First fast, then slow.

'Ready?!', my instructor yells from behind, while holding my board. My gaze is fixed on the beach, knowing that any moment now, I'll have to paddle as fast as I can. The instructor starts counting down from three - my signal to start paddling. When he reaches one, he shouts 'Get up' and gives me a strong push. I'm now in the middle of the wave, lifting my upper body with my arms up to chest level. I plant my right foot - my stronger leg - as far forward as possible and finally push myself off the board, throwing my left leg to the middle of the board. Feel the wave, he told us during the theoretical part. So I shift my weight forward, slightly bending my knees - and I actually stand up on my very first wave. Can't believe it!

For this one moment, it was absolutely worth getting out of bed early today. Around 8:00 AM, the three of us - Lisa, Angi, and myself - stand in front of one of the warungs - that's what the small beach stalls are called - all wearing a super nice neon green long-sleeved shirt and listening attentively to our guide's words. He explains what we need to pay attention to and shows us the different positions and movements we'll need on the board in the water later. It's a bit too much theory. But after a few dry-run exercises of the movements on the beach, we finally head into the water.

Every beginning is difficult. I simply lack the necessary body tension and I'm too hectic in the wave, causing me to lose balance time and time again and not being able to get up on my feet. So I ride a few waves on my knees, which is already a lot of fun. But after seeing how well Lisa is already doing, of course, I want to catch up. 'First fast, then slow', my instructor says in his broken German. By that, he means that I should paddle really hard in the beginning, in the wave itself, but then perform the individual rehearsed movements slowly and controlled. He lets me watch a few people riding the wave, and indeed, they really take their time to fully stand up.

I try a few more times, and I manage to catch another wave, but somehow, it just doesn't work anymore. I'm starting to lose strength and I also notice that the constant up and down of the waves is making me seasick. So after about 1.5 hours in the water, I decide to call it quits.

As scared as I was at the beginning, it ended up being so much fun. But when you leave the water, you also realize how exhausting the constant paddling, getting up, and getting back on the board actually is. My feet are slightly shaky, and I'm incredibly grateful for the water that's offered to me right away. Absolutely fantastic experience. I'll probably never become a pro, but I think everyone should give it a try. You feel wild and free :)