and soared into the air! The water beneath me got further and further away until I realized I was way higher than I had ever been before! Then, set on making a sick first impression, I turned my board downwind. I felt the hair raising sense of vertigo as I initiated the forward and looked down at the water from a dizzying height. Then everything came plummeting down towards the dark grey water where I landed and received an excessive amount of water up my shorts to very sensitive areas! Despite my pain I lifted an arm in triumph, that was undoubtably the highest delayed forward I had ever done! The rest of the day was one big jump after the other, and I consistently landed them too. Now I feel very comfortable about the way that I jump, especially under pressure!

By the third day, I was wondering what kind of sick stuff was going to happen next! The last two days were so valuable to me, I learned a lot and was able to perfect a lot of moves! Today would be the day to wrap it all up. I did a bunch of jumps and Goiters, I perfected the moves that I had been learning over the last few days, solidifying my comfort for the contest. Later in the day I focused on freestyle in the waves, something that got me some attention in Pistol River and would work well in Waddell. I threw some Spocks, Grubbies, and Flakas on the wave as well as some Shakas as transitions! I also ran some heats mentally, focusing on flowing everything that I know into 15 to 20 minute intervals. I fit some Goiters, freestyle in the waves, and big jumps into my routine and made sure to try and relive those jitters that I got recently. All in all I feel ready for this contest with some new moves under my belt as well as some perfected ones that I can throw down and tweak at the drop of a hat! Now it is a waiting game until the contest as there is no more wind or waves, my training is over for now...

Quicksilver!

I just got sponsored by Quiksliver! I am so excited to have that big red sticker on my sail, its been a dream of mine since I started windsurfing! A bunch of my heros are on Quiksilver too! I aspire to have the same focus and mental attitude as people like Robby Naish and Kelly Slater, though that is easier said than done for a 14 year old! Anyways, I am so happy and honored to be a part of this huge legacy and hope that someday I can be as influential as some of my heros on Quiksilver!

Secret Spot

The first South swell of the year was coming in the day before yesterday. Dad and I had been looking for reports of North swells, with pretty dismal results, when we found a small bump coming through from the South. So we hopped into the truck and took a right turn to the South instead of the usual left to the North. When we reached the South side we checked Thousand Peaks. Coming around the last corner our hearts raced. Would it be a perfect day on the South side? When it came into view we found a rather pathetic mush breaking through a murky sand bar where 100 other people had decided to surf. Better than expected!

The truth is that the South swells on Maui are not much to write home about. We don’t get many swells since the islands block off many waves from certain directions. The ones we do get are small and weak since they come from the less predominant directions. And, on the off chance that we do get a good swell, there are 50 Billion people out! Surf schools stumble through the breaks, beginners play bumper boards up and down the beaches, and the scraps are fought over by everyone else!

So what we found at Thousand Peaks was not out of the ordinary, but it didn’t mean that it was good! There had to be somewhere that we could go to just catch waves alone! So we decided, right then and there, that we wouldn’t stand for second rate waves anymore, we were going to go searching for a new break!

We drove a while and then the highway pulled along the coast and we could see the water. I didn’t expect to see anything so I busied myself by staring into space. Then something caught my eye, a movement in the water! My first reaction was that this was where Lochness vacations but then I saw what had caught my eye. A wave breaking!

I had seen a tiny wave breaking off of a shallow reef just a few yards out. I pointed and shouted something inarticulate like “MMMM!” and my Dad, apparently focused on the road, jumped and swerved into the wrong side of the road; silly Dad! He gave me a cross look but then he followed my gaze and saw the same wave. He slammed on the brakes, by now for sure scaring some people with his evasive maneuvers, and turned into a little dirt shoulder where we could see the wave.

At first, nothing happened and I wondered if it really could have been Lochness snorkeling. But then a set lined up on the outside and it A-framed onto a reef where it broke in a perfect right shoulder. It wasn’t big, only chest to shoulder high, but it was way better than anything we had seen yet. And there was nobody out, no one even parked, and from the looks of it no one had even been there recently. So we got out of the car and tried to act as uninterested as possible. (Although I think covering my Dad’s 9’0” with banana leaves attracted more attention than it diverted.) When we were out of sight from the road we got prepared to go where no one had gone before! (Aw, its so sad that I no that line.)

We paddled out and immediately there was a set. Four shoulder high waves came through, each the same as the next, and peeled through the break! I tripped out! I couldn’t believe that we had actually done it! We had found ourselves a secret spot! We hadn’t settled for the same terrible conditions we had been stuck in, instead we went exploring and found a great break with no one in it. Later a few head to over head sets came in. We had, by far, the best South swell session since we started paddling and we couldn’t wait to score it again. Little did we know, we would score it again the very next day...

