hey there buddy

Hey there buddy!

???

How was your birthday?

Sorry?

Today was your 17^th birthday, right?

Who are you?

You don’t recognize me? Take a wild guess

I don’t know, but I’m scared

You shouldn’t be, I’m you, from the future

Oh

Oh, that’s it?

Yes

You don’t believe me? Ask me something only you know

I didn’t say I don’t believe you

Oh

I believe you

So… a stranger suddenly appears in your room, he tells you he’s the future version of yourself and you believe him?

Yes, why wouldn’t I?

Well, I guess you’re right, why wouldn’t you? I forgot that when I was your age I used to believe all kinds of random stuff, so this would have been a somehow acceptable scenario at the time.

Why are you here?

I don’t know, why are you here?

I live here, this is my room

Right, yes, I remember now, I came to give you some advice

What kind of advice?

Life advice of course

Do I ever get to kiss a girl?

You do actually

Just one?

More than one

How does it feel?

You’ll find out

When?

Soon enough

How soon?

In about a year

I can die in peace now

If you die I die too

It’s just an expression, but wait, why are we speaking English?

I don’t know that’s just the way it is

So I speak English in the future?

Not just English you get to learn many languages

So life does get better for me after all?

Not just better, like much much better, like over 9000 times better

Over 9000… I can see that, as I even get to travel backwards in time apparently

Actually you don’t, sorry about that, this is just a dream, and that’s why we speak English, our dreams are always in English.

I see, so how old are you now?

I’m 30. I mean you are 30. We are 30.

So, I get to kiss a girl, learn many languages and I even get to live until 30??? That’s just amazing, what else, do I get to live in Japan?

You do, and not just in japan

Where else?

That’s for you to find out, but one of the reasons I’m here is to tell you to hang in there, I know life’s a hell right now; I know things at school and at home are not as good as they could be, to put it mildly. I know you’ve been contemplating suicide. I know you worry about many things, including what other people think of you. And I want you to know that’s normal at your age, and I want you to know it will all be over soon, all those people that, for whatever reason make your life a living hell, will all be gone for good, not gone from this world, just gone from your life. And remember your life is not perfect, but you have everything you need to be happy and to be a good person.

I see…

I know some people at school make fun of you because your nose is too big can’t fit in, or because your taste in music, hell I even remember someone making fun of you because your last name ends on an A, how crazy was that? And this brings us to the first important thing I need you to learn “remember the monkeys”

Ok, I got it

You’re not gonna ask what monkeys?

No, should I?

Yes

Ok, what monkeys?

Now listen carefully: A group of scientists placed five monkeys in a cage, and in the middle, a ladder with bananas on top.

Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, every time a monkey would start up the ladder, the others would pull it down and beat it up.

After a time, no monkey would dare try climbing the ladder, no matter how great the temptation.

The scientists then decided to replace one of the monkeys. The first thing this new monkey did was start to climb the ladder. Immediately, the others pulled him down and beat him up.

After several beatings, the new monkey learned never to go up the ladder, even though there was no evident reason not to, aside from the beatings.

The second monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The first monkey participated in the beating of the second monkey. A third monkey was changed and the same was repeated. The fourth monkey was changed, resulting in the same, before the fifth was finally replaced as well.

What was left was a group of five monkeys that – without ever having received a cold shower – continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder.

If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they beat up on all those who attempted to climb the ladder, their most likely answer would be “I don’t know. It’s just how things are done around here.”

Now if you ever wondered why you are bullied, just remember the monkeys.

Is that story even true?

Of course, everything on the internet is true.

Ok, got it, is that all?

No, we’re just getting started, grab a pen; there is some important stuff you’ll need to get right

The second thing I need to teach you is that there are 200 other countries out there, so don’t sweat it, there will be times in your life when you will be fed up of everything, maybe you hate your job, maybe your girlfriend broke up with you, maybe you killed someone, doesn’t matter, in times like this you need to remember there are other 200 countries out there, so just leave and start again. And there will be times when everything’s perfect with your life but you still have to move to other country for change’s sake. That’s also ok, because life is a journey and you need to keep moving forward, so remember this in the good times and the bad ones.

kill someone?

Yes, it may happen, you never know.

Ok, 1. Remember the monkeys 2. There are 200 other countries, what else?

The third one is that there are a few things I need you to start nurturing, the first one is your sense of smell.

As you may already know, your sense of smell is slightly more developed than others, but I need you to start training it now, you’ll learn why later. Right now your nose is more sensitive than others but you can’t recognize the scents. One way to train yourself in nose work goes like this, you need a friend to help you, you will leave the room and he will hide something with a particular smell under a box or cup, and then you have to choose which box contains the object, after a few months, and as you progress and your sense of smells develops, he will hide it anywhere in the room or in the house, and you’ll have to find it blindfolded relying only on your smell.

So I’m like a dog in the future?

Yes, except that you’re not, you’re still human. But you can’t tell anyone about it, if your friend asks why you need to learn nose work, just tell him it sounds fun or that you need it for some cold reading experiment or anything like that. You can only tell your past self, providing you get to travel in time somehow.

But I would need to travel in space first, because the earth is not in the same place in space now as it was in the past or it will be in the future

Time and space are linked together, so yes. It’s just hypothetical anyway.

But if I talk to my past self wouldn’t that cause some kind of paradox? Like altering my present self and eventually preventing me to go back to the past to talk to my past self?

