michelle envoy in sinagpore jan 9-15

I guess for Michelle, politics will seem like a lot of skating judges and officials getting together and plotting against one another. Who'd have known that skating was such a good training ground for the diplomatic corps?

I too was relieved to see that Michelle had continued in her position with this administration. I had feared that with the change of management, everything would get swept out. Fortunately, people opted for continuity on this one.

What a story, though, Math! Can you imagine how Michelle must have felt showing up and being ushered to the head table....At her age, I'd have been a basket case and would have either sat there mute or chattered idiotically. And eat? Couldn't have swallowed, or even picked up a fork.

I think I recall one source where Kwan gave some detail about the day (was it the one in Sports Illustrated recently? I think so). I think Rumsfeld and Cheney, or maybe even Rumsfeld and Bush, personally showed her around the White House. Of course it must have been interesting for Michelle, but I can also imagine how pleasant it was for the men to spend some time on such a tense day with a poised young woman who had no agenda but was merely happy to be there. And I would imagine that President Hu would also have behaved differently with Kwan sitting at the table. So she was already contributing to the well-being of her country.

Olympia said:

And I would imagine that President Hu would also have behaved differently with Kwan sitting at the table. So she was already contributing to the well-being of her country.

Click to expand...

Can you expound on what you mean by this?

All these diplomiatic experiences might have something to do with Michellle's choice of studies - a Bachelor's degree in international studies and a minor in political science and graduate studies in internatioal relations.

Taiwan is tricky because of the fuss China would raise.

Click to expand...

Why would China raise a fuss if Michelle visited Taiwan officially? The only things China objects regarding Taiwan and the U.S. are American military aids and presence and encouraging Taiwan's sovereignty. Both Mainland China and Taiwan have always maintained that there is only one China which includes both the mainland and the island province. The political dispute has always been that each side claims to be the legitimate government of the Chinese nation. There has been an off and on independence movement by minority Taiwanese the last couple of decades, mainly by the island natives who are fed up with the politics wrought on by "outsiders". The "two Chinas" and adversarial relation between them are American inventions so as to have heavy military presence near the Chinese waters and a ever ready excuse for militaty actions. Taiwan is playing both sides, benefitting form U.S. aids and favours as well as special economic status to do business in the mainland. Taiwanese businessmen, and women, have been travelling freely in China to conduct business, often setting up second "families" in China as well.

Kwan is actually in a very good position to bridge the three sides, in a seemingly non-political manner.

Too tired to talk geopolitics anymore. (Though it's been enlightening.) Let's talk skating! I just got an issue of International Figure Skating with full-page photos of All That Skate in Los Angeles, including two 2-page spreads of behind-the-scenes group photos. The performance photos are wonderful, especially for someone who didn't get a chance to see anything but a YouTube video of the proceedings. Kwan is captured in butterfly position, parallel to the ice but completely airborne, with her ponytail wafting into a ray of the spotlight. Lambiel is in a handstand, with just one hand on the ice. And there's a great still of Savchenko/Szolkowy, who don't get nearly enough coverage in this country. I think they're my favorite eligible pair right now.

Michelle appears in several of the "backstage" photos, and one lovely one includes the Kwan-Oppegard clan (Karen, Peter O., Michelle, and mom Estella, along with both adorable K/O kidlets, the oldest of whom seems to be at first-tooth-lost stage). Kwan looks wonderful, happy and at ease. Seeing her with her family, I realize that through them, she's going to be part of skating for a long time to come, or maybe forever. (Even if she does become Secretary of State in about 2040.)

It strikes me that when you see celebrities standing in a row and posing for the camera, they seem like ordinary folks, because that's how we all line up for things like class pictures and organizational photos. (I mean, think of it: how many of us ever get photographed in the middle of a perfect star lift or Ina Bauer? If any of you can say yes, I want your autograph!) The other thing the photos do is to reinforce how surprisingly petite so many pairs skaters are. I know that Kwan is about five-two, and she's in heels. I'm astonished that Xue Shen is her size or smaller--somehow she has always seemed bigger to me. Aliona Savchenko is tinier even than that. I understand that smaller is better for a pair skater, but when you actually see them in a real-life situation, it's shocking how small such a strong and athletic person can be! They put football linebackers to shame.

It's less surprising that the tallest of the skaters are the ice dance ladies, with Belbin setting the record over on the left and Tessa Virtue not far behind. Virtue is in heels, so it may turn out that YuNa (in sneakers) is a bit taller. One other thing I notice from the photos is that YuNa is probably incapable of looking bad or even ordinary in a photo. She is beautiful from every angle. Between that, the photo of Kiira Korpi, and the article on Kholkhova and Fedor (Eye Candy) Andreev, this magazine proves that we skate fans don't need to look outside the sport for glamor.