Piece of Advice

The closer that my 2 months of traveling gets, the more I'm reminded of a theme that many people understand, but few hold their lives to these two simple principles: fun and love. So many people do things "because they have to" or because "they need to," don't give me that crap and don't give anyone else that crap. There's plenty of time and energy to do the things you want to do with your life, but most people choose not to. Why? We are on this planet for a short time NOT to have fun and to love everything. I think that people are afraid of taking risks, people are afraid of failing, but most importantly, they're afraid fo succeeding. What if I'm different? What if people don't accept me for what I'm doing and/or what I've accomplished? First off, get out of high school, everyone, and don't worry about what other people think. There will always be people who will accept you and what you're doing, so if someone in your life doesn't accept what you're doing, move on from that place in your life.

I see too many doors unopened, too many stones unturned, and too many opportunities missed because people are afraid of having fun and loving because "it's not practical." If everyone went for the practical, nothing great would ever be accomplished. Would atomic energy ever have been discovered? How about the light bulb? What about any modern convenience you come in contact with? People who accomplished these feats tried something different and they went outside of the norm; they loved and did something that they were passionate about.

I am noticing an abundance of videos and travelers and writers who are having fun and loving and dropping their boring normal life, a life that people are unhappy with and they don't know why, to do what they've always wanted and you know what? THEY'RE HAPPY. They took a chance and most failed along the way, but they're happy. They succeeded in a way that most people don't succeed, and in the smal failures along the way, these people see success because they're different, they "went for it."

So I ask and plead with people; entertain those crazy thoughts in the back of your mind. Give them a chance, because who wants to be living the one life we have not being happy and not having fun? Whatever these two things mean to you, whether it's having a family, significant other, house, and a quiet life, studying music and education people on it, traveling around the world meeting people, or sitting in your room playing video games. But in any situation, you need to ask yourself truthfully, "does this make me happy and am I having fun?" If the honest answer to yourself is no, then you need to listen to that voice in the back of your head telling you to do what you've always wanted. If your answer to yourself is yes, then I commend you.

Do me a favor, all, give yourself a chance to love and have fun. Too many people disregard it for sadness and being content. Live your life, don't let someone else live it.

Trip to LuoYang/Anticipation

Went to LuoYang over the weekend! It was a great trip. For those of you (probably all of you) who don't know, this is about an hour away from the famous Shaolin temple.....yes where Kung-Fu was invented. It was good, although too touristy for me. We climbed a small mountain to a cave where a monk meditated and then came up with the idea of Kung-Fu, saw some Kung-Fu schools, and just enjoyed the area, which was pretty big. Also went to a temple that claims to have been the place where some of the first Buddhist Sutras were translated from Sanskrit into Chinese. It was nice; very Chinese and there were no tourists, which is always a plus in my book.

Also went to the Longmen Grottoes. One word; breathtaking. This place was covered in thousands of Buddhas carved into caves of a rock face or even tiny Buddhas making tile-like appearances all over the place. This place had Buddhas from over 100 feet tall to ones the size of my index finger; it was absolutely remarkable. The sheer number and magnitude of this place was awe-inspiring.

Still getting things ready for my trip in a month to Indonesia and Cambodia. Should be a good trip and a good opportunity to see what I'm like traveling for an extended period of time, and alone! I'm meeting up with a friend in Cambodia, but not after about 3 weeks, so I'm excited to see how things go. I've been talking to a few people in Indonesia that will help me out and show me around, which is good because they can help show me the little known spots, which are always the best!

Just wanted to give an update after my trip.

Take care all

Update

So haven't written on here for a really long time.....sorry bout that. Guess I should give some updates on what's been going on in my neck of the woods....world?....China-land. Still taking the 笛子, or Chinese bamboo flute to those of you who don't speak chinese. I really enjoy it and it challenges me to relax; something that, if you know me, I have a hard time doing. I need to relax my breath, my body, and my mind to play it correctly. Also taking 太极拳, or Tai Qi, which has the same requirements. I need to relax my body more than I though, and it helps me relax my mind. It's really good for me to find balance, and the relaxation that I'm learning is really helping me to balance out, or get more balanced, rather.

Me and a couple friends are going to the shaolin temples this coming up weekend; yes, the place where modern-day kung-fu was invented. Guess who wants to do their Tai Qi there? :-D Really excited to go to somewhere with that much history, but hey, I'm in China, that stuff is everywhere. Besides small trips, I already booked plane tickets to Indonesia and Cambodia for January, and me and a few friends are going to go to Thailand for February....be jealous. Traditional music on Indonesia, ancient temples everywhere in Cambodia, and gorgeous beaches everywhere you turn in Thailand; who can complain? Can't wait to go and do some traveling and see what I want to see! Never traveled for the sake of traveling, I came to China to live and study, not for the sole intention of traveling, so I'm excited at the prospect.

Promise to keep this updated a little more now, kinda lost track of it.