Boujmaa

"Oh no!" I was de-rigging on the grass when I heard some chatter on the cliff. I jogged up to the group of people that had already formed on the beach. A few guys were surrounded telling everyone that they had seen someone wipeout bad on an over rotated triple attempt. I looked toward the water, the wind howled to an average 30 mph and ramped up spray into the sky above. “Triple” I thought “who would be so nuts as to try a triple today?” “It was Boujmaa.” someone said. “Oh that explains it” I told myself.

(Hepp photos)

The lifeguards were on it. As soon as they heard that Bouj was in trouble they rushed the jet ski out and on to the water. I sailed out to see what happened to Boujmaa, Victor Fernandez said he landed on his neck, his neck, that could mean paralysis . Chilling images entered my mind, I imagined what I would find just after the next swell. Would I find a broken and bloodied man limply hanging on his equipment, screaming in pain? I hoped, half for my sake, that this wasn’t the truth.

He is a good friend of mine and we have known him since my days on Starboard. Back then I was pretty overshadowed by everyone else but Bouj was one of the first guys to take an interest in what I was doing. His positive attitude was inspiring for a 9 year old who was clearly out of the loop with others... I remember him laughing with Dad and I and then going out and pulling the biggest back-loop I have ever seen done at Hookipa, possibly the biggest one done ever at Hookipa. Everyone was yelling on the beach, John Carter just about dropped his camera! After his session was done he sailed back in and sat down with us to continue the conversation, as he was more interested in what we were doing rather than what he had just done!

Every time he comes to Maui he is bringing the newest and the hottest moves. Everyone looks to him for the most radical and nuts stuff. He always thinks out of the box and it is some of the most progressive jumping I have witnessed. Just look at this sequence below of him almost landing a Cheeseroll-Backloop.

(Agustin photos)

After what seemed like hours I finally made it over the break and to the outside where Boujmaa lay. There were already others with him. Diony Guadagnino was signally the ski, John Skye was holding Boujmaa’s gear, Claus Vogat was holding him afloat, and several others were positioned next to him with worried expressions on their faces. I saw that Bouj was for the most part fine. He was coughing severely and he was confused but he was treading water with help. “Jet ski is on the way” I encouraged, he couldn’t hear me, later on I would find that he couldn’t see me.

Back at the beach a crowd of 30 or 40 people stood waiting for the ski to bring him in. There was a low hum of muttering as everyone tried to get information about Boujmaa, the trouble was that no one really knew. The lifeguards were stationed at the beach, ready to get the sprawling figure on the back of the ski. When the ski-driving lifeguard swung through the shore break they swooped him up with precision and strapped him to a stretcher right away. They hauled him up the beach to a position in the sand where they could asses his condition. They did a bunch of tests to see if he was paralyzed, there was a huge cry of relief from 40 men and women when Boujmaa pushed the lifeguard’s hand with his foot! So he was not paralyzed, but he was still in bad shape, Dad and Ricardo stood by him to comfort him. He kept complaining that he couldn’t see any of us, Ricardo shuffled around trying to get into Bouj’s field of view. It was no use, something was wrong with his vision. The paramedics came and put him into an ambulance straight for the ER, John Skye and Nayra Alonso went with him.

Now we were out of the loop. The whole rest of the day we had no idea about what was going on, until Boujmaa’s support page on Facebook showed up. All of the sudden there was all kinds of posts from everyone on Facebook, giving information on his status and links to his support page. Pictures from his crash, which only a handful of people had seen, were now posted everywhere on the web. Jimmie Hepp, a local photographer, had an entire sequence of the event and whereabouts of his condition. What only 5 people had seen was related to 40 people who were there and now 100’s of people on the web! Then next day visitors were aloud and everyone came to see the one who crashed on a triple and a half!

We came in at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Boujmaa lay in a hospital bed with IV’s and monitors around him. But as soon as we entered his face lit up and he greeted us with an unusually positive smile! Annita was with him and she gave us the scoop on what had transpired. A broken right arm, stitches to the upper lip, head trauma, and water filled lungs. From what Boujmaa could remember he had done two loops and then he closed his eyes and couldn’t remember anything else after that. But we figured that he over rotated and landed on his mast near the boom clamp where he impacted with his arm and broke it, then clipped the mast with his face and whiplashed into the mast again but this time with his head. With the impact he had gone unconscious and lay under water for a while where his lungs filled with water. “Luckily” Annita said “we found him with his left arm hung in the boom which kept him from sinking.” Then the blindness he experienced was his head trauma and effects from being knocked out. Some people would think that talking about such a bad experience would be uncomfortable for the injured person, but this was his glory! I mean he was the talk of the town now, usually he was the one to watch at Hookipa, now he was the one to talk about for years to come! Bouj will be out for about six weeks, in which time he will be telling glory stories to all the hard-to-get Moroccan girls in his town, then he will be back!

