Waiting, Pacing and Pedaling
It’s a little under 2 weeks until my first day of training as a paraveterinary and I can’t wait!
I’ve been reading Dutch books and watching Dutch videos about animal care to boost my Dutch language skills (alongside my regular online Dutch lessons), and generally pacing around the house like a lion in a cage! Today the lion got on his bike and cycled to the animal hotel where I’ll do the animal care part of my internship for 200 hours. It’s some 10 km away and I wanted to see what sort of physical condition I’d be in by the time I got there.
Actual Animals
The route took me up onto a bridge over the River Nederrijn. I remembered, as I looked down, learning with curious wonder about the biology, chemistry, geology and physics of the ocean. And then how I lost that magic when those wonders were reduced into numbers and computer code in my professional life. Somewhere past the trees is my new future in a world I can live and work alongside living, breathing creatures of God. No numbers, no representation. Actual animals!
I’m Stronger!
Some things will be against me. I’m learning in a second language. And I’m on the ‘wrong’ side of the average age of the students (“30 – 40”). (In fact, running some numbers through co-pilot, I’m told in many realistic cases, at age 55 (only just; my birthday is within the next 2 weeks!) I’m more than 3 times the standard deviation above the mean, which is statistically “very rare.”
Very rare. I think I can live with that! 🙂
On the positive side, I’m not going to confuse people with my age by telling them (as I have done) that I’m 45 and not 54 (pronounced as “four and fifty” in Dutch; I suppose I should be grateful people were happy (or polite enough) to think I was 9 years younger.) Fifty five and five and fifty is 55 whichever way around I’m going to end up saying it!
Anyway. I reckon I can do it! And besides…I’ve got help! 😉
End Beginning in Sight!
I freewheeled down the slope off the bridge and landed up well within earshot of the animal hotel. Beautiful barking; call of the tame 😝
Made it! (Obvious really, because if I didn’t I’d have carried on till I did! 😉 ). 10 km in half an hour, so the route’s easily doable by bike, even with my dodgy knee! I cycled home a different, slightly longer route for some variation. And now the wind was with me!
But the hard part is still ahead of me…waiting until I start my training!
