Gnarls Barkley and the week that was

Well, another week has come and gone and with it a whole new set of stories. First and foremost, the big news is that I started my block placement today and will now be at my school for almost 6 full weeks. It’ll be a lot of fun, but hard work. Otherwise, the rest of my week has been dull as we’ve tidied up loose ends at the university. The lectures were quite dull with only a few bright spots, but then I knew it wouldn’t be thrilling…it becomes a matter of bearing down and just doing it so I can get on with becoming a teacher.

It was interesting around here this week. As the weeks have progressed people have become progressively more stressed and this week has been borderline mental. People have freaked out all over the building for no real reason. Others have started to cry. Yet others have gone and drowned their sorrows at the pub. Some, such as myself, have resorted to heading to the gym almost nightly. Everyone seems to have their own coping method. I just hope mine holds up under the extra workload.

This weekend is busy. I will spend most of my weekend working on my planning and various lessons. I have another trip to Fife on Saturday night, and a trip to North Ayr on Sunday. Needless to say, my weekend is pretty booked with many chances for fun. However, there is one exception.

Steve had two tickets to go and see Gnarls Barkley perform at a nearby club and I agreed to go. I admit, I like some of Gnarls Barkley’s music, but I would hardly call myself a huge fan. We got to the show at about 7:30pm, and the opening act hit the stage at 8pm. They were a local band called the 747’s and were terrible. Think Beatles meet Nickelback…gone wrong. They really didn’t do much for the crowd. However, at 9pm, when Gnarls Barkley and his ‘G- birds’ hit the stage they lit it up. The show was amazing. His band was 12 people, all decked out like 1950’s greasers and girls in poodle skirts. There was a four piece electric strings group with 3 violins and a cello. And with every song they played everyone on stage danced and seemed to enjoy it. It was brilliant. Add in the fact that Gnarls Barkley has a great voice, is very good at involving the crowd, and largely made the show extremely entertaining and you have a hit. Check out some of the photos from the show.

Anyway…I’ll probably put up another post about the weekend hockey adventures soon…and how unbelievably dark it is here…but that will have to wait for another day. Take care and keep your eyes and ears peeled for more updates.

A little over 6 weeks and I’ll be home for Christmas.

Bruce

p.s...check out this link http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/ I think you might like it!

Hockey night in Fife

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the weekend has come, and boy am I glad to see it. This week was tough. We had a bunch of dull lectures, a mounting workload, and all sorts of other requirements for our placement schools. I came home on Friday afternoon a little disheartened, but I was buoyed by the thought of going out to ref on Saturday evening.

On Saturday I was slated to go to Fife to work the Scottish National League game between the Fife Flyers and the Kilmarnock Avalanche. I met my partners around 4pm and off we went. One plus of reffing the hockey is that I get to see a bit of Scotland, so it was kind of nice to take the drive.

Now, last week I was in Kilmarnock and the rink was abysmal, but this rink in Fife was much better. It still had the curling circles on the ice, but it was much larger, had proper rounded corners, and better yet, stands for the crowd. Apparently they draw decent crowds in Fife because the Flyers are consistently among the best teams in the league. Check out the photos of the rink.

It reminded me of game back home because they had the pre-game warm up, the music, a mascot, chuck a puck, and everything I come to associate with a hockey game, but it is still a little surreal. I set foot on the ice and no sooner than I had made one lap around the ice then they cut the lights and bust out the spot light. They announce each of the officials (including the ‘making his debut in Fife, all the way from Ottawa, Canada, Mr. Bruce Gray!!!!’) with the spotlight. The visiting team came on the ice next to a chorus of boos, and then the announcer rumbles, in his thick Scottish accent ‘now, please welcome to the ice your very own… FIFE FLYERS!!!!!’. It really was bizarre. Check out the program.

The game itself was largely a non-issue. Fife won 9-1 over Kilmarnock, who are incidentally about the worst hockey team I have ever seen. The Fife squad was quite good, although there is still no where near enough body contact for my liking.

My partners were a pair of really nice guys, Allan and Archie, but they both smoked like chimneys. I have never had to stop the car en route to a game so that the other guys can get out and have a smoke. Over the course of the evening they probably had about 8 or 9 cigarettes apiece, which is gross. They smoked in the room between periods, the smoked outside, they smoked just about everywhere. High performance athletes clearly.