Unlucky

Spring has been brutal on my equipment. Everyday there is wind and waves and everyday I am damaging, or just wearing out, my stuff! One day the waves had come up to 8 ft Hawaiian and I sailed for a few hours, by the end of the day I had buckled two boards in the board snapping machine that is the end bowl! Most days there is very strong wind, so I go and practice jumps. Jumps are the most destructive for boards. When I jump I weaken the boards with flat landings and over-rotations, then I go out at Hookipa on a big day and expose the weak point in the pit of a wave. So, after a couple of weeks in this routine of destruction, I’m left with my spare-spare board! All I can say is, it looks as if in a few days I’m going to need a spare-spare-spare board because this thing looks like it’ll break if you pick it up too fast!

Then, the day before yesterday, I took it out at Hookipa. The waves were around 5 ft out of the North, really good shoulders smoked through the break from middles to the end bowl. I went out and had a blast! The first few waves I caught were epic, really solid and satisfying. But then I wiped out. I tried for an air, went over the falls, and shot into the tumbling abyss! After that the board didn’t feel the same. It had been my board over the Fall and early Winter and took a bunch of beatings, this was its last... I caught another wave and laid into a bottom turn, half way through my board wobbled and warped and I was bucked off and into the pit! The rest of the session was ridiculous! I was the only person bouncing through turns and around sections! Then my second highest batten broke and the sail went out, this was turning into a very unlucky day! By the end of my session my stuff was tattered and so was my pride. “Look on the bright side,” I thought “tomorrow can only be better!”

The next day was much worse. The waves were now around 4 ft and the direction had turned to an East swell. Close-period sets rushed through the break like storm surge and I already smelt trouble. Dad and I had solved the gear problem by getting permission to use the brand new 2012 photo shoot gear, under the instruction to try not to break it! I went out, tripping out over the new gear and how cool all the brand new stuff was, and caught a few waves. The board, sail, and everything else felt perfect and my session was perfect! Then I tried for a goiter, under-rotated, fell backwards over the falls, and my gear rode straight into the rocks. I remembered the instructions I got when receiving the gear that was now on the rocks, oops! I swam in through the rocks and clambered up to dry land. Luckily the gear wasn’t broken so I went back out. I caught a wave, aired, and went head over the heels into the pit where my gear went into the rocks again! I repeated steps 1-3 and re-evaluated my situation. Two unlucky days in a row! Was there some kind of curse on me? All I can do is give it another try...

Pros of Spring!

All the pros were here today. Kauli, Brawzinho, and Philip were just a few riders at Hookipa. Everyone was pulling big moves and there was a new energy and life to the break that seemed to be missing during the last few months. Before, Hookipa was a quiet spot, a bit like an empty house. Now the entire place was full of enthusiasm, Hookipa was again the hub of wave sailing. In the past, Hookipa had an intensity as it frothed in the overcast light. Now, the sun beamed through clear skies and the waves performed in the natural spotlight.

Speaking of spotlight, the photo shoots were up and running and every team rider for every company was down here hamming it up for the cameras. Naish had been shooting the last few days too. All the gear is brand new and the graphics are fresh and different. This new energy was inspiring and it only happens in the spring!

Spring meant that winter was over and a new phase was coming, summer. This winter I had done so much and gone so far, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. I remembered the winter starting with the Big Island stand up contest and the surprise I felt when I went so far in my first stand up event! Then, before I could stop gloating, I was on a plane to Japan. I’ll always remember that trip. I experienced the new, the people and the culture; and I experienced the old, my family’s roots of samurai and Shinto priests. Coming back from Japan, I was inspired by my ancestors and their cool stories! After Japan I enjoyed the winter. I paddled and windsurfed the biggest waves I’ve ever ridden before, I pushed my limits and learned a lot about myself and how to build my mental strength. With a strong head I went to the Sunset Beach Pro. In Oahu’s Northshore I faced a lot of demons and pushed the limits of what I thought I could do. From there I went home and found that my performance at Sunset had reached a lot of people, after a few days I was invited to Morocco! Never had I imagined that I would be invited there, why would anyone pay for me to be in their event?! Where I saw a culture of builders in Japan, I saw a culture of naturalists in Morocco. I’m so lucky to be able to see all of this at 14! The lifestyle there was basic and sleepy, it was a peaceful place where I enjoyed some great waves. Then I came home and ended up here, after a whirlwind of traveling and learning I had survived another winter!

Now all there is to do is look forward to summer! I plan to go to Santa Cruz, for the first event of the North American Wavesailing Tour, early next month. Then possibly Tahiti for the third stand up tour event. After that I can enjoy the summer for a while before going to Pistol River for NAWT stop 2 in June. Then, the next week, I’ll be in Oahu for the Battle of the Paddle. After another break I might go to the BOP California and then stay for the stand up tour event there. Then I’ll work on my jumping some more in the summer until the wind begins to fade and the days get shorter again. When I feel that raw intensity of the ocean as it froths in the overcast light, I’ll know that winter has started again.

