Additional Pics

Many photos are being uploaded to the Ringette Canada flickr site, so I wanted to give this link so people can check them out. They are a compilation of my photos and Frances' photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ringettecanada/5124364124/in/photostream/

Day 4 and I managed to keep my bearings...

A good day, with some time to ourselves in the morning. I joined the team for a walk around Tampere, as I hadn't seen them much the day before due to my 'adventures' in navigation-mishaps.

It was a grey day today, but reminded me of home and with the water nearby, it feels very much like home except for the foreign language signs and different street signs.

The athletes were very tired and jet lag definitely hit hard today (because of not being able to sleep last night). There will be another team walk in the morning tomorrow and then our practice ice is earlier in the day and then the free time will be in the afternoon. We enjoyed going to a Finnish National League hockey game which was enjoyable, with the home team coming away with a win (and a Canadian leading the charge). We made it on the jumbotron at the arena and after being identified, lots of young fans started chanting Kan-a-da and then when we wanted them to continue, they shouted "Sidney Crosby" and other Canadian players' names!

Day 3...where did 1 and 2 go?

It's been non-stop around here and I feel I have driven all over Tampere, but still can't tell where I am going. I haven't really had a chance to take many photos, so I am disappointed with that, but hopefully I can make up for it over the coming days.

So today I bought a map after two days of navigating without one, and today I got lost

I'm pretty sure it was because I didn't have my navigator Frances (pictured with the map) with me at the time. I was feeling pretty confident and that's when I got myself lost. This is definitely the land of too many k's (it seems nearly every word has multiple k's and at least 20 letters. For example, here's the route to the restaurant where we walked for supper today: Yliopistonkatu (road our hotel is on) to Tullikatu, to Itsenaisyydenkatu, then Rautatienkatu and then Verkatelitaankatu and finally Aleksanterinkatu. If you haven't picked up on it yet, katu means street.

We've learned that Tulli means customs, but somehow we see it everywhere for parking, so we figure it also means toll, so we'll take the leap and guess it refers parking fees?

The only saving grace after being lost was that in the morning when we left for the day, Frances put a pylon in our parking space so people wouldn't park there....and it worked. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a parking spot. So my navigator still helped me out in the end!

I'm hoping Day 4 will see me encountering fewer adventures and more atmosphere. Although when the team is on the ice, the atmosphere is truly electric.

What's really strange is that it's only mid day at home and I've completed mine.

Finland and Gold Medal Bound!

I am about to depart for Tampere, Finland for the World Ringette Championships. I am the Team Leader (aka manager) for Ringette Canada's Team Canada and I have been working for nearly two years to help the team build to become ready to win Gold in November. Nervous, scared, excited and overwhelmed are some of the emotions...no doubt exhausted, weary and drained will be what I feel tomorrow upon arrival, but for now I'm PUMPED!

What makes this all the more special is that my family will join me in Finland next week and we get to travel after the Ringette Championships. So much to see and experience and what a treat to do it as a family.

Wish me well!

Team Canada 2010