The Skating Regulars

A cold rink, with garish lighting from the children's play area above. A 30 minute music CD on repeat, with the 24 minute mark belonging to Shania Twain's "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!". A sheet of ice, scratched with the tracings of hundreds of blades, with pictures of coaches past and present staring down on it. A slight chill in the air, almost unnoticeable with the movement of skaters, circling endless around the too small surface.   In this setting, skaters come and other skaters go, but a core group of determined souls skate on forever, circling the rink and then leaving, only to return again, observed by huddled parents and the rink staff. And so I present to you, The Skating Regulars:

Twizzles:
One of the coaches at the rink, with Bieber-like hair that he frequently flicks back from his eyes ever so genteely. So named because, in the course of instructing people how not to fall over, he frequently becomes bored and launches into advanced footwork sequences, generally consisting of a series of super fast turns called "Twizzles". And thus a nickname was born. Not much personality evident from a distance, unless admiring one's posture in the rink glass could be considered a personality.


Crazy Dancing Guy:
Skates to the beat of his own drum. Listens to his MP3 player and "dances to it". His moves are not what would fall under the category of conventional skating movements, but he makes it work. He is a skater's worst nightmare, in that he is simultaneously not terribly in control (too much crazy dancing, I'm afraid) and completely unpredictable, swerving as the music moves him. Combined with his frequent haphazard stops in the middle of the rink to change the song, and you have recipe for potential disaster. No camel spins when he's around!

Figckey Guy
Crazy Dancing Guy's figurative cousin (I've seen his hip wiggling and quasi-Irish jigging to "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me").  So named because he attempts to complete figure skating moves whilst wearing hockey skates, which both hockey skaters and figure skaters will tell you is impossible. Still, he attempts to spin and jump, and has a fairly decent spiral.

Little Boy Blue
Wears a blue silk shirt to practice every day. Also wears black pants and black padded shorts, which combined with his stick skinny legs makes for an interesting silhouette.   A good little skater with nice stretch, but unfortunately it seems his father wants him to be a figure skater more than Little Boy Blue himself does. This leads to long discussions at the board as the father tells him what to do, dilly dallying tying the skates, and a wrinkly forehead and teary eyes after missing a couple lutz jumps in a row.

The Erudite
A completely unremarkable skater, one of the many older people who comes to the rink to skate around, practice two foot spins and waltz jumps, and get their daily exercise in. However, her knowledge of the Chinese skating is spectacular, and she is more than happy to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of having a national training program, why a former World Bronze Medalist coaches in a private rink, and to tell you where the national team practices are held and that they are open to the public.  A very valuable resource who speaks English.
 

Center Opening 2, or, Chaos

The staff briefing on Tuesday started at 9am, which meant I got to sleep in a little bit, which was very much welcomed. Again, there was free coffee and food , though all I had a chance to eat was a muffin and cookie, we where so busy. When I first offered to help on Monday, I was told that I wouldn't be able to go to the Great Hall of the People – the venue was capped at 600, and they already had a waiting list that included a lot of donors and other important people. I was disappointed of course, but still excited to be working on the Center opening – I guess I felt in some way that it was “my project”, since I'll be in the first group of students to study there. Besides, knowing my all around loyalty to the U of C, I wanted to make sure that anything regarding the University gave people a very good impression. :)

After the staff briefing, we went down to 'command center' to start stuffing programs and nametags with seating assignments. There was a slight delay on the nametags, because someone realized that morning that we couldn't use the number four at any of the tables. In Chinese, four , or si , is synonymous with death – if you change the tone, it can change the meaning from 4 to death, so because of that, four is unlucky in Chinese culture, and any number with it shouldn't be used at auspicious events (except 48, where I guess the luckiness of the 8 balances it out). In fact, for a long time, buildings would not have fourth floors, instead jumping from 3 to 5. Most new buildings don't do that, though, from what I've seen – I was disappointed my first night here when I saw that my building does have a fourth floor. :)

So anyway, on Tuesday morning, I helped out with envelopes for the VIP ticket delivery, and then helped staff the registration desk, where I stayed until 5pm. While Monday had been fairly slow, Tuesday picked up quite a bit, and we were swamped with requests for tickets for the media and dignitaries that someone had previously forgotten to invite – all this despite the fact that we had a waiting list already being kept. At about 2pm, though, I was told that someone had managed to get me a ticket, and I would be going to the Great Hall of the People that night! That made the afternoon more exciting, even as from 3pm to 5pm I was absolutely swamped, manning the registration table by myself. I did, however, get to meet a lovely alumni of the college who offered me advice on what to see in Beijing, and even helped staff the table when I had to run and get someone. Overall, the day was insanely busy, and fell somewhere along the lines of controlled chaos, although none of the guests could tell. By 4:30, things had quieted down, as all the guests had left for the Great Hall, and we just finished up a few last minute things/problems. The last shuttle left for the Great Hall of the People at 5 pm, and I was on it! :)

Walking into the building was incredible, knowing that so very few people ever get a chance to, and knowing that a couple of hours ago, I wouldn't have even got to. The building is absolutely huge, with massive pillars on the inside and outside. We went up to the third floor, where the Nobel Laureate forum had already started, being held in a large auditorium that likely fits 700 – 800 people (with 600 people, the place didn't look full). I sat in on a little bit of the forum, and then left to help out with seating assignments and nametags. The dinner took place in a hall right outside the auditorium, that had beautiful paintings of China landscapes on the walls and humongous pillars, with three glistening chandeliers hanging from the very high ceiling. (there is a picture on facebook). The scale of the building is immense, and the overall effect was awe inspiring. After everyone was seated for dinner, I got to join a table and talk with alumni, which is always a fantastic experience. We enjoyed a seven course meal, including Kung Pao chicken, steak, lamb, shrimp, and concluded with ice cream. Everything was delicious, and getting to have some more Western style food – as well as eat with a fork – was delightful (they had both chopsticks and silverware at the table, and I wasn't certain which to use ). After the dinner concluded, with remarks from President Zimmer and a member of the Board of Trustees, I got back on the bus, and took the subway back to Renmin, becoming just another American studying in Beijing again. :)