No, it would only change your present self, so the future self is the present version of yourself that has been influenced by your future self but has no memory of the meeting, thus closing the loop.

We must be really fun at parties right?

How long have you been waiting to say that?

It just came to mind after you mentioned the nose work.

We don't attend parties. 

Why is that?

Because there are people there. 

Right...

Do you have any other questions?

Yes, like 7

ok, you get to ask one now

When was the last time you talked to your mother?

I don’t know a couple of weeks, a couple of months ago, couldn’t say for sure. Why is that?

I don’t know, just wondering,

Is that a soft spot there? I thought we didn’t have one

Ok, so now that we’re on it, I’ve got bad news, your relationship with your family is not the best one and you’re partially to blame for it, but don’t worry, there’s still time to fix it, you only need to do 2 things, the first one keep in touch with them, not like every day, but an email or a phone call every few weeks is not really all that hard, isn’t it? And the second one tell them that you love them, that’s all it takes. You may have different opinions but they all love you (in their own ways) and they want the best for you. And if you can master the courage to do so, also tell people on the street that you love them, not in a creepy way, or in a gay way, learn to say it on an honest way, like you mean it, and like if it was the most normal thing in the world, like if you were asking for the time or for directions. You know you are all connected, biologically, chemically, atomically, and loving every one is just the right thing to do. Telling them so just happens to be something of an added bonus.

Ok, 1. Remember the monkeys.  2. There are 200 other countries.  3 Nose work  4. Tell family you love them. What else?

When was the last time you talked to yourself?

I don’t know, right now?

Yes, and that’s what you have to remember, talking to yourself is your key to sanity

You mean “sanity”

Yes, sanity, and understanding, that’s how you get to deload, deload means to let all those things out that you can’t tell anyone else. And anyway you have no friends or anyone to tell them to, so you have to learn to talk and listen to yourself and that’s how you will find the solution to your problems, you will always advice yourself to make the best possible rational decision based on the information available. Most of the times that decision will go against the norm but still, you must always trust your gut feeling and never ever ignore your instincts.

And the reason you know it’s the right decision is because you use a technical way to reach it, not a social one, or a moral one, or a political, religious or economical one, always a technical one. And the way to find it is always talking to yourself, because you know better and in this case knowing better just means you have more information available that what lies in the surface. And by talking to yourself you are able to dig deeper and deeper into your subconscious mind until you find the right answer reached by the right decision making process.

There are many ways to talk to yourself, you can use two different voices, you can make a recording and reply to it, you can write down a conversation with two or more people taking part in it, and each one of them can have different points of views, and refute each other. The one I recommend though is using two different voices and replying to yourself, just remember to always do it in public places, like the subway or the bus, because knowing that people are listening to you gives you more pressure to come up with a good argument, or at least a funny one, ideally both.

That’s too much; I’m trying to fly under the radar in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t want people looking at me and knowing what I think.

I know it’s hard, but it’s just the way it has to be. This doesn’t mean you wont be making mistakes, of course you will, some of them on purpose, and that’s good, that’s how you learn, sometimes you will make a mistake because it was the right thing to do at that time, and making a mistake fully aware it’s a mistake and why you are making it will actually raise your self-awareness, which is a superb feat to have in and of itself. And you will, through travel and experience, acquire a level of understanding and self awareness that are not easily matched, and one day in the distant future, you will be put some of it in words, and write a blog staging hours worth of lengthy monologues for all of your fans to enjoy.

Do I have a lot of fans?

You have 4, and they are all Russians.

Russians? That’s interesting.

So..?

Oh, right, 1. Remember the monkeys.  2. There are 200 other countries.  3 Nose work  4. Tell family you love them.  5. Talk to yourself

Good job, now to the hard part, boy-girl relationships

So I’m not gay?

Absolutely not, well not yet at least

Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I was just wondering

Of course you were, hey I haven’t seen Seinfeld in years that was a good show!

We can watch it now if you want

Now is not the right time, I have to tell you the real reason you haven't been with a girl yet is because there is a ghost who is in loved with you and she is using her supernatural powers to keep girls away from you.

For real?

No, I'll tell you the real reason, so please listen carefully and don’t take this the wrong way, you are needy, weak, emotional and clingy, to put in one word: pathetic. That's why girls don't like you.

“don’t take this the wrong way…”

Not for me, I think you’re cool, I mean that’s how girls see you and that’s why you haven’t even come close to any physical contact with any real girl, so I need you to get stronger, both physically and emotionally, they both go together so don’t worry just yet.

I’ve been going to the gym and I read the book “the game”, I’m trying.

I know you’re trying but you’re doing it all wrong, I know you’ve been going to the gym, but you over train and that’s counterproductive, I know you go there every day, sometimes you stay there like 5 hours, and take too many classes, yoga, take won do, capoeira, boxing, judo, kung fu, ninjutsu, kendo, dancing, taichi, and you do it as a way to avoid reality by keeping yourself really busy so you don’t need to think about your life. So I’ll need you to chose just one class and stick with it.

Kung fu it is then

Good choice, and the same goes for weightlifting, you are doing it all wrong, you spend like 2 hours a day with machines, no free weight, too much isolation and no compound exercises, too much cardio, you tear up your muscles, you eat poorly, you make all the mistakes a person can possibly make at the gym, and you’ll never get stronger that way. You just get weaker and tired.

