I am standing on skates in the biggest ice skating rink man-made in Moscow in Russia and in the world welcome to expat americ I am the expat American here with shamal who also has a YouTube channel Russia is a very welcoming place and we’re also with Aurora I’m going to fall
A lot come explore this place with us and see is it cool is it garbage is it scary is it the most beautiful place the world find out right now am I supposed to look at the camera uh oh my God Aurora okay so I’m how to start let’s explore the Maze so what do you got there Roar they look brand new Jamal come here that’s so cute if it’s eating a nut if it’s got a bug in its mouth it’s not cute yeah I’m not really sure what it’s holding I love Russian culture from food to dances and People
Literature architecture so many things wow I want him to find me is Russia a scary place would you ever consider traveling to Moscow is this the bad guy place or is it a normal place or is it a nice place what’s up so where are we going we are going ice
Skating at gorki Park or Park gor whichever so gorki park is in English and park gorova is in Russian yes but if you say gorki park in uh in English but you’re speaking to a Russian person it sounds like you’re saying gorki which is bitter and then Park so it’s bitter Park
But that’s not what it means what is Gorky Park how would you describe it um it’s just a big Park in the center with lots of trees and it goes along the Moscow River I would say if we’re comparing Moscow to New York uh it’s kind of like the Central Park of Moscow
Uh everyone goes here in the summer and just has a good time chilling sitting on the grass there’s also a pond with ducks so it’s just a really beautiful place to hang out I think that is a very good comparison Central Park is in the center it’s big it’s beautiful it’s historic and
Gorky Park is the same way for Moscow you didn’t bring a hat yeah are you nuts did you bring a hat of course I always bring It Hat I wear it all the time well I didn’t really want to bring one it’s not that cold it’s it’s 1掳 today like it’s not like
It’s 15 like it was two weeks ago where is this shamal guy what’s up man good to see you you took your glow off so I’m with a new Young YouTuber simply shamal I want you to check out his channel but only after you finish this video and shamal where are
We we are at the biggest skating ring in Russia well it’s actually the biggest skating rink in the world in the world in the world the biggest man-made skating rink in the world and actually last year this was not the biggest last year the biggest was at ven ha and I
Have a video where we are at that um but it was not the main feature of the video and I wanted to be a vet and H today to do the biggest ice gang rink in the world wow but it’s no longer at vinha it
Is now the title has now been stolen by this place that we’re going to check out right now we’re just going to show a screenshot of our ticket and they’ll let us in if you want to rent skates then you can also get a similar ticket uh but we brought our own
So have idea spicy ball uh so you get your skates over here they’re going to stay on your ticket and they’ll hand it to you all right I accidentally ordered myself some skates and some new pants on wildberries which is like Amazon like two days ago so now I have some skates
How do you accidentally order ice skates um so I really wanted them and I put them in my cart and I wanted to see if I did buy them how much it would cost and how many days it would take to come and then I accidentally hit pay and and I
Really didn’t want to return them so now I have skates so shamal have you ice skated before I have only ice skated two times this is going to be my third time okay all right so that means this video is going to be a comedy yeah I hope so
Where do you live right now I live in St Petersburg and I also study there okay cool man and how long have you been there I have been there for 4 years this is my fifth here okay okay and where are you from originally uh I’m originally
From Sri Lanka a small island in Indian Ocean oh wow that sounds exotic and exciting now that we’ve got our skates on we put our shoes in these plastic bags to keep everything clean and my purse is also in here inside of the bag
And I’m going to tie it just to be safe like a coat check yeah which is like all over Russia I’ve noticed and you need it to get your stuff back at the ends but last time I lost mine when I was on the skating rink and luckily I remembered
The number and I was like I’m sorry I lost my tone can I have my stuff please and they were really sweet they gave me they gave me my stuff but yeah let’s go okay let’s go all right so this is your first time on an ice skating rink in Moscow yes yeah
Okay I’m not a great skater um but I used to roller skate some so luckily the technique kind of passed Over I’m from Florida see how I do making excuses for sloppy skating the ice feels nice it’s a good texture it’s not that bad yeah it’s like roller skating like you said oh look shamal is not on the wall simply I was afraid I was going to have
To edit him out of this video it was becoming too embarrassing so I guess they have coils under the ground which is how it’s man-made and it’s like a track of some sort kind of yeah is it just one Loop no it’s like a maze really no not really
