In the U.S., general-level instructors teach adults, while those who teach children require higher qualifications. Because children have limited comprehension and are like blank slates, the importance Americans place on children's development far exceeds our imagination—not just in skiing.
      Given her background, I followed her at Jiandu Mountain on the first day. After watching a few of us ski, she taught us some unusual movements (neutral position with the upper body still, only knees and ankles moving; first extending knees and ankles forward to shift the center of gravity backward and sit, then retracting the ankles to push the center of gravity forward while entering a turn. She used a simple breakdown move to explain the movement of the center of gravity from back to front and the edge transition into the turn) and some fun games (taking off the skis and using shoes to parallel turn, then spinning and skiing switch in place—actually very challenging for balance). She was cheerful, enthusiastic, and graceful in her demeanor, instantly infecting me and making me feel like I had returned to my ten-year-old self. On the second day, I decided to get my wife and child to join and learn from her. She placed great emphasis on the child, kneeling down to make eye contact and communicate. Without hesitation, she specifically took the child up the slope and seriously told us, “She can understand. You don’t need to follow; I’ll teach her myself.” She trusted the child completely: “Come on, you can do it—follow me.” She knew how to guide the child so that the little one could effortlessly follow her tracks and meet her expectations. After one run down the beginner slope, she acted as if she had discovered a prodigy and told my child, “You’re absolutely amazing—you’re a skiing genius!” And she meant it wholeheartedly, without an ounce of pretense. As a result, that single run sparked my child’s interest in skiing, and in the following days, she kept begging us to go find Robin. In contrast, I had spent three years coaxing and persuading her to ski, once a year, carefully correcting her movements and forbidding her from playing freely—yet I never managed to spark any interest in skiing.
    Sincere encouragement and heartfelt praise can unlock a child’s potential beyond your imagination. Keeping things light, joyful, and pressure-free is the key to maintaining their interest.
    My child is 8 years old, timid and introverted.Facing a foreigner with limited language skills, she was even more nervous. But under Robin’s infectious energy, she quickly relaxed and happily learned and played along. On the first day, we did the snowplow; the next day, seeing that the child was doing fine, I took her down the bumps on Run 4—the four consecutive three-bump sets. Robin saw this and told me not to do it, saying the child was getting too tense on the bumps, her leg muscles were overworking, which would affect her enjoyment and thus her interest. So she took over to teach her parallel skiing. She had us take off our skis and sit on the snow, swinging our legs side to side like windshield wipers, then adding slight resistance to feel the muscle engagement on the sides when twisting the ankles—not the feeling of pressing the forefoot down when carving. The child’s ability to pick things up amazed me; she could easily handle the roller sections, keeping her center of gravity accurately and steadily. Then she flew off the back moguls, and after the final airtime, she shifted her weight forward and landed smoothly and confidently.
    My wife and I fell behind and both wiped out... This time, I genuinely gave her a thumbs-up: “You’re better than me—I didn’t even know how to parallel ski after a year and a half, let alone jump off moguls like that!”
    The child was thrilled and later used a scrap of paper to draw a wobbly picture of Robin skiing. My wife expressed her gratitude to Robin by giving her a small craft. Robin was delighted to see the child’s gift and earnestly asked, “Can I print your drawing on my business card?” You can imagine how happy the child was... When Robin left and the child went back to Guangdong, I mentioned that I’d seen Robin post the child’s drawing on the Vail Weibo account @staycool. The child burst into tears... I didn’t know how to comfort her. Maybe next year I’ll take her to Lake Tahoe to see Robin, or maybe next year she’ll have forgotten it all...