Where is the Ball?

I found a video of a hockey game at the MCC Guest House a while ago and last week I got the chance to show it to my host family. This was after a long conversation the night before where I was explaining to my host father the details of hockey and curling. He was really interested in the business side of the whole thing - how much were players paid, how big were the facilities, etc., but also was keen to see hockey in action.

Everyone gathered around the TV and I tried to explain what was going on. They were really impressed that people could move on ice like that. For sure, they kept saying, people should be falling down and losing their balance. Every time someone would start skating fast there would be some excitement as the Zambians could hardly believe that someone could do such a thing.

My host mom also kept asking, "where is the ball?" I guess we needed an American FOX-style comet tail. I sat by the TV and used my finger to show where the puck was going. I guess that following the puck is a bit of a learned skill after all.

The final factor that impressed them was the cold. The game that I had was the outdoor game in Edmonton from a few years ago so it was actually legitimately cold, -20 degrees or so. Right now we are pretty cold here and it is about 10 degrees, maybe a little colder, at night. Temperatures in the negatives were a bit of a stretch for them.

After watching a period it was time for bed. Hopefully we'll watch some more one day. If not, at least I've done my part to spread the gospel of hockey.