I know, and I really try, but there’s just too much contradictory information out there and everyone says I have to do something different. If only someone could come from the future and tell me what really works and how to do it.

Today’s your lucky day then, look, I know you like exercise but too much is counterproductive, stick with kung fu, one or 2 hours a week in your non lifting days, you can lift only 3 and sometimes 4 days a week, each time you will train only one muscle group and then you will let it rest for a week at least, so max 4 times a week to the gym for 45 minutes each max. if you want to get stronger you need to lift some heavy weight, there’s no way around it, and to lift some heavy weight you need to be at your best, which you wont be if you tire yourself to death running a half marathon before lifting. You’re already underweight so cut the cardio all together; or limit it to half an hour a week. Keep your warm up sessions to 5 minutes uphill cycling or some light weight sets.

You need a routine that is simple, and easy to stick to, and you need to focus on compound lifts only, forget the isolation at least for now.

Write this down: day 1: legs, focusing on the squat, day 2: chest and triceps, focusing on the bench press, day 3: back and biceps, focusing on the dead lift, day 4: shoulders and abs, focusing on the military press.

At least a day break between work outs and when I say focusing I mean that’s your priority exercise, so you have to do it at the beginning of your work out when you’ve got plenty of energy to go around with, other thing progressive overload doesn’t work for you, give it all you’ve got in the first few sets and slope downward from there.

You will be doing 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 rep with 80% of your max 1 rep weight and you will take at least 3 minutes break in between sent, I know now 3 minutes sounds like a lot and it will look like you do less than everyone else in the gym, but you shouldn’t care about that, I wish someone had told me this a few years ago, many people will give you many kinds of advice, but they are not you and they don’t know what works for you, they know what works for them, and they don’t spend half the time you do reading medical studies and trials to see what works and what doesn’t, so just ignore them politely and do what you have to do.

Forget about running and yoga, there will be time to get faster and flexible once you get stronger, getting stronger should be the priority now. Once you can bench press and squat at least your own weight, then you can maybe start thinking about yoga or Pilates. 

Why are you so into this stuff?

To be honest I am not, I just I needed to explain it right to you so you can do it now and I don’t need to do it myself later.

I don’t think that's how it works, but alright.

It was worth a try anyway, the reason you have to be stronger is so that you can have more confidence and can talk to girls, remember the age old question “why girls prefer douchebags?” is because they have confidence and that’s a turn on, good news is you don’t need to be a douche to be confident, strong people are also confident, the reason I mention girls is because you are 17 and curious of how it would be to hold a girls hand, well you know what, if you are strong, you wont care what others think of you, specially girls, and you wont care about rejection, girls will feel that and they will be attracted to you because they sense your confidence, as simple as that.

And that confidence will expand to every part of your life and help you deal with troublesome or uncomfortable situations, like if you need to go to a job interview, climb a mountain or tell someone what you really think.

There will be times when you will need to be strong and forget about the monkeys, the monkeys are only when something bad is done to you, but when someone else’s safety is on the line then you will need to interfere, the most common thing is to find man hitting woman on the street or woman hitting children or people hitting animals, or bullies making fun or being mean to someone, or students beating a weaker student.

Those are the times where being strong and confident will come more in handy.

Like a vigilante?

Not like a vigilante, like a person who does the right thing at the right time, there is no excuse for hitting a woman, a child or an animal, so you have to interfere because it’s just the right thing to do, like when you see a hungry homeless you have to invite him home and give him some food and shower and clean clothes, it’s just the right thing to do, if you are driving and there’s a hitchhiker or someone who need help or need a lift you stop and give them a lift, it’s not too hard and nothing to think twice about, if there’s stray or hurt animal you adopt him or find someone who can take care of him, you don’t leave him to die on the street. That’s now who you are.

That doesn’t mean you are a hero and there’s nothing to brag about, those are all extreme examples of situations when there’s just one course of action for you to take. You have to get used to doing what’s right and the sooner the better.

I invite the homeless to my home in the future?

Not just the homeless, you invite everyone home because you trust everyone and that has gotten you to where you are. You had hosted hundreds of travelers from many countries, which reminds me that there is a website you will need to sign up to, it’s called couchsurfing, and it’s the website that will change your life for good and open you and infinite amount of doors

Ok, 1. Remember the monkeys.  2. There are 200 other countries.  3 Train your Nose  4. Tell family you love them.  5. Talk to yourself 6. Get stronger. 7. Do what’s right.  8. Sign up to couchsurfing.   Can I ask a question?

Sure, let me just grab a drink

Ok...

Yes, what's the question? *sips a martini*

People from couchsurfing 3

Part 3:

1 - Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones


18_ Luggage.
1_ either small luggage, because it's troublesome to carry many things over long distances, or very big one, because they carry tent, sleeping bag, mat, food, water, broccoli.
2_ massive
3_ more than they need
4_ a bag of potatoes
5_ slightly less than groups 2 or 3
6_ same as group 2

19_ Social behavior
1_ loners
2_ social butterflies
3_ outgoing, socially competent, but sometimes they find it hard to trust strangers
4_  imagine waldo, where's waldo with kramer's (seinfeld) personality
5_ same as 3
6_ same as 2


20_ Preferred Activities
1_ surviving, parks, free stuff
2_ beer, taking pictures, sightseeing, facebook, second hand markets, beach, bars
3_ pictures, sightseeing, restaurants, museums
4_ dancing macarena
5_ worrying
6_ same as 2


20_ notes on specific nationalities


21_ Other notes
s:
they all live in their own world within their own borders, we all do, and well, there was supposed to be more to it but i got tired of writing so much so this will have to do it.

oh, and all the groups come together in thailand, for some reason.

