The Year of the Dragon

in a few days, the Chinese New Year will start. It will be the year of the dragon and as I am a dragon, I had BIG plan to become a superstar in 3 sports, in 3 sports, in 3 sports.

so last year, I made preparations.

In January 2011, I began to learn to ski downhill. I really liked it. I also began to watch more ski competitions on TV. Ski is very popular here and one of the biggest ski stars is Didier Cuche

I dreamed of flying downhill like Didier.



then came summer and my friend Jimmy said to me, 'Sebastian, you love soccer so much! why don't you play for the company team'

my company has 4 soccer teams and its own soccer field.

I made inquiry and the coach of the senior team asked me to meet him for interview. 

he is Spanish and loves Barca. but his style reminded more of Mourinho.

during the interview, he asked me what position I want to play (imagine Mou asking a new player this).

I did not want to run a lot so I said right back, like Cafu.

he told me to come to training and what to bring. No problem. I wanted to be a mix of Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. so I had to decide on a tattoo and the right hair gel.

at the first training, we played a friendly game against the company B team. I was very proud of my tattoo but Mourinho did not like it. It turned out I was the only player on the field with a visible tattoo.

 me and my friend Jimmy from the B team

during the warm-up, Mourinho told us to keep the ball on the ground and to make short passes. we had to play tiki-taka soccer.

my company senior soccer team

well I started at right back and after my first run down the wing to deliver a cross like Beckham, I was out of breath and could not get back to defense.

it was obvious that I was in no shape to play right back. after the game, Mourinho let me stay on the team but only as a substitute. in subsequent games, he put me in left wing to minimize any damage I can cause. whenever I got on the field, I was not Cafu anymore but I was Shevchenko.

at the end of the soccer season, Mourinho told all the players to stay in shape during the winter. no problem. I hit the gym, played indoor soccer and then I even learned a new sport, skating.

my soccer team is organizing a skating event next week so during Christmas, I took private lessons to learn to skate.  

when I got back to work on Jan 3, 2012, I found out the event is not ice skating. it is ice hockey. how hard can it get???

so I dreamed of being an ice hockey star (like Koivu of the Anaheim Ducks), in addition of being a ski star and a soccer star.

this is my year. this dragon will FLY.

Not.

last Saturday, just one week before the start of the year of the dragon. I had a fall in my ski class. no broken bones but some of my ligaments are damaged.

I cannot ski like Didier Vuche for a while. I will not be Shevuchenko this summer. and next week, no ice hockey game for this Koivu.

I have been going around on crutches.

but I have decided to use all these newly founded free time to work on 2 personal projects. I hope to share with you the successes of these projects later this year.

until then, Happy New Year of the Dragon!