Chinese Roller Skating Rink

Today was a warm day so I walked downtown to the roller skating rink.  I climbed to the fifth floor and voila, a skating rink on the roof, the floor, smaller than a full length basketball court made up of large flat smooth stone tiles.  For $0.50 I could skate for an hour.  The four wheel skates were exactly like the ones I wore when I was in elementary school.  The clientele about 20 people watching and 10 people skating were exactly like the ones who hung out at the local skating rink in America, school age kids.    It was a nostalgic skate except for the Chinese flavor.  The girls skated in one direction, counter-clockwise and the boys skated backwards in the other direction, clockwise.  It was annoying trying to avoid skaters skating backwards coming at me at full speed, skaters who were just standing around in the rink, and skaters who would hold hands 5 people deep trying to whip each other around.  It has been a long time since I've skated, so my maneuvering and stopping skills were not the strongest.  Having to weave in and out of oncoming and stopped traffic was scary.  Plus avoiding cigarette butts was also a nuisance.  All in all though, I sweated, got a somewhat good workout, and enjoyed myself.  Too bad they didn't play the hokey pokey.