I DREAM OF HAGGIS

WEEKEND IN PICTURES

On Saturday night, I took my Scottish friends, Lauren (left) and Erica (right), to their first hockey game: the Braehead Clan vs. Sheffield Steelers. Clearly they approved of being able to watch an organised sport - albeit a completely foreign one to them - and drink beer at the same time. Don't worry; we made sure we were there on time and in our seats for the face off lest we START A FUCKING RIOT.

During the first period, the Clan were really on form and were leading the game 2 -0. Perhaps naively, I assumed that the Clan were definitely on their way for an easy victory. During the second period however, the Steelers seemed to have regrouped and proceeded to tie the game. They eventually won, 5-2. A wee shame, as they say here, but then again, this is the Clan's first season so it's important to keep that in mind.

On our way to becoming the charming and ladylike drunks that we are...

I tried to play the good Canadian host and answer all of Lauren and Erica's questions like, "why do they keep changing players?", "how do they know when to get off the ice and change players?", "why does the referee keep blowing the whistle?", "where's the puck?" and "what's going on?!" I had a hard time trying to explain icing and offside.

After the game, we headed over to the Sno Bar for even more beer. Some of the hockey players were there and we got to chatting to Mathieu Wathier - a fellow Canadian! Well, French Canadian. Rather embarrassingly, I mistook him for the other French Canadian on the team: Cedric Bernier. Nevertheless, I promise I am not turning into a puck bunny (which, I think, is a somewhat sexist term: girls are allowed to like hockey too!) I'm always curious to hear what other Canadians think about living in Scotland and more importantly, what sort of visa they have. It was also nice to just talk hockey to other fans; what a luxury to not talk about football for ONE day!

Lauren and Erica enjoyed the game and said they would definitely go back. My plan of brainwashing them into enjoying hockey, seems to have taken hold although it may be due to the beer more than anything.