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!

Hell on skis

We are going skiing this weekend and its back to the in-laws for a place to sleep. Staying with them is somewhat fascinating for newcomers, but I have grown tired of it. It is not their fault at all. They are great people and try to make me feel welcome in any way possible. The fact is that they are Czech villagers. If you are not sure what that means, in essence, watch Vesnicko ma strediskova. It will give you a great idea of what they are like. OK. They aren't exactly like that...but there are significant similarities! If you don't want to go through that effort, then just believe me. They are different. To an onlooker it is a complete comedy, but to live it is not. But as weird as I think they are, they must think the same about me, because they simply don't know anything else. Showering 2X a week is enough for them. A diet consisting of a vegetable list 2 items long (onions and cabbage) is enough for them.

A cook book with a 50 page list of different ways to cook cheap fatty meats with dumplings, and 100 ways to combine ham, butter and bread: now that is a bestselling cookbook!!
I have to get all this bitching out of the way, because I am going to quit. Or at least try. Accepting differences is part of being "cultured", and that doesn't only mean realizing that the French eat snails and the Scandinavians eat whale. It means being comfortable in any setting, whether it be a black tie affair, or the smoky, almost suffocating, party that happens on a weekly basis at the fishermen's club in the village. And cocktail weenies aside, we simply want to have a decent relationship with these people. They are, after all, family.

However, in order to accommodate our nerves (and theirs, even though the battle inside themselves pits their desire for us to be their little kiddies again vs. their natural habits making them gasp at half of the things we say/suggest), we are going skiing to break up the weekend. My wife, Maja, is, shall we say, a "skier in training". She wants to learn and that is fine because I like skiing, and I like to see her active. So we will spend the bulk of the day skiing, and possibly going for supper, and then meet her parents for a trip to the choke-dome (that fishermen's club) for a few pints, and then wake up the next morning and leave. That is if we don't get sucked back into by the black hole that is her mother's guilt!

But we will eventually get out, and hopefully it will end on a positive note with the only unwelcome addition being another crease on my forehead.