Exploring the Desert

The Dakhla festival was incredible. We explored the desert, experienced the Moroccan culture, and windsurfed some unreal conditions! In the week that Dad and I were there, we discovered an entirely new world full of entirely different characteristics. The first thing that hits you is the desert. The physical differences. Dakhla is a peninsula on the Moroccan coast, between the Sahara and the Atlantic. This creates an out-of-this-world landscape full of mind-blowing scenery! When we arrived in Dakhla, it was midnight. So, because only the stars were out, we couldn't see the vast expanse of desert that surrounded the camp. But in the next days we found so many breath taking spots it got old! There are sick plateaus to the Northeast and a gigantic lagoon to the inland side of peninsula. When you look at the lagoon right, you can see the reflection of the plateaus. They're two 50 ft high parallel lines that go a mile in both directions, incredible! But there isn't only desert in Dakhla.

(CLICK HERE TO WATCH BERND'S VIDEO FROM MOROCCO)

At night, a bunch of people in the camp would go to the town nearby. There we ate kalamari and camel, yeah camel! The festival had concerts on all the time too. In town, you could grab an avocado milkshake and listen to local Arab music echoing through the streets. We still didn't come just to eat the food though! We came to windsurf, and we did! The waves at the campsite were unreal. They broke off of a point break about 200 yards out and rolled all the way in before connecting with the next beach break and speeding up. Then it would all fold over onto the sandy beach. If you rode the wave right, you could have a long stretch back out again! Everyday was a good day, the wind and waves were always perfect and we explored throughout the entire trip. I had an unbelievable time in Dakhla and can only hope to go there again next year to do it all over again!

Just you and the wave!

"...forget about the donkeys and focus on you and the wave!"

Lots of crazy things have happened in the past three days. I’ve sailed in crowded, windy, and huge conditions. The biggest thing I had to remember was to keep my head and focus just on the wave. Right?

The first day was a mega big day on the north shore and Hookipa was a big closeout mess. My Dad and I decided to go to Kanaha... Mark Angulo came down too. The thing with Kanaha is that it is kind of like a beach break. It is really slow and always closes out to reform on the inside. It can be really fun, although today was not that day. There were about a hundred windsurfers and kiters out and it was burn central! Mark was killing it but I was fighting with so many other people for waves and dodging others in the water! Totally over it! I sailed in after an hour and later Mark Angulo came in too. My Dad, Mark, and I talked about all the people and how hard it was to do anything! Finally, Mark said that the only way to catch your's was to forget about the donkeys and focus on you and the wave. Good advice, but how could I focus on just the wave when there was so much else going on.

The second day was slightly smaller but not by much. Hookipa was macking and closing out the channel but the sets were ridable...-ish. I went out, not willing to go to Kanaha, and caught some pretty huge waves! The swells were colossal and ramped up more when they reached the reef—for sure one of gnarliest days I’ve sailed Hookipa. Then it got even gnarlier! The wind went from a light offshore breeze to a tornado in the barrel that practically hunted you down! Then the current that was rushing out from the channel collided into the wind and created a rapid! You would bottom turn and slide sideways mid face... not comfortable. I was pushing my envelope before and now the letter opener ripped open the paper and exposed the Christmas card! If I didn’t blow up on the wave I would go out into the flats where it was smoother but then I would loose speed and get axed. It was ridiculous out there and when Mark got caught by a sneaker set and went on the rocks I came in for a breather. That’s when a local sailor on the beach came up to me. He said, “Was it too much for you?” I didn’t understand at first so then he said it again. I finally realized what he said and, a little taken aback, I said, “No, I happen to be taking a break. Don’t worry I won’t be putting an impact vest on anytime soon.” As he was putting on his impact vest. Maybe it was a misinterpretation but I was so hyped up on adrenaline that I was ready to bite someone’s head off! And when he said that I got so mad that I went back out and got the next set waves for the rest of my session. And I went later than ever, just out of spite! Who needed to focus on just the water when you could compete against a person and use the water as the proving ground. But it was an unfulfilling feeling, like I did good but I was thinking about somebody else the whole time. I told my Dad and he said that when competing or free-surfing in general it is important to forget about what other people say and think about what you need to do, your job, your session.

Today was my third episode. The waves were smaller... about mast high in the sets. Before I went out I sat on the beach and took a deep breath. I breathed in what my Dad and Mark said, and I exhaled the crowds at Kanaha, the wind at Hookipa, the local... everything. Nothing was as important as just going out and killing it. Nothing was as important as enjoying a session. If I kept a cool head I could go kill it and show everyone how good I was. With that I went out and had one of the best sessions of my life. I fixed the speed problem by cutting my bottom turn drag in half just by turning mid-face. With that I got more speed, power and vertical hits. The sesh couldn’t be better! I went in and on my way the local from yesterday came up to me. He said he apologized for offending me and that he meant nothing by it. I told him it was cool and then we started talking about how sick the day was. It was better to talk to the guy and be cool than be a grouch. I guess the best thing to do, no matter what, is to remember that you’re not on the water to fight; you’re on the water to, well, be on the water!

