glilikoi

This is pretty much my feeling as well. I actually used to do tons of couchsurfing when I was 17-19 (I lied about my age when I was 17, officially the website is 18+). I had many good experiences but, unfortunately, also more than a couple of instances when my host would make sexual advances and it was scary on so many levels. With some guys there was this assumption that hosting someone somehow implicitly means you owe them something, which just makes things so awkward. In the worst cases I had people react in a hostile way and needed to leave because I felt so unsafe. I also have some friends with similar negative experiences. After these experiences, the last couple of times I've couchsurfed I've made a point to only stay with girls, preferrably close to my own age. It's been OK, but somehow the whole CS experience in my mind has become kind of stressful. Now I really prefer to just pay for having some privacy and not having to depend on anyone else's kindness. I don't want to be too negative about CS in general, this is just my own personal experience. I believe it is also something that's been voiced in the CS community and they have tried to take action to prevent these issues, but it's so hard to effectively regulate spontaneous human behaviour. So couchsurfing can be a lot of fun and a positive experience for everyone involved, but I also totally understand why some people, especially women, feel uncomfortable about it. (Sorry for going a bit off topic .. just thought this is an interesting thing to discuss. I didn't mean in any way to say that promoting CS is neglecting personal safety, by the way, I believe there are many men and women who have done CS for years without any issues and it can absolutely be a good thing as well.)

Helsinki is small and there arent that many hotels or B&Bs though. I've been faced with a sellout situation with other events (music festivals) before. Don't know how it's looking now but I'm worried I'll end up begging friends and relatives to give me a place to sleep..

Yay I asked them nicely and got a full refund for my mistaken tickets now the wait for August begins!

I could try that too! It does seem like it would be a fun comp to watch if I lived in Finland, but it's still a flight away from me and it's just a month before the Helsinki GP so it would be too much of a hassle to go to both.. But I'm sure they will have some good skaters too. I'll try to resell if they reject my plea for refund

I've never been to Moscow and I'm biased as a Finnish person, but I would say Helsinki is probably easier because it is multiple times smaller. It has a subway and municipal rail that connects all the main neighbourhoods, there is a nice tram system overground - although public transport is not as frequent as in bigger cities, it's reliable enough and there should be no problem getting where you need to be. And as for walking, the center is not that big and is very walkable. Traffic is safe and the city is generally well organised so it's easy to navigate.

Yeah ticket websites have a tendency to be the worst so I think they expect me to call a number that costs 2€/minute + extra fees from calling internationally... I tried sending them an email though, hope they can show a bit of understanding (preparing for the worst, spending like 30€ just to not lose even more money though xd). Oh well, this will teach me some reading comprehension!! Feel soooo stupid now. Anyway so ticket sales only begin in August.. that is so late! But at least I will have time to make back the money I just lost Seriously though, I wonder if they will sell out lightning-fast. Should have been suspicious with this Finlandia Trophy precisely because there was so much availability.. I just kind of thought "oh well, maybe Finland is just too remote for many people", but realistically speaking they might sell out really fast. Like someone pointed out, Helsinki is linked to Japanese cities via direct flights so...

Yeah the name is too similar! Really stupid mistake to make I am super annoyed now because there is no easy way to cancel your ticket, don't want to just resign to losing the money I paid..

Haha I just realised I bought tickets for a wrong skating event in Helsinki Feel so dumb! Sorry if I caused panic for anyone thinking they must scramble to buy theirs xd Brb I have to look for a way to apply for my money back now ..

I couldn't be happier with this news! Although I haven't been living there for a few years, I'm originally from Finland, so it's nice to have an excuse to go back. My family's not from Helsinki but maybe I can squeeze in some time to see them too Already bought tickets, glad they weren't sold out! I also thought it might be easy enough to re-sell them in case something comes up and I can't make a weekend escape to Finland in October (although I will do my best to fight such obstacles!).

I loved this whole TV program sfm, everyone was so funny Shame it was less than an hour long, I would have watched it all day.

I don't really like using the word "alpha", when discussing gender, except perhaps as a joke, because it has a connection with the whole creepy redpill/incel/whatever subculture. I know it's been kind of co-opted into the regular vocabulary now, but I still really dislike its connotations. In any case I agree that Yuzu seems really confident in his identity and that's why he can play towards different gender roles so well. This discussion also reminded me of this Tumblr post which gives an interesting perspective on this topic. The author wrote this after some people had been claiming that Yuzuru is "gender non conforming" due to the fact that many of his costumes and programmes were considered "feminine". They argue that Yuzu is probably not (intentionally) subverting any gender norms, and that there may be a significant difference between how Japanese and Western audiences read gender in performance. In Japanese culture, performing femininity is perfectly acceptable for male artists and even a sign of artistic maturity. Anyway, I can't summarise all their points here but it's an interesting read. http://doramaticbites.tumblr.com/post/171551859613/to-the-japanese-hanyu-may-not-be-gnc

I agree that he needs a haircut, but commenting on weight gain seems a bit uncalled for.. It's off season (technically, anyway ) so many athletes are probably a little less strict with their diet. Like Zhenia said in a recent interview, it's not really possible to maintain "olympic weight" permanently, and there is no reason to. I'm not sure if Yuzu has gained weight, but if he has, then it's only normal and healthy to let one's body rest inbetween seasons. Also, his face has always looked kind of "full", even at his thinnest he looks like he has a double chin from some angles. Nothing wrong with that Sorry if your comment was just meant as a casual observation and not criticism, I just thought it sounded a little harsh. Peace out

Haha yes, I sometimes try doing IB and Bielmann too (just in front of the mirror) My lower back flexibility is all right but I still can't get nearly as low as he does on IB, and I can't extend my leg over my head (since I've never trained ballet or gymnastics or anything so the movement feels quite alien to me). Maybe I will be able to do it one day! (Obviously not as beautifully as elite figure skaters though!) Never tried anything on the ice though since I haven't been in a rink for years.

You're made of tougher stuff than me!

I wonder why they need to air it in the middle of the night! My TV doesn't have a recording function and don't feel up to staying up till 4am to see Yuzu skate.. Well, I guess that after the broadcast it will be uploaded online sooner or later. Wait, so does it actually air tonight (past midnight)?