On Sunday, February 16, Spirit Cultural Exchange staff member Suzanne and Mariana and Sergio, J-1 Interns in Chicago who are training with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, attended the Chicago Wolves v. Cleveland Monsters ice hockey game!
The Chicago Wolves, who play in a Chicago suburb called Rosemont, are a minor league (American Hockey League/AHL) team for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team includes a variety of players, including some on their path to the NHL or who are recovering from a recent injury.
Ice hockey is a popular sport around the world and the professional league, the NHL, is composed of teams in both the United States and Canada. During the game, each team has 6 players (including a goalie) on the ice for 3 periods of 20 minutes each. Although the aim of the game is to score more goals, hockey is also famous for how fast players skate on the ice and the occasional fight during the game. During the winter, Chicago is also home to the NHL team the Chicago Blackhawks.
The game, which started with an impressive fireworks and fire display, was a unique way for Mariana and Sergio to experience a sport that is not yet popular in Mexico. The game was fast-moving, had lots of penalties, and 5 goals! Outside of the action on the ice, there was a skating wolf mascot, a flying blimp, t-shirt tosses, and even local choirs performing during intermissions.
During the game, our J-1 Interns in Chicago got to learn some of the rules of ice hockey – including what causes a penalty (lots of tripping!), the importance of a Zamboni (the machine that helps remove marks from skates), how hard it is to follow the small puck on the ice, and what happens when a hockey stick gets broken during the game (hint – the equipment manager has to be ready to pass a new stick while a player is still skating fast on the ice).
They were also able to see some of the similarities between ice hockey and soccer/futbol (such as offsides) but also many of the differences (such as the constant rotation of players on and off the ice during the game).
Although the Wolves lost 2-3, it was still a fun afternoon for our J-1 Interns in Chicago to experience something new!
Although Sergio and Mariana are experiencing Chicago during the cold winter months, they have already had the opportunity to explore Chinatown, visit Spirit’s Oak Park office, and tour local museums. They also hope to travel to other local neighborhoods in the city (such as Little Italy to try cannoli!), visit some of the many museums in Chicago, and explore more parts of Chicago.
During their training, Mariana and Sergio have had the opportunity to train with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s new platform CORAMA and learn from experts about how to develop and rollout a marketing plan. As the CORAMA platform is targeted at US small businesses, this experience has allowed both J-1 Interns in Chicago to learn about how to use social media platforms to focus on a specific audience and use technology to create new virtual marketing materials.
As part of their program, our J-1 Interns in Chicago were also able to promote the program to their fellow UNAM students in Mexico. During a recent presentation, they “provided a deeper explanation of our work within the chamber and our role in the project we are working on.” This was a great opportunity to share with current university students how a training in the US can offer once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn about US business and advance their future careers in Mexico.