Big Swell

I thought the waves were going to be small like yesterday, I was totally wrong. We got to Hookipa early to beat the crowds but we didn’t need to because the waves were firing. Double mast high sets came from the west, fully closing out the channel. The wind was barely sailable on the inside and nuking on the wave. Perfect! I was the first guy to go out, Mark Angulo was a few minutes behind. I sailed around for a few minutes and then a huge set came barreling through! I caught the biggest wave of the set, probably a bit over double mast, and flew down the line. I set my rail in the water and carved up to the lip, SmacDonalds! Then the rest of the wave started to fold over as one mega closeout! I shot around a section, cutback in the pocket, and dropped down the face with more speed to make it further down the line. As I shot past the End-Bowl the rocks and current made the wave dredge and spit. I blew past a section that hollowed out, practically standing on my inside rail to compensate for the water rushing up the face. I made it to the channel, hit one last lip, and then shot out into the flats to escape the whitewater. I rode the whitewater into the inside of the channel. Mark Angulo was sitting on the inside, taking on the endless closeout whitewater. When the set was over I looked at Mark and said “Swell picked up a bit from yesterday huh.” “A bit.”

2011 Day 1

Today was the first day of the year but I thought, honestly, what’s the big deal??? Sure I was excited and ready for 2011 but it was just a day after yesterday, and that much closer to “THE END OF THE WORLD 2012” hahahaha. Anyways, 2011 was still windy so we went down to the beach for a sail. The waves were due to come up and when we got down to Hookipa the waves were already head high. I rigged and went out, eager to boost the first air of the new year!!! I caught a bunch of sick waves and dabbled in some table-top airs, as displayed above : ) Lots of guys were down, Mark Angulo, Marcilio Browne, and Robby Swift were just a couple but the crowd was still down. Probably because the wind was light, but the battle with the wind was worth it! Logo high sets were rolling in from the west making it a full air craze! I loved it and started to understand how starting the year off right was really important! With the first day of 2011 being a big success I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in-store. Hope all you guys have a great year!

What's new with me...

Oh man I couldn’t believe it! Finally after like four weeks of no wind we finally got some! When we got to Hookipa it was actually really lame but there was no way I wasn’t going out! The waves were small and the wind was shifty but, hey, I needed a day to learn how to do everything again! Its cool because sometimes if you take a few days off and come back you’ll be on fire. Probably because your muscles regenerate or something. Today was not the case. I launched and instantly said “this must not be my gear”. Man I was flailing around on the wave like a fricken chicken, hey that rimes. Anyways, I was really doing bad and I just couldn’t figure it out. So then I consulted the all knowing consul, my pops. He and I figured out that I was being a little too, ok Dad very, hyperactive on the wave, probably from doing so much stand-up. So I calmed everything down, took a deep breath, and swallowed the water that comes with taking deep breaths while traveling at high speeds on the water. Then the rest of the sesh was great! Airs, hacks, floaters, and minimal flailing. I was finally back to normal with only a little scare getting there. Now I can’t wait for better conditions...

New SUP video

The Windsurfing Movie II

Tonight I just got back from watching the Windsurfing Movie II at “The Maui Arts and Cultural Center”. The atmosphere of the theater was insane, every time anyone pulled a sick move over a hundred people blew up! I sat by Mark Angulo when his awesome segment came through and only cheered like 1000% percent of the time! Levi Siver, Johnny DeCesare, and Jace Panebianco did a super good job with the movie and I can’t wait for # 3!!!!

Epic Day at Hookipa

Yesterday was an epic day at Hookipa! The waves were logo to mast and the wind was light and off-shore. Everyone was at the beach when my Dad and I got there and it just looked like one of those days! A day where all the pros were out shredding in the best Hookipa had to offer!

As soon as I went out I caught a wave! It was pitching up and I went down the line! I set the rail into a bottom turn, and flopped over in the water. I water-started and tried to think of what went wrong. I caught a few more waves without better results and that’s when I realized I was in a funk. It wasn’t my gear or the conditions, it was just me! So I caught the biggest wave I could find and bottom turned late. I went up under the lip which through me over the falls! I hung on for dear life and took one last breathe before getting axed by the wave. I went in a loop twice while in the barrel and then took the sleigh ride all the way in. I gasped when I breached the surface and sat on my board to take a breather. Now I was ready to sail!

For the next two hours I had one of the best sessions of my life! I was hitting the lip more vertically than ever and my bottom turns seemed almost flawless! Sometimes I need a kick in the butt to get my head in the game!

My Biggest Day Ever!

