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In mid-September, on our way to Ottawa for the Autumn Skate competition, we received a call from Carol informing Asher and me that Skate Canada had given us a second Junior Grand Prix assignment! We would be going to Sheffield, England! Since it was going to be my first time in Europe and Asher's first time out of North America, both of us looked forward to it with excitement.
On October 16th we boarded the plane that took us across the Atlantic Ocean to England. Even though the flight was seven hours long, it was nothing compared to the amount of time spent lounging about at Pearson, then at Heathrow and finally at Manchester, where we waited for the bus to take us to Sheffield. The security was VERY tight at Heathrow. Even our shoes were X-rayed! The two-hour long bus ride from Manchester to Sheffield afforded us some view of the very scenic South Yorkshire moors.
It was mid-afternoon when we finally reached Sheffield. One of the first things we did after settling into our rooms was ask the front desk for direction to the nearest library. We knew that she was speaking English, but it was still very hard to understand exactly what she was saying. As instructed, we walked in the general direction of the tramlines. Though going uphill, Asher and I went at a quick pace. It was then that I almost met my end! Oblivious as I sometimes am to the things around me, I looked right instead of left when crossing the street and was almost run over by a speeding bus! Thankfully, Asher yanked me just in time and we continued our way towards the library. This route became more and more familiar over our stay in Sheffield as we went to the small library everyday to keep in touch with our friends via Facebook.
The first few days of practice were quite intense. Even though we weren't with the most aggressive groups, we managed to hurt ourselves anyway. There was bloodshed each practice. During one of our FD practices, we fell in one of the lifts. I still have the bruises for proof. During our spin, I sliced my fingers while doing Beilman. In one of our OD practices, Asher's blade cut open my knee! In the end I got to know the medical people very well as I visited them daily for my supply of gauze and band-aids.
The competitions began with the compulsory dance, the Cha-Cha Congelado. We were the seventh to dance in the skating order. We thought we had the lucky number but we ranked twelfth afterwards. Determined to do better the next day for our OD, we tried not to panic since we were first to skate. All the other competitors applauded our performance. However, I think that they just were happy they didn't have to skate first. Like in the first Junior Grand Prix in Lake Placid, we skated a clean program and rose to seventh place overall after coming in sixth in the OD. We were ecstatic since we would be in the third group going into our FD. We went into our last event confident and prepared. After skating what had been our best FD performance to date, we were pleased that we had maintained our seventh place with just a few decimal points behind sixth. Thoroughly content with how we did at our second international competition, we relaxed and cheered for the other Canadian skaters.
Unlike the rest of the Canadian team, we did not fly back to Canada after the competition, as we wanted to reserve some time to do touristy things. We took the train from Sheffield to London accompanied by Carol's sister and brother-in-law, Sally and Eric (who had been present throughout the competition). They truly were wonderful and it was sad to see them leave. We parted at King's Cross Station in London. For all the Harry Potter fans, let me confirm that there is indeed a platform marked 9?!
Sally and Eric left for their home in Surrey, and Asher and his mom went with their relatives, who picked them up from the train station. My mom and I took a cab to a B & B, which was actually just across the street from King's Cross.
Throughout our short stay in London, my mom and I were able to see many interesting places. While Asher spent all of his time within London, bookish me visited the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge by day and roamed the streets of London by night. Asher visited the London Eye, Madame Tussaud's (where he saw the wax replicas of Daniel Radcliff, Johnny Depp and Queen Elizabeth II, to name a few), Buckingham Palace, and the London Dungeon. I squeezed in quick strolls in the Piccadilly and Soho districts where I witnessed from afar the premier of Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth. I also managed to visit Abbey Road, 211b Baker Street, and the Tower of London. I believe that I truly mastered how to navigate the London Underground with the help of my mini map!
Because it was such an amazing experience we both felt dreadfully wretched having to return to reality since it meant returning to the piles of schoolwork and missed tests that awaited us. However, England was good enough reason not to let school interfere with our education.
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