In this third lesson the class just wanted to talk to me, not necessarily about American Indian things, but things in general. Several students had questions about coming to the US to attend university. Other questions were about education in the US, life in the US, things that many of these students know only from television and movies. This was a good lesson; I did not teach/lecture – just talked to them and answered as many of their questions as I could. The fourth session was a first-year class that I had visited only once, so I took the artifacts I brought with me into the class and told about those, showed a few videos and called it a class, then headed to the flat for a short while.
I went to a handball game this evening. Now this is not handball in the sense that many Americans understand it. I have known some people who played the smaller, one-on-one or two-on-two handball game, the game where the players slap the ball with their hands against a wall and play it off the bounce. No, the game I watched tonight is more like soccer, but with hands. It is apparently very popular in this region as I see it on television all the time, but tonight I was able to watch in person. Esbjerg was playing Ribe. As with the other games I have attended while here, I saw no fighting. This is a very physical game and there were moments when the players got rough and came close to confrontation but they backed off from actually fighting. I have read, while here, that Danes have rejected what they call “hooliganism” in sports. This extends to the fans in the stands as well. There are no soccer riots here, and so far as I have seen there is no fighting between the players. Apparently socially it is frowned upon. I even commented to this in one of the classes today. Students asked me about some of the differences I have noticed in American culture and here, and that is one of them. Personally, I am tired of the fighting in American professional sports. Either play the game or get off the field/court – whatever. I made the point about fighting in American sports by noting that if two men were fighting like what happens in some games and that fight were out on the streets someone would be going to jail, but put skates or shoulder pads on these guys, put them on ice or on a field and suddenly it’s OK? Give the referees Tasers, and place cops all around the court/rink/field. Should a fight break out, Tase them, anyone and everyone who fights, then haul them all off to face felony charges. Tell me what is the difference between a baseball brawl and a riot – a uniform, that’s all.
OK, so my rant is over. Back to the handball game. It was exciting, but I think Ebjerg lost. I left a few minutes before the game was actually over and Esbjerg was behind by eight. The game looks tough, by that I mean physically demanding. One thing I will note here is I feel sympathy for the goal keeper. Once the offensive player taking the shot on goal gets past the line of defense it seems the goal keeper can do little to stop a score. The goal is large, about the same size as an indoor soccer goal, and the goal keeper has so much area to cover. It seemed that only one out of about eight times was the keeper able actually to stop a goal once the offensive player broke through the outer defenses. Nevertheless, the game is intense, action filled and fast paced. I enjoyed watching it.
No comments:
Post a Comment