Do I bitch too much?

I have had a tough time lately. Bitching about this or that has become sort of a past-time for me, to the point where I am bitching about the meat to the butcher and expecting them to agree...or at least the analogy gives you an idea! It is all a part of the assimilation process...or so I keep telling myself. But the endless bitching about shitty food, about the attitude of people here, about the availability of quality goods...is it really going to go away? Is it that I just need to get used to things? Or is it that I am living higher than I belong in this country?



What I mean by that is that I seem to get pissed off that certain things that I am used to - quality meat, a good selection of fresh herbs and spices, and higher quality products - are not available here. The fact is I am wrong. They are available here. They are just a lot more expensive. In fact they are priced beyond what I am willing to pay for them, based on my current salary. I am considered above average in the Czech Republic, as far as salary goes. However, this amount still leaves me below average in quality of life when I compare a person with even worse "status" in their position back in Canada. In fact, I believe that when I worked in restaurants, which has taken up 7 years of my Canada Pension Plan calculation, I think I had a higher quality of life than I have now. Should I be expecting this? Or was I just spoilt? It would obviously take some time to adjust life down a few notches to the level that suits me economically, but is that what I have to do? Am I doomed to consuming cheap oily cheese and meat in a tube for the rest of my life?



Or is there something that I should give up? When I examine things, I see that we pay a very average rent for an average flat in an average neighbourhood. It is not riddled with delights on every block, it is not poor (possibly even rich...but not our building), but, at the same time, it is not the projects. I also see that we have yet to purchase a car, we have standard tv/internet service under a great price considering the market, and really no other expenses except utilities. Should we not be able to afford quality food? I play hockey, which costs about 350 Czech koruna per week. Should I give that up so that I can buy better meat and vegetables? Or is there something wrong here?


Assimilation is a bitch!

no skiing but hockey instead

OK. so we didn't go skiing. We didn't go to the in-laws either. We have been there once since, and it was actually a decent weekend. We ended up making a bunch of fresh pasta with our pasta machine, as well as some italian sausages and a bunch of chorizo, all of which turned out well. I got more details on my other blog here.

I have gotten into hockey, and it is a strange thing here. I never knew how bad i sucked. I am playing on a team in the worst division of all hockey that is played here. Essentially half of the team - and its probably the same on every team - skates like shit, and the other half skates well, but are just average players. I am not used to being the star on any team, and haven't been since I was probably about 8 years old. But I am used to playing on a team where everyone can at least skate. Because of this, I have always accepted the fact that I am not a top scorer, and can't deak people out at a whim. I am not, however, used to this type of situation when half of the players truly do suck. I am dealing with it, and I do think that I am better than I am playing, of course, but it will take some time for me to get back into it because of my 8 month layoff from the dislocated ac joint.

Speaking of hockey, I have had a bitch of a time trying to figure out how to watch my favourite team, the Edmonton Oilers, as much as possible. I was used to watching - or at least having the possibility to watch - about 75 out of the 82 games a year that they play. Coming over here, I was afraid that I wouldn't get more than 5. So I have been searching and searching. We invested in O2 TV, which is OK, but nothing great (I still hate the delay in channel change that you get with sat or DSL tv that isn't at all an issue with cable tv). It has NASN, which is now ESPN America (As of Feb 1 I guess), in its sports bundle, and I have found that I get an Oilers game about 2X a month, but they really concentrate on eastern teams, due to population, fanbase, and the better timeslots. Timeslots also create a problem for me because Edmonton games are primarily scheduled for about 3 AM Prague time, which means I ain't watching!

So the plan was, ever since the beginning, that I would get a DVD recorder with an HDD so that I could record all the games that are at that ungodly hour and watch them the next day after work. I have gone through so much shit to buy this thing, as a friend offered to get one for me through someone they know for a good price, and that someone took 3 weeks to even respond, until this past week where she finally said, "OK, I will check the prices of these two and get you the best one." One day later, I find the NHL Torrents website. 82 games a year of the Oilers all downloaded straight to my computer. Way to save my expat ass on that one. Nice site. Just hope Maja doesn't go nuts with all the hockey I am watching!

Check it out if you are hard up for some NHL action!