Two days of teaching in a row! Man, I am worn out. No not really, in fact being in Pokhara is such a difference from KTM that each day is refreshing, rather than draining. Not that I dislike Kathmandu, but at the end of a day in the city you get to blow your nose and see black come out from the dust and pollution. I do like the crazy hustle of that city though and find myself missing it occasionally, and briefly. Also, after teaching here for a few days, I'm somewhat eager to get back and be around more than a dozen kids at a time.
Speaking of which, I brought my macbook and iPhone to the driving range this morning and was able to do personalized video lessons for each of the juniors there. They all speak some English, but after showing them their swings, it was mostly kinesthetic learning from there. I am also obliged to give lessons to some of the people who make my life easier in Pokhara, from a couple of the pros at the Himalayan Course to some business owners who have offered whatever I need for help. It is much easier to give personal lessons than to figure out how to get more kids involved, which is really what I'm here for. Now, in Pokhara it's different because I'm here for only a short amount of time so it would be absurd to think I could construct a program and have continued participation after my departure. What it has done, though is given me some insight into the challenges that may not occur in America.
For one, it is not the parents who generally want their kids to be in golf. In fact, many of the parent don't know anything about golf and see it as an unwanted expense. I guess that's half true with poorer families in the US. Another issue is time. The students get about 1.5 days off from school, and Saturday, their whole day off, is usually used for religious events. Also, the members of the courses play on saturday mornings, so now we are down to just Wednesday afternoon (maybe) and Saturday afternoons. This wouldn't be bad if the kids had transportation to and from the course, but here in Pokhara, the best option is a driving range only, so to get any actual course time would be very difficult for a majority of children.
I'm working on problem solving, thinking of ways to get them all to one spot and bus them around, but to do something like that takes weeks to put together here. I guess I wish I had more time before I leave for the city, but I'll do what I can while I'm here and hope it makes a difference.
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| Working on toe-up to toe-up, and then L to L. Pretty sure the guy in the front had never touched a club before |
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| The woman on the left is always at the range and she picks the balls after each bucket, which cost people (not my students) npr 200 per bucket |
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| The black glove on the teenager on the right is brand new. He had one lesson yesterday and came back with a new glove. It's amazing because he probably had to give up something pretty good to buy it |
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| There's a goat in the middle of this picture that I always see on my walk to the driving range. Every time I walk by he just looks up and watches me so today I took his picture |
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| Road I take back to my room. You never know what you'll see on this walk, or any other in Nepal for that matter |
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