Winter Olympics- 4.1

Hey all,

Well for the fourth time since I’ve left the greatest country in the universe, it’s my favorite time of every four years again…the WINTER OLYMPICS!! *Note- this will probably be a part 1 of 2 post

Am I a bit disparaged that I am not going even though it’s only 966km, as the car drives, away…YES! Every time- every time; I always say I am going and then I never do. However, what is the point? With ticket prices being exorbitant, pretty much just for the media and for the wealthy; and with the viewing experience being almost better via the TV, with the invention of HD and the use of drones to film- what is the point? I’d just rather spend my money on a trip to a new country. Or on something that is more practical? Pertinent? More useful! More useful than a one time event…I am not happy about it.

So the Winter Olympics got off to a slow start in the hostel. Someone stole our TV ethernet cable, preventing us from watching cable. I feel like I should feign outrage here, but I’ve been in the hostel way too long. Nothing surprises me anymore. Of course someone did. Hey, at least no one shit in the bed…again. Names will not be mentioned; but lets just say if this were the Olympics, Ireland would be way behind in the medal count.

Needless to say, we did find a way through it (buying another TV cable) and we have been watching the Olympics ever since. From skeleton to bobsledding, from cross country skiing to the super G; we have pretty much watched everything that’s on Hungarian cable. 

Olympics Steak Dinner --Men's Figure Skating Final

Sadly, this has not been covering our three favorite sports at the hostel: ice hockey, curling, and figure skating. But rest assured, we have been finding streams to watch all these events too! It took me a couple days to get excited, but now I am back in the fray. Spurring on the US ice hockey woman, seeing some gorgeous skating from Mikhail Shaidorov and Ami Nakai (sad for Amber Glenn and the ‘quad god’); however, what got the hostel talking the most was the Canadian curling scandal. I mean how could it not. ‘Has Canada turned heel?’ to quote Arwin. 

We may have watched the video of the Canadian guy cussing out the Swedish player too many times. It’s just too funny- ‘you can fuck off.’ We all wish he added ‘buddy’. Oskar the way you are dancing around the house,’ as he mimes a gorilla bouncing around. It’s pure gold and its the kind of scandal that Spicy Hostel stands for. Honestly, we did have to look up the rules, can you double touch behind the green line? Can you touch the granite? Well, the answer is, NO!

Apparently, and yes we got all the hot intel from our Swedish manager (And yes, she’s directly plugged directly into the Swedish Olympic team), the Swedish team was on alert of this kind of behavior. So, they had their own cameras set up so they could catch the Canadian in the act. That is why Oskar, the Swedish player, was so confident when he was like, ‘don’t worry, I’ll show you the video.’ What will happen next? The Canadian women's team was caught doing the same thing! I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree. Well, Spicy hostel is here for it and we cannot wait to see what happens. I hope both teams advance to the medal round, so things can get SPICY!!

I am super pumped for this weeks games, both the men and women (USA) winning their groups in the hockey, the curling starting to heat up as placement for the medal rounds is almost set, the women's long program (free skate), more speedskating, bobsledding- it’s going to be a hell of a week! 

To end on a somber note, it has been weird rooting/not rooting for the US…actually you know what, this deserves a separate post. Check back in with us at the end of the week for an Olympic wrap up and a semi-pointed discussion about patriotism vs. nationalism. Hey! We are all here to learn and grow together.

Post your favorite Olympic moments, medals, or just answer the question: if you could win a gold in any winter Olympic games, what would it be?

Until the next time, you stay classy world,

-SPICY