Like a maze but like there’s like a lot of different ways you can go hope I don’t break my camera Aurora so this is a straight line going this way but we’re not going to go that way oh okay I’m making my subscribers sick right now
Okay so I see so it is one loop I want to say small but it’s the size of oops well it’s bigger than the size of just a typical ice skating rink this first Loop yeah we’re going to go this way okay and there’s arrows showing you
Which direction you’re allowed to go oh okay that’s smart so you can’t just go in any direction no cuz then you could get someone hurt uh however not everyone follows the rules so it’s like an ice skating park yeah basically you know so just paths everywhere I have a friend
Her name’s Alysa she skates really well her dad’s a hockey player or not professionally but he plays it like as a hobby uh so I really like going to ice skating weeks with her cuz we’ll like skate really really quickly and I am just an awe all right now I see a logo
So I guess this place is sponsored by Russian companies yeah that help fund it so this is beine I would say it’s like Sprint or Verizon a lot of people have it so then that makes me think how much were these tickets that you bought with my
Money uh they were 400 rupes a piece uh but you can get different discounts and honestly I think I should have looked more into it cuz I probably could have gotten my ticket for 250 so sorry what cuz you’re a student right yeah okay so that’s like four bucks or $2.50 maybe
Depending on the exchange rate okay so you can probably insert this as like a clip maybe maybe okay so we entered through here we did this we skated here then there’s a line and right now we’re on this path so the dark circle is where it is where they where
You can ice skate the dark lines yes and here yeah sorry the dark the dark color right and here is the uh Moscow River so if we skate here we’ll be right at the uh Naish like the so we did the main Square yes and then we took this line
Off the side here so we’re where those little curly CU things are right now and then here’s like a bunch of cafes and along the center there’s also like cafes and I’m getting hungry wow I like this music me too um so my skates are branded Sochi Olympics
Do you see it with my business socks on yes so 2014 so I bought these I think get a discount the Olympics were over and I was just vacationing here with my Russian wife it’s great exercise it’s very romantic it’s very beautiful you should come here at night it’s just spectacular
Where’s uh Jamal’s that way Jamal shamal yeah okay let’s go find poor shamal right hopefully he’s become a master skater shamal what’s up man here I am he found him how’s your skating this music makes me want to go to the ballet what do you think this
Building is this building is I can read Yandex Market yes something like that so it’s connected with Yandex Market uh so they hand out free tea to anyone that has the Yandex Market app and if you have an account there so right now I’m quickly downloading the Yandex Market
App and log into my account so I can get some free tea oh let me download it also then Yandex Market is a place like Amazon in USA you can buy online any kind of things I’m not going to I don’t want to record him fall that’s not nice fun it’s
Not nice he’s doing his hair look at the LI just fell down there it’s his third time Skating be nice are you okay okay now we’re twins we both have ponytails if you get tired after skating for a while you can just skate off over here
Hot dogs if you’re in the mood for hot dogs waffles if you want some waffles uh Crepes um churos schwarma I love schwarma so much um and different like drinks coffee tea water they have glint vein but it’s uh without alcohol Glen vean is um like a warm wine type drink
Juice with wine in it no it’s just juice no it’s just wine it’s wine with spices that’s what it is and it’s hot yes but here it’s alcohol free and so that means it’s hot spicy juice basically um and there’s a fire over there you can sit by
And if I’m not mistaken these seats warm up so yeah and again this is sponsored by there’s heat in the benches is it that’s ice cold what are you talking about that I was lying to it’s a good thing we checked it oh look at a fire a fire all right I’m practicing
Skating while holding a selfie stick and keeping Aurora framed nicely with myself while we’re recording who do you think is a better skater me or him or shamal or shal you are better show this show this show this show this this is if someone gets hurt turn around the camera
Start so this is if someone gets hurt they roll out this um uh I don’t know what to call it in English but it’s like this tub and they put the person in it and they skate them off the rink to one of the bases with uh medra which is a
Nurse you were going to ask me something before we saw the medical boat bed yeah I was asking you who’s a better skater actually I was asking your subscribers but now I’m asking you who’s a better skater you now I feel challenged yes you should feel chall going have to be cool
And impressive for the rest of the video um you know honestly I think it we’re about even um I don’t know though I think I’m faster than you I think we should race once I am super impressed though as Floridians we are doing a fantastic job
