On the first day, I arrived to Dawson college around 7:20 am. The bus was supposed to leave at 7:45 but it wasn't there yet. I ventured through the main doors facing Sherbrooke Street where I found my fellow compatriots sitting on the stairs. They looked exhausted. I glanced at the two girls whom looked up to my face for a brief moment before looking away, unsatisfied or uninterested in what they saw. "That one must be Jewish", I thought, judging the girl's appearance. She had a large nose, not very athletic, there was something peculiar about this girl. Then again, all girls look special when you haven't had a relationship in over a year. Behind them was sitting the guy that was supposed to be my friend for the trip. I called him Comrade because I had no idea what his actual name was.
- Oy Comrade! I said with the biggest and fakest smile on my face.
I wanted to be done with this trip. School trips usually suck. Everyone gets wasted and high and nobody has any respect for nature. I looked at my friend to be. He looked like the biggest stoner I had ever seen. Curly hair, poorly shaven, drowsy look. There was everything to be disgusted. As I was going up the stairs to sit next to him, I tripped and twisted my ankle. The intense pain triggered through me like an electroshock. I looked back at the two girls, they were looking at me, worried. "At least, they aren't laughing", I thought.
Ignoring the pain I got on the yellow school bus that would take us up north for a three hour drive. I was sitting next to my comrade (I had found out his name was Viktor by this time). We didn't talk for the entire way. He slept while I daydreamed about having a girlfriend that would travel with me. It was raining cats and dogs, the windows fogged up and the ride got worse.
When we arrived, the rain stopped. We had lunch and started loading up the gear in the canoes. As my paddling partner, Alex, was loading up my bag, he dropped the go pro in the water. It was cold outside, but I knew that if I wanted to make myself a solid reputation I had to go get that camera from the bottom of the lake. So I did, everyone instantly knew my name and I was now the "crazy Russian" of the group. That's all I could want. From that point, anyone that had technical difficulties would come to me.
We started off after a little game of remembering each others names. I only remembered 5 of the 20. I was more focused on my balls freezing off than the names of the people I was never going to see again after this class. After paddling for about an hour, we got to our campsite. We didn't set it up right away because the teacher wanted to teach us some canoeing. (Clearly, some people were holding a paddle for the first time in their lives)
After setting up the tent, we settled on a small table with my two cooking partners, Justine and Adam (an interracial couple). Calling them cooking partners is saying much, they hardly prepared any food. It would have been all right if they at least stayed with me while I cooked. Instead, they went to cuddle in the sun, came for their food, took it with them and got back to cuddling.
A fire was built, the stars were looked at and we all went to bed. In the tent, the 4 of us obviously discussed the girls on the trip. We all concluded that individual L was the most attractive, followed by her less attractive but cuter friend whose name we didn't find out. The next morning we got up early, packed, ate and at 9:00 we were already on the water heading for the next campground. On the way there, I was canoeing with this... person. B was a big man, but a weak paddler. He insisted on sitting in the back. I didn't object, I hardly cared. Nevertheless, I was happy to arrive to the mid-way halt also known as lunch. That meant I could walk a bit, eat something yummy (I made rice and had a can of meat to myself) and above all switch rowing partner.
When we finally arrived at our last campground, we set up camp as quickly and possible and that is when boredom hit us. We had about 5 hours to sunset. If we took a name we wouldn't have energy in the morning. That's when I sad down with the two girls from the beginning of the trip who took a liking in my directness and pickiness of what I eat. They wanted to match me with their friend (who I actually ended up meeting). In the process, they asked a million questions about my lifestyle. They concluded that I was a perfect match and got all excited about the upcoming introduction.
