My Friend Procrastination

So I've been carried away with studying for midterm for which was the easiest thing in the world and also some test were completely impossible for me to do. Why you may ask, because a couple tests were all in Chinese characters and ZERO English. It's been a new struggle but at the same time, it is the best feeling when I sit in that desk and try to take a graded test in a foreign language. It reminds me back when I was in grade school and I got super stoked when I figured out what the question asked and then I knew the answer. I can only piece together a couple questions and kind of guess at what it is asking and then jot down the best guess I can write in Chinese. I think I hover somewhere above beginner and below advanced. They say people should spend 2 semesters abroad to get a grasp of the language and I'm starting to understand why. In the 2 months (give a week or so) I've been here I've improved greatly. I couldn't imagine how much I'd improve if I stayed in Taiwan for a whole year. It would be a crazy experience but at the same time this way of life isn't the way I want to live. It has been a great and unbelievable adventure (so far) but the lifestyle isn't for me. I'm way too picky and I miss being a health freak. (Organic food, raw vegetables and fruits, Milk, cheese, steak, and MEXICAN FOOD!) If this trip has taught me anything, it's that I love Mexican Food. Hands down the best. I always thought I liked it when I was in the States... but now since I haven't been able to eat it here in Taiwan I've realized that I love it. Tacos, burritos, nachos, chips & salsa, you name it! That is definitely one of the first things I'm going to eat when I get back home... that and Pizza.

Since it was midterms this past week, it consisted of a lot of studying and well procrastination. So I'm just going to go through a couple articles and things that distracted me and share my thoughts.

Giant Spider
- I personally hate spiders. and if you know me really well.. I'm a little girl about them. Don't ask me why, but have you ever heard of the Brown Recluse? I hadn't either until my roommate, Ty, told me about them. Scary stories about those things. They bite you and can leave a sick nasty scar on your skin because it's venom just eats away ate your skin... And just more motivation to be a little girl around them. F-those 8 legged things...

Guatemala Sink Hole
- This website is crazy (more articles to come from it). So this is a sink hole that just happened in a middle of a city. It reminds me of some plot of a Syfy movie and now some weird alien creatures will be flying out of that giant hole. I mean from the pictures it looks like there isn't a bottom to it. That is just crazy. It looks like it just ate a building up, forever sucking it down into the abyss. That is insane!

Door to Hell
- This is another giant hole in the planet we call, Earth. Except this one is on fire!? 24/7! That blows my mind and like the article states, the fire is kept alive by the natural gases that are coming from the hole. Imagine what could be down there... or even imagine if the fire made it all the way to the main source... Just a terrible disaster waiting to happen. Part of me wants to look down it, and part of me says to stay thousands of miles away from this fiery pit. Or as the article states, Door to Hell. Let's hope not.

The Rainbow Eucalyptus
- This tree is exact what I want growing in my backyard when I get older. Hands down this is one of the coolest trees I've ever seen. At first it reminded me of those old school Dr. Suess books and I was thinking, he had to have seen these things before he started making his trippy children books. If anything these trees would make one badass tree fort.

Underwater River
- This is probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen/ read about. I always knew that fresh water and salt water couldn't mix and one was heavier than the other but I've never seen anything like this. It literally looks like a forest and a river, which is just mind blowing. I always used to have this dream where my entire world was underwater. It almost always occurred in the Hartley gym where I was in elementary school. I remember that I always panicked because I thought I was going to drown but then I'd have to breathe to find out that I could breathe underwater. Which then became the best dream in the world. Anyways, this underwater river just reminds me that anything is possible in this crazy place we call, Earth.

I hope that you have noticed that they give suggested links and their website is very organized and user friendly.

Until Next Time,

Cheerio


Alastar Swift

Patience Is a Virtue... or at least that's what I've heard.

