Yes, I went ice skating. (I’m sorry mom, I know I told you I wouldn’t go because you thought I’d break my arm but I didn’t fall and had an absolute blast!) I was a little apprehensive about going at first because I have skated maybe twice in my life, but after going around the rink twice I got the hang of it. I’m lucky in that I’m decently coordinated, which made everything more fun.
But let me talk about how we got to the rink. Moscow traffic is insane. There are lines on the roads but it’s difficult to see them and sometimes they aren’t there at all. I’m just glad that I don’t have to drive here because I would have panic attacks at every turn. We rode with Max, a Russian guy who speaks English very well. He and Maksim (the quiet guy from France who seems extremely nice but doesn’t speak any English) rode in the front while Marie, Karlie and I squeezed into the back. We were joking that if we got into an accident we would be fine because there was no way any of us would be able to move. Anyway, we made it but not without a few honked horns, speeding cars and a dump truck stopping in the middle of the road (no big deal…).
I can’t lie, ice skating was the most fun experience I’ve had in a while. I was skeptical at first about doing something so seemingly stereotypical but I promised myself that I would take advantage of every opportunity presented to me (because hey, you only live once, right?). It was a great bonding experience for everyone because it allowed us to have something in common. Max and Christina (a Russian girl who is friends with Max and Maksim (yes, another Maksim but this one is Russian and speaks English very well too- he’s really nice and funny)) were the best skaters, and led us in a traditional Russian skating game. Basically you line up in two lines and hold hands with the person across from you (like you’re making a tunnel). Then a single skater (an odd number of people is necessary for this game) skates through the tunnel and grabs a person’s hand and drags them to the end of the line. Then the partnet left is the new skater. It’s not as barbaric as it sounds (dragging someone through a tunnel haha) and it’s a lot of fun because there’s always the risk of falling.
After skating we all went to McDonalds (yup, there is McDonalds in Russia). I wasn’t hungry so I split a small McFlurry with Shelli (American who was going to be my roommate but lives next door- she’s a riot and so so nice too). Apparently McDonalds is very popular among students in Moscow, it’s funny how things are similar here and there.
But anyway, things are amazing here. This would be an experience I’ll remember forever.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI knew I would be in for a treat after reading your first post, and you definitely didn’t disappoint with the posts that followed. I love your writing style! Just wanted to comment on the game that you played on ice. It is actually a very well known children’s game called “Ручеёк” (translated as “little stream” or “little spring”). They way we played it in the kindergarten, you would line up in pairs (usually, boy/girl) forming a tunnel by holding hands, just as you had described. To play the game, you would have a boy or a girl without a partner. So he/she would be going through the tunnel to pick a partner of an OPPOSITE gender. You can probably imagine how much teasing was going on after the game, because someone would always start saying, “You are in love with so-and-so because you’ve picked him/her first.” Then this version of the game also exists as a dance. Only in a dance, you don’t have an odd person picking a partner, but everyone is paired up and the first pair dives into the tunnel, then it’s the second pair’s turn and so on. If you do it in unison and keep moving, it does produce an effect of a flowing stream.
Thank you so much! That is such a huge compliment! I love writing and the experiences I've had so far are providing a lot of subject matter :)
ReplyDeleteBut also thank you for explaining that game to me! I'm actually writing about the ice skating experience in one of the newsletters and I think the background about the game would be a great addition to the article!