It's only on the way back that I realized how beautiful everything around me was. The river we were on was surrounded on both sides by steep mountains which sides plunged into the water. Everything was quiet, the water was surprisingly still. I saw an eagle fly over me. I didn't want this to end. I wanted to be camping forever. Even the people that were there started to become tolerable (not all of course, but most). The last thought I had before getting on the bus and passing out was that humanity is lost. We aren't the animals that we used to be. We forgot what it is to be free. I had a taste of that freedom, but then I was shoved back into my cage. Our forests became concrete jungles, the rivers became subways. I can't wait for the disaster that will send us back in the woods.
- Oy Comrade! I said with the biggest and fakest smile on my face.
I wanted to be done with this trip. School trips usually suck. Everyone gets wasted and high and nobody has any respect for nature. I looked at my friend to be. He looked like the biggest stoner I had ever seen. Curly hair, poorly shaven, drowsy look. There was everything to be disgusted. As I was going up the stairs to sit next to him, I tripped and twisted my ankle. The intense pain triggered through me like an electroshock. I looked back at the two girls, they were looking at me, worried. "At least, they aren't laughing", I thought.
Ignoring the pain I got on the yellow school bus that would take us up north for a three hour drive. I was sitting next to my comrade (I had found out his name was Viktor by this time). We didn't talk for the entire way. He slept while I daydreamed about having a girlfriend that would travel with me. It was raining cats and dogs, the windows fogged up and the ride got worse.
When we arrived, the rain stopped. We had lunch and started loading up the gear in the canoes. As my paddling partner, Alex, was loading up my bag, he dropped the go pro in the water. It was cold outside, but I knew that if I wanted to make myself a solid reputation I had to go get that camera from the bottom of the lake. So I did, everyone instantly knew my name and I was now the "crazy Russian" of the group. That's all I could want. From that point, anyone that had technical difficulties would come to me.
We started off after a little game of remembering each others names. I only remembered 5 of the 20. I was more focused on my balls freezing off than the names of the people I was never going to see again after this class. After paddling for about an hour, we got to our campsite. We didn't set it up right away because the teacher wanted to teach us some canoeing. (Clearly, some people were holding a paddle for the first time in their lives)
After setting up the tent, we settled on a small table with my two cooking partners, Justine and Adam (an interracial couple). Calling them cooking partners is saying much, they hardly prepared any food. It would have been all right if they at least stayed with me while I cooked. Instead, they went to cuddle in the sun, came for their food, took it with them and got back to cuddling.
A fire was built, the stars were looked at and we all went to bed. In the tent, the 4 of us obviously discussed the girls on the trip. We all concluded that individual L was the most attractive, followed by her less attractive but cuter friend whose name we didn't find out. The next morning we got up early, packed, ate and at 9:00 we were already on the water heading for the next campground. On the way there, I was canoeing with this... person. B was a big man, but a weak paddler. He insisted on sitting in the back. I didn't object, I hardly cared. Nevertheless, I was happy to arrive to the mid-way halt also known as lunch. That meant I could walk a bit, eat something yummy (I made rice and had a can of meat to myself) and above all switch rowing partner.
When we finally arrived at our last campground, we set up camp as quickly and possible and that is when boredom hit us. We had about 5 hours to sunset. If we took a name we wouldn't have energy in the morning. That's when I sad down with the two girls from the beginning of the trip who took a liking in my directness and pickiness of what I eat. They wanted to match me with their friend (who I actually ended up meeting). In the process, they asked a million questions about my lifestyle. They concluded that I was a perfect match and got all excited about the upcoming introduction.
It's only on the way back that I realized how beautiful everything around me was. The river we were on was surrounded on both sides by steep mountains which sides plunged into the water. Everything was quiet, the water was surprisingly still. I saw an eagle fly over me. I didn't want this to end. I wanted to be camping forever. Even the people that were there started to become tolerable (not all of course, but most). The last thought I had before getting on the bus and passing out was that humanity is lost. We aren't the animals that we used to be. We forgot what it is to be free. I had a taste of that freedom, but then I was shoved back into my cage. Our forests became concrete jungles, the rivers became subways. I can't wait for the disaster that will send us back in the woods.
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