The Engleson Files

After having a lovely 4 hour nap (I think a few of the guys broke curfew), the call came pretty early in the morning to get our pond hockey gear ready and meet down in the front lobby of the Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel - we had a new pond to go and play on! While down there, many of us reminisced about last night’s antics (which there were many) and just enjoyed a few key minutes waking up and trying to get the cobwebs out of our heads. One thing you learn very quickly on these Dragons hockey trips is that rest is not something you get a lot of. We were told that there was another pond to go skate on, but little did we know what was actually in store for us: an elementary school with a frozen pond in front of it with young children waiting to watch us play!

Now, from what we were told this particular elementary school is one that has been transformed into a hockey training center for young girls. Basically, the girls who attend go to school and learn the game of hockey as well; also, right next to the hockey pond (not seen in the pictures) is an enclosed field hockey court where lessons are given in that game too. I was never able to find out whether or not this initiative was sponsored by the government, but there was no question that this was a grassroots foundation. The equipment the girls had was pretty aged and it did not look as though there was a lot of it to go around. But with that said, the girls looked very happy and it was evident to see that all involved were doing their very best with what they had.

Soon after arriving, the Dragons laced up their skates and then took to the ice for a few minutes to skate with the girls; for pretty much all of the girls we were the very first foreigners they have ever seen. We then split ourselves into three teams and played a little King’s Court pond hockey action to which the coach/teacher would talk to the girls about how we played the game (I am sure the coach was most disappointed with our back-checking!) The girls all sat happily and watched, cheered us on and would sheepishly come over from time to time and ask to have a photograph. Needless to say, it was a very humbling experience to be regarded in such a high esteem and have them treat us as though we were real live NHL’ers - even though they could clearly see we were not!

Then, once we finished our games we exchanged some hockey jerseys and sticks with the girls and said our goodbyes. This was another one of those priceless moments only to be experienced on a Dragons trip; to see the game of hockey organized and developed at such a grassroots level at this very strange location in China was pretty neat. The girls all had worn down equipment and could barely skate, but they were out there in the cold having fun playing the game of hockey. This school touched us all in many ways that we hope to fund raise for some more equipment and then return one day to hand it over to them. But for now, it was getting late and the team had to go and get ready for our next big game at 1:00pm. However will the Dragons do…?

So, after our drubbing on the ice the Dragons had to quickly get back to the Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel in order to get changed and then go out for dinner with our opposition/hosts, which was to begin around 5:00pm. The post-game dinner has been a long standing Dragon tradition in places like Changchun and Haerbin where the hospitality from our hosts has been second to none and they are always ready to have a party. These banquets are not for the feint-of-heart and while attending there is really only one expectation from you: to drink, and a lot of it! The banquet in Jilin began at roughly 5:00pm and it is pretty safe to say most of the Dragons were drunk by 5:30pm. Unlike in Canada, the drinking over here is fast and furious and basically every drink you have must be a ganbei - dry glass. Yes, I think this is exactly the soul-searching that the Dragons needed to get ready for their big game tomorrow!

Now, the basic formula to these banquets goes as follows: the head guy from the opposition’s team will address everyone with a hearty welcome and extension of international friendship and then yell “ganbei”, to which we will all give a cheer and then empty our glasses. Then our captain, Adrian Conradi, will stand up, apologize for our terrible play on the ice, and then extend the same gratuity to our hosts and new friends, to which we will all have another ganbei (usually at this point it is only beer). Then the fun begins. Then while everyone is eating dinner, each table is responsible for taking a turn at making rounds to every other table, re-extending our friendships and love for hockey and sharing another ganbei. This phase of the banquet can go on for, at least, an hour; and then what usually happens is that players you may have had a special moment with on the ice, or players that you, or they, respect, will seek each other out and have their own individual/personalized ganbei’s with each other (and sometimes the ante is upped here and you may be required to ganbei baijiu, or lighter fluid as it most commonly tastes like). In these personalized ganbei’s you see a lot of thumbs-up, pats on the back and hugs being extended to each other in order to compensate the fact that you can barely speak to each other. The whole banquet is a hockey love-in and is an absolute fantastic time shared with other people who love and play this great game. Even though many of us cannot communicate with each other, keen friendships between the teams are made and very special memories are created. Simply put, these banquets are priceless!

Damn cigarettes!! Tough to say ‘no’ to in the 40 000 times you are offered one.