It all started when I was sitting at home, on the computer, finishing school. It was just about time that my Dad gets off of work and we could go to the beach, today was supposed to be massive so I was anxious. Anxious in a way that I didn’t want to go but that’s what made me want to so bad. Today was a day to push my envelope and see how far I could go. I sat there, looking at swell reports and webcams, thinking about all this. But I had to shut that out because that anxiety can build up over time and make you crack when you get out on the water. No, what I had to do now was focus and flush all the fear out, replacing it with positive energy.

But that positive energy was hard to keep up as we rounded the corner to Hookipa and a double over mast high set came crashing through. I told myself I could do it. Could I?

As I rigged up I saw more sets crashing through, the swell was a west one which made it closeout from Hookipa down about a half-mile to Kuau. My heart pounded in my throat and my stomach felt like oatmeal but I finished rigging and carried my gear to the beach.

You may be thinking, “What’s the big deal? Double over mast is a small day at Jaws.” and you’re right but when Hookipa gets like this there is no channel to try and shoot for on the wave, the whole thing closes out and that usually means that you have to stay as late as possible on the wave until you straighten out to the beach. Otherwise you’ll shoot out into the flats and then get sucked up the face again, not good! So if you get a bomb you have to ride it for all its worth, there’s no way out basically.

I sat on the beach, closed my eyes, and thought about a successful ride on a bomb set. That would for sure get me some “street credit” as Levi Siver would put it! With that I went out a headed for where the channel is, usually. There I just about made it out when the big bomb set came into view on the outside. I knew I wasn’t even close to making it over the wave so I chicken jibed and putted back inside. There the waves came as mountains of whitewater and I fannagled my way around it using what was left of the channel to do so. Finally the last wave came through, through the mist and rolling swells I could make out the wave breaking off the point. It was way over double mast and seemed to rage through the break as the offshore wind made the lip froth and snarl like a colossal animal. It broke and by the time it came to me it was a mile long torrent of whitewater! I barely made it over and pumped to the outside. Once there I thought about going in. It was way over my head and there was no reason for me to be out here. Then I stopped myself, I had never in my life even considered going in without catching a wave. What was I thinking?! Sure I could go in and drive down the coast, but I would regret it later. Sure I could just catch the small waves and avoid the big ones but I was here for more. Today was a day to push my envelope and see how far I could go!

Then, the set came slowly rolling through on the outside and I was lined up for it. It was now or never I had to pull it together and get with the program! So I tacked on the set wave and rode it in as it grew in size on the way to the reef! It went from mast high, to mast-and-a-half, to double mast, to double over mast, and it kept growing until it got hung up on the reef and started to pitch! That’s when I gunned it down the face, absorbing every chop like a skier on the moguls, except the mountain was chasing me down! I leaned into the rail as I bottom turned up to the face, praying not to fall! I looked up at the wave, it looked like a pyramid and the side that I was on was folding over! When I got to the top of the pyramid I made the hair raising transition from rail to rail as I redirected back down the face! I heard the mounds of water crashing down behind me like cannon fire! I yelled at the top of my lungs with the wave! That single turn was one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done! And it wasn’t over! The next section was starting to peel and I gunned toward it without a second thought! I turned up under the lip and threw buckets, but then my inside rail caught! My heart sank and lifted to my throat in the same instant and I’m pretty sure I screamed too! I tried everything I could to correct myself but it was no use and I was at the will of the wave. I guess the wave liked me or something because as soon as I realized that, my board straightened out and I got the hell outta Dodge! I was so relieved, I made it out alive! My Dad was on the cliff watching, he was dancing up and down waving at me! I couldn’t wave back, I was glued to the boom!

After a few more waves I went in where all four people that were watching congratulated me, nice! But that didn’t matter because I did that for me, to push my envelope. It was so worth it too! Now I have re-enforced stoke for windsurfing and the water in general! Plus, almost every time there is a big day at Hookipa, I can say I’ve sailed bigger!

Everyone should push their envelope when windsurfing! It makes you feel more confident, not only windsurfing but in everything you do, and it gets you stoked to go out the next day! And it doesn’t have to be going and riding a giant day at Hookipa. You could go and be the first person in your break to sail out to a channel marker a mile out to sea! Or maybe you could try a forward for the first time, these things are all ways to improve your confidence which improves your skill! Go out and push your envelope, get scared a little! It’ll be the best feeling in the world!

Catching up on homework

Sorry for slacking on the blog, but all these trips have meant lots of homework to catch up on! I’ve finally got all caught up so I can start writing again, and what a sick day to start!

This morning was totally flat and it looked like the huge swell that was supposed to pump in today wasn’t gonna happen! Then, later in the day, we got the report that the waves were coming in and we went to check Hookipa. When we got down the waves were starting to pump in and I rigged up! After about a half an hour this sick mast high set came rolling through and I caught it! The wave shouldered to the corkscrew and then I busted a wave 360 right under the lip! It was the highest 360 I’ve ever done and I was so surprised that I just sat at the apex looking around at the view until I fell out the back! After that a few more sets came through until the tide shifted and the waves went down. I caught a little wave on the inside and went into a sick Spock. It was sick because I went tail first down the face, almost like a Stalled Spock!

