Things and Things, part 3

Since I still needed to talk about the rowing come-and-try, which was exactly what it says it was.

The rowing team arranged a meeting for newbs to come to the lake. And try rowing.

Okay, first off, let me explain the premise of rowing. You get eight people and put them in a boat that is basically a flat-bottomed canoe with lower sides. But, to add to the fun, no one is able to move from their seat; you actually have to buckle your feet in. You sit on a little wooden seat with holes in it so you don't end up sitting in a puddle of water. The seat slides forward so you're able to push off with your legs when you move the blade, i.e. oar. Which is wooden, and must be rotated in addition to being, er...rowed...which is what tears the skin off your hands.

Now move the whole thing to England. In January. It was around zero degrees (Celsius, which is 32 degrees Fahrenheit for us backward Americans, and late spring temperatures in Michigan), with a wind that simply didn't stop. You're on a lake. In winter. Only a couple inches from the water at all times. You spend the day on the water.

In short? People who agree to try this are nucking futs. Within half an hour, my feet were damp, my fingers too cold to properly grip the blade, and my face too numb to form multisyllabic words.

It was still awesome.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I don't think I'm going to join. There's also the bit where I'm terrified of any water deeper than a bathtub and had to be rather insistent in order to be given a life vest even though I told them I'm a weak swimmer. Still. My legs are sore, it was an incredibly English thing to try, and I'm glad I did it.