People from couchsurfing 2

part 2

1 - Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones

11_ Percentages
1_ 5%
2_ 60%
3_ 25%
4_ 2%
5_ 5%
6_ 3%

12_ Couch requests timing
1_ as their means of transport are not reliable their requests are usually for the same day or a few days in advanced.

2_ they usually know when they will arrive so they will send you a request anything from a few days to a month in advanced
3_ they know exactly when will they arrive, how and where from, they will send you a request anything from a month to a year in advanced, this are very short holidays for them so it has to be well researched and planned and accommodation has to be taken care of well in advanced.
4_ Any
5_ few weeks to few months in advanced
6_ few weeks in advanced



13_ Couch request quality
1_ usually copy and paste, because they have a hard time finding internet and no time to plan, often no computer, but when they have time they will surprise you with a very personal request
2_ usually copy and paste but changing the names and maybe referencing something on your profile
3_ very well written and personalized requests, and they usually want you to know they are not on couchsurfing to save money but to meet and interact with the locals
4_ the kind that makes you think 'what did I just read?'
5_personalized telling you about their jobs, major in uni, work experience and why are they traveling, more like a CV than a couch request, they want you to know they are decent people, not tramps.
6_same as group 2



14_ Behavior as guests
1_usually respectful and considerate, they often clean up the house, do dishes and make sure they don't intrude or invade your personal space, on the downside they are probably hungry and smelly because they may have been a few days without a shower or warm meal, they may on occasion overstay their welcome.
2_ Usually good guests, sometimes they buy some groceries and cook a meal for you, or buy you a few beers
3_ very respectful and always make sure they are not crossing any boundaries, they bring some nice gifts or wine sometimes
4_ you'd be surprised
5_ couchsurfing is usually a one time thing for them so they may not seem very comfortable at times.
6_ same as  group 5

It should be noted that all the groups get along very well when they are sharing a host or at the meetings, they know they are different in many ways but are their similarities that brought them together in their paths, and they share the same couchsurfing spirit.

15_ Numbers and gender
1_ most of the times it's a boy alone, occasionally 2 boys or a couple
2_ boy or girl alone, couples, groups of 2+ friends
3_ man or woman alone or couples
4_ boy alone
5_ boy or girl alone
6_ same as 5

16_ Employment
1_ they'd do anything
2_ they would sometimes take some jobs if they are for a short time and doesn't interfere with their plans too much
3_ they wouldn't take a job unless it has been previously arranged and organized in their home country and it's related to their field or major.
4_ again, you'd be suprised
5_ same as 3
6_ they don't usually take jobs abroad

17_ Notes on some details and relationships between groups
1_ they sometimes would like to be more like group 4, some they try to hard and you see they are faking it and others can sometimes become 4s because of unexpected circumstances, like the lost of their passport or immigration policies. a seasoned 1 can become a 6 when it's dragged along into something he doesn't want to do or has done hundreds of times before. some 1s they think they are 4 but they are just 1s
2_ they would oftentimes envy 1s, dislike 3s and are somehow indifferent or unaware of other groups.  some 2s think they are 1s but they are not.
3_ they envy 2s and would like to travel like they do, they think 2s are very brave, if only they had done that when they were their age. they dislike 1s and look as them as homeless souls who have strayed away from the herd. they are often very similar to 5s in many ways but not always. some 3s think they are 2s or they would try to hang out with them, for example they may go to the backpackers hotel but stay in a single room instead of a dorm, eat a good meal somewhere else and have a beer with the backpackers afterwards.
4_ any relationship applies
5_ admire 1s and 2s, if only they had that freedom.
6_ they like 2s and think they belong to the same group




End of part 2 of 3

People from couchsurfing 1

We will reference groups of people using numbers from here on, group 1, group 2, etc

1 - Rough travelers            2 -Backpackers           3 -Tourists             4 -Random             5-Guilty ones             6 -Confused ones




Table of contents:

1_ Brief description
2_ Examples
3_ Nationalities
4_ Transportation
5_ Duration
6_ Budget
7_ Accommodation
8_ Age range
9_ Clothes
10_ Diet
11_ Percentages
12_ Couch requests
13_ Behavior as guests
14_ Numbers
15_ Employment
16_ Social behavior
17_ Activities
18_ Notes


1_ Description:
1_ People who travel in a difficult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it's more fun/interesting/challenging.ult or very low budget, sometimes because they have very little money and sometimes for the thrill of it or because it's more fun/interesting/challenging.
2_ Young travelers who travel with an over-sized backpack, hence called backpackers
3_ Mid age travelers who enjoy a more up class and comfortable holiday
4_ "that guy"
5_ People who, either because of their environment or upbringing, feel some kind of remorse for being traveling instead of working/studying in their home country. (They will usually justify their trip with the excuse of being working on a book, doing some kind of research, working on their thesis or something their families and friends back home would approve of)
6_ People who are traveling because of unforeseen circumstances, or are not sure why they have to travel.


