2016 U.S. International Classic Blog #1

Hey guys!

It’s the redhead half of the team, reporting on days one and two of US. International Classic!

The week so far has been great, and totally painless logistically. The flight out Tuesday night went without a hitch, and we settled in fast. Jason Brown got in around 11:30 that same night same from Italy, and let me tell you after just having seen him skate in the Men’s Short, jet lag seems to not have any adverse effect on him.

Anyhow, Wednesday as a whole was fairly uneventful. We had a good unofficial practice, and hung around the hotel as the more of Team USA made it over the course of the day. Events like these are crazy, because when you’re not at the hotel you see well known skaters all over the place. I ran into Satoko Miyahara and Takahito Mura at a Whole Foods; rather I saw them while eating popcorn like a savage at a wooden table and I had to try and eat it in a slightly more dignified manner after realizing they were present. After dinner, we had our team meeting, took some photos featuring us all in different extremely patriotic masks and tiaras, and went to bed.

Thursday had a bit more going on.

All of Team USA had arrived by morning, and so after saying hello to some familiar faces and eating breakfast, we all made our way to the rink to warm up, and have our official practice in the competition rink.

We had a good skate, and the rink is beautiful and open, just as it was the two other times I’ve competed here (the first time I broke my toe when I was tackled by an extremely muscular juvenile pairs skater, but that’s a story for another time). At the draw after the practice, the team that drew number one received a Starbucks gift card from Charles Cyr, and I for one endorse instating the tradition of awarding gifts to whosoever chooses the number 1 out of the drawing bag.

We cooled down outside with Danielle and Daniel, went to a little neighborhood Italian place for lunch, and then yelled ourselves hoarse at the Men’s Short Program event. Team USA did wonderfully today, and it’s just the start of what is bound to be a wonderful event.

Thanks for reading, and see you guys tomorrow at the short dance!

Joe