Anyway, that was Saturday night…I was home by 10:30pm and at midnight I put on the radio and listened to my Ottawa Senators destroy the New Jersey devils. It was 6-1 when I went to bed, and I was pleased to see that they added a few more for good measure. Hooray for TSN! I can still watch all my highlights on the internet, just like I would back home. I guess you can take the boy out of Canada, but you can’t take Canada out of the boy.

So long from Scotland. Keep me posted on what’s up back home. I’ll be back in a little over 7 weeks so be ready!!

Cheers,

Bruce

Bruce the Buddhist Monk

It might come as a shock to some of you, but as part of my education to become a teacher I have to instruct my Scottish students Religious and Moral Education. Effectively, this means that I have to instruct my classes on the 6 major religions prescribed. We have weekly lectures on the various religions and have covered Christianity and Hinduism. This week the topic on the table was Buddhism.

Our team of 32 student teachers is split into 6 groups and each week your particular group must either submit a report on the religion, or make a presentation to the class. The presentation needn’t be long, but it must be at the stated age level and speak to the major teaching points laid out in the Scottish curriculum. Well, this week my group had to present our lesson on the 10 precepts of Buddhism.

Now, this sounded very scary at first, particularly where I was supposed to gear this presentation to students of about 7 years of age, but it turned out to be quite easy. My team members and I worked well on the assignment and put together a very nice power point presentation, developed a suitable script, and some props to make the lesson more interesting. It came together smoothly with no major problems, but I drew the short straw and had to dress up like a monk. If any of you have ever seen a Buddhist monk I can assure you I look nothing like one. Perhaps a comparison is in order. Check for yourself.

I looked ridiculous in my orange toga (I seriously felt like breaking out the ‘T-O-G-A, TOGA! TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!’ chant from Animal House during the presentation, but I figured it might be in bad taste) but the class loved it. Clearly they just like seeing the ‘foreign’ kid dress up like a goofball. The best part was the bald cap that I put on. It didn’t even cover my hair! Priceless! It's a photo of a clip from a video that a classmate made...sorry for the poor quality.


Otherwise, life here in Scotland is good. We are starting to get all geared up for placement. We have a 6 week block of placement starting on the 27th of October and we are all pretty excited. I’m getting a little sick of all the university classes. Many are dull, or seemingly useless, and really all I want to do is go back and teach in my school. However, before that happens I need to get some of my assignments out of the way. Apparently the hardest part of the fall term is managing to teach for the 6 week block and still turning in the assignments, do the lesson prep, and do all the planning files I need to complete in order to fulfil my course. It should be a good six weeks. Keep posted…I may get pretty incoherent very soon as the stress mounts.

Anyway, take care and stay posted. There will be more from Scotland soon.

Bruce

First Scottish Ice Hockey Experience

First Scottish Ice Hockey Experience

So, I had my very first Ice Hockey game here in Scotland on Saturday afternoon. It was pretty interesting and so I figured it warranted its own entry on my beloved blog.

The game was a Scottish National League game, which effectively means that it is competitive men’s hockey where the various cities field teams. This sounded reasonable enough and something that might get my attention. I was slated to work the game with the Referee in Chief for Scotland and a guy from just outside of Glasgow called Sam. He was actually very nice and picked me up just minutes from my flat at about 2pm and we headed off for our game which was supposed to start at 3:30pm. We arrived in Kilmarnock, opened the boot of the car (not trunk folks…boot) and headed in. Boy was I in for a shock.

I expected a shabby rink. It’s true…I did not expect much in terms of a hockey rink. When I went to Finland my first game was on a rink surrounded by chicken wire, so I figured I had seen it all. Well, THIS rink in Kilmarnock is small, with very square corners, very soft ice, no glass but netting everywhere, and of course the obligatory…curling circles painted on the ice? I couldn’t believe it. Curling circles were painted on the rink because apparently the rink doubles as a curling venue. It was crazy. There were no gates to penalty boxes…heck, I’m not really sure there really was a penalty box. Neil, the ref, called it the craziest rink in Scotland because it all makes for a pretty surreal experience during the game. Check out the photos of the rink

Well, the game began about 3:45pm and was heated match between the home Kilmarnock Avalanche and the high powered Solway Sharks. Check out the program I snagged. Well, the Kilmarnock team is new team to the league, and is going through some growing pains and didn’t fare very well. They were beaten 9-2, but really deserved a better fate. The Kilmarnock players were solid enough, but the goaltender looked a little gun shy and gave up lots of goals on slapshots. By the end of the game Solway was just shooting from anywhere hoping he’d be too scared to stop the puck.