I remember how much I dislike studying. It's not one of my favorite things as I have to just reread and memorize all this stuff... and most likely I'll forget it in about a week or two. (or a couple days...) Today I just had to get out and do something I haven't done for a long time. I ran around TKUs track. They have a surprisingly nice rubber track and there are quite a few people running around the time of 10:30pm. Half way through my first lap I notice that TKU is on top of a giant hill and I was able to see part of the city just below with sky scrapers and light below. It was really awesome, especially being able to see light in the horizon on the hill side which is across a nice sized body of water. (I think it's the ocean, like a nice giant cove encircling it.) It was crazy to see and with the weather being perfect for running, it set up the best situation for... thinking and clearing my head. I just was able to realize everything that I have at the moment. It was crazy because I've never had time to just actually think about it. Taiwan is crazy. And I know I'm going to miss this very easy lifestyle. The relaxed and cheap life style. At the same time, I've realized I have some complicated decisions are arriving but I'm definitely ready to just dive in. (Since that's really the only way to do things, Right?) But I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I'm straight up petrified of the options in front of me. I guess this is what people talk about, the next big chapter of my young life. No more college... I guess this is when I'm supposed to grow up and be a big boy now.

Surprisingly, I have created my own little quote for myself. (and I dislike quotes very much. weird)

There are no mistakes in Life, only Lessons Learned.

This has pretty much guided my life so that I don't dwell on all the negative things that never worked out for me. Usually I'm always learning something new about myself.. Things that I'm like, "Why do I do that" I've noticed that I do a lot of things without me even thinking about it. Its crazy to look back and to see all the changes I've made just because I started to think about why I did some of the things I [used] to do. One thing that I haven't yet understand about myself.. which is an awfully huge part of me, would be that I thinking about things constantly. Some of my good friends say that I over think things way too much. I've done a way better job from what I used to be from the past but it's a recurring thing sometimes. The only part that I don't like is that I realize I over think a situation and then say... fuck it I'm doing it, because I catch myself thinking too much. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet. Mostly it's worked out for the best but since I don't have the easy relaxed life coming up in a couple short months it's been on my mind. Well mostly because am I going to not be able to just say fuck it, and do something.. because pretty soon I'm going to have to face consequences that I can't just kind of shrug off.  At the same time, I would not be happy with myself having to think about every decision with a knowledge of every single outcome or consequence. So I guess I'll be able to do my... "Fuck it, I'm going to do this" for one more time before I get out in the "real world"

Most likely I'll still be doing this when I'm 60 just because I like to do things and make decisions on the fly.. yet I over think things all the time. Weird I know. I must be that weird kid everyone knows..... well I hope not anyways.

Cheerio,

Alastar Swift

Love4Music 4.0

As I sit here constantly writing numerous of Chinese Characters from Lesson 1 to 6, I keep youtube surfing for new songs. I've been doing this countless of times because I get sided track or bored of rewriting characters left and right. It's about 20 minutes before the test and I have no idea if all of these characters will be remembered as I enter the classroom today. But on the bright side I found some great new music that fits perfectly to my studying habits at the moment. I hope you enjoy listening to the string section as much as I do.. if not well maybe you should try it out.

These are all covers made by Vitamin String Quartet:

Semi Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
Ocean Avenue - Yellowcard
Hey There Delilah - Plain White Ts
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Love Story - Taylor Swift
I Miss You - Incubus

Just a few.. I'm sure you will be doing the same thing I have been doing all morning/afternoon... My favorite hobby... Youtube surfing.

Enjoi,

Alastar Swift



Ps: Hope this cheers you up on a bad day.
Watch this video (but mute it) as you listen to this in the background.

It's that time of the Year Again! Mid-Terms...

So this past week and the week coming up has been full of tests that people have been studying for. This reminds me of every single week back in Dub-Town where everyone would study and I'd... well try to study. The beauty of being over here as a foreigner and having the teacher know that I have no idea what is going on is that I have an awesome advantage on test day. This past week one of the classes where I understand about 10% of what is said, we had a test. I looked at it and was like... I'm done. So I guessed on the multiple choice and just to fill in the radicals portion. The one part of the test (which was 50% of it) was fill in the blank. I sat there with a blank stare trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. I said F-it and rose my hand to ask the teacher what I was supposed to do. I didn't expect any help... but couldn't hurt to ask right? She smiled and just pretty much told me what I had to write in each blank. It was awesome. I still wasn't able to fill in all the blanks because I have no idea how to write every single character. I can speak more than I can write.. but I doubt she would have accepted pinyin without the correct tones. (Pinyin, is how most of the outside world learns how to pronounce Chinese characters.) After totally getting owned by that test (hopefully, I walk away with a passing grade...), something hit me. I think I need to focus on one part of Chinese. Speaking and Listening or Reading and Writing. I've been trying to do both at the same time which gives me a pretty nice base for both but at the same time... I'm still pretty awful (especially for how long I've studied Chinese...)

