29.03.2008
Shopping!
Boys often laugh at girls that they shop for so long. Well, in some cases I feel that boys are even worse.
I realized that I'm missing so many clothing for spring and summer – shoes, shorts and swim suit. Thus, we went shopping yesterday.
First, we started with the shoes. It is somewhat ironic than in the first store they had so many different types of trek shoes, but neither of them fit. In contrast, in the second store there were only two pairs of shoes I liked and guess what – both of them did fit. Thus, the situation changed from which of the enormous amount of shoes I haven't tried yet to which of the two pairs should I choose. And yeah, there is a happy ending – I finally bought a pair.
The second task was to find the swim suit. Canadians are not as crazy as Californians meaning that they won't forbid you to wear the European bath suit, but they will look strangely at you. It's funny how people from different parts of the world perceive this differently. I've heard about an American who was studying in France. Once he decided to go to a swimming pool. However, they forbid him to wear swim suit with long pant legs, so he had to wear to European one instead. He said he felt like naked.
Buying the swim suit and the shorts was a lot easier than to buy the shoes. I just picked one, tried it on, realised that it fits and bought it. In fact, the merchant in the store where I bought the shoes said exactly the same – it took him so long to select shoes, but he had no problems with buying clothes.
Do you also have the crazy iracional feeling after you bought something that you should have bought the different thing? It actually seems like everybody has that.
Now I'm enjoying the precious opportunity that in Canada you can return the stuff you bought. Maybe it's possible in the Czech Republic as well, but I've never seen anybody going back to a mall with a shampoo saying "I want the money back" and they accepted it without hesitation and didn't even ask what is the reason nor whether the shampoo was used. So now I'm wearing the shoes and the shorts and it looks like I'm not gonna give them back.
23.03.2008
Just a couple of things
Fundraising, Easter and evil vacuum cleaners
Yesterday we went to WallMart to sell personalized Easter eggs. It was a fundraiser for our track team. We had a bunch of chocolate eggs and different colors of icing. When someone ordered an egg we put a name on it. We had a pretty good spot just in front of the cashiers and since there was unbelievable amount of shopping people (the stores were closed on Friday), the line was kind of long and thus lots of customers who had nothing to do while waiting ordered some eggs. I don't know yet how much money we fundraised, but WallMart said they would double the money we made. Sweet!
I also underwent a huge step to adulthood yesterday. I bought 6 pairs of socks myself. (Well, not really – thanks for helping me Mrs. Heiko). But still – got new socks :). It's funny when I'm reading it again, the first sentence of this paragraph sounds like I'll talk about something totally different.
We were also talking about Easter tradititions the past couple of days. And guess what ... so many Canadians already told me that they would like to go to the Czech Republic over Easter (well, they were mostly boys :)). I was suprised, but nobody told me that the Czech tradition is inhuman, violent or whatever and that we should stop it. They said that traditions are fun instead. I like that opinion.
If you are an English reader who now feels confused, I've got an explanation for you. So ... the following is a Czech and Slovak (maybe eastern Europe?) Easter tradition. The boys cut willow branches and make "sticks" from them. They took 8 withies (hope that this is the right word) and make a "pony tail" from them. Finally, in the Easter Monday morning they chase the girls and hit them on their butts with the "sticks" while saying Easter carrols. Then the girls are supposed to give the boys an egg. The tradition says that the girls are being hit because it will make them younger. Then there is a second part – the afternoon. The girls can pour cold water on the boys. However, this has kind of diminished and for instance I've never experienced a girl pouring a water on me ... so far. And yeah ... if you're wondering we (at least the boys) really enjoy this tradition.
The next thing I'm gonna write about are the Transactional English classes, because we've been doing a really interesting things recently – critical reviews. At first we started with film reviews and watched two movies during regular classes (I can't imagine this happening in the Czech Republic). I was away for one of them (Edmonton track meet), so guess what was my homework. Watch a movie! Now we've moved on to even more interesting thing – a resturant review. Thus, the task is to go to a restaurant and review the food, service, place, etc. However, my friend and I don't have a car (and can't drive respectively), so we only went to Tim Hortons (a Canadian "fast food" which is focused on coffee, donuts and stuff like that). So can you imagine you go out to eat during English? It was great! Now the sampeling and eating phase is over and the next week we'll be writting the review ... or maybe making a movie about it, if we find an easy-to-use software to make it. We've got about ten minutes of video and we need to add comentary, maybe some effects and stuff like that. Do you have any ideas what software would work the best for that purpose? I have absolutely no experience with that and I've only heard about Windows Movie Maker.