Above is a picture of some of the Dragons extending our thanks to the cooking staff inside the kitchen; then down below you can see the official Ice Dragons paddy-wagon that was at our beckoning call once the dinner was over. Many of the guys on the Changchun and Jilin teams are police officers and for the entire time we were in Jilin we had a policeman follow us around and help out where he could (we called him the Terminator because of his cool sunglasses). Anyways, after the banquet the paddy-wagon was waiting for us and we all filed inside and then the police officer took us to a local night club to finish off the evening - a perfect way to end a great night. “In your rooms by 4:00am,” were the last words heard from our trusty captain, “we have a big game tomorrow!”

This is another one of those nostalgic-gone-wrong type guilty pleasures. It has been years since I have thought about this song and album, but there is no question to a young child growing up in the 70’s Boney M’s Night Flight to Venus was hard to ignore. Maybe it was the cylons from Battlestar Galactica in this song that triggered me but there is no question I was hooked. I can remember very vividly listening to this song over and over and just staring at the album cover. Either way, I cannot escape it, I am a happy passenger on the Starship Boney M - damnit!

After our fantastic little skate out on the pond it was getting close to 11:00am and our first scheduled game was for 1:00pm, which did not leave us much time to eat lunch. So, we all piled back into the bus that the Jilin guys provided for us and then headed out to a local eatery a block away from the Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel (sorry, I just like saying that name!) Now, as you can see, the food that was ordered for us by our Chinese teammates was absolutely monstrous. We had everything from jiaozi to blood sausage to spicy noodles to gizzard lips and assholes - basically everything that walks under the sun was lying on our table ready to be gobbled up. Needless to say, while some of it very delicious, it was a little bit too much food to hoard down right before our big game. On any given day none of the Dragons need anymore excuses to damage our play any further, but there is no question this meal bogged us down big time.

Was this on our menu? Dog and pig’s tail sautéed with an acetylene torch…

Then, quickly after our lunch we all filed back to the Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel to get our hockey gear on, shuffled back onto the bus and headed out for our first game. Now, we have never played against Jilin before so we did not really know what to expect. As it stands right now the Ice Dragons are a better hockey team than Shenyang but get killed by Changchun (which is an hour’s drive away from Jilin City), so it was all guess work as to how we would compete; Ice Dragons central scouting (Blake Defieux) determined that we would kill them but once we arrived at the arena we quickly learned that many of the guys from Changchun came in to join forces with the Jilin team - so we knew right then and there how this game was going to end up (and the large meal was no longer a plausible excuse to lean on). I think the final score was something like 19-3 for them and I believe my line had one, maybe two, shifts where we were actually in their zone; I felt like a dog chasing after a ball that is always being thrown by its master. So, with game one in the bag, the Dragons were left to lick our wounds and do some heavy soul-searching before our next scheduled game on Sunday. However will this team find the strength to continue on? Find out tomorrow…

Let’s go Dnagons, let’s go!!

Disclaimer: one thing you must keep in mind is the fact that the Ice Dragons are a group of teachers who get the privilege to travel around China and play hockey, we are not stars of the game by any means - even in China. In the Dong Bei region (especially up north) hockey has some very deep roots and the players can all skate like the wind and pass the puck with pin-point accuracy. While extremely frustrating to play against, it can be very beautiful to watch. The Dong Bei style of hockey is heavily influenced by the old Russian style of play, and while strategically I know there are ways to beat them, we just do not have the collective talent to pull it off. The Dragons are simply a team who loves to play hockey and will go wherever we can to do so - even if that means getting our asses kicked!

The calm before the shit-kicking

Photos courtesy of Blake Defieux

Well, last night was the big Xin Qiao Kindergarden School Christmas/New Years Gala Extravaganza, and boy, what a show it was. One thing you learn very quickly living in China is what a big deal the Chinese treat their gala shows, especially the one at New Years. Every class went to town with their performances and all had stunning costumes and props - it was really quite amazing to see for such young children. Magnus’s class put on a performance and the big guy was up on stage strutting his stuff alongside his good friend Hailey. Yes, that is make-up smeared all over his face, which, I must admit, was not too fond of, but what are you going to do? Anyways, both kids did a great job and it was wonderful to go and watch them perform. Great job Magnus and Hailey!

