Two Truths and A Lie

Do you remember the game two truths and a lie? I feel like anyone who went to Church Youth Group or any sort of religious activity right after the turn of the century probably had to come up with 3 factoids about their self- two that were true, and one that was a lie. The group then guesses which is false, everyone knows a bit more about each other, and it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship...

This week in predura (voluntary pre-lesson), students are going to have to figure out which of the stories below are false:

1. SKI LIFT DANGER
Now, being a young girl from Kansas where things like hills do not exist (at least not in their true form... we have been known to take a grič and call it a mountain), I have not had years and years to refine my skiing abilities. However, that does not mean I haven't tried.

When I was in primary school, I went skiing with my family a few times. Silver Creek- a place where Kansas wives and children thrive. Not too big, cute. A good place to try a 'blue' hill without dying. I loved it. And our fairly regular trips there helped me to acquire some fairly decent (though still lacking) skills. I leaped at the opportunity to take a ski trip with my best friend at the time and her church youth group. We weren't going to my familiar Silver Creek, but to Winter Park. Jessica hadn't been skiing before, but I promised her that it would be ok. It had to be. Right?

Wrong. Jessica was 100% terrified. We spent the entire time on the Bunny Hill, often being passed by 6-year-olds skiing with their little sisters. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed myself very much. While Jessica was cautiously moving down the hill, I was swerving, jumping, singing, dancing... I did it all. And I had her wonderful company as we would meet at the bottom and ride the lift up together.

Now, if you haven't ridden a ski lift before, let me tell you what goes down. You cautiously wait for the people in front of you to be seated and moving on. Then you hurry to stand on the line where the chair will swing around and pick you up (and you must be careful to not fall, because it could end very badly for you. I.e. you could get knocked down from behind, then turn to see what hit you, and find that the chair is swinging back around, quickly heading toward your face. And the embarrassment might continue as you take off your broken sunglasses to see that adolescent heart-throb, Kyle Taylor, has witnessed the whole spectacle from behind). You then ride up to the mountain with your ski tips pointed up so that you don't get them stuck in the snow or else terrible things could happen.

As you might guess, I got stuck in the snow. But that's not the end of the story:

This slow moving bunny-slope lift was very big and had seats for 4 people on every chair. Therefore, often strangers rode up the lift with you. In our case, a young man (who was probably 3 or 4 years older than us at the time) joined our chair. Jess and I introduce ourselves and began chatting before the lift had begun to rise. Suddenly I lurch from my seat. Turns out, I wasn't paying attention to my ski tips and when they got lodged in the snow they began to pull me from my comfy seat in between Jessica and this stranger. In the moment, my ability to think clearly had vanished. I must do something! I must stop from falling off the chair!!

Impulsively, I clutch onto the nearest thing to me... the older boy to my left. One second he's sitting and not speaking to these two giggly girls on the ski lift, the next second I'm hugging him as hard as I can.

Something had to give- it was either going to be me or my ski. I clutched onto this surprised stranger and prayed that it would be my ski.
SNAP!

Relief.
I hoisted my unbalanced body back onto the seat. One ski down, but at least my person remained in tact.

All in all, I made it to the top. My ski too- they stopped the lift and the people in the next chair kindly carried it up for me. Getting off the lift played out much smoother in my mind than at the top of the hill. I leaned on Jessica to keep from falling over, but just ended up bringing her down with me. Again, they had to stop the lift because of me, but this time my new stranger escaped. I looked up from my cold spot on the ground to wave him goodbye, but saw that he was already skiing away as fast as humanly possible.
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2. A VERY MAGICAL DAY
We all know that Disney World is the place where dreams come true. I mean, the theme park is called the Magic Kingdom, for crying out loud. The only place that could be more magical, of course, is Lawrence, Kansas.

Well, when I was in the 11th grade, I had the opportunity to return to Disney World, and truly, one of my dreams did come true: I rode on a float in the Magical Disney Parade THROUGH Cinderella's Castle, on a cushy seat near my Prince Aladdin.

Let me start from the beginning: My high school had a music group called Sugar 'n Spice. Girls that auditioned for and made this show-choir performed in sparkley blue dresses: Singing and dancing at the same time. I auditioned for and made this choir (NOT because I have a lovely singing voice or the ability to sing on tune. No, I made this choir because I was known for being especially smiley in high school and had a very cheerful stage presence). You've seen the show Glee? The choir was basically that- only with half the drama and a fourth of the talent.

Despite our lack-of-extreme-talent, we were invited to come and perform at Disney World's 'Magic Music Days' on Tomorrow World Stage (remember the BeWitched, 5 Concert of 1998? Yep. Same stage.). However, we didn't just fly to Disney World, perform, and fly home... no no no my friends. We spent 5 days together in the Magic Kingdom.

Of course every high school choir looked forward to this trip for the whole year. It's probably 50% of the reason most of us joined show choir in the first place. I had a countdown for the trip that started in August, 7 months before we flew. All of my friends that were going got together every Sunday to watch a Disney Movie, and since all of us girls loved Aladdin, we watched him at least once a month. We joked and giggled about how we would meet him at Disney World and he would ditch Princess Jasmine and fall in love with us.