The last thing I wanted to mention here today is the Canadian vacuum cleaner. However, my experience with it is limited to two of them so far, so I might be totally wrong. Still, lets have a look. How does the vacuum cleaner here look like? It's big, heavy and so loud. Moreover, it has so many features you'll never use. For example, there is a light bulb on the front – maybe so you can see what's happening when you're vacuuming dark places. However, the light makes the front thick, so it's almost impossible to vacuum places like under your bed. (Yeah, those are exactly the spots where the light was supposed to be in use) Furthermore, the front is heavy and thus hard to operate. I can really imagine the seller of this item telling his or her customer about all the great features the vacuum cleaner has. "Look at the light in the front, it will make your vacuuming so easy and fun." However, the contrary is the truth. How come no one can have a vacuum cleaner that is good for vacuuming and nothing else? Tell me who needs stuff like lights on it. Maybe it's hard to sell it without it.
Happy Easter!
15.03.2008
The last race of the season
A fun team skiing race/ralley
About 40 skiers came to Windsor Park for probably the last race of the season (yeah, I know, there should be a costume nigth race on Wednesday). We have had the most beautiful weather for skiing so far – temperature around -5, no wind (!!!) and sun shine all the time. It was -25 overnight, so the snow was kind of frozen and really, really fast.
As I said before, we raced in teams. Every team consisted of two skiers who were doing two 3.3 km laps each. It was a free technique, so it was pretty challenging for me since I have only classic skis. I paired up with a guy who then turned out to be one of the fastest skiers I've ever seen. But let's start from the beginning.
I kind of lost a good position in the mass start after enforced double poling (ehm... no clue how to spell it – "hulkovani") and finished at a bad position. The next lap was Ryan's and he somehow managed to came 4th! To my second lap I was going slightly in front of our skiing coach. Since the first part was flat, he didn't catch me. However, it changed in the more hilly part (we all know what hilly in this context mean, eh?) with lots of turns. It's interesting that this would be exactly opposite if we were running – the Canadians would be faster on the flat and I in the hills. Thus, he passed me. But since I could see him I was able to push myself and not let him go too far from me. And then Ryan again. "Let's go Ryan!" And guess what ... we ended up first! However, this was some sort of fun race, so the position didn't really matter.
I've got to say I really enjoy skiing competitions in Canada. Firstly, there is always at most 40 people and you know the majority of them. Secondly, they always mark and groom the course very well. Thirdly, there is always somethink to drink – hot chocolate, juice, ... and to eat – we had pancakes with maple juice – mmmm :). Furthermore, it's the prizes. I still don't get how are they able to get so many of them in such a good quality – today they had, gloves, socks, skiing equipment and even snow shoes! It must have been a donation from somewhere, because they wouldn't be able to buy them from the entry fees. Finally, I love the atmosphare there – lots of friendly Canadians. It's a pleasure to race with and/or against them.
Hopefully, there will still be snow on Wednesday and we will be able to have the costume race. The snow is vanishing incedibly fast.
8.03.2008
Edmonton again
We went to beat Alberta's butts, but they beat ours.
On 28th of March 26 Miles Mac athletes, two student coaches, 3 teachers and 1 parent guardian got on a bus and headed towards Edmonton. Yeah, another 15 hours, but yeah ... again with our cool track coach :) We watched lots of movies and played a funny mime game. Another task was to murmour a given song and the others had to recognize it. The girls are amazingly good at it.
The plan was to go to the West Edmonton Mall on Friday, then race on Saturday and Sunday and come back on Monday morning.
8 hours at the biggest mall in the world? Exhausting! I think I wouldn't survive there any longer. Almost everybody shopped like crazy (they've got oil, so you do not have to pay provincial tax). We went to Dollarama and bought five plastic guns (i know, sounds like grade 5, eh?) and Irish hats for the competition. We also went to play laser tag, but it turned out that playing with the plastic guns is a lot better. Especially when we were shooting at Matt when he just went out from the bathroom wearing only towel round his waist. The bullets made so funny noise when they hit his skin.
