Venturing out on my own

I did it! Using my handy dandy Seoul subway app, I figured out how to get to the ice rink by myself. Well, not completely by myself. Koreans are very friendly. While I stood puzzling about which way to go, someone asked me in English what I was looking for. When I thought I had the right platform, I confirmed with the people standing around. Once I was on the right platform for the opposite direction to where I wanted to go. I had to go back up the stairs and down a different stair to get to the right place, but I found it. I had to make one line change. I knew how many stops, and there was an electronic sign on the train that said in English and Korean which stop was next, so it wasn't hard.

When I got there, of course, I went out the wrong exit and ended up walking all the way around the building to find the rink. In the end I showed someone the skates in my bag and asked where the rink was.

The rink is in the basement level of an indoor amusement park called Lotte World. (Lotte is a major company I have often seen as a sponsor on the warm-up jackets of Asian skaters.) So overhead are two levels of rides and show stages. Last visit to Korea we went there with Erika and Simeon, and I looked down on the rink.

It wasn't my best skate. The ice was soft. The temperatures were higher than any rink I have ever skated in. I was sweating like crazy. Next time I will not wear double layers. They also required gloves. I have no idea why. But I had neglected to stick in my gloves, so they loaned me some.

More than the softness of the ice is the awkwardness and clumsiness I always feel on strange ice. Evidently Koreans are big on speed skating. The rink was covered with little cones to direct toe pushers around the outside and speed skaters around an inner ring, leaving the center for figure skaters--not enough space for my normal warm up of moves-in-the-field or cool-down of dances, making it harder to get used to the ice. I did get in some good outside mohawk practice although even that felt weird without hockey circles to practice on. (No lines anywhere except color variations that I expect were related to the refridgeration system.)

But I have skated in Korea! I'm wondering where Kim Yu Na practices. I'm sure it's not somewhere with speed skaters going around the outside.