Back to Reality

The last few days have been crazy busy!  I made it back to my house at 10:30pm on Wednesday night.  I forced myself to stay awake the entire flight home in the hopes that I could sleep through the night and re-adjust to eastern time quickly.  Unfortunately that plan didn't work out so well as I was wide awake at 4:30am Thursday!  Today was the first morning that I slept past 6am so I think I am finally readjusted.  

Between catching up with work and life I've been running around like a crazy person but that doesn't mean I haven't had a chance to reflect on the past two weeks.  Words cannot describe how blessed I feel to have had the opportunity to represent USA Hockey and the International Ice Hockey Federation again.  The memories and friendships from these tournaments is something I will always treasure.  When I started this journey into officiating, I never thought any of this was possible.  It has taken a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck on my part but I also would never be here without the help and support of others.  Thanks goes out to USA Hockey for having the faith in me to represent them.  I also have to thank all of the instructors at camps over the years for pushing me to constantly get better.  Lastly, I need to thank my family and friends for putting up with me always saying "I can't, I have hockey" during the winter months. 

Now that it is officially the offseason I'll put the whistles away for awhile and take some time to recharge the batteries.  However, that doesn't mean the training stops.  I have a few items the supervisors told me to work on so I'm working on coming up with a plan on how to turn those weaknesses into strengths.  I'm hopeful to get another opportunity to do this again next year but that is the crazy thing about this international officiating stuff - you never know when the ride is going to be over until it is over.  That is why you have to make the most out of every opportunity you get.  Hopefully you have enjoyed this version of my blog and my fingers are crossed I'll get the chance to put more entries in next year!  Enjoy your summer!

A Quick Adventure

This was written on the plane on the way home...

Today was my last day in Europe.  While I am sad to be leaving, I'm also looking forward to getting home and getting back into a normal routine.  My flight wasn't until 5:15 Zurich time so I had most of the day before I had to head to the airport.  I wanted to do something relatively active (vs going to a museum) since I would be sitting on an airplane for 9 hours later in the day.  Anna suggested that I go for a hike at Uetliberg.  Uetliberg is a mountain area just outside the city that has a hiking trail that offers amazing views of Zurich and the Alps.  The plan was to store my luggage at Anna's office then take the train up to Uetliberg, go for a little hike then come back, meet her for lunch then head to the airport.

I was able to find the train line that takes you to Uetliberg pretty easily.   Only one slight problem - not all of the trains on that line run all the way up to Uetliberg.  So the first train I was on started out going the right way, then all of a sudden started going the other direction!  I was so confused!  I got off at the next stop and caught the next one to the turn around station.  I was able to look at the schedule board there and figured out that every 4th train goes all the way up to Uetliberg.  Fortunately, I got on the correct one and eventually made it up there.  It was definitely worth the trouble, the views were amazing.  I followed one of the trails that was supposed to eventually lead me to a gondola that I planned to take back down into town.  Along the way there was a cell tower that had an observation deck open to the public.  You could see everything, it was gorgeous.  I took a ton of pictures but I doubt they will do it justice.  When I entered the trail, there were signs about the gondola but unfortunately they were all in German so I couldn't read them.  I just assumed they said it was in a certain direction - bad assumption.  After what I think, based on a map I took a picture of, was a 7.5 km (just under 5 miles) hike I found the gondola and realized the sign said it was closed for maintenance.  Opps.  Fortunately there was a trail that you could follow under the gondola that got you down, it was just really steep and a lot more work than I wanted to do!  When I eventually made it down to the bottom, I found the train that would take me back into town.  I had planned to meet Anna between 1-1:30 and despite the train and gondola snafu I had about an hour and a half before I had to meet her.  Yesterday when I was downtown I saw you could rent pedal boats on Lake Zurich.  I decided to continue my active day and do that for a little while.  It was fun, it offered some really pretty scenery and it was nice to be out on the water.  I did that for about 45 minutes then headed back to meet Anna.

We got lunch at this little take out place close to her office and ate outside along the river.  I wish my office had something like this setup, it was so peaceful and nice.  After lunch I went and got my stuff to head to the airport.  I made it there in plenty of time and was able to relax for a bit before getting on the plane.  I land at 8:15 EST in Newark.  I'm getting a ride home from there so the goal is to be back in Manayunk by 10:30 or 11.  Then, a little more than 12 hours after landing in the states after being away for 2 weeks, I go to the final walk through of my new house!  After the walk through I'll empty my bank account, sign the papers and get the keys!

