Sporting Vladivostok

2.10.14
Kristen says...

Happy birthday to my brother Timothy! :)

We have had a very busy September here in Vladivostok--traditionally (and this year proved no exception) the weather is at its best in September, so there have been many sporting activities planned to take advantage.

Last weekend was quite sporty for us, starting with watching our Oskaloosa Indians online in their homecoming football game in the morning, going bowling in the early afternoon and watching an AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME(!!!) in the late afternoon/early evening. The sports continued for me on Sunday morning, with some fun Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.

There is a chain of bowling alleys here called Fabrica [actually, where we used to live was less than 200 yards from one, and if we would have known how nice and not at all smokey the bowling alleys here are (remember going bowling and not being able to get that nasty smell out of your clothes? Not here! Whoo hoo!!)] and they are legit!

This definitely reminded me of our last weekend in DC before coming to Vlad!

Of course, there were some very Russian things about this bowling alley...like the tea menu:

The advertising was also hysterical...fake American/Bowling-themed brand produce on one end:

And (real?) Russian "be careful at work" posters on the other:

Ouch, right?!

Straight from bowling we went out to Russkiy Island to watch what was being proclaimed as the FIRST AMERICAN FOOTBALL GAME IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST!! We're not really sure about that, but we are sure that we got to watch a live American Football game in Vlad, and it was AWESOME!

Go Wild Pandas!! (Yeah, we're not sure why they chose the pandas, either...there are no pandas in Russia!) These were the guys who came to the Consulate to watch the Super Bowl with us earlier this year.

American Football in Vlad? You bet we'll be there! (Even in the rain!)

And the Pandas take the field!

This says: Wild Pandas, first American Football team in Primorskiy Krai

And here is the panda..I think his name is Po ;)

It was so legit, there were even cheerleaders...although I've never been to a football game with a sea view before :)

Pandas on the right, Legion from Khabarovsk on the left.

After the rain stopped it was a beautiful day in Vlad!

After an early score by the Legion, the Pandas dominated the rest of the game

It was so much fun to watch the game! Chris and I agree it felt like we were watching two well-matched high school teams, which is not at all a diss since we both really enjoy watching high school football.

The Pandas definitely had the upper hand as they have had the benefit of a former US college player who, after not being picked up during the NFL draft, has been playing in Moscow for the past few years. It was fun to watch the plays being implemented by the team, it really made a difference!

They have clearly been watching American football...they even remembered the "Gatorade dump" at the end!

 There were a few major differences in this game to the American Football Chris and I are used to...for one, there was no kicking of the ball, at all...no kickoff (although there was a coin toss), no field goal possibilities, no punting, no extra points after a touchdown (there were no goal posts!!) They also didn't really keep track of time, so the game did feel like it went on a bit longer than it needed to, especially since the score was SO one-sided.

Still, all-in-all we enjoyed it tremendously, and hope the team will play again sometime soon...it was just so great to watch American Football live again!

Sunday's yoga practice went well. It's amazing to me, as I practice with different teachers in different places, how different each style of practice can be. Here I do Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and it is amazingly physical...and fun!

See, doesn't that look fun? ;)

KF