2_Examples:
1_  Dimitri, who crossed africa overland by bicycle just for the heck of it
2_ Jennifer, who took a few months off in between uni and work to backpack around europe for a few months or doing a year long working holiday in australia.
3_ Tom, who has 1 week holiday a year, las week he went to paris and this year he's going to Bangkok.
4_ Arthur is traveling because he had a dream, in his dream someone told him he should walk barefoot along karakoram highway with a shovel, and his metal detector looking for precious stones, or Florian who came by unicycle from the gobi desert birdwatching along the way and he wants to show you his bird sketches (which are pretty bad).
5_ Richard went to germany for a month to "test the waters" and see if it would be a good place for him to settle down in the future.
6_ Yaniv just finished highschool and his parents said he has to take a year off and see the world before he goes of to the military service..


3_ Nationalities
1_ Mostly russians and europeans
2_ Any, ok maybe not russians.
3_ North americans, europeans, middle eastern, india, australians.
4_ Europeans, specially eastern europeans.
5_ Mostly north americans, ocasionally japan, korea, singapore, HK.
6_ Mostly israelians.



 
4_ Transportation
1_ Mostly hitchhiking and cycling, they may walk occasionally but it's not natural to them, it's more like "hey look at me, I'm walking from one country to another"
2_ Low budget airlines, buses, trains, they may hitchhike sometimes but it's not natural for them, it's more like "hey look at me, I'm hitchhiking, I'm so brave"
3_ Airplanes, taxis, they may use public transport occasionally but it's not natural to them, it's more like "hey look at me, I'm taking the bus in a foreign country, I'm so brave"
4_ Usually walking and very seldom some unusual transport like horse, skateboard, tuc-tuc, rickshaw, and sometimes they travel with their pets, somehow.
5_ Airplane, bus, train.
6_ Taxi, bus, train, flights.


5_ Duration
1_ 6 months +
2_ Anything from 1 month to 1 year.
3_ Anything from 2 days to one month
4_ 3 months +
5_ Anything from 2 weeks to 6 months.
6_ 2 months to 1 year.


6_ Budget (in USD)
1_ Anything from 0 to 2.000.
2_ Anything from 1.000 to 10.000
3_ 10.000+
4_ Could be anything, literally.
5_ 3.000+
6_ 2.000+



7_ Accommodation: (as I have encountered all of them through couchsurfing, either by hosting them, being hosted, sharing hosts or at a public gathering, it's implicit they all use couchsurfing in some way or another, I'm sure they are people who don't use couchsurfing on their travels, diplomats or something, but this article is not about them, now this are other forms of accommodation they use besides couchsurfing.

1_ Usually tent, outdoor sleeping, knocking on people's doors, churches, temples or some form of squatting.
2_ backpacker hotels, obviously, i know some people call them hostels or guest houses but i don't think there's any difference.
3_ hotels
4_ as they are usually in unusual places at unusual times they often get invited into people's houses and sleep there, but randomness is their forte, so they could be building a shelter out of recycled materials they found laying around, or you could find them in a cave as well, or inside the rubbish bin, anywhere.
5_ hotels, backpacker hotels.
6_ backpaker hotels.


8_ Age range
1_ 18-35
2_ 18-30
3_ 30+
4_ 20+
5_18-40
6_18-25



9_ Clothes
1_ Discarded clothes, rags
2_ second hand clothes.
3_ the north face, columbia things
4_ either very sloppy or very well dressed
5_ better than most
6_ same as group 2



10_ Diet
1_ dumpster diving, gathering, foraging, leftovers, canned beans and spaghetti
2_ discounted/reduce things from the big supermarkets, beer, fast food
3_ restaurants
4_ squirrels
5_ restaurants, fast food
6_ same as 5



end of part 1 (out of 3)

Intro to people from couchsurfing

I got that other list you ask me about


the list of sexual partners?


eh, no, hm... the list of travelers i've met during the years


I wasn't serious that day, we had a lot to drink and i was just brainstorming, please don't tell me you made a list with tens of thousands of names


i figured that wouldn't be possible, but... i also found that most people I've met had suspiciously similar characteristics, and based on this similarities it was possible to group them all up into 5 major categories. This is the analysis of all the information I've gathered during a 10 year long research, which started when I joined www.couchsurfing.org in early 2007
  

that would be 9 years


I know, but 10 years sounds more impressive


I don't like the way this is going, are you going to manipulate the information you've "gathered" to make it sound impressive?


I wont, you're right, only cold hard facts from now on


good, so let me get this straight, you're somehow going to divide the tens of thousands of people you've met during your travels into 5 categories


that's right, all the faces, names, personalities and backgrounds of everyone I've met the last 10 years into...


9 years


right, into 5 groups, and a systematically detailed description of each and one of them


sounds like your generalizations will get many people offended again today


haters gonna hate?


yeah, sorry, we don't use that one anymore either


ffffffuuuu...


nor that one


it's like we are from different planets


meh


that one we can still use?


oops, lets stay focused here, you were saying...


so much pressure!


yeah, there's like this tension in the air now



you blew it, so you'll  have to wait till tomorrow to read more


oh, come on don't be so childish


see you tomorrow


you're gonna make me beg?


au revoir

List of countries

oh, sorry i forgot t tell you, we don't use fighting anymore


why not?


i don't know, people just stop using some words and phrases over time so that new ones can take their place


can i still use ftw


i don't think think so, they wouldn't know what you mean


kind of like quoting monty phyton?


yeah, something like that, wait, how long have you been off the internet?


