"My Hour Strikes After Midnight"

My Hour Strikes After Midnight

"On Sunday, I traveled to Klagenfurt for my first time and found that it was warm enough to wear flip flops!  We played DEC Dragons Klagenfurt and pulled out a 6:0 victory.  The game was rougher than I imagined as Dragons’ players slashed you in the arm everytime you skated by.  After the game, we enjoyed a healthy post-game meal at McDonald’s.  I was surprised to see beer on the menu because American McDonald’s don’t sell any alcoholic drinks.

After the meal, we continued on our bus ride back.  In my past four years playing ice hockey at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, USA, I have always used bus rides back to call my family and friends and tell them how the game went.  In Austria, it has been extremely difficult communicate with my family and friends back home.  The time difference and the long distance seems to separate me from  people in America.  As I watch my Austrian teammates SMS or call their family and friends on the bus, I patiently wait until the clock strikes a good time to contact my parents.  Usually, if I want to talk to them, I have to wait until they get home from work, around 6 p.m. in USA’s Eastern Standard Time.  With a six-hour time difference, I have to stay up until midnight or later just to video-conference with my parents over the computer.  It’s a challenge to communicate with people thousands of miles away, but I can’t wait to see them face-to-face in person, and not on the computer!"