Title: "Rossiya"
Hello Everyone. Thank you for visiting my site. There hasn't been a lot of news for me since my last entry, but I've competed, performed in a show and given back to my childhood school.
Cup of Russia was held in late November in Moscow. Of course I was excited to visit Moscow again and perform for my Russian fans. I arrived in Moscow only a day and a half before the competition began. One thing that was different about this trip was that it was the first time Marina Anissina would be there for one of my events. I was excited and happy to have her there. I was also excited to see my friends who live in Russia whom I haven't seen for a long time. The first surprising thing about my trip was the amount of support I got from my fans. They were there for my first practice at Luzhniki and were a constant presence until I finished the exhibition. I felt like a rockstar. Every night there were many people waiting near the bus for me, there were multiple banners in the arena and I really felt so at home to skate for them. My short program went reasonably well. I landed all the jumps and my spins were better than at Skate Canada, but from jet lag and feeling a little under the weather, there was no spark or fire in my performance. I tried to think of everything Marina and Priscilla told me before I skated and I was able to be more "in" my performance than before. It was wonderful to see Tatiana Anatolievna too. She was there for Andrei Griazev and to do commentary for HTB. She was very kind and showed a lot of support to me. She was excited to see me landing two different quads in the practices. My free program was not good, by any means, but it was better than Skate Canada. I opened up on three jumps in the middle of the performance, but I fought back in the end and landed the last two jumps fine. The program also felt better and I was more "in" it once again. I was disappointed of course, but Marina was very supportive by saying, I was expecting worse and you did much better than a few weeks ago. I wanted to be great for her since it was her first time at one of my events, but she was happy that it was better and I looked better prepared. I didn't actually see Brian Joubert skate, but I was so impressed that he landed three quads and skated so well. At the press conference an American journalist asked what it would take to be at the same level as Brian, and I told him I would tell him when I know. One thing that is hard to remember is that the majority of my competitors have been able to train properly since Worlds. I have had two and a half months. It does make a big difference when you're competing against someone who is by far, more prepared than you. I toured until August, and most of these guys were probably already doing full run throughs of their programs. It was my choice to do tour afterall, but for now, I can't compare myself to other skaters because it's not fair. I ended up placing second to Joubert and got to perform in the gala. I was going to skate "My Way" but many people asked me to do "Yunona e Avoys" so I skated it. I always love performing that number. One thing I can say is that the fans definitely had a positive effect on my skating in Moscow. I felt pumped and energized, and especially in the free program when things got hard, they helped me through it. I went out into Moscow on my first day in the city and got to do a little shopping with friends and see one of my favorite cities. I got to my new favorite street in Moscow, Kuznetsky Most which is a beautiful pedestrian street made of cobblestones. On my last night in Moscow I went out dancing with Tatyana Totmyanina and Irina Slutskaya. We had so much fun and I was so happy to see my girls again. I love how even after many months, we can still click right away and have a good time. Moscow was a good trip all in all. I was happy with my silver medal, but my skating needs to get better.
A few days after I returned from Moscow I went to my childhood elementary school in Quarryville, Pennsylvania to donate money to go towards new books in the library. I have been wanting do give back to my school for a few years now, but I couldn't quite figure out how. I thought about computers at first, but the cost would be crazy so I went with books. The principal and many teachers were excited to have me helping out. They sent me a list of books to choose from so I could pick what would go in the library. There was a lot missing from the list and I had some of my own titles to add. I wanted to make sure there were books on foreign languages, world history and some popular fiction. I gave two assemblies to all the children in the school where we could interact and they could ask questions about my life and what it's like to be a figure skater. I was really so thrilled to be there and I enjoyed my time with the kids. My friends Sasha and Roman went with me to the school and they were recognized as well.
The day after my school visit, I went to Long Island to perform in a tree lighting ceremony near Nassau Coliseum. It was for a company called Reckson. Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman also performed, as well as a bunch of local kids and TV personalities. I skated to "Silent Night" by Il Divo which was a bit of a drama. I got it mixed up with "O Holy Night" and said I was skating to Holy Night instead of Silent Night. There was a live chorus to deal with and they would be singing "Silent Night" and it was finally resolved the day before I went. I don't generally like Christmas music, but the whole evening fit. It was freezing. It has been very humid and warm in my area and overnight it dropped thirty degrees or so and was winter. I was wearing a skin tight velvet onsie with sheer cutouts down the body and I was freezing to death. I was shaking through the whole performance since the ice rink was outside in the open air. I had fun anyway and skated well for several thousand people. It was an interesting show and I was happy to be a part of it.
This whole entry covers only about two weeks of happenings. Things are just going to get busier now. Next weekend I will fly to Boston to perform in a USFSA event. I will fly home for one day and the following leave for the Grand Prix Final in Saint Petersburg, Russia. From Saint Petersburg I will take a train to Moscow. In Moscow I will work with Marina Viacheslavovna on my programs in addition to doing rehearsals and shows for Ilia Averbukh and Russian Stars on Ice. I will return home on Christmas Eve and have a nice holiday with my family. After that I will begin training for Nationals and Worlds. I believe I'll also be attending an Oscar viewing party in Los Angeles in February and I've been offered to star in a series of commercials in Thailand for shampoos and conditioners. Life is busy, but I really like it like this. If I sat idle all the time I'd be so bored. Okay, so now I think you're all officially caught up.
I wanted to close this by saying thank you to all of my fans who showed up in Moscow and who will come to the Grand Prix Final. It means so much to me to have you there, and your support helps me so much. Moscow was really a magical place for me to skate and I'm so happy you came. I hope you all have your Christmas shopping started or finished and you have a great holiday.
Take care and lots of love,
-Johnny
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