Becoming a Hero: Copenhagen and the IIHF World Cup 2018
Once again it was another existential crisis to be dealt with. How can this be? I had bought the tickets way before I even knew who was clashing against whom in the quarterfinals. It was a mere 50-50 chance to begin with for Finland to play in the game I had bought the tickets for. But against the Swiss team, the chances easily ranked up to 9 times out of 10 that Finland would win the game. And yet, they managed to lose.
"Oh why, simply why?", my soul cried out to the universe.
I guess there is no more suitable saying than this: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This was one of those moments. It actually even breaks my heart a little to think about it. We often strive to have so many good things in life only to be left empty-handed in the end.
I feel like all heartbreaks are like this; and I'm not talking about mere ice-hockey anymore. It starts first with the pain and the grief. This is the hardest part. Second must be acceptance. You must accept the fact that the good thing that you once had or once pursued is now gone or at least out of reach for now. Finally comes the re-adjustment. You re-adjust yourself in the situation towards a different goal and purpose in order to effectively move forward again. The greater the loss, the longer these three phases will naturally take time!
What a life lesson from a simple sport!
After the Finnish defeat my little lion heart was of course broken, but I was quick to put things into the right perspective again. Even though it wasn't a real, major heartbreak it still was minor-scale event, a small representative of the real thing. After swallowing the defeat I had to re-calibrate myself. I decided to sell the tickets and make someone else happy. It would be the heroic thing to do.
The game was about to start in a couple of hours, but nobody had contacted me with an interest to buy the tickets. I thought about my options for a while until I realized: why would I actually even want to sell the tickets now? I had come all this way to witness this event, to finally check-mark the box from my life's to do list that said: ⃣ Watch IIHF World Cup Hockey Live. Besides, I had two wonderful ladies, Heidi and Lara to accompany me, so I would be an absolute fool not to use this opportunity. So I did.
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| The Royal Arena. |
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| The Arena was simply breathtaking. It was such a surreal feeling to be on the stands watching the IIHF World Cup Hockey for the first time in live action. The game looks so much different live than from the TV. |
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| Fellow Finns everywhere! I was surprised to be surrounded by so many Finnish hockey fans at my seat. We were of course all unanimous supporters of the Swiss team. This guy is taking no stress, obviously. |
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| "If you can't beat them, join them." And so it happens that our support of the Swiss heroes was just enough to aid them to reach the Gold Medal game. We we're so blessed to have such an enjoyable and exciting match to watch in the end. |
The tournament was advertised under the slogan "The Heroes Are Coming". It got me into thinking of the underlying psychology of sport fanaticism and of such major events in general. What gets people to watch sports, for example, and with such enthusiasm? For me watching the IIHF World Cup has been a tradition since childhood ever since I remember, and it has always marked the approaching end of the (frustrating) school year and the coming of the summer. That's why I always hold it so close and important to me.
I believe people have a strong need to be part of something greater than themselves. This need doesn't arise from anything outside, but is already built into us. Hundreds of thousands of people gathering into events like these want to become part of the story. And this is exactly what I want to stress out with narrative theology as well. People need a fundamental story, a meta-narrative, whereby they can interpret their lives in a meaningful way. Becoming heroes and heroines of our own lives is one interpretation.
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| Nyhavn. The New Harbor is always full of colorful city life. |
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| A had the privilege to go on to the famous Canal Tour for free, since Heidi is a worker there. It took us all around the city harbor area and its main points of interest. |
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| A beautiful boat on a beautiful day. |
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| An outlook from the Runde Tårn (Round Tower). Here you can see the Vor Frue Kirke (The Church of Our Lady) in the middle left that you can also see us visiting right down below. |
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| The Church of Our Lady. The neoclassical style of this church was truly appealing. Definitely something different from what I had seen so far. |
Denmark was truly a much needed break from everything that has been happening here in Germany for over a two and a half months now. In Denmark, it felt good to be back in a Nordic country again, to be able to use the close payment option (fin. "lähimaksu") with my credit card everywhere and to talk in English without the feeling of getting reprimanded or frowned upon and the other people could English (yes, I just used "English" as a verb) back to you as well.
Copenhagen felt like I am halfway home again. And it's funny because it's actually true. I'm already more than halfway through my exchange period here in Göttingen with only two full months of exploration left. Time flies so fast, but only because I fly too. And the truth is that I do miss home from time to time, but I also don't want to go so soon. What a dilemma.
The fact that "my home" will be here now in less than two weeks will certainly help to relieve the first part of the dilemma, for sure. But with the second issue I cannot do anything. Unless I can bend the time somehow...
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