November 20, 2004
STARS ON ICE BELGIUM
by zhenya271
Hello everyone,
As I posted earlier, I had posted observations I had made of the skater's off ice at the hotel, but lost it when I had to reconnect and log back into the board. Some of the stuff was just ramblings so I'll try to keep this briefer. I won't get into the actual skating because there have already been great reviews and of course the videos. The skating of course was great and it was so nice to see Katia skate live. A first for me. I loved watching her interactions on ice with Ilia, for some reason it was very comforting. Su-Jan it was so great meeting you after all these years of reading your board. I have been a fan of your board for almost as long as I have been a G&G/Katia fan. You do such a great job and I'm glad your board has had such longevity. I really enjoyed chatting with you, Stephan, Mary, Rita, and the other Kulik fans at the hotel after the show. The conversation was great and the Kulik's Krewe were such a wealth of skating information.
As Su-Jan said, we all got to see Katia come back to the hotel after the show. I didn't actually approach Katia for a photograph, but was happy to stand back and observe while the others did. When I got back to my room that night my husband couldn't believe that after all these years of being a Katia fan I didn't approach her when finally getting the opportunity. It would have been nice to have gotten a group of G&G fans and Katia photo, but I just felt that making the suggestion and setting the camera and pose would just have taken more time and everything semed so rushed.
Mary and I stayed at the bar with some of Kulik's Krewe after Katia left and we got to see Katerina Witt, Miki Ando, Takeshi Honda, Stefan Lindemann, Kevin van der Perren, Maurizio, and Nicole Bobek. I still can't get over how slim Katerina Witt and Nicole Bobek were. I wonder if Nicole had lost a lot of weight because she was very thin whereas on televison and in pictures she looks more solid bigger bone. Katia was of course tiny, but then she has always looked petite.
We stayed at the bar until a little after two and I had decided there I wasn't going to have breakfast in the morning. Mary had told me it was 20 Euros for the buffet and so that would have been 80 Euros ($100) for my family. I'm sure the kids wouldn't have been full price, but they don't eat much anyway and breakfast isn't really my favorite meal, plus I figured the chances of seeing Katia again were slim, since we probably wouldn't get down there until late given that I wouldn't get to bed until 3:30 and plus we didn't get back from the show until 11:30 and so by the time my daughter showered she got to bed pretty late. Anyway, I was happy enough to have seen Katia skate and in person at the hotel.
We checked out close to 11:30 and then noticed Katerina Witt checking out at the same time. I had assumed the skaters checked out that morning because Katerina was at the counter the same time as I and when Katia came down it looked like she headed to the counter, as well, but Laney saw her back at the hotel after the Sunday show, so I don't know maybe they were just taking care of their bills.
After checking out we decided to have a seat in the lobby to see if we could catch the other skaters. I had my husband pull out his GPS to plan our walk around the city so it didn't look like we were there just to gawk! I think Katerina Witt was following me because she sat to the side of us, facing us while she waited for the other skaters, and the night before she sat at the table right next to us and then of course she was at the counter the same time. LOL! Just kidding hopefully she didn't think I was following her! Anyway, we got to see all the skaters except maybe Maurizio, I don't remember seeing him. Katia and Ilia were some of the last to come down. Katia was slightly ahead of him and then met up with Maria and they walked to the counter. I assumed that is where she went , but it was behind me and I didn't want to obviously turn my head to see and plus Ilia might have noticed because he stopped and waited beside us. Later on an IMG guy came out and Katerina stood up to talk to him. After she talked to him for awhile Ilia went up and then Katia came up, as well. She was actually standing an arms reach away from me to the front of me. I guess I was in a fog or something because I didn't notice any of their conversation which is unlike me, because I am usually nosy like that! But then I didn't want to openly stare and plus I did have my two kids distracting me in the way kids usually do. My husband later told me on our way home that he did hear them talk and Ilia had said something about the ice being bad and only like 1/4 or 1/2 in. thick. I'm sure most of you know how hard it is to get details from men so that is all I got! In retrospect, I think I would have actually preferred to have had more distance so that I could have openly stared and picked up the important observations/ details like clothes, hair, make-up, etc!
Katia was wearing a blue All-State fleece jacket, and gray Nikes with I think a red swoosh. She was carrying a shopping bag with a logo that I couldn't make out. Ilia had a red fleece jacket.
Oksana was there with her fiance Gene, (I'm not sure if they are still engaged or if that is even his name, but that is what I remember from some news, and photos from awhile back on one of the other general skating boards.) She had a pink hooded sweat top and pink ugg type boots. My husband who doesn't follow skating, but has caught bits and pieces from my having the t.v. going and of course almost everyone knows about the'94 ladies event, said he would never had recognized her if I hadn't pointed him out. Nicole had a track suit and sunglasses on.
Barbara had a very cute little baby bundled up in a pink coat or snow bunting type thing. Her stroller was beside us by Katerina Witt. I assume it was Barbara's baby because she kissed it and then rushed out saying something in Italian back to the older man taking care of the baby. I wonder if that was Babara's husband or father?
Margarita and Povilas were very attractive looking people. She looked different than she does in photos and on t.v. Her features were softer looking in person. She is of course, beautiful on t.v. and photos, I just thought she looked really different, but still beautiful of course. I have never followed their skating, but really enjoyed it the night before.
Well, I think that is about it. I ran into Mary after they had all left and shse said she saw them outside getting into the vans so I hope she will post her observations and pics.
The next morning my husband came home after dropping off the rental car and said to me, " you know we really messed up this weekend." I thought he was going to say something about the rental car or about some purchase, or maybe something about the way we went about the trip, but what he said was that I should have made some attempt to approach Katia, after all the opportunities I was given. I told him I was fine with it, I was happy to just observe and to have sen her skate, but now I feel that maybe I should have at least given some compliment to her skating. Afterall, I did know who she was and would it have really taken anything away from her or me and just maybe it would have made her feel good. The same with the other skaters. There were times that Katerina Witt, Ilia Kulik and Margarita were just standing by themselves for quite significant moments, just looking around. It would have been so easy to have said, "Great skating last night" or "I really enjoy your skating" without pressing for more. So what do you all think? Just in case I ever get the opportunity again, like hopefully next year! Gosh, I guess this didn't turn out to be that brief afterall.
the G&G corner - Copyright © Su-jan Yip, September 1996 - 2007