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Day Three: Meet Team Canada!
Aug. 23rd, 2012 03:35 pmThursday morning we woke up in our narrow hotel rooms. The water faucets in Poland are reversed from the States: left for cold, right for hot. The bloodcurdling shriek from the bathroom was testament to my success at figuring things out. At least my friend didn't worry about oversleeping. Breakfast in the hotel was cheesy eggs, cooked tomatoes, good tea, fresh rolls, and about seven different kinds of meats. Oh, and butter. Creamy, creamy butter. Of course there was kielbasa, and of course I had some. It's safe to say that I had more sausage this week then in the past year. Insert innuendo... here.
The tournament was held in a public school, painted in those curious pastel colors the Polish love so much. The average grand tournament I attend is between sixty and eighty players. The attendance this weekend? Two hundred and seventy two players! In brief, the ETC is played by eight person teams (a few teams did have female players!), representing countries from Europe and around the world (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore). The team captains try to arrange favorable match ups for their sides, everyone plays a game, and the total score are added to determine a winner. The total points scored range from zero to one hundred sixty, but the actual scoring range is between sixty and one hundred. This way, teams aren't left in the dust and there remains some tension for the first place teams.
That's the technical bit for you non-gamers. After checking in, I set up my army and played a practice game against a German player, and took part in a arranged game between the United States and Russia (don't call it a Cold War!). My team mates arrived in the hall during my game, which was a great relief as I wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the bleachers. After the game we stopped at a supermarket to buy grilling supplies and alcohol, and continued to our base camp for the weekend.
My home away from home was in Lubniewice, a small town 30 km outside of Gorzow. My teammates rented rooms in a three story house situated by a lake. Each room had fold out beds, and there was a shared kitchen in the basement. The housekeeper was a very elderly woman with about three teeth and no knowledge of English at all. The language barrier was much higher in Poland than in Germany. All of my Polish teammates had a good grasp of the language, and gladly served as translators when needed. The four Canadians (Artur, Tom and Tim Harris, and Matt) and the mercenaries (Andi, Michel, Kapcer, and myself) sat down over sausages and pierogies and beer to discuss our pairings for the next day. We moved our discussion out back to some picnic tables. There was candlelight, other players from Poland and Denmark, about half a dozen very attractive women, and more shots of vodka than we could count. The song of the night was "Call Me Maybe" which people would break into over and over and over again. Eventually the vodka ran out, and we staggered back to the house for sleep. Some of the team were in dire straits; yours truly had finished 500 ml of water before bed. Ah, the wisdom of age.
Next up: the event itself!
The tournament was held in a public school, painted in those curious pastel colors the Polish love so much. The average grand tournament I attend is between sixty and eighty players. The attendance this weekend? Two hundred and seventy two players! In brief, the ETC is played by eight person teams (a few teams did have female players!), representing countries from Europe and around the world (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore). The team captains try to arrange favorable match ups for their sides, everyone plays a game, and the total score are added to determine a winner. The total points scored range from zero to one hundred sixty, but the actual scoring range is between sixty and one hundred. This way, teams aren't left in the dust and there remains some tension for the first place teams.
That's the technical bit for you non-gamers. After checking in, I set up my army and played a practice game against a German player, and took part in a arranged game between the United States and Russia (don't call it a Cold War!). My team mates arrived in the hall during my game, which was a great relief as I wasn't looking forward to sleeping on the bleachers. After the game we stopped at a supermarket to buy grilling supplies and alcohol, and continued to our base camp for the weekend.
My home away from home was in Lubniewice, a small town 30 km outside of Gorzow. My teammates rented rooms in a three story house situated by a lake. Each room had fold out beds, and there was a shared kitchen in the basement. The housekeeper was a very elderly woman with about three teeth and no knowledge of English at all. The language barrier was much higher in Poland than in Germany. All of my Polish teammates had a good grasp of the language, and gladly served as translators when needed. The four Canadians (Artur, Tom and Tim Harris, and Matt) and the mercenaries (Andi, Michel, Kapcer, and myself) sat down over sausages and pierogies and beer to discuss our pairings for the next day. We moved our discussion out back to some picnic tables. There was candlelight, other players from Poland and Denmark, about half a dozen very attractive women, and more shots of vodka than we could count. The song of the night was "Call Me Maybe" which people would break into over and over and over again. Eventually the vodka ran out, and we staggered back to the house for sleep. Some of the team were in dire straits; yours truly had finished 500 ml of water before bed. Ah, the wisdom of age.
Next up: the event itself!