So now here's the hard part. Choosing either to put more effort in Speaking and Listening or Reading and Writing. I've been doing more Speaking and Listening since I've been here but that's only because I get to use it everywhere I go. I guess I've already picked speaking and listening... well since I just found a tutor to help me out every week and plus one of my friends in the dorm is willing to sit and have a conversation totally in Chinese with me. I've also had the chance to have to speak Chinese with my roommate. He only knows Japanese and he's in the same Chinese class as me. He speaks very little English, so we pretty much have to use Chinese or once and a while I bust out Google Translator. Which is awesome because now I have learned a little Japanese and I have taught him some English plus some American Slang. That's probably the best part, teaching people American Slang.

Besides from spending my time practicing my Chinese I've have been playing a lot of basketball around campus. I've ran into some very talented players while I've also ran into a lot of people that have a huge basketball ego and get mad when I shut them down. I'm lucky that I have two friends from the dorm that are very good at basketball. They are way better than I am and we pretty much make an in stoppable team. The only let down is that we are relatively short. Surprisingly with the Asian stereotype of being short... There are a lot of tall people on the basketball court that just dominate... but then again it's not that hard when a lot of people are about my height or shorter.

But this all leads to a job opportunity. If I really wanted to take a huge risk and start a business that I think that would flourish... I'd have to say that I'd come back here and start up a huge basketball school or training center. Create a private school where everyone just focuses on studies and mainly on basketball. Try to just turn out D-III to D-I basketball players and put Asia on the map for talented basketball players. Every time I watch everyone play I see some people that would be great players if they had someone to coach and teach them about the game. So maybe if I can't find anything in the states, I'll come over here change my name and start coaching. At the same time, this place is awesome but I miss a lot of American things. So it would be a hard decision.

Well I should get back to studying instead of finding ways to let procrastination take over.

Alastar Swift

The Good Ole' Days

Looking forward to this summer makes me look back and remember of past summers. One sticks out as one of the perfect summers that I've had in my life. Basketball, Friends, a Girlfriend and Freedom. I don't think a high school boy needed anything else.

[Time to Walk Down Memory Lane With Me]

Almost every day a bunch of my friends and I would go to our friend's house in the country that had a nice sized pool. We would have barbecues and pool parties and just most of all having fun. We would do this all the time during the day and at night we would either have basketball practice or we would travel to Kato and partake in our summer basketball [Bethany] league. One of the days stick out the most. It was just Blaine, Aaron, Billy, and I. We were in the pool waiting for other people to come so we had to think of things to pre-occupy us. Doing flips off the roof got old and playing football get old after a while also. So we built a plan to catch a bird. (Now I know this sounds really... useless... but trust me this is going somewhere) So we all manned our stations, all of us besides Blaine were hiding in the water underneath pool floats and were waiting for a bird. We started to make up a bird call and it went a little like this [CA-KA]. This call surprisingly worked and everything set up to plan and on the third [CA-KA] we all came up and threw water balloons at the bird....

The moral of the story here is that this calling sound saved our asses numerous of times through our high school and my college days. It saved mine from getting tasered one night. It was homecoming and we just had to TP our school. Why not. Most of all it's not right to tell high school kids to do something they are obviously going to just do it because they were told not too. So it was a small group, probably 7 or 8, and we had gotten split up since the cops came pretty fast. Billy and I hid and let the group take the cop cars away from us so we could sneak back and throw some more TP. On our way back to the school, I notice this red dot on Billy and then it went back on to me. I'm like, "Hey it's Matt." (Matt had this little obsession with laser pens) So what do we do, [CA-KA]. (It got pretty popular after we started using it all the time). No response. We look at each other and we were like this is weird. Then all of a sudden we hear, "Freeze or I'll taser you!" I glance at Billy and we just nod at each other. (We definitely knew this situation called for every man for themselves) After that nod, we just broke down in a dead sprint through some houses and backyards. I hear him fire the taser (weirdest noise ever), I look back, Billy is still running and he goes, "Holy Shit, we just got shot at!". We split up he takes one path and I take another. I'm in a dead sprint (4.6' 40yrd dash) and what happeneds? I smoke a wall and trip over a stupid boat or canoe. Adrenaline is rushing so I just get up and keep dashing. I come to the other side of the street and I just see it lit up with Red and Blue cherries. So I keep on dashing until I hear a really low CA-KA... It's Billy underneath a giant dog house. We ended up staying there for 4 hours that night watching cops cars drive around the area. We army crawled around and figured out that someone had slashed all four cop tires that was parked by an apartment complex. No wonder he shot a taser round at us.

