Day 23 – Afternoon Delight

I found out that on Saturday, here in Berlin, there is an ice hockey contest scheduled between two professional squadrons from the national hockey federation in North America. The Sabres of Buffalo will be pitted against their arch rivals the Kings of Los Angeles. It promises to be epic. Fernando, one of the Spanish guys in my class, informed me that the game is being played at eight o’clock in the afternoon. I checked on the price of tickets – 64 euros for standing room, then some seats at 107 euros, and then some other seats at 134 euros. I asked the ticket guy to stop right there, that would be enough, and he told me the game would probably sell out.

I don’t think I will be going. If I go see any hockey game when I’m here, it will be the Berlin Eisbären against the hated Mannheim Canadians (they’re playing on Sunday). You might think that’s a strange name for a German hockey team but Eisbären (pronounced “Ice Bears”) is the German word for “Polar Bear”. It makes perfect sense when you think about it.