Andrej Šustr

Where the hell am I? That was my first thought.

I was 17, I had just landed in Alaska and I had no idea what I was getting into. It was 6 a.m. and there was an old van waiting for me at the airport. Through three hours on that road in a never-ending blizzard, I sat there with another guy from Sweden who had just been traded to another team. It was the beginning of November and it was freezing. I was looking out of the car window, having absolutely no idea what was at the end of the road.

We stopped right at the stadium. My gear got lost somewhere on the road with all of the transits so I was just here to watch practice and to meet my teammates. 

I barely understood anything. I took English at school but it couldn’t prepare me for this. I could have just taken those years and thrown them out of the window. That’s how different British and American English are. The locals speak fast and with a specific accent. For the next couple of weeks, I struggled to figure out what I was expected to do.

They took me to my lodging across a town called Soldotna. It’s pretty small, even for Czechs; something like Radobyčice, a Pilsen suburb. I saw no igloos or Inuits like I expected but it was still unlike anything we’re used to in Europe.

When we arrived at the home of my new billet family, everyone was still at work. My guide at least showed me where to put my bags. Around five meters from the house was a garage and on top of it a newly constructed room. It was pretty spacious, with its own bed, TV and a dressing room. However, the  toilet and bathroom were in the house. It was doable, sure, but kind of annoying when you need to pee at 3 a.m. I had no idea at that moment that I would crawl out of there and see a reindeer standing right in front of me.

I looked at the room with a single thought in my head: I can’t back out. I left the Czech Republic because I didn’t see room for my hockey improvement. I can’t back out now.

I really didn’t want to return to the routine from which I had escaped. That mindset made me buckle up and get through any troubles. And I soon realized that my host family was amazing — amazing, kind people who pointed me in the right direction for my career, and to the place where I am now.