Les Hannah, day 33, part 3

Following the school day I headed back to my flat for a short while. Took advantage of the new, closer proximity to the grocery store and purchased a few things to drink and eat. I also discovered a new ice cream and the kiosk where I have been making so many wonderful and flavorful breakthroughs in ice creamery: limone (lemon). Oh my god! This is the best. I won’t linger on describing it because I will have to go back for another, but I have to tell you this is the most amazing thing ever in a cone OR a cup.

I had been invited tonight to go out with some of the teachers and staff to two different sporting events. There was a soccer match and a hockey game on the same night in adjacent arenas. The schools here do not have athletics like we do in America; however, students participate in league clubs that are in essence semi-professional. The soccer club was composed of several students from Esbjerg Handelsskole. Not all of the players were students here, but many were. Same thing with the hockey team.

Now I have been around the game of soccer (Lexi even played one season in Salina, Kansas) and I understand it. While I was at OU one semester I even had most of the women’s soccer team in one of my classes and went to a few of their matches. But I had never really been a follower of the sport. I suppose mainly because what I see on television is akin to the professional sports in America. I have really come to dislike professional sports in America. I think they are all over-paid prima donnas. However, college sports are different – to me at least. I like to watch people do things for the passion of it, not for the money so I have a greater respect for the student or amateur athletes, so long as they remember it’s just a game. But I digress. So the soccer match was fun. I really enjoyed freezing my butt off in the stands; no, I am not being sarcastic. I truly did enjoy it – however, it was cold. Esbjerg won the match 2 -0. And the camaraderie I witnessed both on and off the field was epic. The players certainly seemed to have a healthy respect for each other; I mean both teammates and the opponents. Also the teachers and staff I went with were actually enjoying each other’s company. These people genuinely enjoy being around each other. I get no sense of professional jealousy nor the back-stabbery I have so often felt in American educational institutions. Think of it: colleagues who are actually collegial to one another.