I have a Toronto trip to make at the start of July so I am excited to see all of my friends in the GTA (kk, J dubs, K dubs, KJ, Jade, B con to name a few). We have a date with the dropzone at Canada's Wonderland, so very much looking forward to Toronto.
Also, hoping the ol man reads this and thinks a trip to Boston will be a good idea. The sox look like they could use some support right now as its been a pretty up and down year thus far. I'm looking forward to spending some serious time on the golf course and playing a bit of frisbee in Fredericton as well.
My school requires that I spend some time in a dental clinic this summer, but that is a treat for me given the amazing Fredericton Dental Center staff. Although I wont be working there this summer (like last summer) I am excited so see everyone from the FDC. I have a lot better understanding of dental procedures now so I think shadowing will be much more beneficial to me now.
Euro 2012
Poland and Ukraine hosted the Euro 2012 Soccer tournament this year. Poznan was host to matches between Italy, Croatia and Ireland. The city of Poznan spent a good year preparing for the Euro by redoing their tram lines, streets walkways etc. The Euro started around the 8th of June and is just finishing up now in Kiev, Ukraine. Because Poznan was one of the host cities, all of the respective soccer fans came to the city to show their support for their country. The Irish fans were crazy drunk all the time, I don't even think they cared about the soccer, they just wanted to drink and have a good time. There is video of Croatian fans starting a semi riot in our town square which is only ~4-5 km away from where I live (just to give an added feeling):So what I'm saying is that soccer hooligans/ soccer fans are every bit as crazy as the stereotypes we hear about. There were an exceptional number of arrests in Warsaw, where the Polish team played. It is really quite amazing to see how passionate these people are about the sport (or the activities that come with being a fan). Maybe I have a bias because I cannot stand soccer but I could totally see myself being like this with the Boston Red Sox. Not implying I would get arrested for the Sox, just saying that I can see my passion being this great. None-the-less, it was really interesting to witness and ride on the packed trams with the drunk soccer fans.
Random Things in Poznan:
We went to this thing the other night called "Noc Kupały" which is basically this night where everyone in Poznan goes to this area just past the city center and releases a sky lantern at 11pm. It was an amazing sight to see when there were 5000 of them in the sky. The lanterns are also known as Kongming Lanterns or Chinese lanterns and I was told that Poznan was going for the world record or something like that, although I highly doubt the record was beat. Here's a picture from the night:
I had bought myself a bike a while back from a store similar to SuperStore in Canada. The first day I rode it, it broke on me. The pedal came flying off and the gears didn't work. Also the seat wasn't secure and as I was riding it I hit a bump and the seat sank making it look like I was riding a mini tricycle (picture it). So I took it back to the store and they said they would fix it. I came back a month later and picked up the "repaired" bike. I took it out to the parking lot for a test drive and sure enough, it was still broke with the gears. They took the bike from me again and said it would be fixed. I went back 2 days ago to see what the status was and they said it would take another month. At this point I determined this is the bike from hell. I pleaded and pleaded to the guy for a refund or store credit and he was persistent against it. I finally broke through to him and he agreed to give me a store credit. I ended up getting myself a conventional oven and a couple bottles of vodka.
My Black Eye:
Ok, now for any grandmothers or close relatives reading this, just know that I'm ok now. We went out to the same club we have gone to all year, I have been to this club hundreds of times and have never had a problem, ever. I know the management at the club and several of the bartenders and again, never had a problem. I was dancing with my friend and it was getting close for us to leave ~3 or 3:30 in the morning. I leaned in to say something to her and I caught an absolute haymaker sucker punch in the right side of my head. It stunned me and from what I remember I staggered backward a bit and tried to regain my composure to see what the hell happened. As I was doing this I think I caught another punch and my friends told me I was knocked out. I remember coming to as I was being helped out of the club to go to a hospital and my mouth hurt. I stuck my finger in my mouth and a big chunk of enamel broke off one of my molars. I was a mess. I was in the hospital until about 6am with two of my friends and once I got home I just slept the whole day. The marks have since healed and I am perfectly fine now (except for the tooth of course). I suspect the person that did this to me was someone in town for the Euro soccer matches. Here's the proof: |
| It makes me look tough right? |
- Scott
