The Final

It dumped more snow here again Sunday night. Just when you think it's finally spring, Mother Nature drops another round of snow on us. It's almost like we never left Minnesota! Reese loves the snow, so that makes it alright. And I guess I really don't mind it either. I just wish it would decide if it was Spring, or still Winter. It's easier back in Minnesota. You can usually count on one last snowstorm to hit right around the High School hockey tournament, and then everything melts, and starts to bloom. Stockholm is more like living back in Breckenridge, Colorado again. There it would warm up, and everything would melt. And then just as you were putting away the winter clothing, and taking out the summer stuff, you'd get two feet of snow. It seemed like we repeated the same cycle for about three months. 

So, anyway, things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to at the Bandy final Saturday in Uppsala. Kristy's team lost the final 2-1 to the team they beat twice during the regular season. And what made it harder to swallow was that it was kind of a fluke goal, scored in about the last minute of play. When they scored, it just gave me this sick feeling. Everyone involved with the team was very disappointed, and it really put a damper on the entire weekend. But all in all, we still managed to have a really good time on Saturday night. Also, a good friend of ours, Pelle, is a coach for Nassjo. So we are happy for him. The real bummer is that Kristy was initially supposed to play in Nassjo this year before she figured out that her work location was in Stockholm. Nassjo is about 4-5 hours south of Stockholm, so the commute would have been a little much. It's hard to say what the experience would have been like had we lived in Nassjo, but I get the feeling Stockholm was a better location for us. I think if we had lived in Nassjo, we would have felt like we missed a lot of the sights of Stockholm. And we have no complaints at all, other than a championship would have been icing on the cake, as they say. I'm sure we would have made a lot of very good friends in Nassjo, but the friendships we've made with the people involved with AIK, we would not trade for anything. We've also made some very good friends here in our apartment building, so..... Everything happens for a reason, I always say. 

On the way home from Uppsala on Sunday, I drove for the first time since the middle of December. I drove because the owner of the car still felt as though she was not quite sober from the night before, and Sweden has a zero tolerance drinking and driving policy. Meaning, if you have one of those little chocolates with the liquor in it, you can get a DUI. And the police here don't need an excuse for pulling you over, like speeding, or swerving. They can pull a car over simply to check for alcohol in the drivers system. And from what I was told, they pull over a lot of cars outside of Uppsala, because they know there were a lot of people there doing a lot of drinking on Saturday and Saturday night. I was fine to drive, because I had quit drinking early, to keep an eye on some of the girls who were making a big dent in the alcohol supply in Uppsala on Saturday. But after being at the games Saturday, and the banquet Saturday night, I can vouch for the fact that there is a lot of drinking involved with this event. Standing outside the entrances to the stands, I saw a lot of people who could barely walk they were so drunk. But, never really saw any problems. Never saw any fights, or anything like that. The police seem to have a lot less attitude than the guys you might see in the United States. I think a lot of that has to do with the amount of guns and violence they see though. Most Police that we have seen in action have been really easy going, and seem to get along really well with the public. Very friendly. They didn't mind on Saturday that there were 10 guys peeing in the woods just off the sidewalk and street next to the stadium. And there were literally officers 20 feet from where these dudes were peeing. Oh, which reminds me. If these guys had used the toilets inside the stadium, the Satellite mobile event toilets that they would have used were made in Minneapolis! So proud. Anyway, driving a car felt really weird. Actually, it just felt weird to be in a car, which had not happened since mid-December. It's going to be an adjustment going home to the car, and not having to walk or take public transportation everywhere. Convenient, yes. But I don't miss the stress of driving places, and dealing with idiot drivers. I really wish the Twin Cities had a subway/train/bus system similar to the one they have here. It's really nice. Safe, clean, frequent, and prompt. 

So now I'm in a bit of a funk again. I think I'm bummed that the bandy season is officially over, and that we'll be going home in a couple of weeks. I became so used to the routine of going to training 3-4 nights a week, and a game every weekend. It's a strange feeling when it's done. During our last practice at Bergshamra, I was out on the ice about an hour before the girls came out, and it gave me a chance to just sit there and take it all in. The sun had set, but it wasn't quite dark yet. The little bit of light in the sky to the west made a nice backdrop to the towering pines that surround the field. The lights had not been turned on yet, and the team was still in the locker room "snacking", which means talking in english. It was so quiet. Then, after practice, Kristy and I were the last one's off the ice. She just sat there taking shots at me. I think both of us knew without having to mention it that we were trying to squeeze every last second in before we had to leave. After practice, a shower, and then cleaning out my locker to take everything back to the apartment with me. But between now and the time we leave, Kristy and I will be busy, which will be nice. She still has to work this week before leaving this Thursday for a weekend ski trip with her teammates and coaches. It's kind of a last fling for the team to get together to close out the season. I wish I was going, but I'll stay here with Reese, which isn't such a bad gig. I've also got plans to get together with our friend Robert, and maybe a couple of other guys from the AIK Men's team. Kind of one last get together with those guys before we leave too. As I've probably mentioned a number of times, everyone involved with the AIK organization has been so good to Kristy, Reese, and me. We'll never be able to thank them enough. 

And now that I look outside, I see it's once again snowing. It was sunny and warm most of the day, but then you saw this heavy line of gray moving across the sky. I said something to Kristy to the effect of "I wonder if it's going to snow". I looked up two minutes later, and it was almost a white out. Now, five minutes later, it has stopped, and the sun is shining again. I see blue skies are starting to dominate again. Weird. I set Reese on top of her kennel in the kitchen, which allows her to look out the window, and she's still sitting there taking in the sights below. I think she'll be happy to be home again. That makes one of us! ;)