Finally the Winners

Figure skating has been a big part of my life from a very young age, although I was never able to find a volunteering job. That relates to the fact that last month I was able to attend the European figure skating championship as a competition team member and a volunteer.

The application process, as well as the time until the event, was no more complicated than usual and went pretty smoothly. Although the first challenges occurred, when we had to get to the competition place, Kaunas...

While we did get to Kaunas on time, the place where the bus let us out was a long way from the expected location, as well as the championship place. Therefore, we needed to find a solution.

At first, we tried to look at available bus options, though if we decided on this option, we would be late. Walking was the same and even worse, as it was very cold outside. That's exactly why we chose the third option and decided to just take a taxi.

After that, the day went well with us doing our job as ice patchers, who ensure the safety of the skaters and the overall skating conditions, without any problems.

The next adventure occurred a few days later, when we were working in the practice arena, when my phone ended up in 3 tonnes of hot water. While it sounds ridiculous, that's what actually happened...

After we got done with our 1st shift that day, we were trying to get some snow for patching the whole thing in the ice, which was above a 3-tonne hot water fish tank and only covered with grille. While I always used to put my phone in the back pocket, this time I accidentally left it in the pocket of my jacket, and as I bended down to take the snow, it slipped...

While I thought that I would never see that phone again, with the help of some workers, we were able to scrape it out of the fish tank after 2 hours. And you wouldn't suppose that it would work, right? Well, wrong; it actually turned on as soon as it was pulled out of the water. Therefore, the whole problem was solved successfully.

The last important event was finally a good one. As Lithuania doesn't usually have a lot of facilities to support figure skaters, it was very surprising that we could finally witness a historic event: Lithuanian couple Saulius Ambrulevičius and Allison Reed winning 3rd place at this championship.

Saulius Ambrulevičius and Allison Reed after the award ceremony

Therefore, this event came with a few challenges and a few astonishing moments that I could experience from close up and help make happen, while at the same time learning from my mistakes and not dropping my phone into the fish tank again...