Finally, mid-March, all of our practicing and Disney-movie-watching paid off and we boarded the plane for Florida. Now, I'd been to Disney World before, as a kid with my family, but trust me: Standing in front of Cinderella's Castle when you're 17 and with your closest friends is just as magical as when you're 5 and still think that Mickey Mouse is real. It was a sight to behold- but only for a second. We quickly scattered in every direction, running to the coolest rides with the plan to meet up at 4 pm to watch the Disney Parade as a group of Manhattan High School choirs.

It was an adventure-filled morning: Tower of Terror, Jurassic Park, Rockin' Roller-coaster... we were running so fast from line to line that we didn't even realize how hungry or tired we were. Before we even ate lunch it was time to meet for the parade. I had no idea that my idea was just about to get even more ridiculous and magical.

The Parade Horns began to sound before we found out place among our school mates, but we joined the choir group before Cinderella's Carriage went past. Then we heard 'Arabian Nights' from Aladdin and all of us girls began to giggle. When Aladdin's float came into view, the most amazing thing happened. It slowed and stopped before my school-mates. What was happening?! We were definitely not a part of the show, and the streets were packed with other people, not just our group. Why did Aladdin stop here?!

Well, we knew that we were at the theme park during 'Magic Music Days', but what we did not know was that we were also there during 'Become A Disney Princess' week. Each of the Disney heroes selected someone from the crowd to ride on the float and be a prince or princess. Guess who Aladdin chose?

Yep, yours truly.

The scene was not quite as magical as you might imagine. I was super confused as to what was going on that I jumped onto Chris Coffey's back for a better view. Aladdin happened to glance in my direction as I emerged above the crowd. He laughed, pointed at me, and beckoned for me to come closer. I think that I stopped breathing. He waved me toward him.

you're kidding- you want me to come closer?
He did.

I was selected to be a Disney Princess for a day. It didn't mean anything TOO exciting. I didn't really marry Aladdin, and I didn't have servants or anything, but I wore a tiara and rode on the float. I got to invite one friend to a 'royal' dinner and we got free fast-passes to cut in front of everyone waiting in line for the rides.

What was the best part of it all? Aladdin kissed my hand and signed my backpack with a note that said:
'Nicole- You will always be a princess to me. Follow your dreams' -Aladdin

I have the backpack hanging on the wall at my parent's house. As for the hand he kissed? Let's just say I haven't washed it since.

Ok, just kidding, but I'll never forget that moment for my entire life- of this I am sure.
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3. IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER-ALL

I believe that most of you know I used to train taekwondo. It started as a bit of a joke- I wanted to secretly learn so that I could have someone from my class pretend to mug me in the city center sometime... then I would rip open my jacket to reveal my dobok and, of course, taekwondo the fool that tried to steal my bag. I had it all planned- my friends would think I was soooo cool, and let's be honest: I would be.

Well, there were 2 problems with my Master Plan:
1. I have a big mouth and ended up accidentally telling all of my friends that I was in taekwondo
2. I feel in love with the sport. I loved everything from learning diligence, to the hard-core people that lived & breathed taekwondo- it became my passion.

So for 2 years I trained taekwondo. I didn't have too many friends there- taekwondo was a part of my life, not my whole life like most of my peers there. However, I had one co-color belt who appeared to have the same taekwondo approach as me. We were always partners and always laughed togheter.

Still there were two minor... hickups with having a real friendship. First, I could NOT remember his name. I asked him so many times in the first few weeks that I just had to stop asking him... I was too embarrassed to continue. I tried to cover it up. You know how it is:
''Hey Nicole!''
''Ahhh, HEYY!''
Still, I felt like the worst person in the world each time he called me by name.

The second problem? Well, I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where everyone around you wears the same thing in the same color every day, but it renders it nearly impossible to recognize any of those people out in public. I imagine there are a few professions where this could be a problem: Construction, clowns. Those elves at Santa's Station in the mall. There were several times that I saw this guy after I got sick and had to leave taekwondo, but it always took me a long time to realize where I knew him from. He would honk at me or yell my name... once I even ran into him at the supermarket:
''Hey Nicole! How are you? I'd hug you, but I've got these sacks...''
''Ohhh, yeah. Nice to see you. So, um. How are you?''

Now, keep in mind, not only could I not place this guy, but I also couldn't remember his name. It seemed impossible to figure out BOTH where I knew him from and also what his name was WITHOUT making him feel bad that I didn't know him. You know, I think that it honestly was impossible... at least in Lawrence, KS.
Good thing I like to travel.

In 2007, my friend Jessica and I backpacked through Europe. In 5 weeks we went to 6 different countries, met tons of new people, and experienced a whole bunch of new things. However, not everyone that we met was new...

One sleepy Thursday evening in Vienna we were sitting at our hostel- resting and checking the internet.
''Hey Nicole!!''

I turned to look at Jessica. She was puzzled. It didn't sound like her voice anyway. I turned in the direction of the voice, and who do I see? The guy, whose name I don't remember that I know from something at some time.

''Nicole! It's Sean! From taekwondo!''

Ding ding ding.
Sean from taekwondo. 2 years of taekwondo and many more years of running into each other in the city of Lawrence, and finally the mystery is solved. In Vienna, Austria.

Now I know what to do when I cannot remember someone's name. Just purchase a plane ticket and assume that the unbelievable will happen again. After-all, crazier things have been known to occur in my life.