2011 World Junior Championships Blog by Colin McManus

March 5, 2011

Very quickly, I would like to share with everyone the experience of being drug tested.

As I forgot to mention in my previous blog, I was the random selection for drug testing after the free dance. So I’m sitting in the locker room taking off my costume and skates, and right as I am about to get up and leave, a man comes bolting into the locker room and tell me to sit back down. I was extremely confused (and frustrated because all I wanted to do was go to bed), and then I noticed the “Anti-Doping” vest he was wearing.

Helpless victim, take three.

I was escorted to the ISU Anti-Doping room where I was to stay until I was prepared to…well…you know…go through with the procedure (and of course I was not ready at all). Five bottles of water and 30 minutes later, I was ready to go (for lack of a better term). I was told to go into the bathroom and do my business into the provided cup, but I was to be watched the whole time — and yes, I mean the whole time. So I turned to the guy and I said, “Well, maybe you would like to take me out to dinner first?” He wasn’t buying it. Oh well, so business ensued, and I was on my merry way.

The next day, woke up, ate breakfast, and headed over to support Team USA men in their free skate. After the men’s event, we headed into downtown Gangneung to the “old market.” It was a maze of little shops and such, and it was kind of similar to an open-air market. It was scattered with produce stands and tiny restaurants. I have never seen so much seaweed (out of the ocean) in my life. I don’t know what it is about seaweed, but it really grosses me out. Maybe it didn’t gross me out as much as the dried stingray carcasses — or the bowl full of baby eels. I felt like I had walked into an episode of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman.” Either way, it was quite the cultural experience.

We headed back to the rink to support the ladies, and after that was over we ran to the other hotel for “late dinner.” The restaurant was jam-packed with people, and we had nowhere to sit. Just imagine a majority of Team USA huddling in a corner with plates full of food. So, being us, we were not going to tolerate that. We ended up commandeering one of the private party rooms, and we had a blast. As Charlotte Lichtmann described, “we went from drab to fab in a matter of seconds.”

I would just like to add, I am so proud of me. I ate jellyfish. Quick backstory as to why this was such a profound moment for me: When I was younger, vacationing in Florida, my cousins and I were stung from head to toe by a herd of jellyfish. I was basically scarred and have been semi-terrified of the ocean ever since. So fast-forward about eleven years to when I looked at the jellyfish on my plate and I said, “You may have stung me, but now I am going to eat you.” It was my sweet jellyfish revenge, and I really do mean sweet. The only three words I have to describe that whole experience would be sweet, crunchy, and fishy…oh yeah, and gross.”

Until next time,
Colin

March 4, 2011
Competition day! Last competition day of the season, might I add! I can’t believe that it is finally coming to an end, and we are closing the books on what has been our most amazing season yet — from the French Alps, to the Japanese countryside, finally to this snow covered village of South Korea.

The morning started off well. Good breakfast with Stasia, and a great free dance warm-up. I’m sure you will all be pleased to know that Ga Ja Hun from the Happy School of South Korea found us at the rink!! We were warming up before we took the ice for practice, and there was Ga Ja Hun! He came running over to us and gave Sasha his typical two great big hugs (though it was also Sasha who received the seven high-fives this time around). In true Ga Ja Hun fashion, he was there and gone in an instant. In related news, it turns out that we pass the “Happy School” on the way to the rink! I mean, it seems to be a flawless marketing plan. Who doesn’t want to send his or her child to a “Happy School”?

After warm-up we returned to the hotel, grabbed a quick lunch, and went into pre-competition power nap mode. We grabbed a quick dinner, and then headed out to the rink for the competition. Free dance went pretty well. Being in that final warm-up was surreal. The energy was so amazing, and the five minutes went by like five seconds. I kind of had my skating “moment of realization” right as I got into my opening pose for the program. I looked around and then I looked at Stasia, and I said to myself, “Holy (insert profanity here) I am about to do my Free Dance at Junior Worlds!”. Maybe not the best moment to be thinking that, but I knew that all I had to do was skate. So, I did. Haha. We threw down everything we had, and after that it was completely out of our hands.

Looking back on the whole experience, yes we may have dropped two spots, maybe we didn’t get levels we were hoping to get, and no, we did not get to skate in the gala, but I am so damn proud of us. There is nothing I would have done differently, and there is nothing that I regret. We had such an amazing experience here in South Korea, and we earned three spots for U.S. ice dance next year in Minsk. Now that work is over and we did everything we came here to do (and so much more), I can have FUN!

Thank you to everyone who has been sending us well-wishes and for everyone’s support while we have been here. Also, thank you to everyone who made this trip possible. I will never forget this experience for the rest of my life.

Until next time,
Colin

March 3, 2011
Hey everyone!

We are in 5th place after the short dance, and I feel like I am on top of the world! Yes, I realize that 5th place is not technically the “top of the world,” but regardless of that fact I could not be happier. Just making it here was the goal, and to now be in the final warm-up group has truly exceeded my expectations. I am so excited to compete free dance, and to have that amazing experience. I will never forget this feeling of sheer happiness and satisfaction in knowing that all that hard work has paid off (and hopefully will continue too). I know, don’t get too ahead of yourself, Colin. You’re not quite finished yet, but no matter what happens I know that I can only look back at this time and be very proud of myself.

Needless to say, yesterday (aside from competing) there was nothing too exciting going on. Had a great warm-up in the morning, quick lunch, then power napping (generally my pre-competition hobby of choice), and then we headed off to the rink to compete. Had an amazing skate, and another great draw (we skate 19th out of 20). We ended the night in the lobby with Dean and Charlotte, and we enjoyed hot chocolate (very well deserved might I add) and the latest Ke$ha music videos. All in all, a great end to a great day.

