Living abroad means celebrating important cultural events in
unorthodox ways. My Super Bowl
experience this year truly embodies this practice. It started with a 6:00am wake up call, followed by a cab
ride to one of my favorite Beijing bars, The Local. That is right folks, the game started at 7:30am Beijing
time, bright and early. Of course
we had to leave even earlier to get good seats, and to be fair, we got some
badass couch seats right in front of the tv. It was a difficult struggle to find the motivation to wake
up early during my Chinese New Year vacation, but the thought of chicken wings
and beer propelled me forward like a pass from Peyton Manning into the hands of
the other team. Probably shouldn’t
be so hard on Peyton, but I just couldn’t pass….and neither could Manning.
 |
| The top floor of The Local in Beijing |
I went with my two roommates, a Seattleite and an Austrian
expatriate, to watch the game.
There are some obvious differences between watching the game back in the
US and watching it here in Beijing.
For starters, we HAD to go to a bar……at 6am to watch the game. We really didn’t have the option of
going to someone’s house or apartment to watch the game. This does take away from some of the
magic of Super Bowl Sunday, but considering the circumstances it was the best
option. The Chinese New Year
fireworks in our neighborhood made our apartment sound like Damascus, so we
thought it was best to get out of there before the 8am lightshow started
again.
Watching at a bar also meant we were forced to pay for
food. I know…I know; one of my
favorite parts of the Super Bowl is mooching off of all the great food and
drinks people bring to parties.
However, I have to compliment The Local, they managed to replicate this
atmosphere to a certain extent. They
had multiple screens, including a giant projector, and the owner came up with a
way to play the Super Bowl commercials instead of the ones on ASN (ASN stands
for American Sports Networking and the entire channel has like three
commercials). Watching with a few
Broncos and Seahawks fans also did a lot for the atmosphere. Especially considering that as a Colts
fan, I didn’t really care who won the game.
Explaining the rules to foreigners is an important part of
watching sporting events abroad, and doing a terrible job explaining the rules
is an even more important part of watching sporting events abroad. It all seems so simple and logical in
your head, but when you are forced to explain “intentional grounding” to
someone, it becomes borderline rocket science. I am sure my Austrian roommate got frustrated during my feeble
attempt to explain the difference between a forward and a lateral pass. In this case, it wasn’t the rule that
was the issue, but the effect the rule had on whether the ball was a fumble or
an incomplete pass. It definitely
highlights how we take sports knowledge for granted. I can’t wait to confuse the Hell out of all my foreign
friends when baseball season starts.
Why are strikeouts denoted with the letter “K”?……I don’t know. They just are man.
 |
| American game, Austrian enthusiasm |
All in all, it was good to celebrate my cultural
heritage. All jokes aside, I
consider the Super Bowl and the World Series to be important American cultural
events, maybe even holidays. Sort
of like the American version of Oktoberfest or Mid-Autumn Festival, and I was
glad to get to celebrate it with some friends.
As for the game itself, I did not see that one coming. I lost a 20 Yuan bet as a result. Oh well though, that is what I get for
gambling. Also everyone, including
myself, is being too hard on Peyton.
Let’s see you take a hit from a 400 pound defensive lineman and break
NFL records when you’re 37 years old.
 |
| Great seats on the couch |
No comments:
Post a Comment