The golden drean

Day by day, dream-by-dream, I’ve been waiting for this moment. Ever since I was three or four years old I have wanted this. What exactly you ask. Well I have wanted to be a world famous acrobat. Not the one on the tightropes and the trapeze, the one with two people supporting me, lifting me into the air, and creating impossible pyramids with our own bodies. Yes, doing this all with elegance, grace, beauty, and balance. I wanted to go to the Acrobatic World Championships, but before that I would have to pass city, state, regional, and the national competitions. I did, with the help of my coach Tatiana Alexeeva, world famous acrobat from Russia, and my team Elena Kirilova, and Natalia Federova. they were also f rom Russia we were headed to Switzerland, where the Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships would be held. We would perform in numerous places such as the S. Jackson Tower in Zurich, which was the largest city and the heart of Switzerland, Geneva, which was built on Lake Geneva, Basel which was known for its large commerce centers, Lucerne, Ticino, and the Federal capital Bern. By the way I’m Giulianna Drew.
Wall we were on the Air Tran plane, I was looking at the Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships program. I saw whom we were up against. From Italy there was Isabella Chavanni, Giovanna Eliano, and Analise Forchione. They ranked in 4th place we ranked in 2nd. Italy was one of the bordering countries, so was Germany, France, Liechtenstein, and Austria. From Germany there was Heidi Petite, Greta Ronald, and Adalia Anders. From France there was Nicole Mandessuer, Yvonne Levassuer, and Mary E. Levassuer. From Russia there was Ekaterina Stroyanova, Yanna Cholaeva. They ranked in first place. From China there was, Lei Ming, Yue Ming, and Jia Li. They ranked in 3rd place. I had a headache from the stress level that ran through my veins. Before we got onto the plane I had grabbed some brochures on sports, mountains, lakes, and rivers. The major mountain range is the Alps. Apparently the Swiss people enjoy skiing, bobsledding, tobogganing, and mountain walking/climbing. In the summer they enjoy camping and shooting. We were now landing, so listening to my iPod and looking at the brochures really took away the time. After we left the airport, we rented a Lamborghini, and headed for the grocery store then to the Zic Zac Rock Hotel in Zurich. In the car I looked at some more brochures. There was one with lakes and rivers. The major river s were the Rhein, The Aare, and the Rhone. They were mainly used for transportation, exporting, and importing. Then there were seven lakes, Lake Geneva, Lake Maggiore, Lake Lucerne, Lake Biel, Lake Neuchate, and Lake Zurich. Since there were no seas bordering the country, I will swim at the lakes.
As I stepped out of the car, it was windy, partly cloudy, and about 80 degrees. Thank God it was summer I hated the cold. We went into the market and picked up the m ostly grown vegetables and fruits, which were apples, grapes, strawberries, cheese, peppers, broccoli, and some meets. We went to the cashier. He was telling us about the beautiful summers, and that the temperatures rarely dropped under 41 degrees in the winter. I guess he knew we were foreign. He continued after he paused to catch a breath. The climate was Mediterranean, and it affects the vegetation, so that it’s harder to grow crops in the winter. In conclusion the vegetation changes with the weather.
We got back into the car, again I was silent just staring out the window, we passed Lake Zurich, there were many people playing on the sands on the shore, and many people were swimming. The lake was very close to the hotel. I was happy about that because I loved to swim. The only thing that stood in their way of being neighbors was a farm. There were cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Those were the mostly breed animals in Switzerland. Then across from the farm there was a vegetation farm. There were fruits, vegetables, bread cerea ls, milk, and eggs. Then finally we were pulling into the hotel.
The service here was wonderful. We were in our hotel room in no more than four minutes. The vacation home was an ocean/ sea themed. We all had our own rooms and this time it was my turn for the master bedroom. There was a white bed with blue pillows in the design of waves. All of the furniture was cherry. On the nightstand there was a lamp with a sea shelled pattern shade. There was a plasma screen TV. Then there was a door next to the antique chair in the corner. I opened it and it was a mini sundeck with a hot tub. I could enjoy that luxury often, then I looked beyond the ground and there was a view of a lake that the hotel surrounded. There was a boat sailing across it. After I went back inside, I put all my clothes away, and hung up all my leotards with care. Then I washed my face, and changed my clothes. As I walked into the kitchen Tatiana and Elena were making fondue. They were always good at making foreign foods. I went to Natalia’s room to ask her if she would practice the bonus routine. Or do some contortion, which were both good at. She said sure and we asked Tatiana for the keys, and she suggested that Elena came with us, which she ended up doing. We slipped into our practice leotards.
