Michelle Kwan blogs for the U.S. Department of State

Off to a five am start today, as it turns out that it's just not that easy to get from Simferopol to Odesa (transliteration of the Ukrainian spelling, in Russian it's Odessa). We flew back to Kyiv, transferred planes, and then made our way to Odesa.

Today I got to go to the rink where Ukrainian Olympic stars Oksana Baiul and Viktor Petrenko trained. After touring with them, and talking about them to students across Ukraine, it was great to see where they came from. Odesa Figure Skating School Director Melnychenko was rightly very proud of them, but after skating with some of the juniors from the school, I won't be at all surprised if he soon has new photos to add to the school's wall of champions. These kids have great coaches and a lot of determination to succeed in school. When I talked to them after the clinic, it was clear that they are definitely preparing themselves for life in a global neighborhood, whether it is on or off the ice.

Michelle Kwan in Odesa, Ukraine

I was very impressed by a young lady (13?) who came up to me after the clinic and asked me if she could interview me for an Odesa newspaper. When one of the adults in the room said she was a "child reporter," with great dignity she replied, "No, I'm a reporter." Her questions were among the best I've been asked, so I agree with her - nothing at all childish about her reporting. I hope she continues to scoop older reporters.

Tonight I'll be having a celebratory dinner with the team that has been traveling around Ukraine with me, and then hopefully we'll get a chance to explore Odesa some. I know we're staying near the Opera House, so at a minimum I plan to take a look at that tonight. Tomorrow's the last day of our Ukraine program, and then back home to Los Angeles.

Content was made available to the USOC by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Read more about Michelle's adventures in her role as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy.