I went to sleep late last night and had to wake up early. Needless to say, I didn’t get enough sleep.

I arrived at Whitetail around 7:30 am and headed over to Kid Mountain Camp around 8:15 am. I was supposed to teach snowboarding, but no students showed up. I was reassigned to help another instructor teach skiing instead. No problem. I just had to change my boots. I was a bit bored. Teach snowboarding was way more fun. Nevertheless, the kids were doing great.

We had a cookout for lunch. I had a veggie burger. I didn’t want to eat beef to risk a gout attack. This is not a good time to get gout attack.

After lunch I knew I was not going to teach. I was planning on working on my carving skills on snowboard, but the snowboard instructors decided to have a clinic. I joined them. It was not that useful. I should have just ride on my own. Then the rain was just pouring. We went back to the school house soaking wet. I decided to get another veggie burger and waited for the rain to die out.

I headed home when the rain stopped and was struggling to stay awake. I didn’t get to do much on my own. That’s fine. I already took the day off tomorrow for President’s Day. I’ll take Xuân and Vương with me.

I can believe today marks my 40 days on the mountains this year.

As our whole family headed to Whitetail, we ran into snow rain, which was fine until it turned into rain. Nevertheless, I had a group lesson with two ladies. They did OK despite the rain.

After the two-hour lesson, I was soaking wet. Fortunately, I had another jacket to replace my uniform jacket. There was no lesson in the evening; therefore, I was done at 3:00 pm.

I went riding with Xuân. We both snowboarded. Xuân wanted to carve. He was carving for a bit. I turned my body forward more into an open position. I also leaned forward with my body low to the ground. I could feel the board gripped into the snow.

I am finally carving. I would like to do some more carving tomorrow after teaching.

I skied at Liberty. The conditions were great. I skied down the double black and carved on the blues. I am starting to get a hang of carving and loving it. I can carve all day. I had to take advantage of the nice weather. Tomorrow and Sunday will be rained. Let’s hope Monday will be great. Happy Valentine’s Day.

After a day of snow, I thought it would be good to hit the mountains. Unfortunately, the rain and the warm temperature melted the snow. Nevertheless, the condition at Liberty was decent.

I took Đạo, Xuân, and Vương to Liberty for a few runs. Đán didn’t want to join. He’s a game addict. We arrived at Liberty at 4:00 pm. The rain picked up a bit and the fog made visibility poor.

We went to the back side and did a blue run to warm up. As we took the lift up, we saw a teenage boy skied down the double-black terrain fast and out of control. He crashed into two little kids about Vương’s age. It was a hard crash. Both of the kids were yanked out of their skis. The poor little girl broke her leg. My heart broke for her. I hoped his conscience ate at him. I was not on the mood to snowboard anymore.

Nevertheless, I followed Xuân and Vương. We stayed for 2 hours and headed back home. It was still a nice bonding time together.

I arrived to work two hours early. No one was there. I relaxed a bit then put on my ski boots. I went out with the ski instructors for the clinic. It was very interesting even though I was not interested in the techniques. I just wanted to learn how to carve.

At the line up, my supervisor told me to keep my ski boots so I could shadow another ski instructor. Then I got reassigned to help out with a group of four kids. We tested their skills. Two of them skied well and two were first-time. She took the first-timer and assigned me with the intermediate skiers. I took them on the magic carpet, lift, and then we went on the long green. We had a lot of fun together.

At lunchtime, I ordered a veggie burger with bacon. The man behind the grill told me, “That’s an interesting request, but sure.” I really miss burgers. I just can’t risk getting a gout attack during the season. The impossible burger was actually pretty close to a real burger.

In the afternoon, I switched out to my snowboard boots. I planned on riding because I didn’t think I would have a class. I told my supervisor I already taught skiing this morning, someone else could take the lesson. For some reasons, other instructors turned down the lesson. They might want to dip out for the Super Bowl. She assigned me to the lesson. I taught two adults who were learning snowboarding for the first time. The lesson went well.

After the lesson, I went for a few runs, but I was exhausted so I left. I was having a hard time staying awake driving home. I pulled into a McDonald’s to take a nap. That helped a lot. For my own safety and others, I rather stopped and took a nap then kept driving.

I went home, took a quick shower, and arrived late at my friend’s house for the Super Bowl. He opened a bottle of the twelve-year-old Hakushu. It was so damn smooth. We killed between the three of us. We didn’t really pay much attention to the Super Bowl, but I was glad the Eagles won. Philadelphia was my college town.