Peace :-D

Apologies

Sorry for anyone who reads this/checks this on a regular basis; not many new things are happening to me travel wise. Some things are happening, but not that I want to plaster on a public blog. Things are pretty normal around here, getting settled in and feeling comfortable, like I've been here all along. Visited some cool things lately, like the Terra-cotta Soldiers, this really neat Modern/Contemporary Ceramics and Clay museum/exhibit, and ancient hot springs. The Terra-cotta soldiers were, cool, but I didn't find them as impressive as I thought they were going to be; the museum on-site was more interesting because it had up-close soldiers and recovered artifacts that you could see in greater detail. Got my tickets for Indonesia then Cambodia in January, and there's talk about Korea for February then travel to a couple places in China before school starts back up in March. We'll see what happens, but Cambodia and Indonesia, chea buddy! Doing a lot of research on where to go, should be sweet!

Keep you posted on cool things that happen or ideas on where to see when I travel. Until next time...

ChengDu

For National Holiday, a celebration for the Communist's victory over the KMT about 61 years ago (I think?), me, my friends from BGSU, and five good French friends from school here went to ChengDu. The city was absolutely wonderful; it was incredibly open and free from a large amount of people in a surprising amount of the city, the tea houses were fantastically relaxing, and there was plenty of things to do including nightlife, temples, or simply walking along the river. The people were incredibly friendly, and their expression of leaving is 慢慢走, which means "walk slowly," which speaks a lot to their mindset and way of life.

The large things that ChengDu is famous for, such as Emei Shan and the Panda preserve, were fantastic (there was also the giant buddha, but I decided not to do that). The mountain was absolutely gorgeous; apart from almost being run over/pushed off the mountain by a donkey, wild monkeys, and a 12 hour hike, it was incredibly pleasant! 12 hours between two days of walking up stairs through mountains only to reach possibly the most gorgeous end really affected me deeply. I had a chance to grow with good friends, see a beautiful mountain, understand how HARD it was to do something that difficult, and be so deeply affected by an experience so hard, yet so satisfying. Being surrounded by such beautiful scenery and the journey of climbing that mountain was the start of a new me, and so will every other experience.

As for the Panda preserve, seeing an animal that is as rare as the giant panda, and being able to HOLD one, was fantastic. The pandas were playful, adorable, and seeing so many was awesome. I did feel incredibly bad for them, because their existence shouldn't be defined by bars and walls, but due to human expansion, even despite habitat preservation efforts, this is how to preserve their species. I felt bad but glad for them at the same time; at what point does their existence become futile, and is this existence just? Some of the issues I had mixed with joy while seeing the preserve.

I couldn't believe how much I loved ChengDu. The people were warm, the scenery was beautiful, and the main attraction were worth going to go and see, despite the crowds during the National Holiday (and I normally hate the typical popular attractions). If anyone wants a suggestion for a city to visit in China, ChengDu is at the top of my list!

慢慢走

Little Backed-Up

I haven't posted in a while cause there wasn't anything exciting or pressing that I needed/wanted to share, but I feel like it's good to fill everyone in on those details sometimes. Me and the group of people from BGSU have made pretty good friends with a lot of international students; we're very close with the other Americans, a few girls from Europe (like Poland, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Germany) and a bunch of French students. We're actually traveling to Chengdu with five French students that we've become really fond of, and we're all excited because they're very good people and a lot of fun to be around. I'm glad we met students that we clicked with so well and that share our values/desires about being here in China. It's nice to know that there are people that think like we do, feel like we do, and act on what they believe, which is why most of them are here.

Going back to the Chengdu thing, we're actually leaving today (tomorrow for you people in the states)! We're taking an overnight train there from Xi'an and arriving at 9:00 in the morning; perfect! We're going to go see pandas, try and climb a mountain, see some temples and national parks, and just take in the feel of the city itself. It costs 1000元, about 150 USD, to hold a panda; yikes! But I think the money is worth it, especially since they're so rare, it's not really THAT much money, and I get to actually hold it. I'll have my camera, so everyone in our group will be able to have the memory in pictures, which will help us rationalize the money. China Bilotte is the one that's especially excited, because her sorority's mascot is a panda! She's incredibly excited to feel closer to home, closer to China, and closer to this endangered species all at the same time.

As for me, I'm excited to go to the city that so many people say they fall in love with, that they never want to leave, and that they write songs about. As for the excitement of Chengdu and the good friends, nothing else is really worth writing about. just kinda living, going to school, and getting used to the language, the people, and the culture, which takes a lot of time to do all of that!

Until I return

Getting in the Groove

Things have been improving a lot out here. People are FINALLY starting to get to know people well, breaking out of their bubble, and metting people they didn't think they would meet. I've made some awesome friends from the States (Amuricca, fuck yeh), a bunch of French students, and then some other students scattered around Europe. They're all incredible people and we're all really starting to get to know each other and do things together. That whole bubble/timidness that everyone had when we all arrived is finally wearing off and even people that don't normally hang out, like Kazaks, are hanging out with us (I mention Kazaks because they typically hang out with themselves since there are so many of them).

A group of us went to see Asia's largest water fountain; it was a lot of fun to watch, apart from a couple unexpected tumbles and "admission fees," it was really enjoyable. A groups of about 10 of us went and we had a blast! We sat in GRASS in a park by a lake, talked, tossed a frisbee, and ate.

That's pretty much it, short one for now. Just thought I'd comment on new friends and what not.

Deuces.