February 12, 2006

Happy New Year, although my skating year isn’t over yet, as I am still training for my last competition of the 2005-2006 year, the World Junior Championships in Slovenia. This is the second time that I will be competing in Slovenia; my first competition there was the Triglav Trophy in 2001, my very first international competition.

After Skate Canada, I returned to the U.S. without any of the travel difficulty that I had going to Canada and when I returned, I had a week to get ready for the Detroit Skating Club’s Hurricane Relief Show. The skates that I had been wearing for most of my season were starting to breakdown, not fit properly, and the alignment was starting to affect my skating technique, so I received a new pair from Jackson. That’s when I started having equipment problems. (Before I go on I do need to say that I really like the new hinge boots, and I do not want to return to the traditional style of boot.) The first pair I received had to be returned, because of improper fit; the second pair we could not get the right blade mounted to any alignment that would feel comfortable, so I received a third pair. This pair seemed to work better, although when I skated in this pair, the left boot and blade did not feel correct. By this time I was beginning to feel that I was losing most of my jump technique by trying to adjust to each pair of new boots. In the end, I decided to use a right boot from the newest pair and the left boot from an older pair. That would be the best I could do with the little remaining time I had to train for Marshall’s and the Grand Prix Final. I was able to skate and train this way, but I never felt completely comfortable, and probably began losing my confidence at a time in my season when I should have been very comfortable with my skating and training.

I think that most of the national competitors from the Detroit Skating Club did the Hurricane Relief show; in addition, Matt Savoie was asked to skate in the show also. There was a party afterwards, and one of the big highlights for some of us was the chocolate fountain. Charlie White and I did try a few “daring” delights, like chicken and shrimp dipped in chocolate (and yes, it tasted just as you would expect, sugar and grease—not highly recommended for a figure skater’s regular diet either)!

I can probably mention it now, as some of “Ice Diaries” has already aired; I have been a part of that documentary, and I have been video-taped and interviewed for the show since early fall, the week before Campbell’s competition. I was supposed to be followed only at Skate Canada and U.S. Nationals, but as it turned out, I was video-taped during every competition and show that I was a part of since the Campbell’s competition. The production crew followed me back to Ohio after my training day, and they even attended some of my classes on campus. The main reason that I agreed to do this show was that I needed the income for my training, but in the end it was great media training and a good learning experience for me.

It was also a very different learning experience to be involved with this year’s Marshall’s competition. It was an “American Idol” type of competition with the audience involved in the voting; Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, and Peter Carruthers as judges; and Kurt Browning as the host. I also had to make sure that I was finished with my first semester final exams before I went to this competition in Boston, because I would return to Detroit for a morning practice and then board another plane for the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo, Japan that same day. (My semester finals were originally scheduled during the week of the Grand Prix Final.) Of course, the production crew for “Ice Diaries” was in Boston taping also, and I did an interview there with Jennifer Kirk, which was to be included in one of the episodes.

I was looking forward to going to the final, as it was one of my goals for this season; however, I thought that the American team would be a little larger than it turned out to be. A team of one going all the way to Asia seemed somewhat lonesome, and perhaps a little too close to nationals for some skaters, but I really wanted the experience of competing at the final, and taking the long trip to Tokyo. Usually my internationals have been in Europe or North America, so this would help me learn how to adjust to competing so far away. (Also, I believe next year’s Worlds will be at the same arena—another reason for me to be there this year.

The flight to Tokyo was 13 hours, but at least I didn’t have to change planes or have long layovers at any other airport along the way. I did some letter writing, reading, and studying some of my French (I was skipping the second semester class and was planning to take the third semester instead, so I thought I’d better look at the work that I would be skipping over). I watched part of a movie, slept, ate, had time to do nothing, and still hadn’t arrived at the airport in Tokyo! When we (my coach Theresa, my mom, and the “Ice Diaries” crew) arrived it was quite dark, so we didn’t see much of the city during our one and a half hour bus trip to the hotel.

