| Something to start on LJ |
[02 Jun 2007|01:23pm] |
Top 10 favorite music videos (In no specific order) is as follows:
-Reptilia ~The Strokes
-The Denial Twist ~The White Stripes
-Weapon of Choice ~Fatboy Slim
-Sabatoge ~Beastie Boys
-(What's The Story) Morning Glory? ~Oasis
-Just ~Radiohead
-Walk Idiot Walk ~The Hives
-The Good Life ~Weezer
-The Horror ~RJD2
-Army ~Ben Folds Five
|
|
| This is Ben calling from Chiiiiiiiiina |
[19 Mar 2007|11:06am] |
Hey everybody, China is aweswome, but it finally started raining, polluted, disgusting rain. Things are going good. We got back from our Study tour in southern China last week. We stayed with 3 of the 56 ethnic minorities of China (Miao, Tunpu, and Dai), Dai is pretty much Thai, but China wanted to cut them off from Thailand. Language classes started last week, and I got placed in an incredibly easy level. This is gonna be fun. My class consists of: 1 American (me), 6 Kazaks (3 of which never go to class), 1 Korean, 1 old Japanese guy, 2 Mongols, and a Thai. Pretty diverse I think. My Chinese is finally starting to pick up pretty fast, although I still have a pretty difficult time in some situations.
I've been calling people from Skype, and I wanna call you guys, so give me your phone numbers so I can do that.
Not much else is going on, other than shopping for cheap shit and studying. I mean, thats what China is all about.
I bought 2 turtles, one is named Tank, the other I don't know yet, any ideas?
Oh, and China banned Livejournal last week during their NPC session. Oh, the joy of a proxy server.....
|
|
| Ben got his balls back |
[19 Feb 2007|12:59pm] |
Hello to all, according to the Oregon University System, I am banned from all bars, night clubs, etc...in China. I was with a group and one of us got in a fight, so as an example, all of us that were there are no longer allowed to go to these establishments. Bullshit, I know, at least I put up a fight for the past day....
Lesson moral: Don't help drunk friends from getting raped, it only gets you banned from bars all over China.
In other news, I'm leaving for Guizhou and Yunnan in a while, so I won't be able to contact anybody for 2 weeks. Have fun y'all!
|
|
| China update |
[16 Feb 2007|02:03pm] |
So, China is pretty amazing. But I think it would be a little more amazing if my ankle wasn't sprained. I think it was from jumping off Kari's bed, cause this has been going on for awhile. Oh well, still fun. I'm settling down in Beijing, weekend trips to counterfit markets, buying movies for a dollar a piece spending about 4 bucks a day on food, "American Bonding" nights when we don't have class the next day and I'm moving out of the dorms and into my friend's apartment on the 6th of March.
We go on our Sudy Tour in a few days, two weeks in Southern China (Guizhou and Yunnan Provinces)in rural villages doing crazy stuff. I guess for one of the nights we get to stay in these rooms on concrete poles to view wild elephats. It's gonna be amazing! I've never been to a tropical climate before, so it should be interesting.
Other than that, things are going pretty good, I got over my homesickness, and my Chinese is improving pretty fast, but it's still pretty bad. At least taxi rides and restaurants are less awkward now.
Oh! Chinese New Year is starting up early, fireworks are going off everywhere, and there really cheap. Like, a huge pack of firecrackers for 35 kuai (about 4.75). I think I'm gonna go buy some now.
|
|
| This blows...... |
[19 Jan 2007|09:34pm] |
It's been two weeks, TWO WEEKS, and I'm already depressed about the fact that I'm here. It said in the study abroad handbook that this would happen, but I never actually believed it. I mean, I've wanted to go to China for about 4 years now, how could I possibly get depressed? Oh yea, I miss people. I know this is gonna sound stupid, but I haven't been this depressed since I lost my dad. I'm stuck here, I wanna see people (like, oh I dunno, Kari), and I can't. I wanna come home, just for a few days, and I can't. The only break I get is in May (maybe I can come back? I dunno, for a few days, anyone wanna donate to that?). I don't start classes for about a week, so I'm not preoccupied with anything. Until that time comes, I have a question.
For those of you that have traveled away from home for a long period of time, how do you manage to do it? Cause I'm lost.
|
|
|
[17 Jan 2007|01:44pm] |
Hey everybody!
So if you don’t know already, I’m in China!
