Our trip to the World Junior Championships was the best way we could top off an already incredible season. It was amazing to compete at such a high caliber competition and we took full advantage of the time we spent in Oberstdorf.
Our 2 hour drive from the airport to the hotel was spent in luxury, with both of us trying all the buttons, gizmos and gadgets we could find in the car. However, it was frightening to be tearing down the highway at over 200 km/h, and we were relieved to arrive at the hotel safely.
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, about half an hour from Oberstdorf (though Carol's rental car saved us from all the tedious bus journeys back and forth). Of course, Vanessa got the huge suite, while Paul had to squish in a tiny room with his somewhat silent roommate. However, the hotel was equipped with a night club, bowling alley, and 24 hour arcade, where we spent most of our time at the hotel.
The week started off with a few practices. We were lucky to be on the safest practice group: the one with the Russians looked pretty intimidating. We had to watch for extremely rutty ice on the Samba practices, as well as flying pieces of feather (only the French…).
The compulsory dance was on Tuesday. We made a last minute pattern change, but it didn't seem to affect our performance too much. We placed ninth, setting us up perfectly for a desired top 10 finish. Then we competed the OD on Thursday. We skated quite solidly, but we were quite nervous, and the performance component lacked a little. We dropped down to 11th, just 0.2 out of the top 10.
Finally, the free dance came on Friday. Once again, we had a pretty good skate, with only a slight bobble before the straight line footwork. However, we couldn't complain about any of the performances. Later, in the last group, one of the American teams, as well as gold medal contenders had a freak accident during their free dance, and were unable to finish the competition. She was shipped off to the hospital, and tended to. We are very sorry that they couldn't finish competing.
Once all was said and done, we ended up 9th, an incredible placing for our first year at the championships. We did not agree with some of the technical levels we received, but we're quite certain we announced ourselves to the judges, our main goal. We know now what we need to improve, and we'll strive to make even more of a statement next season.
Soon it was time to go home. Vanessa left early, and forgot her passport, and barely got it in time for her flight. Paul took the day off to sight see and to go up on the mountain. There was an incredible view!!!!!!!!!!
We had the most amazing experience and were able to meet a great many people and make friends from all over the world. We look forward to seeing these people again next season, as well as to be able to visit new places, and to compete next year at the championships once again.
We are so thankful for everyone who made this experience possible (coaches, parents), and we hope they enjoyed their journeys through this eventful season as much as we did. Thanks!!!!!
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