Diving - The First Attempt
So on to the diving. The dive courses were one of the few things we had booked in advance: I was going to become a PADI open water diver and James was going to get his Advanced Diver certification. The dive shop was owned by a German company (sounded safe and solid!) and had some good reviews, so we were looking forward to our courses. However, it turned out that those reviews were for their Crown Point branch and there was not much of the famed German gründlichkeit (thoroughness) to be seen when we turned up at the Speyside branch.
It had all looked so promising. The night before we started, the girl from the diveshop had given us our theory books, so that we could start reading, which was nice. When we turned up at the required time, the dive master had not shown up yet. When he did, it became clear he was looking after a group of divers (who were already qualified and just came to do a couple of dives a day, so he had to sort out all their tanks, and ferry them to and from the dive boat) as well as be the trainer for both James and me. This seemed a bit much and it was very unclear how this was going to work, but we were relaxed enough to go with the flow. Without much explanation, I was plonked down in a back room to watch the dive videos that accompanied the book in the company of the diveshop girl, who turned out to excel at the Speyside sulk and really did not do any work at all. James was kitted out very hastily - noone asked for his diver certification nor showed him the qualifications of the instructor. This did not feel great. And we really should have left when they then proceeded to drive off for the first dive without James. But after discussing our concerns with Spencer, as our dive master turned out to be called, and agreeing that he would clearly explain what was happening when, we decided to proceed.
Although chaotic, the first part went fine. The videos were a little cringeworthy and a bit too self-advertising for PADI (the international dive organisation), but they got through what you needed to learn. The timing for the first training session in the pool was a bit random as it had to fit with Spencer preparing tanks for the regular divers, being James' dive instructor and dealing with general enquiries that the dive girl did not deal with i.e. all enquiries). But it was all quite easy so it did not really matter. We then did a real dive in a shallow bit of water and that was the first day of the course completed. It was allright, but not great. We did not really practice any of the skills that we had practiced in the pool and it all seemed a bit rushed.
At the beginning of the second day, I was told to spend the morning reading the theory books and that we'd have another dive in the afternoon. I settled on the hotel verandah overlooking the sea and was reading away when the dive girl in her inimitably Speyside sulk ordered me to go and watch the video straight away. Slightly puzzled, I asked why, and got a grumbly answer that there were other students who had to use the video player afterwards and that I needed to see part 3 right now. This did not quite make sense, but as I thought I may need it for the afternoon dive, I went along and watched part 3. Then got offered to watch part 4. I enquired whether this would not inconvenience the people who had to watch the video but just got a grunt. I guess not then. I was getting a little irritated now that I was rushed around and it was not clear how the whole 'course' was hanging together. I was also getting a bit worried: noone talked to me or asked me about what bits I had and had not seen or read and they were about to throw me in the sea. When Spencer could not really explain what was going to happen when, I decided to stop doing anything until he could explain how this whole course built up and what parts were going to happen on each day. Spencer seemed to find this slightly annoying as his view was 'I am the teacher, you are the pupil - I will tell you what to do when it is time', which, to put it mildly, does not quite agree with my learning style, especially when I have not yet build up trust in the teacher. But we managed to get to a point where he had explained the activities of each day. This helped a bit. James had to go through the same process as it was not clear what he had to do for his advanced course either. So it was still not feeling great, but we felt a bit sorry for Spencer as he was trying but just had way too many things to try and cover.
Unfortunately, the situation was about to blow. Or rather, I was. On passing through reception I had noticed people were watching one of the World Cup games. This was very normal until I put a few things together and worked out that I had needed to watch the video in the morning so that the TV could be used for the football. This was quite allright and I would not have had a problem with it at all if they had not lied to me about it. So in addition to being rushed all the time and having to fit my course randomly around the the very limited availability of the trainer, I now had to make way for yet another thing. And they had not been straight with me. I had had quite enough.
When I asked the diveshop girl why she had not explained to me that the TV was needed for the football, the Speyside sulk turned into the Speyside snarl. I started off asking the question nicely but she initially refused to talk to me, then accused me of lying (apparently I had asked her whether I could watch the video) at which point I have to admit I did blow - I will not tolerate being accused of lying. When Spencer subsequently could not quite explain how the videa bits linked together to the dives, I decided to quit for the day and agreed to let them know whether I wanted to continue or not. I had lost all faith in this dive outfit - it just did not have the capacity to run courses in parallel with organising dive trips for qualified divers. This was a shame, because this meant I still was not qualified, whereas James was now close to completing his Advanced Course. We decided that James would complete his course as planned the next day (he only had one more dive to go), and that we would then go back to Crown Point to find another dive shop where I could finish my course.