i don't know, a few years, i remember when i was using it last time people were making fun of justin beaver a lot, i didn't know who he was, but his name kept popping up, so i looked up a song and it was somehow catchy 'one less lonely girl' do you know it?


i don't think I do, and i don't think they are making fun of him anymore, i think he may be an adult now


can i say call me maybe?


i'm not sure


oh yeah, i got that list you asked for the other day


which one?


list of countries you've been to


oh yeah


i realized it wouldn't be possible to check out the passports because i had to take out too many stamps over the years to make way for new ones, and threw them away, that's how i managed to run out pages last year for the first time, and also it'd be kind of a show off to list every single country, the exact number it's something people should keep to themselves, something private, kind of like the number of sexual partners they had


well, actually saying you wont do something because you'd be showing off, sounds like an even worse way of showing off, but anyway you've got a point and it's somehow interesting so keep going


so i figured the easiest way would it be to list the countries i've spent more than 6 months at or in (I'm not sure which one to use, at or in?)


yeah, that makes sense, no one cares about a place you just spent a few weeks at (or is it in?), many people travel for a few days or weeks


exactly, well anyway, i figured i should make one every 10 years, it may probably also help people have some kind of chronological guide into all the previous posts, so here's the list

2005-buenos aires
2006-barcelona
2007-berlin
2008-india
2009- thailand-china
2010-china-japan
2011-australia-korea
2012-korea-taiwan
2013-new zealand
2014-china
2015-china-present


nice, and now what?


nothing i don't know, oh wait, yes i know, now here is the list for the next 10 years, it's probably not going to go this way at all but if someone were to ask me to make a plan for the next 10 years from now, a plan i should stick up to no mater what, this one would be it

2015-china
2016- travel in south america
2017-travel in central america
2018-canada
2019-italy
2020-iran
2021 travel in africa
2022-russia
2023-pacific islands
2024-japan
2025-korea


you are 30 now in 2015, so it seems like a good plan to make the list every 10 years that's every decade of Bruno's age


Bruce's age


right, Bruce's age, so if you go to all those places in the next 10 years what about your dog?


that's the reason I'm still in China, because I love her too much and can't leave her here by herself, i know if I ever leave China and have to say goodbye to her it will be the hardest thing I'd ever done


i guess you'll have to stay in china then


that's the only way


here's when you point to the unfairness of chinese political system and society, how all the countries are terrible because they don't let you travel with your dog and china also doesn't let you stay here forever so sooner or later you will have to say good by to her, you're just postponing the inevitable


my freedoms have been taken away a while ago by governments and their immigration policies, but I'm still better off than most people, i have a job and a salary at the end of the month, i have a nice cozy room with a bed to sleep at night, hot shower, plenty of food, people who understand me and accept me how I am and a dog who loves me unconditionally, what else could I ask for?


you could ask for internet


i have internet


yes, you have a few chinese websites that you have somehow manage how to operate but how about facebook, google, gmail, youtube, 4chan, cracked, you don't miss them?


of course i do, but they also took too much of my time, this holidays i climbed the mountain a few times, i went hiking, i played football with my students, i walked around the lake a few more times, i got to catch up with many people, i wrote here, i got to clean and look after all the turtles, hamsters and rabbits i have, spent time with dog i went out with my CS guests and had many beers with them and I still had some time left to play some games and read, if i had had internet i may not have done many of those things, so if i had to choose between facebook or checking emails and my dog, i'd choose dog every single time, i know i have given up on all the people i have ever met in my life, without gmail or facebook there's no way to get in touch with them, but the dog's still worth it, I'll just meet new people in the future


that's actually very sweet, a side of you i hadn't seen before and i didn't know you had


I didn't know i had it either, anyway, looks like that's it for today


yeah, it was fun, lets do it more often


sure thing

Writing our thoughts

I have an idea!


oh, hi!


I have an idea


you can write here again?


you should ask "what kind of idea?"


i thought you had lost the password for this blog and for your cutepuppybruno gmail account, how come you can write again?


same as before i can't access it or read what i wrote, can only email it from my chinese email for it to be autoposted


oh yeah, i remember, well, how have you been?


I have an idea


ok ok, what kind of idea?


what if i were to write down every single thought i have, for one week and just leave it here for posterity


every single one? you don't have like... a job, or something?


i have 10 days off for chinese new year


what? you are still in china? why?


because that's just how it is, so how about my idea?


and you want to spend your only holidays writing silly things that no one will read?


yes, what do you think about it?


i'm both thrilled and terrified by the prospects of reading every one of your raw ideas


should i go for it?


absolutely not, look, i know you've got plenty of good ideas, but the world is just not ready for them yet, to put it mildly


good ideas? no no, it's not about good or bad, it would be more like some sort of an experiment,


like pressing random buttons just to see what happens?


exactly


i say don't do it, remember a few years ago you wrote something and some people took it literally and wrote a long response explaining many things


vaguely


what i mean by 'the world is not ready for it' is that your lack of tact and sensitivity gets many many people offended, i've known you for a very long time, i know you hate all the smokers because your mother has wronged you, i know you hate the governments and i understand why, i know you have many crude dark thoughts, and i know other people don't understand you the way I do, so when they read something negative about something they like, they will take it as a personal attack on them, i know you don't mean it that way, but people will hate you. I know deep inside, you want to kill all the smokers, you want to go to the zoo and release all the animals, you want to tell people they are wrong and you want to tell them why, and you want them to know you are smarter than them. i know you don't understand each one of them lives in their own world with their own views and opinions, or lack of them, and in their worlds they also think they are smarter than you, but they are polite enough not to let you know because they know you may feel bad. if you write every obscure thought you have without thinking twice or editing you're going to make many people feel bad.