After a while the wind started to die so I decided to head in. All of the sudden another set came in and I was in the perfect position! I pumped onto it and shot down the line! Then I laid down the sail and shot up under the lip! The lip hit me and shot me up and over the whitewater where I floated down and landed softly into the flats! I went in right away because I knew I wouldn’t get a wave like that anytime soon!

Japanese Adventure - PART THREE

"I told myself to forget about what everyone else thinks and do what I want to do!"—Bernd

The event itself was pretty small compared to the BOP but for its first time it was a good size expo! I talked with everyone and introduced some product, and then I went and surfed!

The wave was right in front of a river mouth so it was unbelievably messy due to the current. There was also wind on it, which didn't help. The wave was head to over sometimes and you could only really work the whitewater since it closed out fast. You would do one or two turns on the wave and then work the wash in to the inside left where it opened up a bit. But in order to catch the wave you had to fight with the current and the relentless waves to get to the line up. Once there, every wave that came was impossible to read and picking the wrong wave meant having to struggle for at least five minutes to get out again, fifteen if you got caught in a set. After an hour it seemed like a losing battle, I saw many people standing on the beach watching and felt embarrassed to be doing so badly! Then there was a surf exhibition while I was out paddling that I missed because I couldn't understand the Japanese announcements, Takasan was teaching in his class, and Marosan was in an appointment, so I didn't get the memo! I felt frustrated that I missed it. I felt like that expo was my time to shine! Everything was going wrong and I felt like the whole event was a waste! That’s when my Granduncle came into mind again, his attitude towards my dream and me seemed almost right at this point. Maybe I should give up on the pro thing and just go to school like everyone else. Maybe I wasn’t the one to become successful in another direction. Maybe I should just go back to the beach. But no! I couldn’t go back to the beach, I wouldn’t! I told myself to forget about what everyone else thinks and remember what I think, what I want to do, and my dreams! Then an over-head wave rolled through and broke way outside! As the whitewater rushed toward me it reformed and I caught it right! Then the wave pitched as it hit this sandbar and I carved around and stuck my nose into the wave, as the wave hit me I redirected back down while covered in foam! I worked the whitewater with an aggression that I had never really felt before. Then all of the sudden the wave reformed again! But this time it was a left so I switched stances and pumped down the line to the shoulder. When I got there I started hacking and slashing all the way back to the beach where I ran straight into the sand and face-planted! I lift my head up off the sand, panting, and got up. I brushed myself off and then my Mom and Grandma came over to me. Just then I heard something in Japanese over the loudspeaker and then heard my name spoken. I looked a question at my Grandma and she said “They’re saying good things about you.” Then my Mom said “They did the exhibition where you were surfing anyways so you were basically in it.” “Lots of people were watching the event and they were watching you too!” That made me feel a lot better!

What happened that day was I let other people get into my head and tell me what I could and couldn’t do, I’ll never let that happen again.

At the end of the day I was stoked to have had a good session and ready to go back to Tokyo. I went with Marosan to his college team's football game and then to my Grandma's friend's place in Tokyo. The next morning we did some sight seeing in Harajuku, went up the Tokyo Tower, and rode the huge ferris wheel at night. The next day we flew back to Maui and I had a lot of time to think about what happened on the trip. I was happy with what I did and how I did it, which is all that matters.

Japanese Adventure - PART TWO

"There weren’t any other paddlers out but there were hundreds of surfers."—Bernd Roediger

[The good thing was that I slept all day and ate plenty of soup and felt way better by the next day, just in time to]… meet up with Marosan, the head of Naish Japan! From there we drove over to Omaizaki. At night we had bacon wrapped beef, asparagus, and kimchi at Robby Naish’s favorite restaurant that he discovered while on the windsurfing tour! It was really good! But then I accidently had bacon wrapped ginger! It may not seem like a big deal but when I was young my Mom almost killed me by feeding me too much ginger (she thought it was fish) so I hate it. As I bit into it my eyes watered and my nostrils flared! I think I scared Marosan really bad because I never told him I didn’t like ginger and he probably thought I was dying right there! I could just imagine him thinking of how terrible it would be to have to tell my Mom that he killed me on the first 6 hours that we had been together! That’s like pet sitting a dog that has a heart attack as soon as you walk into the front door! Luckily I recovered and started laughing, which gave him the ok.