I think and um hey right now guys you know what we’re doing we’re stalling because we’re looking for shamal he has disappeared yeah if you don’t know Russian culture you don’t understand it is very cool the music they’re playing it’s like Soviet style like um something that you would reminisce over like Americans
Might because of 1950s America Christmas theming that’s the vi exactly exactly all right I’m going to try to do some skating tricks I challenged him to skate backwards we’re going to see if he can do it I can turn pretty quick but I don’t know if I want to skate
Backwards I also can’t skate backwards I have yet to fall I will not be skating backwards I’d rather say I didn’t fall where is that shamal guy all right let’s go see the river now I’m seeing if I can keep him in frame while I skate um question for you
Father getting distracted by the music so I would say that I’m the kind of person who likes to try new things and I might not know how to like skate but I’ll be like yes let’s try it uh and that’s cool and it’s good but then sometimes I’ll challenge myself too hard
Like I wonder if I can like jump and spit on the ice I cannot don’t try that if you’re not good at skating um it’s getting bumpy over here I’m almost fell down yeah uh so spots where it’s smoing where it’s not so my are you asking me a
Question cuz I can’t hear you you’re talking way too quiet so my question to you father is blasting Soviet music into my ear are you the same way the same way as what look a giant dandelion that must look cool at night it must be a light
Yes so uh my question is do you also challenge yourself uh to different things do I challenge myself to do different things yeah like D from you no I mean like I’m in my late 40s and I have a YouTube channel for the first time I mean like dangerous things like
I’ve never gone snowboarding I really want to go snowboarding I will not be doing that norw be jumping out of a functioning airplane I really want to do that too no okay look life is fantastic enough I do not need to put myself at unnecessary risk but it’s fun okay look
Right now we’re but can have fun without being dangerous to a point okay right now we’re skating next to uh this uh Depot with different uh food food trucks yeah but it’s the food trucks are more for decoration they’re like around I they do sell food yeah they sell food
It’s Americans know what food truck parks are oh well I didn’t know what it was so and then inside there’s like an actual restaurant and the the booths are shaped like cars street food it’s been a become a cultural phenomenon I think in the last 10 years maybe well this is a
Functioning Park all year round and behind me I don’t know if it’s visible on camera but there’s a basketball court over there and sand volleyball so it’s a really nice place to come here you were a circus performer oh yeah I did I did um I yeah I did trap these here one
Summer you’re full of secrets over new surprises yes and then when we went back to America I was like I want to join the circus and I did a circus camp at Florida State University all right I can’t take it anymore let’s go to the
River oh cool so I know the river is right there that’s why the buildings are far away cuz there’s water beyond that wall there it is okay so there’s still a sidewalk there hello beautiful trees that light up at night is it hey shamal so man um who are you I’m simply shamal
Hey that’s your YouTube channel but who are you I’m a student from St Petersburg Russia and I’m originally from Sri Lanka uhhuh I study computer science there and in St Petersburg in St Petersburg yeah so why did you come to Russia actually you wouldn’t believe me
I uh how would you say I dreamed about coming to Russia from my childhood oh really yeah why do you think because my father used to work here and I heard childhood stories from him about Russia about the history of Russia and and it uh made me very curious to come here and
See it by myself so that’s cool man a good story yes and did he like Russia he he likes Russia yeah he comes here uh how would you say to work by time that’s fantastic to hear so Russia appeals to people even foreigners exactly from all
Around the world I think I noticed on your YouTube channel shamal that you like Doki I love Doki he’s my favorite writer really of course so tell me why because uh a year ago I read dvi’s brothers karamazov and it turned out to be the best book I have read in my whole
Life wow yeah and why because what did you like about it it’s so deep and it’s in this book uh dust dfki wrote about humans and psychology and I have heard some famous psychologists also have said that if you want to learn psychology you must read the stv’s books
Pretty amazing huh yeah that so much knowledge inside this book possibly the the best books on the human soul are Russian books exactly I think everyone in the world should read those books in English or whatever language they speak so I take it you’re not an atheist then
I’m not I’m a Believer we both are foreigners in this country and it sounds like you have come and you enjoy being here not just because you want to enjoy the wealth of this country but you actually appreciate its culture yes exactly you can tell where people prefer
To skate because the ice is U more scratched up so people like skating right by the river it seems whereas over on the far side on the other side of the park it’s smoother I mean it’s so nice aora and what’s good about today is it’s
