Our seats were directly behind the goal, right at the glass. We both agreed very quickly that this was probably the best place to sit. From there, you can see the speed of the game much better and you notice details that you would miss from higher up in the stands. You also experience the atmosphere more directly, because you are so close to the players and the ice. At one point, there was a small fight right in front of us, and it showed how physical and emotional ice hockey can be. Seeing this from so close made the sport feel more intense and real.
The most interesting part of the day was how we talked about our different sports backgrounds. I play football and come from a French background, where football is very important culturally and is often very emotional, with a lot of fan culture and identity connected to it. Thijs plays rugby and comes from the Netherlands, where sport often feels more structured and focused on discipline and physical strength.
Ice hockey was a good point of connection for us. It combined the fast, flowing parts that I know from football with the physical contact and tactical structure that he knows from rugby. During the game, we explained things to each other: I talked about how the crowd reminded me of football matches in France, and he explained the physical side of the game and how it is controlled by rules and respect.
We also discussed the cultural differences between France and the Netherlands in general. In France, sport often feels more connected to identity and emotion. In the Netherlands, sport feels more pragmatic and system-oriented, with a strong focus on teamwork and development. The hockey game helped us understand these differences in a more practical, real-life way.
In the end, the result also added a lot to the experience. The game finished 6–3 for Tappara, which made it a very high-scoring and entertaining match. Sitting directly behind the goal meant that we could enjoy many of these goals from the best possible angle, and it made the whole game feel even more dynamic and engaging. Still, it wasn’t really about which team won. It was more about sharing the experience and learning from each other. It was a simple but meaningful example of “each one teach one,” where we both learned something about sport, culture, and perspective through a normal day as students.
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