Four times a year or so the Estonian football association organises an eight-a-side tournament. Today was the latest of these and the third one that I've taken part in, this one however was different and for the first time my team (The Chinese Dragons) qualified for the second round.
This time the statistics didn't read "played three lost three". After a shaky 3 -0 defeat, which was just 1 - 0 with two minutes left to play, we then won or next game on penalties and were through to the second round. But lets not get bogged on details regarding the remainder of the competition, yet let us focus on the facts that not only did we get to play three more games, scored a few goals and were unabeaten in all the penalty shoot-out that we played in.
Although the day didn't end in glorious victory it was a definite improvement on our last couple of attempts and it helped bolster team spirit as my plans to turn our weekend kick-about team into an offically recognised team in the Estonain league for the 2010 - 2011 season.
But much much more on that topic at a later date.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Ingloriously Confusing Bastards
Went to see Brad Pitt and the rest of his Inglorious Bastards today.
Wow What a movie.
For those of you who haven't already seen it I won't say too much about it apart from the fact that I loved it, it was totally over the top and half of the film was in subtitles as the dialogue for fifty percent of the time is in French, German and Italian.
Normally watching a subtitled film isn't a problem. The problem arises when the subtitles aren't in English but in a foreign language, which in this case was off cour
se Estonian. As Brad mumbled his few words in Italian his heavy American accent the audience roared with laughter while I sat there wondering what the joke was. 
se Estonian. As Brad mumbled his few words in Italian his heavy American accent the audience roared with laughter while I sat there wondering what the joke was. 
Luckily for me however I had Tiiu beside me to translate as fast and as quietly as she could.
On the way out of the cinema I couldn't help but take a picture of this weird 3D type type picture on the floor and then go for a ride on the vibrating chair. Come on people surely somebody has a joke or two about that last comment.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Promotion Commotion
Today I had a great stroke of fortune. After three weeks on the job and in the middle of training I was offered the opportunity to interview for a permanent role in the in the Client Services QA team. A few hours and a couple of interviews later I was offered the job.
I will be working with five or six others monitoring information sent in from bookmakers around the world and then matching it with information that goes up on their respective web sites. Well the job starts today.
Tune into this Channel in a week or so for more information.
I will be working with five or six others monitoring information sent in from bookmakers around the world and then matching it with information that goes up on their respective web sites. Well the job starts today.
Tune into this Channel in a week or so for more information.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Life Really began at 40
It was my birthday a couple of days ago and the year of the big FOUR O came to an end.
“Life begins at forty” is one of those clichés that is offered as some form of consulation to anyone hitting that birthday in the hope that you don’t spend the entire night crying into their double Vodka, with the realisation that they can no longer fool strangers that they are thirty two and that it’s “all down hill from here”.
Well isn’t it just one cliché after another on this blog?
Yet having said all that I am happy to declare that this was not the case for me. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog all that closely I can sum up year number forty as my best so far. September to December passed with only one thing to talk about, our plan (Tiiu and mine) to move to Estonia.
Then on January 13th we made the move, leaving behind….well everything.
Since then we’ve made a new life for ourselves and I’ve done so much.
Actually I’m not gonna bore you, you can always read my old articles to see what I’ve been up to. Suffice to say that clichés are just clichés and that life is what you make it.
Oh hell there another cliché. But seriously for those of you approaching or have already surpassed this milestone, there seems to be so much more to do regardless of your age. Tune in again in another twelve months to see if I’m so full of wise comments and great hopes and expectations.
“Life begins at forty” is one of those clichés that is offered as some form of consulation to anyone hitting that birthday in the hope that you don’t spend the entire night crying into their double Vodka, with the realisation that they can no longer fool strangers that they are thirty two and that it’s “all down hill from here”.
Well isn’t it just one cliché after another on this blog?
Yet having said all that I am happy to declare that this was not the case for me. For those of you who haven’t been following my blog all that closely I can sum up year number forty as my best so far. September to December passed with only one thing to talk about, our plan (Tiiu and mine) to move to Estonia.
Then on January 13th we made the move, leaving behind….well everything.
Since then we’ve made a new life for ourselves and I’ve done so much.
Actually I’m not gonna bore you, you can always read my old articles to see what I’ve been up to. Suffice to say that clichés are just clichés and that life is what you make it.
Oh hell there another cliché. But seriously for those of you approaching or have already surpassed this milestone, there seems to be so much more to do regardless of your age. Tune in again in another twelve months to see if I’m so full of wise comments and great hopes and expectations.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Back in the Gym
With the apparent end to my football career I needed to find some sort of exercise so I wouldn't return to my former beer bellied shape of last year. So yesterday I came across a timely free day at a local gym and after an hour of wandering from one exercise machines to another as well as actually using a few I signed up for a month's membership.
Off course this isn't the first time that I've joined a Gym. With high expectations I usually sign up in the month of January and go everyday for a month. Then by February its twice a week and then I pop along in March to say goodbye having already paid for a full years membership in advance.
This time however I managed to get a deal where I only sign up for a month. Hopefully by the end of the month I will have built up the motivation to do some exercise at home.
Well Hopefully.
Off course this isn't the first time that I've joined a Gym. With high expectations I usually sign up in the month of January and go everyday for a month. Then by February its twice a week and then I pop along in March to say goodbye having already paid for a full years membership in advance.
This time however I managed to get a deal where I only sign up for a month. Hopefully by the end of the month I will have built up the motivation to do some exercise at home.
Well Hopefully.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
The End of Football
Its sad but its true, football has come to end.
For the last couple of weeks the number of people turning up to play in my local team has continued to shrink. Tonight there was once again just four of us and it seems like I'm the only one who is free or willing to play football on Saturday. Back in April or so joining this team was somewhat bizarre. I was the proverbial fish out of water, introduced to a group of other foreigners to play football by someone else I barely knew and unable to remember their names. But that was then and this is now. Months after that uncomfortable introduction I have gotten to meet so many people, built up a social structure and even improved my football.
But alas that all seems to have come to an end. Not really sure why this has happened. Perhaps its because as we are such a foreign legion that it was inevitable that some of us would head back to their mother countries. I know of two who have done that, while another has taken the brave step of opening his own restaurant but that is just three people. A few others have to work outside the country from time to time but still, where the hell is everybody??????
Saturday mornings and for that matter football just won't seeem quite the same for a while.
Bummer.
For the last couple of weeks the number of people turning up to play in my local team has continued to shrink. Tonight there was once again just four of us and it seems like I'm the only one who is free or willing to play football on Saturday. Back in April or so joining this team was somewhat bizarre. I was the proverbial fish out of water, introduced to a group of other foreigners to play football by someone else I barely knew and unable to remember their names. But that was then and this is now. Months after that uncomfortable introduction I have gotten to meet so many people, built up a social structure and even improved my football.
But alas that all seems to have come to an end. Not really sure why this has happened. Perhaps its because as we are such a foreign legion that it was inevitable that some of us would head back to their mother countries. I know of two who have done that, while another has taken the brave step of opening his own restaurant but that is just three people. A few others have to work outside the country from time to time but still, where the hell is everybody??????
Saturday mornings and for that matter football just won't seeem quite the same for a while.
Bummer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