I'll do a wrap up post or two in the next few days but this was another fantastic trip! The tournament was great in all aspects and I really can't thank Anna enough for hosting me in Zurich!  It was great to meet some new friends and reconnect with an old one!

Amazing Day in Zurich

Wow, what a day!  Zurich is an absolutely amazing city and I had perfect weather to walk around and explore. We woke up early this morning and headed into town.  Anna had to go into work for awhile so she dropped me off where we were going to meet later in the day armed with a map and a list of things to do.  It was so funny, she told me to message her on facebook (since my phone doesn't work here) every once in awhile so she knew I wasn't lost!

I started off by taking a 20 minute walk down Bahnhofstrasse.  This is the Swiss version of the Champs Elysees - lots of designer shops that charge way too much money for everything in the store. On the way I passed by the national bank of Switzerland.  That street dumped me right in front of the huge train station I was at yesterday.  On the other side of the train station was the Swiss National Museum.  I went into the museum and learned all about Swiss history and saw lots of different artifacts.  The coolest part was the war history stuff.  They had many of the weapons used and lots of suits of armor to look at.  After exploring the museum for a little while I left and headed towards Old Town.  Old town is an area of the city that has all of these little hilly cobblestone streets that are completely closed off to vehicle traffic.  There are a ton of cafes, shops and galleries.  I walked all around and choose a random cafe with outdoor seating for lunch that turned out to be really good!  I had a sandwich and salad lunch combo and it cost me what amounts to almost $30 US dollars!  Anna had warned me Zurich was expensive and clearly she wasn't kidding.  After I ate some lunch I headed towards Lindenhof.  This is a little park in the city that Anna's mom had recommended for great views of the city.  I forgot to mention yesterday, Anna's mom joined us for dinner last night.  She was very curious to meet one Anna's "hockey friends" since she doesn't know any other girls who prefer to watch hockey on tv, drink beer and play sports over most other things.  She was a wonderful woman and it was very fun to talk to her.  Anyway, Anna's mom was correct and the views of the city were awesome!  After taking a ton of pictures, I headed towards the 3 famous churches of Zurich - St.  Peters, Fraumunster and Grossmunster.  St. Peter's is famous for its clock tower - apparently the clock is the largest in all of Europe.  Fraumunster and Grossmunster were homes for the nuns and monks respectively.  The story is the river that runs between the two was put there to help them avoid any temptations.  Both were absolutely gorgeous.  The cool thing about Grossmunster is you could go to the top of the clock tower for amazing views of the city.  It was definitely worth the hike up!  After leaving the churches, I headed towards the Zurich Opera House, which sits right on Lake Zurich.  After exploring the Opera House a bit I walked all along the lake through a bunch of small parks.  I looked into renting a small motorboat or pedal boat but unfortunately I didn't have enough time.  I then headed back to the train station where Anna and I were met up at Starbucks (thank you Starbucks for your free wifi so I can use my phone).  

After Anna and I met up we went to the store where we picked up some stuff to make for dinner and she helped me pick out some Swiss chocolate to bring home to everyone!  For those of you that get a sample, you can blame her if you don't like it, haha!  We then headed to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) offices to meet her boyfriend who had the car.  Adrian (her boyfriend) works for the IIHF and helps out with some of the officiating stuff.  I get emails from him before every one of these trips so now I can put a face with a name!  He gave me a tour of the offices (which are in this beautiful old mansion) and I got to say hello to KK.  KK is in charge of all officiating matters in the IIHF.  I had met him last year in Ottawa so it was nice to see him again.  After our visit to the IIHF offices, Anna and I headed back to her house.  On Tuesday nights she goes to this fitness class with a few friends so I said I'd go along with her.  I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but I figured at least I'd get a workout in!  The class was 1:15 minutes long.  The first half was an aerobics type workout - I called it Zumba on steroids.  That was entertaining to say the least.  First, as many of you know, I don't have the best rhythm in the world.  Couple that with the fact that all of the instructions were in German and I was an absolute disaster!  All I could do is laugh, the people in this class will probably say to her next week - who is that crazy girl you brought that had NO IDEA what she was doing? After the aerobics portion there was a strength portion where we used bands to do all sorts of things - this was much more in my wheelhouse.  After the class we headed back to her house to make dinner, drink Swiss beer and watch the Swiss Pro Hockey League playoffs.  It was interesting to watch, they play by IIHF rules on Olympic size ice so it is a bit of a different game than NHL hockey.  By far the coolest thing though - the leading scorer on each team wears a special jersey that says "top scorer" and has a yellow helmet with flames on it.  Yes, I'm serious, a yellow helmet with flames.  It was amazing, I want one for mens league at home!  

