USA! USA! USugh

First, a semi-serious observation, then on to the fun stuff.

As I was running around the arena today, a colleague tipped me off that the entire North Korean delegation was just outside the doors of the venue waiting to be taken away on buses. (If you aren't up on what's going on w/ North Korea at these Games -- the pairs figure skating team, the cheerleaders, etc. -- Google it.) I walked outside and was met with this scene...

I don't claim to know a whole lot about what goes on in that country, but I do know that when you get that many people in one place all standing perfectly still and remaining perfectly silent and awaiting orders to move, freedom is not a concept they're too familiar with.

I went to my first non-figure skating event here tonight, the USA-Slovenia men's hockey game. It was a fun atmosphere, with lots of American fans acting like, well, American sports fans. (They're easy to spot in a crowd, even if they're not adorned in red, white and blue, which almost all of them are.)

If you didn't know, the hockey tournament here doesn't have any NHL players in it, so the caliber of play is noticeably worse than it was in Sochi or Vancouver. The U.S. went up 2-0 after two periods, then gave up a goal in the third.

With about 2 minutes left, I got the brilliant idea to leave, hoping to beat the crowd to the shuttles. On my way out, I got a text from a friend telling me the U.S. had not only given up the tying goal in regulation but also the winning goal in OT.

I can't decide if I'm glad I left early or if I would have wanted to stay to witness the carnage firsthand. Honestly, I'm fine with my decision.

Our snack of the day is...

I don't know what they're called or how to describe them. Based on the picture on the bag, with the seeds and whatnot, I thought they'd be savory, but I was wrong. (I've also thought the same thing about the breakfast pastry I've bought the last two mornings: What looked like spinach and cheese croissants were actually honey glazed croissants with a sweet filling...still delicious, just not what I was expecting.)

Anyway, these were good -- really good. They were everything yesterday's snack wanted to be but wasn't. They had a great crunch, were perfectly bite-sized and were just sweet enough where I could keep eating them all the way through (which I did). I will definitely be going back for more.

Rating: 9.1