But if it wasn't for that Summer of Awesomeness and making up a really silly call, I would have definitely had a different life path after that night. Since it has been about 7 years since then, my requirements for a great summer is down to one requirement. Finding a job. Especially now that I will be down with college after this semester and will be holding a piece of paper that proclaims I am smart! The real question that arises is... how picky should I be when I look for a job.

Should I just follow and live in any city where I find a job? I couldn't imagine leaving all my friends behind. Moving to Taiwan has shown me that it's hard to find good friends. It's easy to find people to hang out with but real friends, those are much harder to find.

So do I just focus on finding a job around my friends? Yes and no (in my opinion). I shouldn't be scared to accept a job offer of a lifetime because it's in a whole new area away from my friends. Skype and FB make it pretty easy to stay in contact. I've found that out from being in Taiwan also.

What about a significant other? (Currently single) But I have had this pop in my mind before. Yes, I am young. Yes, I don't plan on settling down. Yes, I have a lot to learn about life. But this is always a tough question, especially when friends ask or when I thought about it. I am young and not ready to settle down but at the same time, why be apart from someone that would make my day that much better being able to see them everyday instead of once a month or even less. We are young but we are young enough to at least play out our lives being happy and if shit hits the fan... well look on the bright side we are still young enough to move on, right? I know my view is way slanted on one side of the spectrum on this because doing the "Corporate Grind" does not sound fun nor even worthwhile in my books. I'd rather enjoy my life than to suck up to some Company that makes the world a little worse everyday.

I guess I'll have to ponder this in the next few month I have left in Taiwan. My plan at the moment, is to just find a job that will pay the bills until I find the perfect job. Job Searching while having a job, I think that's the key to it all. Never settle until you find the right one.

Cheerio,

Alastar Swift


Life... It's a bitch but it's so worth every second.

The Other Sunny Side of the World

With the turn of the weather to sunny days where I can wear shorts and a T, it has been absolutely awesome. I don't know if it's the fact that I left the States with snow everywhere and I can't wait for warm weather or that it has been rainy for most of the days that I've been here and can't wait for it to stop. Either way each sunny day is a chance to discover something that I couldn't even come to imagine when exploring the city I am currently living in. As an example, I just finally ventured on the other side of campus and visited the restaurants on that side. It felt like I had just discovered a whole new world. This feeling was weird and I thought to myself... Maybe this is how the early explorers felt when they set sail for the edge of the world only to discover that the world was round. Anyways, wanting to have this feeling more I have decided to spend my spring break in Northern Taiwan to explore as most of my dorm mates will be heading to Southern Taiwan for their spring break. A couple reasons I'm staying where I am is because I don't have the time to explore where I am on the weekends as I usually spend my time discovering the nightlife until 4 or 5 in the morning... then I unfortunately sleep the entire next day away being hungover. I've tried to go explore on the next after I go out to the clubs with my friends (not from the dorm) and it just doesn't work. There are tons of people everywhere on the weekends. It's like walking out in public but it's just a massive house party and every shop/stalls/restaurant is where they keep the keg. It's just crazy. I love it here but at the same time... I don't think I could live in a big city like this.

"Small Town Boy Represent!"

But seriously, so many people. On the other hand it is great from how everything is set up. There are areas that aren't so crowded and they look amazing and I'd definitely live here if I could find a sweet job and live in those areas/neighborhoods. Back to what I was originally trying to get at: Exploring Taipei. I think it took me like 15 minutes to gather a handful of places to go visit or take a day trip that I can go to next week. Most of the people in the dorms are like, "Why do you want to stay here?" 