It really was an awesome day.  I cannot thank Anna enough for her hospitality, it has been great staying with her and hanging out.  I owe her big time when she come and visits the USA (and Anna - since I know you are reading this you better come!).  Tomorrow I am going to do a little more sightseeing before I have to head to the airport to catch my flight home.  I can't believe I get home tomorrow night and settle on my house on Thursday morning!  Goodnight!

Zurich

Hello from Zurich!  It was a little bit of an adventure trying to get here but eventually me and my two bags made it! I had tried to check in to my flight online  this morning but I couldn't get it to work.  Once I arrived to the airport I headed to the counter to check in.  After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, I was finally called up by the agent only to find out that I had to go to a different line to pay for my 2nd bag first.  So another 20 minutes  goes by waiting in  lines then I am finally back with bag receipt in hand.  Remember when I said earlier that I forgot how I packed my bags?  Well one of my two bags was now 2 kilograms (a little less than 5lbs) overweight.  That meant  I had to take them both away and rearrange everything.  Good thing my driver got me to the airport plenty early!

Because the check in process took so long I didn't have a ton of time once I passed through security.  I grabbed a slice of pizza (which tasted so good!) and got on my flight.  It was about an 1:45 flight and the scenery was beautiful - we passed over the Alps.  Looking at them made me want to go skiing! I landed in Zurich around 4:30.  After collecting my bags I started to figure out how I was going to get out to meet Anna.  She had said I could do the train or take a cab but warned me a cab would be expensive.  Being the cheapskate that I am I decided to try the train route.  Getting the right train from the airport was easy, but once I got to the main train station in Zurich things got a little tricky.  There are over 50 platforms there so it took me  awhile to find the right train!  Somehow I didn't screw it up and Anna was at the Starbucks where we planned to meet waiting for me.  From there her boyfriend Adrian picked us up and took us back to their flat.  Their place is super cute, kind of a similar set up to my condo in Manayunk.  It was interesting, I asked her if they rent or own it.  She told me that almost everyone in Switzerland rents because the homes are so expensive. She guessed that if her place was for sale it would cost around 1 million Swiss Francs (which are worth more than the dollar).  

After I got cleaned up a bit we headed out to a traditional Swiss dinner.  We went to this quiet little restaurant on a hill overlooking the mountains.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  I had a traditional Swiss meal called Zurich veal.  It was veal over a giant hash browned potato with a creamy mushroom sauce.  It was amazing- by far the best meal I've had all trip.  We then headed back to their place to get some sleep.  Anna has to go into work  in the morning so I'm going to do a little touring and we are going to meet up in the afternoon.  Looking forward to seeing a lot of Zurich tomorrow!

Hockey Season is Over

Yesterday was the end of the tournament.  I can't believe how quickly it went!  We all got up late after losing an hour of sleep and had breakfast.  After breakfast, everyone headed to their rooms to start to pack.  Repacking is always tough, I forget what order I put things in my suitcase!  I did try to keep a small section at the top with my clothes for the Zurich portion of the trip so I don't have to unpack everything once I get there.  After packing, we all headed to the rink for the games.  The bronze medal game was really good.  Unfortunately, the gold medal game was not as good.  While I can't really talk specifics, lets just say I owe my Canadian friends a beer after that one.  One awkward moment - we were sitting in the stands near the Russian team.  All of a sudden, they started chanting USA USA.  Given the current political climate, it was very strange.  I guess you could say that sports help bridge political gaps.

Following the game, we all headed back to the hotel for dinner and a wrap up meeting.  The tournament director came in to thank us and presented us with our medals.  Of course it was gold - the refs always win. :-)  After some thank you speeches from both the supervisors and us, it was time to celebrate a job well done.  A few of the girls had gone to a local market to pick up some beers and wine for us.  Apparently they don't sell beer by the case here in Hungry so we had to carry about 40 individual bottles from Maria's car inside.  It was funny, typically everything is smaller in Europe - the food portions, hotel rooms, etc.  Well, everything but beer.  These were not quite as big as a 40's we used to drink in college but pretty darn close.  Let's just say it was a late night with a lot of laughs.  It was a great way to wrap up the tournament.

