Canadian Embassy vs FBI

One good thing about working at the Embassy is that they plan a lot of really good social events for you. When you're in a foreign country it definitely makes you a lot more patriotic, as well as a tad homesick at times. These events are a great way to show some Canadian spirit and find other Canadians who occasionally emerge from the DC woodwork. Recently, it was a triple header weekend of football and hockey. Toronto FC vs DC United and the Senators vs the Washington Capitals and Canadian Embassy vs FBI.

To back track a bit, whenever a Canadian team comes to Washington, the Embassy organizes a special event and sells tickets to the Canadian expats at a reduced price. Just to bring out the Canada-US rivalry a little more, the NHL game was followed by the Canadian Embassy facing off against the FBI team, undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend.

The Embassy has an amazing hockey team. You'd think that the FBI would have enough young, fit men to pick from to make a kick-ass team. However, the Embassy team out skated, outscored, out shot and generally outplayed the FBIers. True Canadian spirit, eh and a resounding 10-4 victory.

I have to admit that this was the first professional hockey game I've ever seen. Yes, it's true and more than a little embarrassing. I know that it makes me practically unCanadian. We'll just leave it at that and say that I'm now trying to make up for lost time.

The cultural differences between the two countries are even obvious in hockey. The stadium was half full and the people who were there didn't seem too enthusiastic. Even watching hockey on TV in Canada, you can feel the energy, intensity and passion (it did, however, come out a bit more in the Embassy game). In the US people live for football and hockey barely even gets a mention. You could pick out the Canadians in a second- practically everyone had some kind of Canada paraphernalia and cheered about twice as much as the locals.

Although Canada came out victorious in the hockey game, sadly, the same thing cannot be said for the football game. There was a strong contingent of loyal (and very very loud) FC fans, but that didn't help them much. DC United cruised to victory, scoring 4 goals in the second half. It wasn't FC's finest hour. However, I didn't feel too downhearted, as I managed to see my first tailgate party, something that I'd been hearing about them since i got to the US. Basically, you park your car and have a massive party, complete with bbq and lots and lots of booze and maybe some pickup sport. Drinking in a parking lot is not something that I would have thought up, but it is surprisingly more fun than it sounds. I was told that I have to go to a "real" tailgate party. Apparently DC United ones are of the less sophisticated variety. There's so much to look forward to. Maybe when I got to see my first NFL game......