This place is CRAZY, I’m still in the process of adjustment, but I’m really enjoying my stay here. Heather has been showing me around the city. So far, I’ve been to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, but I have yet to see Mao’s body. I’ve bought tons of movies for a grand total of less than 20 dollars, including 4 seasons of Scrubs and the whole series of Six Feet Under. The food is really amazing, and the alcohol sucks. There is this drink called “Er Gou Tou”, it is about 56%, so one shot gets you incredibly messed up (Even you Owen, about 50 Ml is a bottle of Jack, no joke). There is a counterfit market about a block away from my school and they have everything you can think of, from electronics to clothes, to photoshopped posters of fruit. I bought a really nice jacket, Sony DJ headphones and speakers for about 300 Kuai (35 dollars, normally about 500 dollars).
After about a week in Beijing, I decided to go visit Nick in Huai’an. He lives in what is considered a small town, but has a bigger population than the state of Oregon. For a place with so many people, it was pretty boring, but it was good to see Nick again. On my first day there we went to this market and bought some toys. Toys here are WAY cooler than in the US. I bought a Street Sweeper that lights up and blasts techno music. Nick bought a camel with an Arab on top of it with an electric guitar blasting “Crazy Frog”. We spent about 5 bucks on both. Later we went to the Grand Canal. This used to be a sign of China’s greatness. It was built in the 6th century and renovated at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D.). Unfortunately, the canal is now a shithole. It’s really disgusting, much like most water sources of China.
After a day of Huai’an, Nick and I traveled on bus to Nanjing, one of the 4 famous capitals of China. This place was amazing, and I am definitely going back when I get a chance. We went to see the old Ming walls, and then visited the mausoleum of Sun Yat-Sen, the father of Modern China. Most of my time spent researching China was devoted to this man, and it was amazing to see how much of an impression he left on China, although I think he would be incredibly pissed if he saw how this country turned out. Mao kinda fucked up, BIG time. If any of you come here, you will see, Mao fucked up. There is no dancing around it. With the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward combined he is responsible for over 130 million deaths. Sure, he did good, but I mean, Hitler industrialized an entire country, but we hate him more than Mao. I don’t get it. Sorry, Modern China just really pisses me off.
ANYWAY…..
It is amazing to see how little China cares about its history. After seeing Sun Yat-Sen, we went the Tomb of the first Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzheng. It was like a mini palace, but we wouldn’t know what it looked like, seeing as how it was dark outside. Nobody was even around to stop us. Hell, guys were riding their dirtbikes up and down Sun Yat-Sen’s Mausoleum, it was incredibly depressing. Later that night we went out to eat and I guess some guy wanted to practice his English, cause he looked at us and just yelled ‘3!’. That’s right, the number 3, we didn’t really know how to respond.
So that’s basically my stay so far, I’m back in Beijing and my Chinese is really improving. I have a Japanese roommate who doesn’t speak English, so our only way to communicate is Chinese, it’s working out great so far. I’ve posted some pictures. Here is the URL:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/konsuelo_m
Some things to know:
-As the picture shows, people have a very optimistic view of AIDS
-People aren’t afraid to stop what they are doing and stare at you. It’s incredibly annoying, but they’re ok with it. One of the many cultural differences
-Chinese are above food touching their hands, but not peeing in the middle of the sidewalk.
|
|
| Let's have bizzare celebrations, Let's pretend we don't exist.. |
[03 Dec 2006|02:45pm] |
So, it's finally started to hit me......
I leave for China in ONE MONTH.
How is this possible? I mean, I'm incredibly excited and nervous at the same time. Really overwhelmed, but excited.....
Apparently Beijing has a huge nightlife scene.....no drinking age, here I come. YES!
So between my best friend, my girlfriend and my mom, my time is being commondeered FAST. I want to be able to see all of you before I go. 543-0394, I want you to CALL me. I'm got so much going on between now and then, I know I'm going to forget somebody. So to prevent that, you need to call me. If any of you have requests for things in China let me know, as long as it doesn't get me arrested (i.e. Don't ask me to pee on Mao's body, get the Mongolians to attack the Great Wall, or kill a panda), I'll be more than happy to do it.
anyway, back to my paper........
|
|
| Hey, Snow isn't real, and niether is Santa Clause |
[29 Nov 2006|03:05am] |
This just in.....
Ben has been awarded with the Gilman Scholarship for study abroad in the amount of.........
...
.........
............
5000 DOLLARS!!
This is awesome, I've never recieved a scholarship before.
|
|
| OMGOMGOMGOMG |
[11 Nov 2006|04:19am] |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425637/
THERE MAKING A MOVIE ABOUT ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
High budget and an awesome cast.
-Chow Yun Fat as Liu Bei
-Ken Wantanabe as Cao Cao (yeah, he's Japanesse, but he can easily be a ruthless asshole)
-Andy Lau as Zhou Yu
This is gonna be AWESOME!
|
|
| So..... |
[06 Nov 2006|04:51pm] |
January 3rd, 8:00am........is when I ......
