(no subject)
I had a really alarming dream the other night. It started out with me walking up a seemingly endless staircase to a destination I wasn't sure of. Along the way I find out that we're all going to an ice skating rink, which I get excited about, but vaguely lament in my mind that I hadn't brought my ice skates. We reach the top and we're on this insurmountably high mountain. It's beautiful outside.. picturesque skies and beautiful scenery. Next thing I know, we're inside this extremely large arena that has a very small ice rink. I'm on the ice, in my pair of ice skates that I had previously forgotten. There are 7 other girls in skating outfits around me. I ask what we're doing, why we're here. The woman running the event is surprised that I ask this. She tells me that this is a skating competition, Nationals. I'm in shock, and I tell her that I haven't ice skated competitively in three years. I think there was some sort of invitational and I was invited to come. I think about leaving, going home, when I realize that the debate team is there and we've travelled all the way to Beijing, China for this. I can't leave now.
So, I'm stuck in this ice arena in China, to compete in a sport that I haven't done in years. It's warmup time, like before all competitions. I skate around and try to get my bearings, and give this my best. But I can't do anything except for the one jump that was my best back in the day-- the double loop. We're asked to clear the ice as it's time for the first girl to go on. I'm next. I dont really know what to do. The girl ranks with a 1 on this woman's clipboard. I take my place on the right side of the rink and resolve to do the last skating routine I competed with before I stopped skating. The music starts and I go through the motions. Somehow my 5 minute routine was only a minute or so, and I only landed my double loop before the music stops. I rank with a 10.. 10th place is what I think (which is strange because there were only 7 or so other girls). Next up is the second routine. Once again, shock, because I have no other routines to do. I give her a tape to play and I improvise a routine, not knowing how long the music is. The music stops and I've hardly done anything other than foot work, so I keep skating to try a double-double combination jump, which I barely manage to land. The judge is impressed.. for some reason?
Anyway, I get called for a 3rd, and a 4th routine. Then we're all back on the ice for some other sort of competition. I ask her how long this is, and she shows me a list of about 5 other events we need to complete, and I'm relieved since none of the other events require another program. Then I wake up.