When we got to the gym there was no one there. It was a huge floor with blue carpeting. We started the routine. Elena and Natalia were facing each other. I grabbed their hands, and with their spare hands they grabbed my feet. I was cradled in the air for a couple of seconds then before I knew it I was flying. I did three summersaults before coming down. Then we did some fancy choreography moves, and came to the corner where the tapes made a 90-degree angle. Elena longed and bent her back forward. Natalia grasped her lower back, and gracefully flung her legs over Elena’s head. Elena grabbed Natalia’s thighs; Natalia let go of Elena’s back so she was holding herself up in a lying down position. I climbed up on top of Natalia, and grabbed her kneecaps. I was holding myself up with my arms. My legs were in straddle position. Then from there at a moderate speed I brought myself up into a handstand with the full extension of a straddle split. I came down still holding myself up on top of her kneecaps. Then my legs went in back of me going through a=2 0split. I was in a push up position, but the only thing that was different was that my feet and legs were in the air. After holding that position we came down and did some more choreography. I did a front limber and I was thrown into the air again. I did a double pike backwards which was when my legs are pressed against my stomach. Then we did some more choreography. We ran and did a back flip to the left corner. Then I went onto Elena’s shoulders, and then Natalia stood on her thigh. Then her left leg came up so that she was doing a split. I grabbed the sole of her foot and I was holding myself up in that straddle position again. Then I went into the push up position again and as I did that Natalia was no longer standing on Elena’s thigh. She was in a lying down position again but still with her left leg up. Then finally we came down and did some more choreography and then the routine was over. Then we left the gym and went back to the hotel room. When we got there we ate the Fondue, which was a traditional Swiss dish, so was fish, zug, cheese soup, ratsherentopf, rice, noodles, and risotto. The fondue was good, and I ate it pretty fast, and after I did I looked at the time and it was 10:00 pm. Tatiana told Natalia, Elena, and I to go to bed. When I got into my room I pretended to go to bed, but I just looked at more brochures. I liked he lakes the best so that’s the one I chose to look at. We could go to any20lake or river because there were no important shorelines and soon I fell asleep before I could look at anything else. When I woke up Tatiana said that we were going out to eat, so I got dressed and wore a pair of my sweats that I brought, and I wore my acrobatic gymnastics sweatshirt.
This morning we took a cab. I learned that there was five major ethnic groups- Italian, German, French, Romansh, and Swiss German. As I looked outside the window, there was a lot of banking, insurance, tourism, and pharmaceutical jobs. The economy of this country was strong, and it appeared that way as well. At breakfast I heard two people talking about the currency, I took note on this, they said that it was Swiss Franc, which is one of the most stable currencies in the world. Finally, the waitress came over, and as Natalia always did (when we were in other countries) she would ask questions. She asked what natural resources we would find here, and that question was answered with iron ore, and coal. Then Natalia asked how she adapted to her economy, and she said that you make the best of things, find work and deal with it. Then we got to order our food I took a risotto. Then our food was delivered I ate my food slowly to enjoy the taste of it. Then we paid=2 0our check with some Euros and we left.
After breakfast, we went to an art museum in Zurich, and it was very close by. Then finally I saw a painting that caught my intension, it was strange, and Paul Klee called it Possibility on the Lake. It originated from Switzerland. We got bored very soon so we left. Then we went to a music center so Tatiana could get some ideas for the music we used for our routines. There were many contributions from Ernest Ansermet, Lys Assia, and Edwin Fisher. They were all famous to Switzerland. Then finally, we got to leave.
When we returned to the hotel we grabbed our main leotards to perform our dynamics routine in Lucerne. When we got there, I put on my shiny red leotard with roses running down the sides of my stomach. Our hair was pulled back tightly into a bun wrapped with a dark red scrunchy. Elena and Natalia’s hair was decorated with black sparkles because they had beach blonde hair. My hair was decorated with light sparkles because my hair was a shiny golden brown. Then our names were stated loudly. Giulianna Drew, Elena Kirilova, and Natalia Federova my hair was decorated with light sparkles because my hair was a shiny golden brown. We went on stage and we all put our hands in the middle to start the routine. The music started it was a Mexican/Irish song. We did some choreography then I stepped onto their hands then placed my hands on their heads. I was thrown into the air; I did a double back flip and a twist (also known as a branny) and then came down. The crowd screamed as we did some more choreography. Then Elena and Natalia were facing each other. I jumped on to their hands and towered proudly above them. I was thrown into the air again; I did a double pike, My stomach hit their hands and I was lifted again I just twisted sideways, my stomach hit their hands again, and I was lifted into the air to jump off. I did that by touching my feet to my head. Then some more choreography, then all of us ran and did a back flip one by one. Then we did some more choreography and the music had just changed to Irish. Then I stepped onto their hands again, and my hands were on their heads, I did two back flip, I came down and my legs were wrapped around her stomach. I came back up doing a split over their shoulders. Then I was falling backwards (on purpose) and I put my h ands on the floor. I got up and the music changed back to Mexican. Then another back flip. When we landed we were in another corner. Natalia and Elena were facing each other. I was on the right side of them not looking their way. I dove backwards, I was lifted into the air, and I went into an ash wrap position, which is where your legs are in straddle but against my stomach. I landed on their shoulders and my split went more than full extension we did some more choreography was over.
