I have been thinking about playing hockey for a long time. As it is also a very popular sport in my village. But here comes a small problem. I can’t skate or rollerblade. Although I tried many times, as my injuries show.

My friends have been convincing me to this idea for quite some time, because they want us to play together. But there was no time to learn. Now in Finland I had the perfect opportunity to try one more time.

We asked where we could rent ice skates and where the ice rink is located. We borrowed the skates from the school and the ice rink was less than a 15 minutes’ walk away from school. Which was free by the way. When we got there, we were a little bit surprised, because we didn’t see the ice ring, only a small building standing alone in the middle of the parking lot. When we entered, there was elevator waiting for us, which took us several meters underground. There were two hockey fields. One of them was reserved for training and the other for one hour a day, for public use.

I was a little scared, but once I was already there I had to try. I put on my skates and sat by the rink for quite some time, and then… my first steps weren’t very promising, but after few circles around the ring I got a feeling. I have to admit that I almost enjoyed at the end and that this hour was one of the shortest in Finland.

After all I’m just not that clumsy…….Timotej Baloh