Part of the story

Ok, today I want to talk about a less fun topic… About bad times. About moments when you’re sad, you’re disappionted, when you want to smash the door and walk away. 

In moments like that it helps me a lot to look at the bigger picture and realize that most of the things will be ok. That they are solutions and ways out to almost evey situation. 

It doesn’t mean that you are not allowed to worry and to be sad sometimes, even if your worry is not the biggest global problem. We are humans and we have feelings and emotions. It’s ok not to be ok. Just be aware that time will pass and at some point it’s gonna be a part of the story. And they isn’t one story of succes without struggle. Honestly, one day it will be just a chapter and you probably gonna laugh about it. Because success isn’t built on success. It’s built on failure, it’s built on fustration, sometimes it’s built on catastrophe…

Try to see your „bad time“ as challenge. And challenges are there to grow. If you feel bad, if you feel not safe, you’re probably outside you’re comfort zone. And that’s what makes you grow. That’s what makes you stronger. Dealing with hard situations makes you stronger. Don’t let them break you. Don’t let them make you give up.Remember why you are doing it. Remember what it gives you. Remember why you started. They are things you can’t change. But you can always change you’re mind and you’re attitude. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes you feel like nobody cares.Sometimes you feel like your oppinion doesn’t count. Just try. Give yourself a chance to overcome it and always remember: You’re worth it. You’re enough. You can overcome what ever you believe you can. 

I hope this little message from the bottom of my heart make you feel a little better when you are struggeling on something right now.

Summer training I

Hey guys, nice to talk you again! I actually didn’t have a lot of time in the last week amd in this post you’ll probably understand why 🙂 

So after my last school exam I left directly to Courchevel to create the new free program. We worked really hard on it and spent up to 6-7 h on ice per day! 

Anyway the work payed off and I’m in love with the result! I really enjoy to skate this program even if not everything is working as it should yet. The music is sad and modern and I really feel that music and program, even if in the beginning I found the music boring. I’m really happy with what we created in courchevel. 

start position of the free program

After one day at home we headed the way to Oberstdorf and spent a truly amazing week over there! 

First of all I shared a room with a very fun teammate, Deborah and if laughing makes you live longer, as some studies are saying, we both will be immortal after this week.😂 

Aswell we had amazing practicemates this week! I was really happy when I learned that Miriam&Severin, a pairs team from Austria, will be in Oberstdorf the same week as us. We knew each other from different competitions and it’s always been fun with them. I think one of the greatest things about practice is pushing and motivating each other in a positive way. Helping each other, giving tips and in the same time trying to become better. Yes, we all try to become better and better on the ice and we all compete against each other at competitions, but sport is a game and it creates an amazing productive atmosphere when everybody is working hard but in the same time stays friendly, respectful and helpful on and off the ice!

At the end we have to enjoy this time, while we’re skaters, to enjoy this feeling on the ice, to grow and to enjoy being part of this team!

Anyway, I’m really happy that in figure skating they are people, which understand the idea of sport just as I do!

Miriam&Severin

As always in Oberstdorf we worked aswell with Aljona&Bruno, which is always amazing! It gives us so much to have such great „rolemodels“ on the ice to look up to. 

Aswell there was a brand new team on the ice with us, Anastasia& Jannis. They had a tryout and they did an amazing job that week. They are really funny people and it was really great to spent time with them on and off the ice

Anastasia

Me, Anastasia& Jannis, craving for the day off 😅

Jannis (-a) 😂

Friday night we participated at an ice show, which was a really nice experience. We performed our last years short, as the new programs aren’t perform-ready yet. 

As the participation was spontanious I got a dress from Aljona, as I didn’t take my own one. And yep, it felt great to skate in a dress from an 5 times- world champion. ☺️

I also got mistaken for Aljona few times this evening and had to give few autographs on her photos ( even after I admitted I wasn’t her😂) 

Also I met Tatjana Flade, probably one of the kindest skating-journalist out there, and talked to her about programs and plans for the season

After the show we went to Bruno’s new apoartement and spent a last evening all togheter! This night was really fun and I’m increadibly happy that I’ll see all that people ( yes all😍) just in a week in Toulon! It has been a very fun week with truly amazing people! 

Be yourself. Always.

In the last time I realized how important it is tho be true to who we are…. To relly be yourself in every situation and with everybody. To love and accept the person you are with all your curves and edge, with every shade of your personality and with the whole story you bring to this world.It’s so importlant to let go the perfection, to stop comparing yourself to others and to realize that you are an unique masterpiece with your absolutely unique story and your own way.