This morning I slept in. YES! Grabbed a late breakfast with Stasia, and we were joined by Tiffany and Gabriella (two of the French Ice Dancers). Anastasia and I proceeded to venture out into the village, and we had heard about this little coffee shop that was hidden somewhere in the maze of small shops. Luckily my dad knew exactly where it was. It’s called Angels-in-Us Coffee, and it is essentially the closest thing to Starbucks that we can find. The coffee was rather fantastic, and our coach, Sasha, eventually joined us.

Much to our surprise, we seemed to capture the attention of a VERY enthusiastic Korean man (maybe it was the Team USA jacket?). He came running over to us, and proceeded to introduce himself. His name was Ga Ja Hun, and his English was okay but he spoke very quickly and loudly, so it was difficult to understand what he was saying. He was nice enough to give us his business card, which said that he was from the “Happy School” (which made perfect sense, because this man was very, very, very happy). Along with his business card he also gave us February’s edition of Readers Digest with Bill Clinton’s face on it, and he gave us a big thumbs up and seemed to like Bill Clinton very much. He looked like he was in a bit of a rush, so he shook all of our hands about 5 times each, gave Sasha two great big hugs, high-fived my dad seven times — and then he went on his merry way. I can’t help but laugh even as I am typing this, because it was such a whirlwind experience. In a matter of two minutes he was there expressing his fondness for Bill Clinton, high-fiving my dad, and then he was gone just as quickly as he had arrived. I had been told before how polite and enthusiastic the people were here, and I guess meeting Ga Ja Hun from the Happy School of South Korea really proved that statement to be quite true.

March 1, 2011

Short blog today seeing as I have two practices. It generally wouldn’t be that bad, but it takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to the rink from the hotel. It really makes the schedule a bit difficult to deal with.

The day started off pretty well, good night’s sleep, breakfast with Jason and coach Kori for the second day. No, I did not have lychee again, although I have a great idea of how to better describe what the inside of it looks like: it’s basically like a miniature version of what Lady Gaga arrived to the Grammys in. Yes, lychee is now the Lady Gaga fruit. I hope that gives you a better image as to what I actually ate. I digress.

Since I have arrived in Korea, I have dropped my fever! Though I’ve completely lost the use of my voice and I’m still left with a pretty bad cough and chest congestion. Seeing as that hasn’t gotten much better, Kori (at breakfast) suggested that I check with the doctor to make sure that I don’t have pneumonia… (AHHH!) “Helpless victim motif” — take two — ensues. Oftentimes the flu can be a precursor to pneumonia, and the symptoms seemed to fit; but I had a check-up with the team doctor earlier today and thank goodness no pneumonia for me! I do, however, get more meds! I am just chock-full of antibiotics. Keep ’em comin’!

We have one more practice later tonight, and then we compete short dance tomorrow! We drew 25th out of 25 skaters(!) so, things are looking good!

February 28, 2011

Greetings from South Korea!

I made it! It wasn’t easy, but I am finally starting to feel better! The trip itself was not too bad. We were traveling for a total of about 24 hours. I did meet two very nice girls from Korea on the flight over. Their names were Mikki and Sophie, and they were studying abroad in America. They were nice enough to write down some key Korean phrases for me, and all they asked in return was that I made sure to friend them on Facebook! Looks like I’ve got some new pen pals! We finally arrived really late last night, and I got a good night’s sleep.

I got up this morning, and met Anastasia for breakfast. We ate with my roomie, Jason Brown, and his coach, Kori. Jason has been my roomie for all of our internationals this year, so we made sure that we were rooming together for this one. Breakfast was good. There was a wide variety of food. We did get a little adventurous though, and we all tried lychee for the first time. The only way I can describe it was like a really big grape without the skin. It was…interesting, and I probably will not be trying it again.

After breakfast we bundled up and ventured out into the tundra. It is so beautiful here! They only words I can use to describe it would be winter wonderland. In all seriousness, I feel like we are at the North Pole. The way the resort is set up is similar to a village. There are three hotels, and there are lots of little shops and restaurants scattered throughout. We took some time to walk around, and we planned out some gift buying.

Now we are off to eat some lunch, and then we have our first practice later tonight! I’m excited to get started!

February 25, 2011

There’s nothing better than spending the day before you leave for Junior Worlds at home in bed with a 102.4 degree temperature. Yup, after all that post-Nationals training and hard work I get the flu. Needless to say, I traded in my last day of training, run-throughs, and buckling down those last minute changes for a box of Saltine crackers, ginger ale, and prescription meds.

I was quite a pitiful sight this morning, and I took on the whole “helpless victim motif” with ease. I kept asking, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” The whole nine yards. It was rather embarrassing, and I’m glad no one was there to see it. Though now the tables have seemed to turn, and I am up for the fight! I am probably giving my poor mother a heart attack with all this flu business. I’m sure the last thing my mom wanted to hear from me was, “Hey, Mom! So I think I have the flu.” Yet, as mothers always do, she can still manage to help me get better while 300 miles away. Remember, mom is always just a text away! (Most recent texts being, “Bed, meds, and fluids!” “Don’t stop taking those pills!”) Love you, Mom.

Flu and pity party aside, I can’t express how surreal it is to think that tomorrow I am getting on a plane to go compete at Junior Worlds. Making it to this competition has been Anastasia’s and my main goal since March of last year, and now that it’s really happening I can’t help but be amazed. At this point in the season, which I have deemed the never-ending season, programs have become second nature. I feel so well trained, and I am so ready to get to South Korea. I’m not 100% sure how I am going to manage the trip there, but I foresee a heavy dosage of Advil PM in my near future.

Until next time!
Colin