7:30pm Friday night

Many of you may remember that the Dalian Ice Dragons recently traveled up to Jilin City for a weekend of fun, shenanigans and, of course, hockey. Now, I have stated this before and I will say it again, these hockey trips are, without question, the greatest personal experience I have ever had while living in China, and I would now like to share with you our trip up to Jilin:

The first leg of the journey began on the train on Friday night at 7:30pm in Dalian. The team all took a convoy of taxi’s into Dalian and just made it to the station on time. Here we can see Blake Defieux on the train with the conductor ready to partake in the 12 hour jaunt north to Jilin City. Once on the train, it is usual Dragons custom to have a few cold ’soda pops’ ready to go in order to ease our weary minds for the long journey ahead. The lights go out on Chinese trains at 10:00pm, but the Dragons always pack ourselves in between the cars and continue on with the festivities until the wee hours of the morning - much to the chagrin of all of those who have to listen to us.

7:35pm on the train

Then, at roughly 6:00am Saturday morning we are woken up very subtly (punch on the leg) by the cabin conductor and are then able to spend a nice leisurely few minutes watching the scenery roll by as our train pulls into Jilin - with the hangover still very much intact. Once into Jilin, we are greeted by a local hockey player who arranged a bus to take us back to our hotel; and when in Jilin City there is only one place to stay: The Star Garden Fashion Business Hotel. Not too sure what the name means, but it was definitely our home away from home for the weekend.

Once all the gear was put into our hotel room(s), we then attempted to eat some breakfast and then the team was off to play some pond hockey at a local park nearby. This was exactly what was needed to get all the train travel (and hangover) out of the system - It felt great to get out in the fresh air and play! Our first game of the weekend was scheduled for 1:00pm Saturday, so we had a couple of hours on the pond to enjoy ourselves, and then it was time for some lunch and then prepare for our big game…

9:30am Saturday morning

Well, it’s back to work we go and today I go get the job done in my 1952 Hickory Huskers State Champions cardigan sweater. Who are the Hickory Huskers you may ask? Go and watch the movie Hoosiers to find out; once you do you will see that it clearly deserves a cardigan!

Sorry I didn’t tuck in, but hey, it’s Boxing Day - I’m not even supposed to be dressed!

Sorry, our Ayi took this photo!

The Engleson clan would like to wish all of you the very best of this 2007 holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here’s some key memories and video footage of the Engleson Christmas in 2007.

Click here for some more shots

This was Magnus’s third Christmas and I think it is safe to say it was his best one yet. He was fully in the holiday spirit all month and just wanted to talk about Santa and all the other Christmas friends who came and visited him; just seeing the sense of magic in him made everything worthwhile! He was showered with wonderful presents from everyone and enjoyed playing with his toys all day. His theme was definitely Superheroes and there is no question he added to his collection greatly. He was a very happy boy all day and even enjoyed helping his younger sister share in the day as well. Merry Christmas big guy, we hope you had a great Christmas!

Well, this was Svea’s first Christmas experience and I think she had an absolutely wonderful day. All day she was a happy little girl who just puttered about from toy to toy, box to box and just played. She was given some absolutely wonderful gifts and could never really decide which ones to play with. In many ways, I actually think she enjoyed/understood the process of Christmas more so than Magnus did at this same age. To see her flash her beautiful David Letterman smile just makes everything seem right. Her theme of the day was definitely Elmo and he proved to be exactly what she wanted. Merry Christmas old girl, we hope you had a great day and love you dearly!

So while Kristin was slaving away in the kitchen preparing all the wonderful food for us to eat, Dad and Magnus snuck out to our local pond to play some pond hockey and have a little skate. The weather has been quite warm lately (unfortunately) but has been cold enough to give us our frozen pond. This was Magnus’s first time out this year and he did very well. We are hoping we can get out another 10+ times before we leave on our month-long holiday because when we come back the ice most likely won’t be here. I tell you folks, there is nothing like a good game of pond hockey!!

There is no question Kristin has upped the ante this Christmas when it has come to the Christmastime baking. The snacks and treats she has made for us all have simply been fabulous and we have enjoyed eating them thoroughly. The food during the holiday season is a huge component of what makes the season special, and Kristin has definitely answered the call on that. Thank you very much Kristin!

Kristin’s 2007 Christmas menu:

Chocolate Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Apple Crisp
Cheese Balls
Peanut butter Chocolate Balls
Rice Krispie Squares
Butternut Almond Toffee
Rum Balls