As for my performance on the ice, I thought I did well. The players were very similar in skill to Jr. C hockey players, but they were much better behaved. At whistles everyone just skated away and didn’t cause any mischief. I would often come racing in expecting pushing and shoving and would discover that the players just wanted to head to the bench. I felt a little ridiculous, but it’s good to know that all that ODHA training in Westport and Gan when fight night breaks out have paid off. Otherwise, I had some trouble with procedures because I had forgotten that the procedures in Europe are a lot different. I would regularly fetch the puck and bring it pack for my partner, fully expecting to hand it off to him and skate away while he conducted the faceoff. However, I quickly learned, from his perplexed look on his face, that this was not the normal state of affairs and that I was now fetching pucks and dropping them myself. Once I sorted that little detail out I figure I fared much better.

After the game another referee walked into our changing room. Brian was on his way to Ayr for a second game and needed a partner to work a two man game. It was a men’s league recreational game and he was supposed to be down in Ayr very shortly. Well, with nothing better to do I agreed to go and got changed quickly and piled into his car, thanking Neil and Sam as I headed out the door. We arrived in Ayr to yet another rink with curling circles, boards that were tilted and falling outwards, and a rink of grumpy men. I remembered within the first 5 minutes of the game why I don’t like men’s league hockey back home…there is so much complaining that it is really very disheartening. Sure enough, some things never change, and they complained all game long. At the end one guy (on the wrong end of a 14-4 score) asked me if I had a Visa…clearly indicating that he felt I should head home to Canada. Another man (from the same squad) told me I was worst official he had ever seen...ah yes…the joys of men’s league.

I won’t lie…the men’s league game wasn’t all that much fun, and by the end I was tired and hungry, but all in all I thought I had done ok for myself. There certainly is room for improvement because I felt very rusty to say the least (not to mention shocked by some of the little wrinkles in IIHF hockey), but Neil said that I’d likely have a game again next weekend somewhere, so that’s a bonus.

Anyway, that’s my deal for now. Sunday is going to be homework day so I suppose I had better get cracking. I hope all of you back home in Canada are staying out of trouble and having fun. Mark the 12th of December on your calendar because that’s when I’ll be coming home. I’m looking forward to it.

Take care and all the best from Scotland,

Bruce

Ice Hockey Tartan Army style

So…I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, to continue my officiating career…but for the time being that will have to be here in Scotland. I have my first game on Saturday afternoon in Kilmarnock, but it’s really been quite the process to get to this point.

My tribulations began back in the summer when I contacted the Scottish Ice Hockey league about refereeing. I was given the email for the ref in chief…I emailed him…and waited. I had almost given up hope when I sent one more email in August and was rewarded with success. I got a reply saying that the SIHL needed me to go and get a transfer form filled out from my referee in chief back in Canada, fill out a registration form, pay my fees, write an exam, and get my gear. These are all quite normal procedures and things I fully expected, but they just take a long time to do.

Steve Sleigh wrote me a very kind transfer letter that suitably impressed the RIC over here, and UPS kindly overcharged me for my own belongings (next time I think I’ll hire flying monkeys…it might be cheaper), but finally everything is set. We had our meeting last night and everything sounds really good.

I sat down and discussed my expectations with the referee in chief and he was keen to see me on the ice very soon…to gauge my abilities. I figured this was fair and was shocked when he told me I was on this Saturday. It’s what they call the Scottish National League and is basically competitive men’s hockey played between the various cities in Scotland…thimk Superjunior…or bad Cornwall Comets…just not professionals. It should be quite ugly. He said that, provided I do well there, I might find myself with lots of opportunities. Even if I do poorly on Saturday I’m sure I will get quite a number of games because they only had 20 guys show up to the meeting…and only a few others didn’t make…so I figure the entire ref staff is about 40 guys. That means I might be able to slip into games…so long as I can get to them. So, after we discussed that little arrangement I was hit with a 150 question IIHF exam. Dear God. The thing was huge…and they have some weird interpretations over here. I scored 122 out of 150…3rd or 4th best in the room despite not knowing all the IIHF rules. I was quite pleased with myself even thought I should have scored better. After the meeting I got a lift back into Glasgow from another ref who lives nearby. It was much appreciated because otherwise I was taking the train back into town.