• I tried to tell them that I wanted to save money so that I could go wherever I found a job but they don't quite understand why I wouldn't want to live with my parents. I have found out this side of the world they aren't quite as independent as we are in the states.
• Then I tried to tell them that I don't have as much time on the weekends to go exploring since I go out with my buddy from the states and the two other friends I've met through him. Which is always a blast, it's nice to go to bars, clubs, and play beer pong with people that can speak fluent english. But when I try to explain this to the people at the dorms they simple say, don't go out so much... Touche´
• So finally I figured it out. A great reason why I want to stay and explore where I'm at. This trip/ study abroad is pretty much my graduation vacation/ gift to myself... So I'm just thinking, why do I need a vacation from my vacation. Right? It's all about enjoying where you are at, not where you could be. Oh and my roommate will be traveling with me so at least I won't be alone... except we both speak minimal Chinese since he is fluent in Japanese and well for me... you guessed it, English.

I mean. Look at these bad ass things that I could be finding all around here

So speaking of my spring break, I have about 20+ places that I have in mind plus all the other places I'll find when I get sidetrack. (or lost... either way) It's going to be awesome and I'll be able to use my awful-American-Accented-Chinese out in public. One thing that is awesome and has definitely changed me a lot is that people here are so nice to Foreigners. (外國人 wai4guo2ren2: Foreigner. Gotta make this blog semi-educational!) So when I return to the States, I am going to be super nice and willing to help. (even more than I had been, 2 years ago trying to learn Chinese I realized it sucks trying to communicate when you have a little grasp on a language so I was nice to other people, but now, whole new level of appreciation.) 

Even though most people think I'm Japanese or South Korean. I try to explain that I was adopted but I was born in South Korea. It's super tough and the translation to what I try to say in broken English comes out to: My mom and dad from Korea didn't want me so they gave me to my American Parents. I hope they understand me. I know my Chinese is awful but they usually just nod their head... but to think about it now, I smile and nod my head when I have no idea what's going on... so I guess I'll have to work on that. 

What I have noticed since being here is that a lot of people are focusing their studies on very different areas than like in the States. What I have also found out many do it for the money than for the love of that certain industry. To me at this point this makes me think that this side may have many scientist/engineers/etc..., but I think what really matters is the inspiration of the individuals that make the innovative creations. Sure the government over here will be able to tell their workers to build this certain thing and they certainly will (They are very good at doing what they are told to and more specific the better). But what I have found out is that many have troubles thinking on their own or coming up with their own ideas. I know many business focused students here in the dorm and they have struggled at a very simple task relating to business presentations. Right now I feel like I should have taken at least one business course to see what the classes are like... nothing can be worse than Dub-Town can it be?! I guess I'll never know.. Unless I just sit in one... 

The only thing that I can really positively say is that I'm only learning and that much more can be in store for me. I've bee through a lot of ups and downs since I've been here and mostly it's been a personal journey of believe who I am and not letting negative people tell me who I should be. It's psychologically wearing to listen to negative people tear you down, but once you don't let them affect your life I've realized that it turns out to be 10x better than what you could have imagined it. I've been counting down the days until I return to the states, but lately I have forgotten that because I have began to hang out with a different group of friends. It's hard but at the same time I have been feeling 10x better, something we just need a change of scenery or we need to realize that something the friends we have are not always the best for us at the moment.  I know it sounds very mean and disrespectful but at the same time, we always need to grow and understand ourselves. I have a lot of learning in that department but at the same time I'm focused on one goal. I can only hope that it comes true and wish that I accomplish everything that I have tried to set up for myself. 

If there is one thing I've learned so far from studying in Taiwan is that the human mind can do almost anything that we set our minds too. Learning another language especially one that is so tonal seems to be impossible but yet somehow I am learning it and am able to speak conversations to many different people at the door. I can only ask for you to put in hard work and dedication to the things that are most important to your life because life is too short to satisfy anyone but yourself sometimes. 

Enoji and sorry for the lack of picture, I promise that next one will have plenty of pictures. UNtil then!

Enojio and Cheerio,

Alastar Swift

PS: Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man

EDIT# Many grammar mistake due to the finishing of this post at late at night with the help of a little 啤酒。Actually a lot of it to be honest. Sorry about it and the next one will be proof read.