Confessions of a flowrider
This flowrider could not swim when she took on the job, but her biggest challenge was language barrier
Living in China's northernmost province Heilongjiang, famously coined Ice City for its snow festivals, can seem like a dream to those who dislike the heat.
But Miss Li Qi Qi wished for just the opposite - to soak up the sun and enjoy the waves.
So she seized the opportunity to work as a flowrider on board the Royal Caribbean cruises.
Flowriding is a sport that incorporates skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding and wakeboarding on a surfing simulator that uses jets of water to create an artificial wave.
The chirpy 24-year-old, who was in Singapore last month on board the Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas, told The New Paper: "It is like working and being on a holiday at the same time.
"I think I have visited more countries than regular people would have in a lifetime."
In the past year, she has travelled to over 10 destinations, such as Canada, Athens, New Jersey and the Caribbean islands.
Teaching up to 200 students in her classes daily, she sees students as young as eight and as old as 60.
Before each student tries the FlowRider, Miss Li teaches them basic poses, techniques and even advanced tricks, depending on how fast they pick up the skills.
Demonstrating an array of tricks on the FlowRider for the camera, it came as a surprise that Miss Li could not swim when she took on the job.
She said: "It does not matter if you know how to swim or not. That is one of the biggest misconceptions about the FlowRider.
"The flow of water on the FlowRider is only a few inches deep, therefore it does not matter if guests are able to swim or not."
However, she added that being able to swim might make guests more comfortable flowriding.
With a grin, Miss Li said that she could not imagine herself doing another job, adding: "First, I love sports, and second, I enjoy travelling. The team (on board) is like my second family."
But life on deck has not always been smooth sailing, especially when she had zero experience with flowriding prior to the job.
She said: "The FlowRider looks easy to master but it definitely is not.
"I have fallen over a thousand times and it took me three months to master it."
But her biggest challenge was overcoming the language barrier with the travellers.
"Guests from around the world have different accents that can be challenging to understand at times. What I do is make sure that I repeat instructions and also communicate through gestures," she said.
However, Miss Li is assured that her efforts are worth it, saying: "When my students finally gain confidence and master the FlowRider, that is when I feel the greatest joy."
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