EDMONTON- Do you remember where you were when you watched your first hockey game?
For a group of University of Alberta students that moment was at Clare Drake Arena Friday night. About 350 international students took in their first live hockey game, watching the Golden Bears face off against the University of Regina Cougars.
“I am so excited, honestly. My friends attended a game before and they said it’s awesome, so I just want to experience that,” explained Rami Abouzeinab who is from Lebanon.
While the game of hockey is second nature to most Canadians, it’s foreign to many, if not all, of these students.
Abouzeinab is a PhD student who has been in Edmonton for three years. His favourite sport is tennis.
“Usually when you watch tennis you just sit there and clap when it’s done,” he said. “I want to see this crazy cheering and the game full of energy and power.”
“When I came here I thought okay, hockey’s not that popular back home and I’m not excited about it, but that’s what people talk about and I feel every time someone’s talking about hockey I cannot even participate,” Abouzeinab added.
“Soccer is quick, but not as quick as hockey, so when I saw people moving and never stopping I thought okay, that’s a quick game. I like it,” added Nikols Zitouni, a health sciences student who lives in a small town just outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
This is actually the second year Zitouni has attended the event, organized by the University’s alumni association.
“A lot of our international students have never been to a hockey game. So, it’s the true Canadian experience,” said Sean Price, Associate Vice-President of Alumni Relations.
Price says a hockey game is a great way for international students to get to know the country they’re studying in.
“Their greatest memories of being here at the U of A, when they go back to wherever they originate from whether it be Asia or Europe, is the cold and the hockey.”
The group of students really got into the spirit of the game Friday night, dressed in green and gold, chanting ‘Go Bears Go!’
For Abouzeinab and Zitouni, it’s a night not soon to be forgotten.
“Amazing!!!’ shouted Zitouni.
“It’s awesome!” added Abouzeinab.
With files from Quinn Ohler.
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