One thing I really enjoy about PaddleWise is hearing from individuals who, because of their location, are on the geographical fringes of the sea kayaking world. I am thinking of Fernando down Argentine Way and Joshua in Israel, who today described his third kayaking lesson in a post to PaddleWise. It has been harder for them to get first hand information and gear. And, yet in their search for info, they give us a different way of looking at what is so familiar to many of us on this listserv. I feel somewhat privileged in being less than 20 minutes subway-n-walk from a great dealer right here in town where I can see the latest in gear. And earlier when I first started paddling, I was fortunate that Klepper had a shop in Manhattan that not only sold gear but was a mecca for paddlers. Any trip there would almost invariably coincide with a visit by someone from somewhere else or local to chat with about places to go and compare gear and experiences. Or you could talk to the people running the shop, including Dieter Stiller and hear about the glory days and exploits of earlier folding kayakers. Our friends, Joshua and Fernando, earlier would not have had that level of enrichment at their fingertips but now thanks to PaddleWise, they do. PaddleWise has the definite feel of that old Klepper shop in Union Square, Manhattan. Again, I think it is a two-way street. They learn and, in the questions they ask, so do we all. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Ralph's post reminds me of that somewhat hackneyed but accurate term, "virtual community." We are spread out all over this planet, but we form a community by our ability to communicate via this medium. Even though there is local kayak instruction here in Israel, I have been greatly aided by this discussion group and the various web sites on sea kayaking. Josh ============================================================================== Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Research Fellow Tel: [972] 3-640-6448 Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and Fax: [972] 3-641-5802 African Studies Tel Aviv University Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978 Israel E-mail:teitelba_at_ccsg.tau.ac.il www.dayan.org ============================================================================== *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> Doug Lloyd wrote: > > > I too have enjoyed hearing from Israel and Argentina. I was kind of hard on > > Fernando from Argentina last week over the illegal Nordkapp molds, but we > > have corresponded back-channel and I apologized for my tone. The last thing > > we want to do is put-off international newbies to PW. > > > > I've put a little acronym beside my computer ... It is based on the word "THINK":..... > > It is curious the way things come together .... For someone like me, who´s mother language is other than English, it is not rare to confuse words, or at least their meaning, anytime we read the mail. Sometimes we have to go back on the text to get to real meaning of the sentence. Same happens when we have to express ourselves. So when I read Doug´s reply I felt his hard tune but I was not sure if it was him or me misunderstanding his intentions. Some of you contacted me off-line, apologising for Doug´s tune, and confirming the friendly spirit of this list (including Doug, of course). My reply was that this is an international list, with people writing from all around the world. People of different races, different nations, different beliefs, different cultures .... and a major important think in common, SEA-KAYAKING. All the members of this list should be aware of this. Understanding this leave´s not place for bad feelings or bad intentions. When we write to the list we are only shearing information or feelings we consider important to share. An average of 30 messages a day takes much time to be read and much more time to be replied. Somehow, writing to the list is a generous attitude, as you share you knowledge and experience for free. So why should we put bad intentions on someone´s message ?. I don´t think of any of you spending your time on being rude. When I read Doug´s reply I didn´t understand why he sounded so hard, but he gave me the information I was looking for so I thought either he had a bad day or I was feeling more vulnerable than usual, or maybe both. Anyway I didn´t pay much attention. Here´s when Doug´s acronym came to me, because this is what I did. I thought, and soon I realised that even when he sounded rude he surely never meant it. So I thought FRIENDLY. This is the key. After all, this is what seakayaking is all about, FRIENDSHIP. THINK FRIENDLY when you write. THINK FRIENDLY when you read. THINK FRIENDLY WHEN YOU THINK !!!! Fernando López Arbarello uktkayak_at_interar.com.ar *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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