The next day I finally got the chance to surf at Omaizaki. The wave there, mostly a left, was a fast pitching beach break that you had to drop-in-and-turn fast in otherwise it closed out, so that made it really challenging. But my 6'6" worked great in those conditions, it handled the drop even on the head high sets. As it was still a beach break it had its mushy points so my quad really helped me to make it around the sections. There weren’t any other paddlers out but there were hundreds of surfers. Luckily the beach is so long that it spreads the crowds out pretty well…

The only problem was that an experimental board that I call the Footstrap board didn't really work because the current is real strong there and the board is getting too small for me to ride it in those water currents. It would have made me real bummed because I wanted to show everyone in Japan how cool this thing was, but my Dad sent me this video the night before.

This video is from the BOP when I had some time to go surf. I decided to try the Footstrap board there and it worked great! There are so many possibilities with footstraps that I can’t wait to see more people trying it!

We hit the road again after a couple hours of surfing and spent the night in Shonan. Marosan and I went to a Korean barbeque restaurant and that was beyond describing. (But I’ll try) You walk into the restaurant and the whole place smells like simmering beef. Then you find a table and there is a small grill built in the center, you order and they bring you raw meat that you can sit there and simmer for as long as you want. I’m talkin’ beef tongue, liver, raw hamburger meat… everything! That last one was really weird but I can appreciate it! After eating I looked around at what a fancy restaurant this was. I don’t think I’ve ever been to such a “high dollar” (or yen) place in my life! I thought about what had been bothering me lately, my Granduncle. I wondered what he’d say today or what he’d say for the rest of the time that I continue on this path. I think if I ever get a big money contract I’ll send it to him and see if he approves! The next morning we surfed there with Takasan, a rider for Naish. It was flat so we didn't stay long. When we started driving again I went with Takasan to his house in Tokyo. The next day we woke up early and shot down to Chiba for the Nalu SUP Meet SUP expo, this was the main reason for the trip so I was excited to see what was in store for us!

...STAY TUNED FOR PART 3 to be posted this FRIDAY!

Japanese Adventure - PART ONE

"The lifestyle that I have chosen has brought me all the way to Japan, and I’m only 14."—Bernd

I just got back from Japan and the trip was so much fun! You know, it’s funny, I always knew that I would travel to places as far out as Japan but I never thought it would happen this fast. It was only four years ago that I didn’t even know what stand-up was; now I’m traveling the world because of it! I mean, Japan! This trip is so huge and it was very cool for me because I have so much family here. For me, this trip was not only about promotion, but also to learn more about my family and what kind of place I fit into there. Here’s a short story about what I discovered in the land of the rising sun.

My Mom and I flew out of Oahu in the afternoon on the 14th and landed in Kobe at night on the 15th, weird! The first four days I spent in Kobe.

On the first day I went up to Mt. Rokko, which had a super cool view of Kobe. The city is so big that it seems like it goes on forever! That night I ate sushi with my Mom, Grandma, and my First Aunt (who’s place I stayed at). She also brought her three sons and husband who were very funny! The food was awesome and I ate way more weird stuff than I have ever thought possible!

Then the next day we all went to the Universal Studios Theme Park, which was the sickest thing ever!

The first ride had about a 40ft drop and I was freaking out because I had never been on a roller coaster before! We slowly chugged all the way up at like 0.5 miles per hour and then stopped right at the top. From there I stared down at what seemed like pure death, and went shooting down it! I felt terrible. Then the ride went into a sharp turn that resembled a 30 ft spoon. I got pressed into my seat as the ride went around the spoon and then got basically bucked up and down on these hill things. Then the ride corkscrewed back up to the top and dropped back to the bottom again. Yah, that ride was only the sickest thing ever!

My third day in Kobe was more relaxing; we went to the Himeji Castle and saw some really cool ancient Japanese architecture. Plus I honed my Kanji reading skills by reading fire warnings and gate names in Japanese!

That night we went to my Granduncle’s house and had Suki Yaki, it sounds like Sucky Yucky but its for sure not!

After dinner my Grandma started talking about how my Great Grandfather was the first in his family of Shinto priests to become a scholar, this change in his life affected his children and their children. (I found out that many people in my family have graduated from college and are very successful.) Then my Granduncle, who is a “scholarly man” himself, asked me what I wanted to become when I grew up. I wasn’t gonna lie, I told him I was going to be a pro athlete. When I saw the disappointment in his eyes I thought of how hypocritical he was. 100 years ago my Great Granddad probably told his Granduncle that he was going to become an engineer. Can you guess what his Granduncle said? But despite his lack of support he graduated, became a great engineer, and became so successful that he was able to send the rest of his family to school. Am I so different? Am I not choosing a path that future generations will thank me for? I didn’t argue my point but I kept it in the back of my mind on the way back from his house. The lifestyle that I have chosen has brought me all the way to Japan, and I’m only 14.

Anyways, by the fourth day of riding on trains and using overcrowded public restrooms I was sick and had to miss my Mom and Grandma's trip to Kyoto, which is where there are many ancient temples and shrines.

The good thing was that I slept all day and ate plenty of soup and felt way better by the next day, just in time to... (PART TWO will be posted on Wednesday!)