SHAFTWAXER

And with that, the WGI Northeast Power Regional is done. In all, a good weekend. Here’s a tip. If you plan on going into Canada, even to just drive through it, you need your birth certificate or a passport now. Things have changed, and I completely missed the memo on that one. We did discover, however, in lieu of having either of those things, your drivers license and a Sam’s Club card might do in a pinch. Suffice it to say, I think I’m going to get a passport soon.

I met and talked with this beautiful girl from Sonnor, an independent world guard from Quebec. Liked their show as well, I was interested in seeing how to make a world class show work with only 8 members on the floor. But this girl was fascinating. Her command of English was extremely solid, especially coming from a part of Canada that really don’t care much for anything not in French. She did bring up a really interesting point, listening to an American speak French (i.e. me) has just the same effect as when we listen to people from Australia or the UK speak with their accent. To quote my new Canadian friend, “it’s exotic, almost erotic.” She’s completely right. I could have listened to her read to me from a Calculus text book all day and night and not gotten tired of it.

As an aside, guards from the East coast are for the most part unreceptive to groups that are not also from the East coast. They tend to have a slightly icy, almost disinterested disposition when a guard comes over from somewhere like… I don’t know… say… Michigan. When they were announcing the groups for the retreat in finals, Third Edition received quite a significant crowd response. They came in 2nd place and made block again, but to be able to come to slightly hostile territory and win over people with the quality and emotion of your show… In many ways, that’s better than hitting a block score. Sitting in the crowd during finals after we performed before the awards, it was cool to overhear other people talking about “that cool butterfly guard.”

So what have we learned from all of this? I think it is safe to say that I have a superior command of French. And German is a close second.