Not that cold yeah um but it’s cold enough to have good ice but I was nervous when we got here that the ice was going to be not too good because how how warm it is it’s not warm but it’s warmer than usual so this is sad you
Know sad is right of course I do and so do all of my true fans because they watched my last episode well to those who don’t know sad is like a giant Russian teapot uh it heats up I don’t know the tech the technical stuff about
It all I knows that it makes hot water apparently jiah does really he was explaining it well in the last video well I better than have better than me he he could even explain the breakdown of the word and what the the different parts of the word meant really yes yes
Wow so that’s cool yeah I’d say it but I already forgot and it’s better for you guys to just go watch the other video and find out what the video called I’ll put it on the screen I forgot that too but there’s this big white church called uh like the Christ the Savior
Church uh it’s right over there it’s big and white and it has gold on top uh it’s just really beautiful I love that it’s in the center of Moscow so if I’m just walking around the center and want to go inside it’s very nice yeah we can see it
Beyond the bridge oh cool and inside it’s very beautiful plus it’s free so it’s very it’s a nice activity to fill your time with it smells like a winter barbecue next to this place they must be cooking something yummy inside wow are you okay I’m okay okay
Um so you speak three languages right yes I do English Russian and S my native language Singh sing yes and uh you’ve been living in Russia for four or five years now four years four years this is my fifth year right uh and over time people can start to forget languages so
Right now which language do you think you speak the best in I guess I have been speaking Russian for a long time time with my friends groupmates right because of that I think now I can think in Russian and speak Russian I do that too way better than other languages
Right uh but you still speak your native tongue often no of course yeah with my parents I speak with we’re going to go over here in my native language mhm oh they’re closed so at night time if you come here you can had free tea so if this is your
First time joining us I’m an American who’s been living in Moscow since 8 days before the special military operation under sanctions I’ve got five children here Aurora is one of them I have a Russian wife and our goal with this channel is to show the world that Russia is a
Normal place in a place not to be feared so that you know I can do my small part to end this new Cold War uh so share what you can with whoever you can help us out in our little Mission here one two three one two three sorry no it’s not very pretty
No that one was so elegant wow airplane okay I did it maybe I can spin no all right guys what did you think of this place did you have fun with us I certainly had a great time but this is not all after you click like And
Subscribe on my channel you’re going to click the Box on the screen and go see me more with shamal simply shamal on his Channel right now we’re going to do something completely different on shamal’s channel and we’ posted it right now shamal you got anything else you
Want to say anything else was X American And subscribe to him and also to my channel Aurora bye oh you don’t have a Mic you’re not on mro be quiet so Jamal Jamal sorry restart I actually called you Jamal this is your first time joining us I’m an American I’m going that way yeah I have so many memories walking no I’m not no no no I’m doing something different you can do that in a
Minute also the off chance that I fall what if someone skates over my hair that would be we don’t have all day no just okay we sort no you’re not looking at the camera you’re just walking we lost them all so hold on so rora you were going to we’re get actually getting
Good at this framing I didn’t put the microphone on why not because I was talking okay from Tuesday I forgot how to say 5:00 p.m. to 11: can I talk to myself or to you while we you you do what you think is best you’re a creative person I’m an
American who’s been living in Moscow I can’t get it on then just hold it just got to aim it’s like aiming up to the air you just hold it you want I’m talking to it like you’re on the news so shal that looks strange it’s too Much a restroom in it okay get off me U we’re checking the framing okay all right get the angle where you like it I’m think I the balloon Jamal’s touching me but I’ll allow it so he doesn’t fall down all right are are you lit all right
He’s lit my lit don’t be sorry be a man come on stand up all right all right you’re trying too hard relax and you should be able to stand normally just chill and and and so what you’re doing to stand is you’re angling your skates but like look at me
If I do this I’ll fall if I do that I should stand you so your skates will slide into each other so see what I’m saying do an L okay cool all right you good yeah yeah okay YouTuber today but remember he was a father first these were his father the
Coaching okay enough of that’s too sentimental I don’t okay you got it framed up good you just you hang on to it because I want the balloon to be in the picture but Aurora honey I we’re going to run out of film okay all right so hold it steady
All right guys what did you think of this place again I was I was shaking
source