what if i were to write happy thoughts only?


how would you pull that off, you find the glitch in everything and you try to fix everything and everyone


I'll think only happy thoughts then


you can't control that, seeing the flaws around you it's both your blessing and your curse


well, i guess i wasn't such a good idea after all


try to write about life in china, most people don't know what that's like, or about some other place you've been to, you've been to many places and did some amazing things, you had many jobs, it could be interesting reading about, or about the girlfriends you had


i wrote about those things already


but not in great fantastic detail


the other day i taught the word fantastic in my class and one student said 'fantastic baby'


and....


that's it, i thought it was funny


how is that funny?


because of the song


which song?


'fantastic baby', big bang, it's a silly song, very famous some years ago and she remembered the word from that song


if you were to write down every thought it would be very hard to read


or... could be a literary masterpiece



probably not, you would just get people be very very confused



yeah, i guess you're right, i'll have to come up with something better than that


i know you can do it


fighting!


hahaha

Chaotic good

do you remember firefly?

no, what's that?

an old sci-fi  show

what was it about?

it's like cowboys, but in space

2 genres I'd rather skip on

well, just watch it

but...

just watch it, you know that's how i always imagined your life to be like

like a cowboy in space?

well, maybe not really cowboys, more like renegades, smugglers, thieves, they have to do odd jobs always in different planets, like retrieving some goods or robbing a train, and you also have to do many odd jobs in different countries, and many people want to kill them, same as you, and they are hunted down by the government just like you are, they have to live in the ship, they get into lots of troubles, but oftentimes they get to score some big rewards. And even though they have the proper documentation, the alliance (usa+chinese government) will try to give them some trouble anyway, just because they can. and overall, the characters are usually just surviving in a hostile environment, but somehow, and against all odds they always thrive, same as you do.

so same as cowboy beebop?

well, yeah, but..., well, just watch it

i might give it a go, but if my life is already like that, as you say, then the show would be quite boring indeed, I'd rather be watching something radically different, to get my head out of the mundane routines of daily life.

good point, but you may get some new ideas

i actually haven't broken any law in many many years

you know that's not true, but you confuse the phrase "breaking the law" with "doing something wrong" you have very high morality issues, maybe too high, you can't hurt animals, you can't consciously do things that will damage the environment or some ecosystems, you can't hurt people, you can't use filthy language, you can't steal, you have to take sides with the disadvantaged ones and if you see an unfair situation you can't ignore it because you think those who ignore it are accomplices in the unfairness, so that gets you into a variety or troubles and awkward situations, you have to do the right thing, even though i makes other people feel bad or uncomfortable, you need to stand by your beliefs, and do what's right even though it means breaking the law in the process.

oh

and if we start sailing deep into the seas of your past and take a trip, a voyage to explore the complex machinery of your mind, we will discover, or rather come to a turning point in your life when, as a rebellious teenager, you were asked to choose and alignment when creating your first AD&D character, you chose 'chaotic good' and that just stuck with you for the rest of your life, turning you into a fan boy of your fictitious persona, because of the way she/he behaved in the game, so instead of molding it according to your personality, as most players do, you based your real life on a character from a game you played 15 years ago.

oh...

that's right, 'oh....'

'chaotic good' let me look it up..

...

...

here:

Chaotic Good

A Chaotic Good character favors change for a greater good, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom, not only for oneself, but for others as well. They always intend to do the right thing, but their methods are generally disorganized and often out of sync with the rest of society. They may create conflict in a team if they feel they are being pushed around, and often view extensive organization and planning as pointless, preferring to improvise.


am I right?

maybe, but i don't think it's that black and white though, we are a product of a million different variables, experiences we had and information we gathered through out our life, you can't blame one single life choice for all the events to come in someones life forever and ever.

that's why I said it was a turning point, because that's what turning points are, and a call you made years ago can still dictate your view of the world and society as a whole.

I'm not totally convinced, but it's definitely an interesting idea, well worth exploring

i think we have made some progress today

are we out of time?

unfortunately yes, but it was an interesting session, looking forward to our next one

alright

10 minutes go

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

no point in reading this

So, what's the general sentiment at the heart of life in China?

it would be hard to say, hard to choose just feeling to represent such a vast nation's real motivations, and it's hard to criticize with the limit perspective of being generally just an outsider, we as foreigners have heard or read most of the hardships the Chinese population has been put through, but we haven't experienced them ourselves.

How about just one idea, of your view as an outsider, on the Chinese populace as a whole?

Well, it seems as great majority of people here have completely lost their goals and motivation, they just live to consume and then they die.

Is that any different from any other country though?

Probably not, probably people are the same everywhere and it doesn't seem to be one enlightened nation where everyone's well and happy, even financially prosperous countries seem to face lots of social problems like alcoholism and depression.

So everyone everywhere just lives to make money, then spend that money and then die? How about the artists, or the homeless, protesters, dreamers, visionaries?

