Erieversible

The kids are off school all week so, for something completely different, I took them ice skating.  Neither of them has ever been on any type of skates before, so it was an bound to be an “interesting” experience to say the least.

Many years ago, when I worked for a college with its own ice rink, I used to skate a couple of times a week and I really enjoyed it and managed to learn a few things.  But that was about fifteen years ago and I haven’t been on skates since.

Considering where we were starting from, I think we did pretty well!  Both kids fell quite a lot, but both got back up and kept trying.  I expected the older one to have a good go, but the six year old surprised me by hanging in there and really have a good try.  She only gave up when she got really cold…her gloves were soaked through and I couldn’t fault her for giving up at that point.

The older one (ten) has more confidence than skill and will insist on bashing away at it until he falls quite spectacularly.  He ended up with more than a few bruises and also three blisters.  The little one has more skill than confidence at this point and prefers to just hold on to me with two hands and squeal.  She nearly took us both down many times and once or twice I was worried one of us might get hurt by flying blades. 

But we managed.  And both are willing (maybe not quite eager) to have another go later in the week.  As for me, I’m dying to get back to skating regularly…if I can find the time and a quiet session for people who used to skate and are now getting old!

Here’s a tip for all you sports fans who will be stuck for something to watch once the Superbowl is over…the Rugby Six Nations Championship starts on 7th February.  It only runs for a few weeks, but it will help keep you going until the next ‘football’ season.

Never watched rugby?  Give it a try.  The ball is the same shape and the action is much faster - imagine a football game without all the timeouts, team changes, etc.  You might have trouble finding it on the schedules, but so far I’ve figured that Setanta will be broadcasting all the games - three each weekend so you can pick and choose who to support.  Other broadcasters may be showing some matches, or highlights.

In the last Rugby World Cup the USA was represented, and though somewhat overwhelmed by the leading nations the US team put up a very creditable display.

So go on, try something different.  And if you do, let me know what you thought of it.

Today our lives revolved around the 7th Annual Great Lakes Open Taekwondo Championship.  It was held at Penn State Behrend and the 10-year old was competing in 3 events as well as involved in the “Tiger” demonstration team.  It was always going to be a full day, and so it proved.

The demonstration team practiced late yesterday and were there early this morning for last minute practice.  I’m told they were very good (I was on taxi duty with the 5-year old) but I can’t help feeling that far too much effort went into the demonstration routine and not enough into preparing the students for the competition itself.

In the end our son finished 2nd in the standard forms competition, for which he won a trophy.  He finished 2nd in the Grand Champion Poomsae competition, but that’s a winner takes all style event so he came away with nothing except the tiredness to show for it.  Finally, he won a bronze medal in the sparring.  All in all a satisfactory end to his first experience of competitive events in the US.  While the basics seemed to be similar to other competitions he has experienced, the sparring areas were much smaller than used in the UK - I’ll have to check which (if either) is the regulation size.

The early evening was spent updating the taekwondo section of his website, so now he can send emails to his friends at his Isle of Man club and refer them to the details!