I took the Lyft home afterward because I didn’t want to risk getting caught for DUI. Cops were probably out waiting for the post Super Bowl.

The whole fam headed to Whitetail today. It was Xuân last meeting for the Whitetrailers snowboarding camp. He enjoyed snowboarding. He wanted to do it again next year, which should be fine if I would continue to teach next season.

I taught one class in the afternoon and didn’t have to teach in the evening. I skied with Vương and my wife for a bit. Since it was Xuân’s birthday and he wanted sushi for dinner, we headed to a sushi buffet afterward.

As we were driving home, my wife and I had a bit of discussion about the teaching gig I am doing. We also shared the numbers with the kids to help them understand how making a living isn’t easy.

I taught 2 hours and made $40. The gas price for commuting back and forth cost $32. I used to take the express lanes, which cost up to $35. My wife banned me from taking the express lanes. The sushi buffet dinner cost $220. We tried not to eat out, except for special occasions.

I am taking on this job for the perks and my passion, not the pays. My wife questioned whether it was worth it to save $3,000 season passes for the entire family. My answer was, “Hell yeah.” Besides the perks, I enjoyed teaching. Teaching required technical, communication, and leadership skills. Whether I taught 1 person or a group of 18 people, I applied all of those skills plus patience.

In addition, being an instructor gave me and my family access to lessons and camps. So far, only Xuân took advantage of the snowboarding camp. I joined the ski clinic every Sunday morning. I had been loving the lessons.

The only downside was that I didn’t have too much of my own development time. After I was done with teaching, I was so exhausted that I wanted to just go home to my family.

Giving how short the winter season had been and where I am at with my skiing and snowboarding skills, I am fine with making the compromise. If everything goes well, I will return teaching next season.

I went to Liberty for a few runs. I snowboarded on the back side. I hit the double black and blue trails. The conditions were great. I only stayed for about an hour. It was fun. I enjoyed it.

We are about halfway through the season. For Whitetail, we only have about a month and a half left. Damn! It’s way too fast.

I woke up early this morning and headed to Whitetail. I joined the ski clinic. I just wanted to ski with the instructors’ instructors. After the clinic, I changed out my snowboard boots to lineup. My snowboard supervisor called me over and asked if I wanted to be a dual instructor. The ski instructors wanted me to become a ski instructors as well since I had been participating in the ski clinics. I was like, sure why not.

I changed back to my ski boots so I could shadow a beginner lesson. There were 18 students from age 7 to 13. The young instructor who was assigned to the class freaked out. He called the supervisor for help. It took 3 of us to teach 18 kids to ski. My job was helping the kids popping in and out of their skis and standing up. It was quite an experience.

In the afternoon, I was assigned to teach 5 adults who were learning snowboarding for the first time. They did well. I hope they’ll continue to work on their J and S turns. After class, I changed to my ski boots and started some runs. I left the resort at 5:00 pm. It was a long day.

My goal for this season is to get 2 more shadows in for ski lesson and take the jacket test. The ski progression for first-time learner doesn’t seem so bad.

I took Xuân and Vương to Liberty today. I hadn’t skied much; therefore, I wanted to ski with Vương. Xuân was still snowboarding. They wanted to try out moguls. To my surprise, they did well. I worried that Vương couldn’t make it, but he did just fine.

Skiing with Xuân and Vương reminded me of Đạo and Đán back in the days. They are grown now and don’t want to hang out with me anymore. In a few more years, Xuân and Vương will do the same; therefore, I want to be with them whenever I can.

Time flies and I don’t even know how long I can keep skiing and snowboarding. I don’t want to waste any opportunities. Life is too damn short.

Today marks my 31^st day on the mountains. I have been skiing, snowboarding, and teaching for 31 days this season. I am fortunate to be able to do what I love for free (including my family members) and a bit of extra money. Teaching is not enough to make a living, but enough to enjoy all the perks. I am content with that.

I taught two adults today. They came in half an hour late for their lesson. Even though they signed up for beginner lesson, they had been snowboarded before. They caught up quick. After I covered all the basics, we went straight into J turns and then S turns. After that I took them on the long green trail to practice their S turns. They told me that my explanation of torsional twist was very helpful for them. They rode with confidence. They did not catch the edge. That was all that I wanted to get across.

I didn’t get a lesson in the afternoon; therefore, I rode with two other instructors. I went to the back side, but the trails were so foggy that I decided to call it the day and headed back home. Another fantastic day in the book.