98% impressive.
• In the morning, I flipped through a magazine that had an article about London and how it's "the new New York". It really made me want to go to London.
• I took pictures of myself in the morning and I kinda liked the way I looked, yay!
• I worked on my project the entire fucking day! I was so productive, it's scary! I worked, worked, had a quick lunch, worked some more, went skating, came back, worked some more. AND I'M DONE WITH THE 30+ PAGES! Phew.
• Let's talk more about the skating, shall we?
I decided to not watch the exhibition and go skating instead. There are two sessions at the Olympiyskiy on Sundays, from 5 till 6 and from 6:15 till 7. I went to the first one. At first, I was at the wrong ticket-place. A concert of Rihanna took place at the main arena, so there were people selling tickets etc. Then I finally made it to the right place, waited in line for some ten minutes, paid 200 rubles and got my ticket.
I went to the rink and found the lockers full of little girls in figure skating gear. I changed in the restrooms, which are kinda filthy, then put on my skates and went on ice, which was already full.
I got adjusted to the "extra toe-pick" pretty quickly, but I had to tighten my boots several times, especially in the hook-area. I didn't dare to do much because there were so many people and I didn't quite feel perfectly in control and confident in the new skates yet, so I spent the hour practicing edges and doing some crossovers and three-turns and trying one or two spins at the very end.
Now, lemme talk about the people who were there. You know, it's very humbling to skate in Russia. Why? Because there's little girls landing perfect double axels and triple-triple combinations right beside you, little girls working on their Biellmann spins and sit spins and layback spins. When I say little, I mean 10-year-olds (or at least they looked like 10 year olds to me). It's kinda amazing to see all those little children do these hard elements!
There were two girls in particular whose jumps and physique were gorgeous. And then there were even younger girls and boys, already jumping singles and doubles and moving across the ice with such ease. There was one older serious figure skater girl, she might have been in her early teens or so - she did some lovely spins, too, like a spin in which she held up her leg in a split in front of her, or one of those "blade-to-the-head-from-behind-your-back" spins. She also landed a 2A right beside me as I was passing by and it was a little scary.
Then there were a few adults, some of them training in a group with a coach, some of them just practicing. And they were jumping singles and doubles, too! Seriously, I was so jealous and impressed at the same time! I was like slfjaalfj I want to learn this, too!
The coaches... The coaches were a bit scary, especially some of them, yelling at their kids and correcting positions.
There were some adult beginners with an instructor, too, as well as a few people who just skated around in circles. But 98% of the skaters on the ice were figure skaters - either kids or adults or coaches.
The downside of this was that there was very little room and you constantly had to dodge some little girls (or they had to dodge you) or some big people, too.
My skates feel quite alright, though it will take a while for them to feel comfortable - I noticed how stiff they are esp. when I skated backwards, crossovers and such.
My LFO sucks so bad. It made me very frustrated. And it's weird because my LBO actually is quite alright, as is my RFO. Seriously, what is the matter with my left foot?!
• I kinda wondered how Johnny Weir survived there. Because he's such a clean-freak and the rink + the facilities are anything BUT clean. :D
• The market was still there, so I bought some bakery goods (though the stand where I bought those yummy things with raisins was closing already, wah!) and a red pepper, then went home.
• I kinda want a skipping-rope?
• My internet has been disgustingly slow today in the evening. I managed to download Johnny's EX and it was beautiful. How come he didn't show his new exhibition program, though, the I feel good one? Or is that for next season?
• I'm probably going skating again tomorrow, there's a session at 1:30pm - I hope it will be less crowded!
• I took pictures of myself in the morning and I kinda liked the way I looked, yay!
• I worked on my project the entire fucking day! I was so productive, it's scary! I worked, worked, had a quick lunch, worked some more, went skating, came back, worked some more. AND I'M DONE WITH THE 30+ PAGES! Phew.
• Let's talk more about the skating, shall we?
I decided to not watch the exhibition and go skating instead. There are two sessions at the Olympiyskiy on Sundays, from 5 till 6 and from 6:15 till 7. I went to the first one. At first, I was at the wrong ticket-place. A concert of Rihanna took place at the main arena, so there were people selling tickets etc. Then I finally made it to the right place, waited in line for some ten minutes, paid 200 rubles and got my ticket.
I went to the rink and found the lockers full of little girls in figure skating gear. I changed in the restrooms, which are kinda filthy, then put on my skates and went on ice, which was already full.
I got adjusted to the "extra toe-pick" pretty quickly, but I had to tighten my boots several times, especially in the hook-area. I didn't dare to do much because there were so many people and I didn't quite feel perfectly in control and confident in the new skates yet, so I spent the hour practicing edges and doing some crossovers and three-turns and trying one or two spins at the very end.
Now, lemme talk about the people who were there. You know, it's very humbling to skate in Russia. Why? Because there's little girls landing perfect double axels and triple-triple combinations right beside you, little girls working on their Biellmann spins and sit spins and layback spins. When I say little, I mean 10-year-olds (or at least they looked like 10 year olds to me). It's kinda amazing to see all those little children do these hard elements!
There were two girls in particular whose jumps and physique were gorgeous. And then there were even younger girls and boys, already jumping singles and doubles and moving across the ice with such ease. There was one older serious figure skater girl, she might have been in her early teens or so - she did some lovely spins, too, like a spin in which she held up her leg in a split in front of her, or one of those "blade-to-the-head-from-behind-your-back" spins. She also landed a 2A right beside me as I was passing by and it was a little scary.
Then there were a few adults, some of them training in a group with a coach, some of them just practicing. And they were jumping singles and doubles, too! Seriously, I was so jealous and impressed at the same time! I was like slfjaalfj I want to learn this, too!
The coaches... The coaches were a bit scary, especially some of them, yelling at their kids and correcting positions.
There were some adult beginners with an instructor, too, as well as a few people who just skated around in circles. But 98% of the skaters on the ice were figure skaters - either kids or adults or coaches.
The downside of this was that there was very little room and you constantly had to dodge some little girls (or they had to dodge you) or some big people, too.
My skates feel quite alright, though it will take a while for them to feel comfortable - I noticed how stiff they are esp. when I skated backwards, crossovers and such.
My LFO sucks so bad. It made me very frustrated. And it's weird because my LBO actually is quite alright, as is my RFO. Seriously, what is the matter with my left foot?!
• I kinda wondered how Johnny Weir survived there. Because he's such a clean-freak and the rink + the facilities are anything BUT clean. :D
• The market was still there, so I bought some bakery goods (though the stand where I bought those yummy things with raisins was closing already, wah!) and a red pepper, then went home.
• I kinda want a skipping-rope?
• My internet has been disgustingly slow today in the evening. I managed to download Johnny's EX and it was beautiful. How come he didn't show his new exhibition program, though, the I feel good one? Or is that for next season?
• I'm probably going skating again tomorrow, there's a session at 1:30pm - I hope it will be less crowded!