Anyway, boys back home in the ODHA, keep your eyes and ears peeled for stories from Scottish rinks. It’s gonna start getting interesting. I’m warming up the old OFS…you never know when it might come in handy.

Anyway, that’s all from Scotland for today…stay tuned.

Bruce

Thanksgiving in the Land of the Tartan Army

Thanksgiving in the land of the Tartan Army

Well, the last couple of weeks have been decidedly dull. We’ve really settled into the routine of going to University of going to placement. That routine has served us pretty well, but it has left me with very little to tell in terms of stories. However, were are still in Scotland and the stories still emerge…just sometimes with more planning.

This weekend is thanksgiving weekend. The Scots have no idea what we’re talking about, but all of us Canadians were keen to have a little piece of home. Kristy and I planned Thanksgiving and I convinced the other guys that it would be cool to host it. It sounded like a novel idea at first as we figured it would be a small event, but it soon grew into a big deal and something everyone was looking forward to. On Friday I was quiet. I wasn’t feeling super from having been in class all week and in placement, so I went to bed early and thank goodness. On Saturday morning Rob, Ed, Mark and I went off to a part of town called Partick where there was supposed to be an open air farmers market. Well, when we got there, no farmers market was to be found because it happens on the last weekend of the month and the second weekend of the month…not this one at all. That being said, we still went about the business of getting all the ingredients we needed to make Thanksgiving a success. It was a big deal since I was intent on cooking turkey, and Rob was keen on cooking sweet mashed potatoes, and Mark being keen on a roast. We found everything we needed and boy did we buy a lot. Check out the photos of the pile of food.










On Saturday night Scotland played France in European Cup qualifying. It was a huge game because Scotland had won it first two games against poor opposition, but France was a major test. However, on this windy Saturday in October, the Tartan Army came up victorious with a stunning 1-0 win and sent the entire city into a huge party. It was crazy. Within no time at all the streets were full of party goers celebrating the win. Poor Michael, who’s from France, it was a major blow. The rest of the night was planning how things would proceed on Sunday.

On Sunday I was up relatively early getting prepared for the whole day. I made all my stuffing and prepared my chickens. I ended up having to have 5 chickens to be sure that everyone was going to have enough because we were expecting up to 30 odd people. It was a big event. So, stuffing was made, and I prepared the chickens. Once they were all ready I needed a place to cook them. I put two in my oven because it was easiest and I had full claim to it. However, I had to find a home for the other 3 chickens in an oven upstairs in another flat because there was no room elsewhere. Eventually all the birds got cooked, everyone gathered around the table, grace was said, and dinner for 30 was served. It was a great evening. Check out some of the photos and see for yourself.

After the meal it was decided that what was needed was yet another Canadian tradition and that was to get a North American football out and play a little pig skin. Well, we went out in the rainy weather and played. Europe was laying a beating on Team Canada pretty good…until I accidentally steam rolled Brad’s girlfriend, Claire, and just about killed her. My shoulder connected with the poor girl’s chin and down she went. Luckily she just split her lip open, but it was decided that the game should end before team Canada put a further beating on any more Europeans. We called it a draw and went back inside.

We then spent the better part of the evening cleaning up all the mess that was made, but it was well worth it. Everyone shared in a great evening. Our Scottish friends all agreed that they could start to appreciate what the Thanksgiving idea was all about. All of us Canadians were just happy to have brought a little piece of home with us…even if it was just for the night.

So, that was Thanksgiving across the pond. I hope everyone back home in Canada had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. It would have been amazing to have been able to come home and see everyone, but we did the best we could. Take care and don’t be shy to tell me all about your various Thanksgiving stories…I’d love to hear all about them.

Anyway, that’s all from Scotland for now. Take care and stay posted for my next update.

Bruce

p.s. What is the deal with my Ottawa Senators? I am going through some serious NHL withdrawal and it pains me to hear that our boys have had a slow start to the year.