Tonight I worked China vs Finland. It was a prime time game on a Saturday night so the arena was packed. I usually go for a run around the top of the arena then warm up and stretch up there but because so many people were getting to the rink early I had to go down to ice level behind the one nets. While I was doing my warm up there were flashbulbs going off left and right. All of the Chinese fans were taking pictures of me doing warm ups and stretches in my under armour with my ipod on. I felt like a celebrity.
We jumped on the ice just prior to the teams coming out to some awesome Chinese techno music. They don't play the typical arena/hockey songs here - it is all crazy Chinese techno. I think I have heard all the songs they play at least 10 times each. The other funny thing is the announcers. They say everything in Chinese first then in english, however the english isn't always correct. For example, when a penalty expires they say "China #12 penalty is over. China skating at full people." It is pretty funny. Once the game started though the Chinese fans were going nuts! They are super loud and get really into the game and scream whenever China carries the puck in the zone. The game itself was really exciting. China ended up wining 3-2. The last five minutes of the game were ridiculous. It was so loud that you could barely hear our whistles, let alone the gong at the end of the game. After the game we headed back to the hotel and ate. Then we all had a few Harbin beers and hung out. Harbin beer isn't bad and it is super cheap - like less than $3 for a 6 pack.
I'm getting ready to head to bed now. I'm off tomorrow but I think I have a trip to pizza hut and a mall in my future!
Harbin beer... Remember when I said it's just Busch repackaged with Chinese writing...well...I looked it up and I found this Wikipedia entry:
ReplyDelete"Harbin has increased its annual beer production capacity to over 1 million tons and has become a giant in China's beer industry after its successful reform and listing on the Hong Kong stock market. The brewery is owned by Anheuser-Busch, which has helped to export Harbin beer to European and North American markets..."
So once again, "I told you so!"
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ReplyDeleteI am so far behind in reading your posts! The "gong at the end of the game" kills me. :o)
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