My First Ice Skating Experience

6 March 2023

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"First times are always exciting."

Yes it is...

Ever since I worked in this foreign land, I had a lot of first times that I never thought I will, experience in my life. And those first times are always exciting.

I once told the young lady at home that I wanted to go ice skating one of the days in December while we were watching a video of someone doing it. She then extended an invitation to go ice skating because they had a weeklong break from school, fulfilling one of my wishes. Who would decline such a great offer? Of course, without further ado, I agreed to her plan and it happened on the second day of their school break.

The euphoria I felt can not be explained by the thought of skating on glaciers for the first time. That was always been in my plans but I was always hesitant to try as my friend doesn't want to come with me.

We received a free ride to the Festival Walk when the day arrived. To calm the excitement, we listened to music while were driving there. But the nearer we got to the place, the more excited I was.

There are only a few ice skating areas in Hong Kong and the Festival Walk has bigger space so we opted to go there. This is also one of the bustling shopping centers so people are always swarming around.

The ice skating area was located in the middle of the food court and other restaurants. From the food court, we were watching some students practicing on the glacier. They were the ones who signed up for the skating course. Since the place was still closed to the public and only for skating students, we waited until after lunch.

We chose to eat in the food court because it was almost time for lunch while waiting for the glacier to open for the general public. We decided to sit on the side that overlooked the ice skating rink because it was crowded as we had expected. I ordered a grilled chicken with some veggies from Yoshinoya.

At exactly noon, the rink was closed and a Zamboni came in to do its work. It made the ice sheet cleaner and smoother for the next batch of skaters.

While waiting for the place to open for other skaters, we visited the Christmas installations for a while which I featured in my Hearty Christmas Liketu post.

At one in the afternoon, we opted to go back to the glacier to queue. There are three sessions each day at Festival Walk Glacier. Each session last for almost two hours and skaters need to leave the rink once the session ends unless otherwise, they want to extend the session and pay for additionals.

We observed the skaters learning the fundamentals of proper ice skating as we waited in line. Although it looked simple, I knew a beginner would find it challenging. Since my friend was a real pro and I knew she would teach me, I didn't worry about it. The unpleasant aspect, though, is that my instructor is a teenager, which makes the situation awkward.

When a group of children entered the rink, I started to feel uneasy. It would be embarrassing to see that my other skaters were young children and even skated better than me. When a few grownups afterward entered the rink who seemed determined to learn to ice skate, they inspired me to do the same.

After paying the session fee, we entered the locker room and our feet were measured for our skating shoe sizes.

We thought the locker fee was included in our payment but we still needed to buy a token to unlock a locker. It cost HK$10 per token which wasn't costly.

However, after putting our stuff inside the locker and locking it, we forgot to get something so we needed to open it again. Unfortunately, it will only be opened if we insert another token so we bought another one, lol.

I eagerly put on my shoes, which at first made me uneasy due to how firm they were. Even though I was warned to wear thick and long socks in advance, I was still concerned that I would trip while skating with the shoes and hurt my ankle.

At first, I was complaining since the shoes were so uncomfortable and quite tight. My buddy reassured me that it is typical for beginners and that wearing a loose one while skating is inappropriate. Yet when I was able to rise and walk by myself without any assistance, I felt happy. I thought at the time that I could also learn to skate properly.

I excitedly walked toward the rink that I almost forgot that the locker floor is different from the ice rink, lol. I nearly fell as I stepped on the surface. Gladly, my hand managed to hold the corner before becoming the center of embarrassment.

(This photo was my entry to Reflection Contest 95)

Mind me, it wasn't easy to even stand on the ice rink as it needs proper posture and balancing, which I was struggling with. I envied the kids gliding on the glacier easily while I, on the other hand, was just holding onto the sides of the rink, lol.

It took me a few circles before I was able to withdraw from the sides and walk without any support. My buddy was behind me in case I need assistance. But I must admit that I fell and my butt hit the floor hard. I felt a pang in my spine and I thought I'll be injured, lol. The impact was hard that it took a few minutes before I regained my posture. It was embarrassing, especially when the staff offered a hand to lift me. I persisted though, attempting to stand up on my own.

After that fall I tried not to embarrass myself again, lol. Even though it was extremely challenging to balance in skating shoes, I was determined to learn how to glide across the glacier without falling. My dominant leg felt good, but it seemed like my left leg was reluctant to glide, probably due to fear of falling.

In the end, I just learned how to walk but not to skate 😂. At least, I learned something and experience ice skating, I mean, walking with skating shoes on the glacier. There are restaurants around the glacier in case skaters would want to chill after skating.

Despite falling twice, I considered it a wonderful experience. On my next visit to this place, I would definitely try to skate properly and confidently without worrying about falling. Because that's the only way to learn. We try, we fall, and we learn. And if we are persistent, we will succeed.

Happy new week. Thanks for dropping by.

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