Ice Hockey

March 25 – John headed to India this morning so didn’t do much but eat & pack. Since I had the afternoon/evening on my own I decided to finally hit the Sunday night youth ice hockey. I’ve been meaning to do this since I found out about it last November, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So I looked up the name of the person I’d emailed last fall about the hockey, just so I could ask someone if she was there. I looked at the schedule & location & was on my way.

Fortunately the games were at the nice rink in the really nice, new mall (Festival Walk). When I got there the first game had already started & it as squirts. These are kids about 7 & 8 years old. It was great to be watching youth ice hockey. I felt in my element. I needed his after my negative week at the flower show & just feeling a bit overwhelmed by the city & being in China (sort of China).

There seemed to be about an even number of Asian kids & Western kids. There were a good number of girls, I’d say about 1/3 were girls. The skill level was fairly low, but there were a few good players. Of course I have to keep in mind that I haven’t watched the young kids play in a long time, so maybe they were not that bad.

The woman next to me had walked away & left her purse on the ground at my feet. When she returned I asked if it were hers because it seemed to be unattended. She said that her husband was supposed to be watching it, but was obviously more interested in the game to care about it. She asked if I had a child playing. I said know & I explained that I was just one of those crazy hockey addicts. She said, “then you must be Sarah’s friend, I’m sorry I forget your name.” I was so surprised, but in a way not surprised & said, “Then you must be Karen!” So I was standing next to the person who had guided me here. We had a good laugh, she introduced me to her husband & spent the rest of the evening together. Her middle son was playing in this game. There was another squirt game & then her older son was playing in the Peewee game that followed (those are the next age group up). I stayed & watched & liked having a team to cheer for. Her youngest son had played earlier in the day. All 3 son’s won their games so they were very happy.

When I asked what brought them to HK, she said her husband works for Citigroup. I said, I have a friend who works for Citigroup in London. She said their last assignment was in London, so the odds of them knowing each other just increased a great deal. I asked Peter if he knew my friend from high school, Michael Guralnick & sure enough he did. He said they were not good friends, but he certainly knows him. It can be such a small world.

So I enjoyed just hanging out with them. It was great to see the kids begging money & buying food & being all sweaty & happy. I brought back so many wonderful memories of hours, days, weekends spent at the ice rink with our boys. I really missed them so much & those times. I’m glad they are grown and independent, but WOW do I miss those days of being a mom to young kids. Don’t worry, I’m not thinking of adopting, I don’t miss it that much.

When the game was over they insisted on driving me home. They don’t live that far away from us & they have a van. It brought back other memories being in a car with 3 hockey bags & the smell of a hard fought game. They are heading back the Canada for the Easter break for 2 weeks, but after they get back we made plans to get together. I think we have more friends AND we can talk hockey!!