Updated January 29, 2004
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Editor's Note: After narrowly losing to Eric Jackson in the International Freestyle Championships in Australia, Billy Harris left for New Zealand,
where he is training the next generation of paddlers with Huge Experiences.
Huge Experiences in New Zealand-January 29, 2004
The last couple of days have been more than eventful. I started working for Huge Experiences the day after Worlds and did not have a chance to bask in
the humiliation of loosing by.17 of a point in the finals. It would really be un-cool if I lost to anyone by that small amount, but since it was EJ I will
give myself a bit of slack.
The next morning and for the next 3 months I committed to paddle four hours a day to make sure that the next time we meet
I will be ready. For all the letters and messages from all the people that have been supporting me for the last couple of weeks and leading up to
the event I thank you for your time on the computer and for the congratulations that have been passed. It all helps and encourages, so thank you for
your support.
Monsters incorporated, I call students at Huge. I wake them up in the morning as they complain. It is music to my ears. Growing up I
had two younger brothers that I would torture relentlessly and now I have six returning the misfortune. It is heaven, so many options of torture
to me that I am spinning with delight. It is as if God gave me a second chance to make things right. When they say, "Let us sleep in,"
I leap up and down on them until they beg me to stopm, and this morning I carried a student-Luke-to the van in his sleeping
bag. Yep, every time we leave late I get them up a half hour earlier. So far, 6am is the time to beat.
The teachers work together to
dole out the torture and the learning and it is impressively the best learning environment a student could have. For me I have the best job and
spend the most fun time with them paddling and watching them grow as paddlers. The teachers are great and keep them busy with academics. The
beautiful thing about teaching a young buck is that they, unlike adults, have no mental fear-created barriers. A pure untainted mind
absorbing information without fear or doubt. There are no mental barriers clouding their progression. Adults, especially, in North America
lead their lives in fear and pass that fear on to there offspring. It's hard to be in my position and not pass that fear on myself.
Like most things in life, speaking is easier than the practice. I had a student this morning run a 20-footer and he missed his boof,
melted into the waterfall and disappeared. All the worrying and doubting started inside me. Thirty seconds passed and he popped up butt first,
laughing. The fear washed away. Tomorrow we will run it again-practice, practice, practice. We are getting lots of that here, it's
hard to fit in the paddling with the school but it's working out really well.
I will keep the reports coming so keep your eyes out.
-- Billy Harris at Huge Experiences
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