The next morning when I looked outside of my hotel room window I couldn’t believe the number of skyscrapers that I saw. They seemed almost as endless as the corn or soybean fields back in Ohio! It was nice to see the mountains in the distance, though. (I might add for those who live in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. that the sun was shining everyday that I was in Japan! I’m not sure I saw that much sunshine in Ohio in all of November and December combined.) Since I did not have practice until much later in the day, my team leader took us on one of the city trains to an outdoor shopping area to walk around. Every train that we saw was packed with people all crammed onboard, and ours was no different. One thing I noticed while I was walking around in Tokyo was that all of the restaurants have displays of plastic food in their windows! I guess that gives you a better idea of what it might be that you are eating (not that anything was recognizable). I did manage to try some octopus that week, but that was the extent of my culinary delights. I also had not realized that drivers in Tokyo drive on the same side of the road as in England, the left side, so when you are walking through the city you would stay to the left side when you are approaching people coming in your direction.

Practices at the arena were quite interesting, too. As I skated, I noticed that the ice was very loud beneath me. I found out later that underneath us was a swimming pool, and that we were really in a natatorium. Another interesting thing was the unbelievable number of Japanese camera crews and photographers that were at the arena. I think that at one end of the ice I saw nothing but zoom lens cameras, and while skating around that end I could hear the continual sound of cameras clicking. (The “Ice Diaries” cameras no longer seemed a nuisance to me, but I realized that this experience had been teaching me how to become numb to cameras in my face—by the way, the “Ice Diaries” crew was always very pleasant and polite; I just had my privacy interrupted periodically!) My practices were going well, but I was still having boot issues and they were causing some problems with my left foot. Considering the trouble that I was having with my skates, I competed fairly well. I ended up sixth overall, in my first Grand Prix Final.

Before we had to leave to go back home, we had an extra day in Tokyo to go sightseeing. I started the day off with the harbor boat tour, and then a visit to one of the religious shrines and the nearby souvenir booths (with the surrounding mobs of people!) and aromas in the air of the local Japanese dishes. We also visited Ropongee Hills, which, I believe, was the tallest building in Tokyo. We went to the top observation floor, and could see the entire city of Tokyo in every direction, and the mountains, including Mt. Fuji. It was amazing to see skyscrapers everywhere we looked, and to see how the Japanese used the rooftops of their buildings, placing gardens, tennis courts, running tracks, etc. on top of their buildings.

After returning to Ohio, my body really discovered jet lag the next week; I took two days off from training, but I wasn’t able to sleep the night through for over a week. That didn’t help much, as I had to get ready for U.S. Nationals quickly. Bowling Green State University and Bowling Green Skating Club had a nationals send-off for me two days after I came home from Japan; some of my friends from the Detroit area, and from Bowling Green skated in it, but I was not ready to put my skates back on to perform yet. As it was, I had to do the Champions Ice Revue at DSC that Friday, where I did my short program even though I was still recovering from jet lag.

Christmas was the next weekend, and having been to Marshall’s and then Japan in December, I hadn’t had much time to even think about the holidays, let alone get ready for them. I also had nationals on my mind, and skates that were not very comfortable for me to skate in. Because the holidays were a very busy time for me, I didn’t get to visit my relatives for Christmas.

Probably the most surprising news at nationals was that Michelle Kwan would not be competing, but that she would still try to receive a spot on the Olympic team. I stayed in Ohio until the day before the short program, just to use the extra time for training. The flight to St. Louis was only 1-2 hours long also. I had to do three interviews after arriving in St. Louis, and I was able to watch some of the junior free dance competition afterwards. My practices on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday went well, but I was not happy about my competition programs. Last year when I came to nationals I got the flu at the same time that I had to compete; this year I was one of the fortunate ones that did not get the flu. I was assigned to the Junior World Championships in Slovenia after nationals, which would mean that I would have to change my short program to the requirements for this season, and also shorten my long program—in other words, try to keep the same elements in a shorter amount of time.

My new semester at school has started, I’m busy again with training, and I have another new pair of skates that I am trying to adjust to. They seem to feel better than the last pair, and I am able to work on some things again that I was unable to do in my last pair. After Junior Worlds (which is during my spring break at school), I will be involved with some shows in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois, and also some shows with Champions on Ice tour. That should keep me busy this spring and summer!

I’d really like to thank all of you who sent me the encouraging e-mails and notes this season; they have been a great help to me after a disappointing skate at nationals and they are especially supportive to me as I continue to train and set new goals with my skating.

Alissa