It’s only been open for a day, the ice skate rink that is way too small and still makes everybody smile. Tourists shuffle over and around the ice with telephones in hand. Diehards desperately seek out some clear spots to challenge their old skates. Brave kids tumble and bounce along with white bums, parents following suit. And everybody is laughing, even (or maybe even more so) when someone falls over. Some boys form snowballs from the shaved ice that covers the rink like a blanket, and throw them to the people that are making selfies on the bridge over the ice. Even that only elicits laughs. One boy whizzes over the ice in a bright red training jacket, pared with ice hockey skates in the same colour. He bounces around like a ball in a pinball machine. Most of time he manages to dodge his human obstacles, but when a collision seems unavoidable, he grabs it quickly in a firm hug and starts a pirouette. He turns and turns in an intimate embrace with this stranger until both have found their balance. Then he mumbles ‘sorry’, and whizzes off.