Wednesday’s practices were off to a great start. It was nice to get our feet under us and see the arena. We had practice at 4:30 and 9:00 pm. In between we sat in the arena and watched the Japanese, Russian, and Swedish teams practice. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 10:00 pm. We had a late dinner with fantastic food and lots of variety. After dinner we went straight to bed.
Thursday mornings’ practice went well too. We practiced the short program full run-through and sections on the main ice. . It was nice to cheer on the Haydenettes as they took the ice immediately after our practice. After our first practice we came back to the hotel for video review and lunch. Our second practice was later in the afternoon, and we focused on the free skate. We’ve been really pleased with our progress at each practice and feel good about going into the competition. 
After a short break at the hotel, we headed back to the arena for the draw. It was an awesome ceremony with more than one hundred Finish skaters taking part in the event. From pre-juvenile through senior, the skaters were on the ice together performing a program with neon tank tops, black tights and glow lights. To top it off, the skaters were accompanied by a live singer performing at the side of the arena. As for the draw, the skaters formed a human number of the skate order for each team. Miami drew 15th and Haydenettes 16th. What are the odds we’d be skating back to back? 
Dinner was a bit chaotic tonight, as all the teams were filing into the hotel at the same time after the draw. It’s interesting to have so many teams from multiple countries all packed into one area, all speaking different languages, coming from different backgrounds, but all here for the same reason. Hearing a mixture of Italian, Swedish, Finnish, and more being spoken around us is such a great experience because we’re thrown into something bigger than we’ve ever been a part of. It truly reminds us of how honored and excited we are to be here to represent our country! We’re looking forward to getting the competition started tomorrow evening with the short program!
Stay tuned,
Sarah & Taylor
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