THIS IS ART. THIS IS FASHION.

SOURCE

Kazuki doing a great job subbing for Yuzu. 

 

 

3 hours ago, kamotejojo said:

THIS IS ART. THIS IS FASHION.

SOURCE

Lol, how is this not dangerous? Lmao

13 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

Lol, how is this not dangerous? Lmao

It totally clumps together unlike the gold ones from CoR. Then there's confetti, smoke, blinding lights, DJ table, 1 DJ, 2 MCs, LED trees, shrimp aliens and a low-flying mushroom with an aerial lady... I'm just glad all the skaters/performers were safe after the exhibition. 

 

Misha, so extra!!! 

 

She's gorgeous!! 

 

If anyone wants to see it, I've uploaded my video of the Men Small Medals Ceremony 

 

 

Hi, everyone!  Here is a link to the playlist (chronological) of my videos from Worlds: 

 

 

Basically, I have practices, the gala finale, and the ice dancers' Macarena from the small medal ceremony. And with the exception of the Macarena, they are all very loud, so turn down the volume if you want to check them out. I filmed the whole rink with a go-pro sort of camera. It's not ideal because of the no-zoom limitations, but it's quite revealing if you're interested in speed and ice coverage. 

So sorry for the delay of this wrapping up post from my part but I've been away from the pc since I came back from Milano!!

First of all, I wanted to say thank you to all the Planet Hanyu members I've met and with whom I've shared either the Volunteer experience, or the event. I've received presents, delicious cakes, swans, smiles and warm moments. I am really so happy to have met all of you. I feel like we will definitely meet again. 

Second of all, it's been great to work as volunteer for the event, because it allowed me to see all there is to it, all the work, the organization, the problems, the people who are never really aknowledged but play huge parts in the event - all the hardworking lifters, technicians, people working 10+ hours shifts at the gates of the arena, people waking up in the middle of the night to go work just for the commitment to the part (and I include myself in this category). 

I've been in close contact with a lot of Japanese ladies and gentleman who have kept me company for the whole week, arriving on monday morning and leaving together with me on sunday night. Not just the people following the competitions and buying the all-event tickets, but the tour group guides who were in the Arena since early and watched the competitions from the televisions outside the tribunes, and we got to recognize each other at the end of the week. 

Some days, it seemed like my work consisted only in apologizing for very very simple, and absurd, organization problems, such as not having copies of the schedules even 40 minutes before the competition started - I would have gladly went to print copies myself, but the problem of voluntary work is that you cannot DO the things - you can just try and communicate to others that there IS a problem. Like, at one point the toilet paper problem became real. All us volunteers wanted to take toilet paper rolls and put them ourselves, and the Mediolanum staff wouldn't let us. 

Every day, a phone who was left on random sofas or tables would arrive to the VIP desk, and usually it had either kittens, or Yuzuru as a background hehehe. 

There was an unfortunate accident with a very important banner - basically, Shoma's oldest banner was lost (probably stolen), which was kind of a tragedy because this fan knew Shoma's mother personally, and they alerted the FISG (I think), and she came to the VIP desk twice crying about it. Like crying very hard. It was such a sad scene, I was so sorry about not being able to help her. In the end, I don't know if they found the banner or someone took it to their own home and maybe will try to sell it in the future. 

One of the sweetest moments has to be the meeting with Stephane and Deniss on the metro. They looked adorable and friendly and thanked us for chatting with them, and I'm really happy Worlds was such a good competition for Deniss! Rooting for his 4 Toeloop next year LOL. 

I also had a picture with Zagitova and other volunteers (we ended up on russian media and you can see us here LOL) , and on the last day I managed to cross paths with Shoma, Jin and Kolyada. Shoma was playing ball for warm-up with members of his team, and I told him "メダルおめでとうございます！" (Congratulations for the medal!) and he just laughed very embarassingly, very Shoma-like. He is definitely cuter up close, like every other skater ever; then I crossed Kolyada, who was talking with someone else (so in both cases I didn't ask for any photos or autographs), so I said 'congratulations!' to him, and he winked at me and I fell in love. Unfortunately, I couldn't congratulate with Boyang, who exited the metro at the same time I had to go in, and I was so surprised to see him so close to me, I couldn't tell him anything. Until next event, Jin.

What else... I'm happy that, in the end, the event wasn't so bad as it seemed. There were days when everything went wrong, and days who were easy and fun. I think the audience was really, really supportive. I've never seen such a supportive audience. We clapped and cheered so hard for Zagitova during her Free Skate, and everybody wanted everyone to do their best. The cheering for Carolina was literally unworldly. I guess she was Italy's Yuzuru this time around! hehehe. 

I got to practice my Japanese a lot. Sometimes I could help with no problems, understand perfectly everything and answer accordingly, and get compliments for my Japanese; other times I asked them to repeat slower, I told them I couldn't understand them (and some got mad at me lol), and felt pretty shitty. Some were rude, but most were extremely kind. 

Among the volunteers chiefs and section chiefs, some were kind, others were assholes, and I got a fair share of unfair treatment, but among volunteers we supported eachother and held on. In the end, even with the absence of Yuzuru, it was worth it and I'm happy I decided to participate. 

I miss you all a little and I miss competitions. I can't wait for next year, I hope I'll be able to repeat this experience, and continue my tradition of going to Worlds... even if next year, they are in Japan. 

Actually, I might just go now and search for cheap-ass flights from Italy to Japan. 

 

Thank you for reading my two cents and see you next time!