Then we left for Ticino to perform our balance routine. That’s where everything was Italian; they spoke Italian and even had some Italian cultures. On our way there we saw some trains, cars, boats, plains, and cable cars. Those were there main ways of getting around. In Ticino we were performing our balance routine. Our costumes were red and the music was Egyptian. There was not much choreography at the beginning, but when we did our first pyramid we blew the crowd away. Elena did a backbend, then Natalia stood on top of her thighs, she put her hands down and lifted one foot into the air. I climbed up to hold myself up in the air in that straddle position, I did a handstand with the full extension of the split, I came down still holding myself up. I came back up and my legs went over my head. Then we came down and there was some more choreography. We ran and did a back flip and it was time for another pyramid. We were in a corner again as we were in the beginning. Elena did another backbend. Natalia put her hands on the top of Elena’s kneecaps, and she held herself up with her arms, then her right leg came up, and disgustingly, her knee bent backwards. Then I stepped onto Elena’s stomach, and I put my hands on Natalia’s foot. Elena’s right hand pulled Natalia’s right leg back and then her left arm was raised. Then I was holding myself up on Natalia’s foot in straddle position. I did a handstand, came down, and came back up. My legs came over my head again. Then we came down (by the way that was called a counter balance pyramid) and did some more choreography. Then another pyramid came. Elena and Natalia put their hands on the ground, gettin g ready for a handstand. One foot came up from both of them. Then I placed my hands on their feet and I was lifted. Then two other feet came up I grabbed onto those to. I was holding myself up again in straddle position. I came up into the push up position again, and then my legs came over my head and they touched my hands. That was the handstand pyramid. Then after 10 long seconds we finally came down and did about seven more seconds of choreography and then the routine was done.
We heard the loudest scream we ever heard. After we left Ticino we went to go buy what Switzerland was known throughout the world for, Swiss cheese, and Swiss chocolate.
Then my mom called, “Oh great,” I thought to myself. When she did, it was my fault she called I asked her to keep in touch with the new in Switzerland and nothing was happening. Then we said bye and we hung up.
Then we went to Basel to perform our bonus routine. When we were done we went to Geneva to perform our balance routine. Then to Zurich to perform our dynamics routine and combined routine. The combined routine was amazing. We did very little choreography in the beginning. I stepped onto their hands and put my hands on their heads. I was lifted into the air, I did a double branny which is so difficult and so impressive. Then there was more choreography. Elena and Natalia then faced each other; I jumped onto their hands and I was lifted into the air and did a double pike, came down and I was lifted into the air and did a rolling twist. Then there was more choreography then we did the counter balance pyramid. When we came down we all ran and did a back flip. Then we did some more choreography. Elena and Natalia were facing each other. I wasn’t facing them. I dove backwards for the ash wrap position dynamic. Then I put my feet on their hands and my hands on their heads and did a back flip looking like a fish. Then we did the handstand pyramid. There was again little choreography and then the routine was done. Then finally we were able to return to the hotel. On the way we passed the St.Gottharard Pass. It is one of the world’s largest tunnels. Then a flag of Switzerland was very close to the hotel. It was a red field with a bold equilateral white cross in the middle. There were many people gathered around it. Oh yes, it was the National Swiss Holiday, August 1st. Shweiser Psalm was sung which was the National Anthem. The official name was said and that was Confederation Helvetica. Then the population was spoken and it was 7.45 million people. Then the administrative region number was said and that was 26 cantons. Then they spoke about how in 2003 they joined the U.S. in the war with Iraq. We had no more interest in that so we left and went to bed.
When we woke up it was competition day. We were dressed for the dynamics routine. We went to Bern and waited. We were last to perform for that round. We were finally called on and we preformed the routine and we received a score of 28.900. Then it was the bonus round. We were third to go on. We preformed and got a score of 28.340. Then it was the combined routine we received a score of a perfect 30. Then it was the balance routine. It was a big advantage because we also received a perfect 30 on that.
We came in 1st place for the women’s trio. We won the gold medal and rejoiced with tears and hugged each other constantly. We left Switzerland with honor and being the 1st Americans to come in 1st place in the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships. We ended up in the news. This was the best day of my life and I will never forget it