It had all looked so promising. The night before we started, the girl from the diveshop had given us our theory books, so that we could start reading, which was nice. When we turned up at the required time, the dive master had not shown up yet. When he did, it became clear he was looking after a group of divers (who were already qualified and just came to do a couple of dives a day, so he had to sort out all their tanks, and ferry them to and from the dive boat) as well as be the trainer for both James and me. This seemed a bit much and it was very unclear how this was going to work, but we were relaxed enough to go with the flow. Without much explanation, I was plonked down in a back room to watch the dive videos that accompanied the book in the company of the diveshop girl, who turned out to excel at the Speyside sulk and really did not do any work at all. James was kitted out very hastily - noone asked for his diver certification nor showed him the qualifications of the instructor. This did not feel great. And we really should have left when they then proceeded to drive off for the first dive without James. But after discussing our concerns with Spencer, as our dive master turned out to be called, and agreeing that he would clearly explain what was happening when, we decided to proceed.
Although chaotic, the first part went fine. The videos were a little cringeworthy and a bit too self-advertising for PADI (the international dive organisation), but they got through what you needed to learn. The timing for the first training session in the pool was a bit random as it had to fit with Spencer preparing tanks for the regular divers, being James' dive instructor and dealing with general enquiries that the dive girl did not deal with i.e. all enquiries). But it was all quite easy so it did not really matter. We then did a real dive in a shallow bit of water and that was the first day of the course completed. It was allright, but not great. We did not really practice any of the skills that we had practiced in the pool and it all seemed a bit rushed.
At the beginning of the second day, I was told to spend the morning reading the theory books and that we'd have another dive in the afternoon. I settled on the hotel verandah overlooking the sea and was reading away when the dive girl in her inimitably Speyside sulk ordered me to go and watch the video straight away. Slightly puzzled, I asked why, and got a grumbly answer that there were other students who had to use the video player afterwards and that I needed to see part 3 right now. This did not quite make sense, but as I thought I may need it for the afternoon dive, I went along and watched part 3. Then got offered to watch part 4. I enquired whether this would not inconvenience the people who had to watch the video but just got a grunt. I guess not then. I was getting a little irritated now that I was rushed around and it was not clear how the whole 'course' was hanging together. I was also getting a bit worried: noone talked to me or asked me about what bits I had and had not seen or read and they were about to throw me in the sea. When Spencer could not really explain what was going to happen when, I decided to stop doing anything until he could explain how this whole course built up and what parts were going to happen on each day. Spencer seemed to find this slightly annoying as his view was 'I am the teacher, you are the pupil - I will tell you what to do when it is time', which, to put it mildly, does not quite agree with my learning style, especially when I have not yet build up trust in the teacher. But we managed to get to a point where he had explained the activities of each day. This helped a bit. James had to go through the same process as it was not clear what he had to do for his advanced course either. So it was still not feeling great, but we felt a bit sorry for Spencer as he was trying but just had way too many things to try and cover.
Unfortunately, the situation was about to blow. Or rather, I was. On passing through reception I had noticed people were watching one of the World Cup games. This was very normal until I put a few things together and worked out that I had needed to watch the video in the morning so that the TV could be used for the football. This was quite allright and I would not have had a problem with it at all if they had not lied to me about it. So in addition to being rushed all the time and having to fit my course randomly around the the very limited availability of the trainer, I now had to make way for yet another thing. And they had not been straight with me. I had had quite enough.
When I asked the diveshop girl why she had not explained to me that the TV was needed for the football, the Speyside sulk turned into the Speyside snarl. I started off asking the question nicely but she initially refused to talk to me, then accused me of lying (apparently I had asked her whether I could watch the video) at which point I have to admit I did blow - I will not tolerate being accused of lying. When Spencer subsequently could not quite explain how the videa bits linked together to the dives, I decided to quit for the day and agreed to let them know whether I wanted to continue or not. I had lost all faith in this dive outfit - it just did not have the capacity to run courses in parallel with organising dive trips for qualified divers. This was a shame, because this meant I still was not qualified, whereas James was now close to completing his Advanced Course. We decided that James would complete his course as planned the next day (he only had one more dive to go), and that we would then go back to Crown Point to find another dive shop where I could finish my course.
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