On Saturday morning we left for the competition. Did you know that in Edmonton they use only numbers for streets and avenues? Moreover, the streets are in 90 degree angles, so streets in one direction are called "avenues" and in the other direction ... ehm "streets". However, our bus driver switched street and avenue when he was typing in our destination into the GPS navigation. So we ended up in a different part of the city. Fortunately, we arrived in time for the meet. It was held in a big yellow rounded building called "The Butter Dome" or so which is located in the university area.
I signed up for 3000m, 1500m and 800m. However, the times were slow – 10:07, 4:43 and 2:18 respectively. It looks like it's not a good idea to go skiing the week before the competition and also the ride on the bus probably isn't the best thing to do. Anyways, there is more motivation to practice harder for the next meet.
It turned out that we were the only high school team there – all the others were regular track teams. However, it was a great experience to race against them. We were also the only team who was cheering a lot. And guess what ... got invited for the next year!
We were supposed to leave early on Monday morning. However, the bus driver came on Sunday and told us he heard a strange noise while driving and he suggested the bus should be checked before we go. Thus, we left late. (For Czech orienteering runners: Yes, even Canadian buses can get fucked up and yes, even Canadian bus drivers can behave like crazy – this one was really nice, though, (i mean bus drivers we had in Fernie)).
I dunno why, but it's such a difference whether you eat a sub or a burger. After a sub (like half foot sandwhich) from Subway I wasn't hungry anymore whereas after a burger I still felt like eating something. Must be because of the meat. And the point? Well, there isn't any just the sub was cheaper than the burger.
We arrived around one at Winnipeg. It was pretty funny to see the tired track people the next day at school.
7.03.2008
What if ... a hockey game!
This essay was written for Psychology. Hopefully, there aren't many grammar mistakes. Enjoy!
In this piece of writing I’m going to talk about what I experienced during the two hours in MTS center. (Winnipeg’s Sazka Arena) Before we get to the main theme, some general background info has to be provided. Manitoba Moose were playing against Harshley Beavers (USA – Minnesota). The final score was 4:3 for the Beavers, so we saw lots of goals. This game was a part of AHL – one step below NHL. Winnipeg Jets are gone, so AHL is the highest hockey league here.
First thing one realizes is how big impact the music has on the audience. They mostly play hard-rock catchy music which makes fans warm-up. Furthermore, when a proper song is selected at the right moment, the result is immediate – everybody joins in clapping, screaming and supporting their team. However, those conditions were perfectly met only once during the whole game. On top of that, I’ve heard that some teams listen collectively to heavy metal music such as Rammstein right before they play and this helps them to get into the right mood. Well, I also like to listen to a hard music while working out and hard-rock and heavy metal is exactly what you can hear in the gyms. On the other hand, it would be interesting to know to what music girls like to listen to while in gym.
It’s also interesting what happens to the mood of the team when they score. They’re kind of excited the next 30 seconds or so and more vulnerable to allow the other team to score. This happened to the Moose – they scored about a minute before the end of the second period. The score was 3:2 for the Beavers. However, the Beavers manage to alter the score again before the bell rang. In my opinion, the Moose were happy because they scored and also though that nothing could happen to them since only one minute was left. However, the Beavers take the advantage of the Moose sudden weakness and scored. I think the following minute after your team scores is a part of one of the dangerous moments for your team.
Another interesting situation appeared – the fight. However, even more interesting is what happened before the fight. The Moose scored couple of minutes ago and the score was 2:1 for the Beavers. One could feel that the Moose were ready to score again. At exactly this moment one of the Beaver players started punching a Moose player. After a second punch the Moose player got angry and the whole situation ended in a fight. After that the Moose good mood was destroyed. I have a strong suspicion that was the reason why the fight was started. This also suggests following question: How big part of the team strategy is the fights?
Another thing that surprised me was that I saw the players of the opposite team talking to each other. Maybe it’s only my false interpretation of what I saw, but I bet they exchanged few sentences. I really wonder about what they were talking about.
In between the thirds little guys were playing hockey. There were about 15 of them in both teams around the age of four or five. There were both girls and boys and they played without a goalie. Suddenly one of the boys was coming alone towards an empty net. Although he could score easily he decided to do a 360 degree spin and score from that. He did succeed and received a huge applause. They even do a little interview with him on the big screen. Here we could see how originality and imagination brings tremendous results. Needless to say, it was definitely harder to do that than just score without doing anything special.
Those were my observations from the hockey game. There is a lot more to write about – for example the behaviour of the people who are being filmed and everybody can see them on the big screen. However, this would a topic for another journal.
Home