 

Of course, I don’t mean you shold lay on the couch all day, eating fries, watching TV and telling yourself you’re perfect right now as you are. It’s always about becoming a greater version of yourself, your best-self. And It’s great to dream big and aim to become better everyday. But it’s also important to be in peace with who you are right in this moment. It’s improtant to realize that you’re enough, that your worth it. Not anybody elso, you! To trust in yourself and in your power! Never aim to become somebody else. Never. Even if the this somebody is increadibly successfull. Always stay true to who you are, to your inner voice and your intuition. Invest in yourself. Push you trough challenges to become stronger and keep the vision of where you want be and what you want to become. But love the person you are today as much as you love the person you want to become. Be in love with every moment of your life. Let go your past. Be thankful for it, because your past created the person you are today. But don’t let it influence your future. The past exists only in our mind, in our memory. There’s absolutely nothing you can change about it. So just let it go. And move on. Be yourself. Say what you feel, ask what you want to know, talk to people, expolre, get out there, get inspired, get a better-self, make your own miracle happen, fight for the fairytale, it does exist.

 

Let’s talk about sport

Why are you doing this? What’s the point? Do you get money for that? You don’t even have free time!

All that questions I get asked quite a lot… I mean, on my bad days even I ask myself whats the point… But to me there is an answer and in this post I’ll try to explain you what sport means to me.

Training is hard and fun. It stretches my mind and pushes me outside my comfort zone. It makes me overcome fears and challenges. It makes me face myself and grow better. It gives meaning to my everyday life. It makes my heart racing.It makes me feel ups and downs. It makes me feel alive.

Trough skating I can feel something I can’t find anywhere else in my life. Through skating I face myself. Overcoming challenges,fears, doubts ,fighting my demons and turning can’ts into cans makes me dicover who I really am and how I change.

And It’s all about this very moment when you feel the transformation inside. The feeling of satisfaction, of enlargement of your comfort-zone, of overcoming your former self and turning into a better one. This feeling keeps me going. It’s the feeling I’m addicted to.

It’s just a moment after long time of struggle and hard work. But this moments you remember for years. Forever. In this moment you feel free, strong, proud, you feel like you could fly, you feel another dimension. you want this moment last forever. And you’re ready to work hard for years to feel it again. To feel it even stronger.

Of course the strengh of this feeling is not always the same. Landing a difficult jump in practice is not the same strengh as delivering the performance of your life at an important competition. But the feeling is the same. And It’s my favourite one. And I’m ready to work as hard as I can to feel it as strong as possible.

 

Plans for Summer 2016

Let’s talk about summer, I mean what a great topic! Many people are looking forward to summer and making plans all year long! So let’s talk about my Summer 2016!
As I just finished all my exams last week, my time without worries about school and all that stuff starts right now. And that feeling of freedom is kinda amazing! I finally have time to read good books (And not the ones I had to read for school), to start writing a blog, to focus on my sport and just to chill and enjoy life, without the feeling that I actually should study for exams!

So my the first two weeks of june I spent at home with my mum. I live in a hostfamily in Neuchatel (French part of Switzerland) for a year now, because of my sport and I come home only for the weekend. So I really enjoyed to be home for a bit longer, as I haven’t spent more than a weekend with my mum for a year. I also really enjoyed to meet old friends from my old school and also from skating. And I spent a looot of time in my favourite Swiss city, Zürich. I also skated from time to time, just for pleasure and it was really great to skate just for my soul withour pressure and expectations. I spent a lot of time with my best friend, which I usually see only during the weekend. Also I had to study for the exams which I had between the 10 and the 16 of June.

Right after my last exam I took the train to the new skating season 2016-2017! We went to Courchevel (France) to create our new free program. We took a quite contemporary music and the program turned out really intresting. I never skated in that style before and I like it. They are a lot of interesting things and aswell challenges in that program. But we need challenges to grow right? So I’m really looking forward to work hard on it and to make it look the best possible.

After Courchevel I came back home for 1 day and tomorrow we’ll leave for the next practice camp in Oberstdorf (Germany). I’m looking forward to work again on the elements and on our new programm aswell. Also I’m looking forward to practice witch high level international pair teams. That’s always very motivating. Also I really like the rink and it’s athmosphere. A week in Oberstdorf  always fun and a great time 🙂

After that week in Oberstdorf we’re planning to go to Villard (France) to create our new short program. We’ll work with a new choreographer and I’m really curious how it’s gonna turn out. It’s always great to work with new people to have a new point of view and to bring something fresh in.