I don't know, but I have to go now

ok, bye

5

从网易163邮箱发来的云附件

5 - 复件.jpg (103.4K, 2014年11月23日 17:38 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

6 - 复件.jpg (135.06K, 2014年11月23日 17:38 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

IMG_4422 - 复件.JPG (5.79M, 2014年11月23日 17:38 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

IMG_4429 - 复件.JPG (5.76M, 2014年11月23日 17:38 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

IMG_4494 - 复件.JPG (6.05M, 2014年11月23日 17:38 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

IMG_8415.JPG (6.19M, 2014年11月23日 17:29 到期)

在线预览 | 下载

来自cutepuppy4u@163.com的邮件

--
发自我的网易邮箱手机智能版

no waifu no laifu

are you still into that anarchist thing?

which one?

You know, that one with a weird german name

Zeitgeist? www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/mission-statement

That one

Well, many things have changed since we used to go to the zeitgeist meetings from our Australian chapter. have I given up on the hopes of being part of a system based on the efficient use of resources and sustainable development instead of a money-based economic system, the answer would be no, I haven't given up, I just happen to live in a communist country where people actually thinks it's ok to be gunned down if they complain about their government.

You know they don't get killed right away right? They get tortured and their organs are removed while they are still alive to sell them to the highest bidder.

I know that 60.000 falung gong people, Tibetans, muslims, etc all killed because of their organs, because Chinese government wants more and more money, they can't get enough of it. Western countries criticize china all the time because of their human right abuse records but they fail to see that the Chinese government does it just for the money, because they have been brought up to believe money is their god but I don't think I'm an anarchist for following the zeitgeist movement, nor am I an anarchist for believing our socioeconomic system is structurally corrupt and in need of replacement. I really truly believe in the function of a government that looks after people, it's just that the ones we currently have are more into harvesting organs and thrashing down everything than into taking care of their people.

And because of a vague understanding of how childish it is to hate the governments and how immature am I still, in some of my political views, I actually admire the venus project people for being mature enough for not needing to place blame on any individual or group of individuals. They know politicians are merely a product of a socioeconomic system in need of change and they planned every single step of the transition process. While some of us are just complaining and looking for someone to take the blame for our problems, they are actually solving them, all of them.

And are you still into conspiracy theories?

That would depend on your definition of a conspiracy theorist.

If you think a conspiracy theorist is someone who believes our politicians are reptiles, they hide aliens and secret messages all around then no, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, if you think a conspiracy theorists is someone who thinks rich, powerful people meet behind closed doors to talk about ways to stay rich or get more power then the answer would be yes. And in my eyes, any idea or "conspiracy" would be automatically dismissed as false once the paranormal has been introduced to it. Either the paranormal or the complicity of more than a few dozen people. So yes, it's probable 10 or 20 people got together and planned to assassinate some politician or blow up some building so they would have an excuse to invade a country to take over their drugs or oil industries. But no, you wouldn't get thousands of scientists to agree in a wrong concept, the more people need to be involved for it to work, the higher the chances of the conspiracy not working.

Ok, so you believe only in conspiracies that don't have supernatural points to it, that have less than a few dozen people on it and that involve the government doing something bad to the people, because you hate the governments and you love the people, especially the underprivileged ones, right?

Well, when you say it like that…

In other words, you would accept a conspiracy theory to be true only if it helps you prove your point that governments are evil. If it doesn't do good to your agenda you would dismiss it. Or if they include something you don't want to believe in, like the paranormal.

It's not that I don't want to believe…

Now that we are somehow in the realm of the unexplained, I heard you have been keeping a dream journal this year, is that right?

Out of curiosity mostly

Because you read that article about lucid dreams, and you decided to do what they say and see if it's true?

Yes, but just out of curiosity, there's not much research done about it, and I have to dream anyway every night, so an inquisitive mind would try experimenting with it, keeping a journal, doing reality checks to make sure I'm awake, if it doesn't work at least it may help with my overall awareness of my place in this vast cosmic ocean.

Either that or you want to learn it so you can gang bang some russian midgets or something

What? No…

Bang some aliens?

That's just sick!

Bang some character from an anime or videogame?

That would be quite cool actually

Spot on!

No no, I mean that just sounds better than aliens or midgets but it doesn't mean I would like to do it. I wouldn't want my readers to think I'm weird or creepy, right?

It's a bit late for that, they know you are weird and creepy because they have been reading you for a few years.

But I wouldn't want to make it worse.

You just did

I don't get it, why do we have to bang something in the first place? Where did that come from?

I don't know, we are sexual beings?

Are we? Or we chose to be so? Or we believe we are so? Are all animals sexual beings because they have sex or reproduce? How about plants? Or bacteria?

Bacteria are asexual beings, they just replicate themselves, so no, single cell asexual microbes are definitely not sexual beings

How about plants? Are they sexual beings?

I guess plants can reproduce either sexually or asexually so weather they are sexual beings or not would depend on the kind of plant, but you're not going to redirect the conversation so easily, I want to know which videogame character would be the lucky one

From the top of my head and assuming we live in a hypothetically futuristic utopian world, where banging videogame characters is both socially accepted and encouraged, and if I absolutely ought to chose one so I wont get banished from home or shunned by other members of this futuristic society, I'd say Aya Brea from Parasite eve

Really? I would have guessed some final fantasy character, maybe selphie or yuffie

Those are also good options but if aya would be somehow unavailable my second choice would probably be Athena from KOF.

How about a third one?

Maybe ayame  from tenchu?

That's cool, that's cool, not creepy at all

A little creepy

It's all hypothetical remember?

Of course

See you next time?

That's right.