Getting to the big leagues

So, something new to this post. I judge figure skating. I may come to edit this post if I really want to leave out almost everything possible to trace my existence, but right now, I think it's pretty safe, and plus, this story is interesting enough to tell so I don't really care.
Last weekend, I was in Geneva judging the Swiss Senior National Championships. For those of you not into the skating scene, this is a BIG deal. Well, okay, I wasn't really judging. I was trial judging. By the way, this is still a BIG deal.
Ever since I came to Neuch, I tried to get into the Swiss judging system and to be able to trial judge at the Nationals is really exciting. Judging is something really important in my life right now and I hope it will be for some time to come.
Sure, it's nowhere near the calibre of Canadian Nationals, but it's pretty exciting. It was actually overwhelming at some points when all of the press decended (namely when Sarah Meier and Stephane Lambiel skated) and when the audience (amazing turn out to the competition...admission was free! Can you imagine that in Canada?) got really rowdy at times...and booed the scores for one of the skaters. I actually found it hard to concentrate on the skater's performance and was in awe of Stephane and Sarah's skates that I momentarily forgot to write stuff down on my paper. Oops. Wow, this post is making me sound like a horrible judge, but honestly, I'm so glad that I had this experience, because I learned so much from it in terms of what my future (hopefully) holds. Yes, yes, I want to make it big in the judging world...we'll see what happens with that.
In case you're wondering, Swiss Nationals are divided up into different competitions. In Canada, there are Sr. Nat's and Jr. Nat's, but here there's Nat's for every level.
For those interested, the ladies event was very lackluster. There was Sarah Meier, and then there was everyone else. Sarah was gearing up for the Grand Prix Final and was therefore in top form. She's still pretty young, but she's really developing into a great skater. She's got great spring in her jumps and a wonderful air position. Good eyes and her projection's getting much better. The rest of the girls were at best landing triple toes/salchows. What a difference.
In the dance event, there was actually a Canadian. I'm not sure why he decided to come to Switzerland...better chance of going to the next level? Who knows.
In the men's event, the big buzz was that Stephane wold be unveiling his new long program. It was incredible. He's coming off being sick (missed his last Grand Prix event and consequently the Final), so he wasn't in the best of shape and that along with the fact that it was a new program made it a really tough skate. Great artistry and passion in his skating, I think that he really needs to work on his speed. Hoepfully it's just his endurance that's down, but eitherway, he's got to work on that some more. Of course he's got great spins, but his footwork was really amazing. Great musicality and character of the music. Fabulous.
Anyway, I'm still so happy that I had this experience. The judges were really really welcoming and observing their behaviour during the competition was so beneficial. Here's to the future!

Oh, and apparently I was spotted on TV. Sitting on the panel in the background as Stephane Lambiel skated. Wheeee! I made it on TV!