Hockey Night in Hong Kong

Hey Hockey Fans,

While I love exploring and discovering new cultures clinging on to some familiar  things is important to me as well.  It is hard to really explain why I love hockey so much.  Mainly though I just find it fun.  I love the speed of it even though I am not really fast out there on the ice.  I love watching NHL hockey too.

The game is also the great Canadian winter diversion and I have a million memories, most good, playing in bitterly cold conditions with friends and kids, then hanging out later at home nicely tired, warming up.  It is a great social time, locker rooms can smell pretty bad and so can the language, but it is a great social time.   I am sure a huge percentage of Canadian men have forged great friendships in those horribly smelling change rooms.

So to be able to evoke those old memories and have a good social time while playing hockey here in Hong Kong is a wonderful thing.  Still there are a few differences.  Namely: the rink is on the tenth floor of a department store.  You get to it by an elevator or esculater.  Half of my team is Chinese, great guys, many are Canadians, but still kind of weird to hear Cantonese spoken amongst some of them. There is a head of a dinosaur T rex that hangs over the rink.  Its an ad for a movie theatre, but what the hey.  One side of the rink has a giant window with a great view of Kowloon Bay.  Its protected by netting.  Thank goodness, due to my skills rusting a bit,  several pucks off of my stick would have flown through that window.  Going to the game you take a taxi while wearing shorts and flip flops.  Oh how I miss freezing in my car going to a game in Canada.  Ah not.

Finally I get several looks from the local Chinese while I lug my equipment to the taxi stand.  The looks are a cross between bemusement and what? are you daft?, but I take it in stride.  Hong Kong is a place where you see different every day so I fit right in.

God bless you.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk  

Striding into action.

6 8 is about how tall I am on the ice with skates.  I am a big body says my coach.  I think it is a compliment.  I think...

My team is called the Warriors.  Scary.

Face off.  Getting ready for a blast from the point.  BTW I am a defence man.  Too slow for forward.

Patrolling the blue line.