Many people had early morning departures today.  My flight to Zurich isn't until 2:45 so I was able to sleep in and take my time getting ready.  I'm about to head down to lunch before my ride takes me to the airport.  I'm off to Zurich for a few days to visit my friend Anna.  These tournaments are a lot of fun but I definitely consider it a business trip so it will be nice to go on a mini vacation before heading home.  Goodbye from Hungry!  Next time I blog I'll be in Zurich!

Great day of Games

Today we had 4 really great games.  We all meet for breakfast around 9.  From 10-12, the supervisors had individual meetings with us.  My meeting went really well, I got a lot of positive feedback and have a few little things to work on.  After our meetings, I took a quick nap then met my crew for lunch before heading to the rink for the day.  While I can't give specific details about my game, I can say that it was an awesome - probably the 2nd best game I worked all season (USA/Canada takes my #1 spot).  My partners and I worked really well together and we had a blast.

I mentioned in an earlier blog that the USA and Canada were expected to dominate the competition.  And while it is still going to be USA and Canada in the finals, based on the results today I'd say the gap is shrinking.  Even compared to when I was at this tournament 2 years ago, the teams are all improving.  It will be interesting to see if this carries over to the women's worlds in the next few years.  However, Katie made an interesting observation.  All of the girls in this tournament have yet to go on to college, where they will go through some pretty intense training over the next 4-5 years.  Will the girls that attend NCAA schools improve significantly?  And will they improve more than the girls from Europe who choose to play closer to home?  Like I said, I'll be interested to see the results at women's worlds over the next few years to see the carry over effect.

After the games today we had a quick dinner then it was off to bed.  Apparently Europe does their daylight savings time the last Saturday in March (vs North America who does the 2nd Saturday in March) so lucky me gets to lose an hour for the second time this spring!  Now if we were gaining an hour I certainly wouldn't complain, but losing an hour for the 2nd time sucks!  I seriously had no idea (nor did any of the other North Americans) Europe did their time change differently.  How about the whole world compromise and we do it the 3rd Saturday in March?  That would make a lot more sense!  Any idea where I can send my suggestion, lol?  Goodnight!

Another Day Away From the Rink

Today was our 2nd day off.  Unlike last time when we still had some IIHF related activities, this was truly a complete day off.  We are getting to crunch time in the tournament so it is nice to step away to give yourself both a physical and mental break.  We all planned to meet for breakfast around 9.  We had arranged for a bus to take us downtown again at 10:30.  This time we were dropped off at Castle Hill on the Buda side of the river.  I had actually never been to this part of Budapest so I was excited to see something new.  The views were phenomenal.  After taking lots of photos, we headed back to the bus and were dropped off near where we ate lunch on Tuesday.  We walked all around that area and through a little open air market where many of the girls did some shopping.  Mom, you will be very proud of me.  Knowing that I am moving 2 weeks from tomorrow, I refrained from buying any little Budapest trinkets.  The only thing I will be bringing home from this trip other than the clothes I was given is chocolate.

Following the shopping, we ate lunch at an awesome outdoor cafe overlooking the city.  The weather today was perfect for it - it was in the mid 60s and sunny with a light breeze.  Maria (from Slovakia) decided she thought our waiter was cute so she got his email address!  It was really funny, she said she would come back to visit on her next holiday! After our lunch we headed back to the main part of town to be picked up by the bus to go back to the hotel.  Once we got back to the hotel, everyone changed into their swimsuits and headed down to the sauna and pools.  After our pool time everyone got cleaned up and went to dinner.  The food here in general has been pretty good.  My only complaint (and this is partially my own doing) is I've been eating way more carbs (think bread and pasta) than I normally do. Once I get home I need to get back on track with my diet.  Dinner tonight just wasn't doing it for many of us so we decided to walk to a little strip mall that had a grocery store and some other shops after we were done eating.  I have been absolutely craving something chocolate so I was able to get some gelato.  It totally hit the spot. After walking back to the hotel, everyone headed back to their rooms to relax and get ready for tomorrow.  The semifinals, game 2 of relegation and the 5th/6th placement game are all tomorrow.  Every game has huge world ranking implications.  To see what I'm working click here: http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/365/IHW365000_58_9_0.pdf.

I can't believe we only have two more days of games and the tournament ends on Sunday.  I say the same thing every year but it feels like we just started the other day!  I have one or two more games left in my season, I'm hoping to make them my best ones yet!