Greetings from Salt Lake City!

Stasia and I are having a great time! This is the first time we have had the privilege of competing in our home country for an international event, and it is truly an honor! We feel a great sense of pride, which makes us even more excited to have the same opportunity in Skate America! A few other reasons why we LOVE competing in the US of A:

  1. NO CONVERTERS NEEDED! You know when you spend hours and hours packing for a trip, after running through your list millions of times, you get in the car to the airport and you say, “You know, I feel like I forgot to pack something.” Well, that something is called a converter, and you are kind of screwed without one.
  2. REASONABLE TIME DIFFERENCES! Who likes doing math? Not this guy. I mean, I can handle the art of subtracting one to three hours from Eastern Time on a good day…but when we get past five hours. I don’t bother trying. Eastern Europe is a real issue. Second grade math issues aside, it’s easier to keep in touch with people back home, but that doesn’t mean I am good at it. Hey Mom!
  3. FOOD! Not that I am a picky eater, but when you are at a banquet in God-Knows-Where, something that’s labeled “Meat Dish” just isn’t good enough for me. So, I am enjoying America where if it looks like chicken, there is a good chance it is chicken.

I could go on, but I will spare you. Unfortunately, there is not that much to do here. Let me rephrase that, there is stuff to do, but you kind of need a car to do these things. The other day, Carter Jones, Richard Sharpe, Stasia, and I managed to grab a hotel shuttle that took us to Trolley Square. It was a pretty neat place, and there was a LuLuLemon and Whole Foods right next to each other. Two things we don’t have in Delaware. All of us were in heaven!

Short dance went pretty well. It wasn’t our best skate, but it wasn’t our worst. We have a good amount of time before Skate America to work out the kinks. We are really excited for the free dance! After the SD, we wanted to go back to the rink to watch the men’s short. We sat in the lobby waiting and waiting for the event shuttle to come, but it was 20 minutes late. We see a group of skaters walking into the lobby. They proceeded to tell us that the event shuttle had gotten into an accident right down the street!! Hotel shuttle to the rescue one more time!! Luckily we made it just in time!! More from Salt Lake tomorrow!!

-Colin