And then, in the beginning of July I’ll leave for the practice camp in Toulon for 3 weeks! I’m looking forward because Toulon means finally to get some summer, sun and beach and a looot of skating and hard work obviously.

Back in Switzerland We’ll continue practice in our home rink in La Chaux-de-Fonds. I’m also planning to invite some friends to Neuchatel, as I’m gonna be alone in my host family-appartement for 2 weeks. I’m planning some weekend trips  with friends aswell. I’ll probably go to a open-air festival and maybe do a short city trip in somewhere Europe but all that is still quite open, so if you passed an amazing time somewhere for not so much money, leave your recomendations in the comments!

In the end of August we go to Berlin to work with really great People. We’ll participate in a painstaking camp with the current 2x-World Champions and their coach! I’m really looking forward to this experience and also to see Berlin, as I think it’s a really cool city!

So thats some of my plans for Summer, of course they are much more ideas and plans! I’m looking forward to every point on that list.I’ll do everything to make this Summer a summer to remember!

Get to know me!

Hey everyone and welcome to my blog! My name is Ioulia, I’m twenty years old and I live in Switzerland. It’s been a while since I wanted to start writing a blog as I like to read other blogs and also really enjoy to write. And now I finally did it. So if you want to follow my journey jump in and let’s get it started!
Ok, so I guess firs we have to get to know each other a little bit, so I’m gonna give you 20 random facts about me, that you’ll get an idea of who I am. So let’s go!
1.My full Name is Ioulia Chtchetinina (yeep complicated) But hold on, you pronounce it Julia Shetinina (not that horrible, right? As I was born in Russia and my Family moved to Switzerland when I was 4 years old, my name got translated and written in the passport like that… And since that day my name is Ioulia Chtchetinina

2.I’m a figure skater and I love that sport more than anything else. I started to skate when I was 6 years old and I still enjoy every minute on ice. I skate about 20 hours/week and I’m member of the swiss national team.

3. I reeeally reeealy love sweets! I could litterally live on chocolate, ice cream, crêpes and all that delicious stuff!

4. I love to travel to new places and discover the world. Most of all I enjoy to travell with my skates in my suitcase for competitions or practice camps because I not only discover new pieces of the world but also collect a lot of experience in my sport and meet new people and old friends which do the same think as me. Almost always such trips provides unfogetable moments, breathtaking emotions and a lot of fun. The greatest trip so far was the one to Boston for the World Championships 2016.

5.Both of my parents are Russian. I was born in Russia, in Nizhny Novgorod and moved to Switzerland witch my parents when I was 4 years old as my father got a working contract here. I have two nationalities, so I’m russian and Swiss at the same time. I love both countries and feel myself Russian and Swiss in the same way, actually mabe a little bit more Russian, as my whole family (Grandparents, Cousins…) are Russian.

6. I love bookshops. Really. It’s probalbly a strange fact but I really love to walk trough those shops, give a look at different books, smell the paper. I’m able to spend hours in bookshops…I never buy books in online shops, as I enjoy the life buying too much.
7. I love getting inspired. I believe that you can find inspiration in almost everything. I try to be inspiring and inspire somebody with my story aswell.
8. I love christmas, christmas time and everything about it. The smell of mandarines and gingerbread, the cold evenings spent with a hot chocolate, snow falling down and the tiny touch of magic in the air. Fun fact: My birthday is 24.12.
9. I believe that we can make all our dreams come true if we have the courage to go for them! To take risks, push ourselfs, overcome challengens and just do what we love. And I believe that every single person can make his own miracle happen. For the moment my biggest dream is to make it to the 2018 winter olympic games and I follow this dream with a lot of passion every day.
10. I love reading (and kinda collecting) quotes. I have a lot of quotes which I really love and as they all have a different meaning and message it’s hard too chose a favourite, but there is one which I really really like. It’s one of John Green, from the book „Paper Towns“ (which I didn’t really like) and it says: „The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle. Like I will probably never be struck by a lighting or win a Nobel prize… But if you consider all the unlikely things togheter, at least one will probably happen to everyone of us.“
So guys, I hope now you know a bit more about me now. Obviously my English is not perfect, but I decided to write my blog in English, to have the opportunity to share my thoughts and journey with people all around the world!
I wish you all a really nice day and see you soon!