Leave for China. Thats right folks, in less than 2 months I'll be with my people. I'll be gone for 7 months. I get back on July 31st.
Until that time comes, I wanna be able to see you all as much as I can. So give me a call so we can hangout. 543-0394.
First thing I'm doing when I get there........get drunk and find me a panda.
|
|
|
[16 Oct 2006|07:21am] |
So I got a question....
All over town I'm seeing these signs saying "Renew Our Library". WTF? Didn't we get a new library like, 3 years ago?
Anyone care to explain?
|
|
| fascist???? |
[30 Sep 2006|12:28am] |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060929/pl_nm/security_guantanamo_dc_18
Thats right folks, by the end of the week, we will officially become a fascist nation. Why is that you ask? The President will soon have authority to say who's a terrorist or who's not. You, me, or anybody else could be declared a 'non-enemy combatant', and BAM! No trial, no nothing, just 'you're working with terrorism'. Oh, and the President also gets to decide the legal bounds of torture. I don't normally post political posts, but this just scares me. It's like, half of the country hates this man, so let's give him some ungodly power.
|
|
| Yeah, those were fun times..... |
[01 Sep 2006|02:26pm] |
|
So I was recently looking back on pictures from last year on facebook. It made me think, my second year of college was the most fun I've had in school yet. Sure, there was the occasional family problem, like, oh, I don't know.....my brother trying to kill himself a million times, and the Friday night (I'm tired, I'm sick, please be quiet) bullshit. But the pros far out weigh the cons. I was able to finally quit Pearl St., I connected with alot of new people, and the parties, oh I can't forget the parties. Things like Nick telling me to take shots of olive oil, parties in which we were only to wear 'anything but clothes', Nick and Lauren making out a thousand times, Mike and Ryland's crazy antics, the Lee and Ric feud, getting my house cleaned in 30 seconds simply by saying 'cops'. These are moments that I'll never forget. Random trips to the coast or portland, days out on the lawn between Chapman and Condon, and the fact I was a mere block away from one of my closest friends. School is coming back up again, and I just don't know if it'll be the same. Nick and Heather have already left for China (Huai'an and Beijing), Mike's gone to Chicago. Hell, I'm leaving for China (hopefully) in 4 months. Kari's gonna be busy non-stop, Sami's going back to Saudi land. Not to dis the time I had in drama, but this was just way more fun, and I'm hoping i'll get to have another chance *cough*Ludaplex*cough*.
|
|
| Hey everybody |
[30 Aug 2006|02:20am] |
Haven't been on this in awhile, trying to enjoy the summer without being stuck to my computer. I don't know about you guys, but my summer has been quite interesting. Not Chicago or China interesting, but fun none the less. Went to Eastern Oregon to visit Nick before he left for China, many trips to portland and to rivers and lakes.
I started running today, I figure I need to get into a daily routine to beat the pollution in China. Here's an idea of what I'm up against when I go there.....
Yea, not too pretty (and yes, that is broad daylight), but it pays off, I swear. Speaking of China, I haven't 'officially' been accepted yet, but I leave in Janurary. And for those of you going out of Oregon for college, I don't think I'll be able to see you as I'm going to Cali for winter break. My dad's side of the family has finally decided to start helping me out in life, so half the trip is paid for. Rice.
Other than all of that, not too much has happened in my life this summer, I'm working for Pony Express, and making bank. I saw the Format the other night in portland. It was alot of fun, they had three openers, of which only one was good. Their called Anathallo (http://www.anathallo.com/), they weren't that bad.
|
|
| anyone up for...... |
[14 Jun 2006|07:52pm] |
Soccer?????
I've been watching the World Cup latley (Go Korea and Brazil!!), and I thought to myself..."I really wanna play soccer"
Who's in?
I'm thinking this weekend, maybe sunday
|
|
| Everybody..... |
[09 Jun 2006|08:01pm] |
SHUT UP!
Yea, we apparently live in a monastery.
WE ARE INCONSIDERATE!!!!
"I have PMS!"
"I'm Tired!"
"I'm trying to sleep!"
"I'm Sick!"
She might be sick now, but seeing as how she has some bullshit excuse to yell at us every week, she's used her sick card up. It's college, Nick and I both worked our asses off this term, and we get yelled at for being loud every week by someone who sleeps 20 hours a day. FUCK THAT!
|
|
| payback? |
[07 Jun 2006|08:40pm] |
So today in Chinese, one of our teachers deicded to use me as an example and make fun of me in a story he made up and handed out.
Lin: I make fun of you, is that ok?
Ben: oh, I'll get you back....
Lin: what?
Ben: nothing...
oh, we will get him back...see, hes not so good at his english, and we like to make fun of him for that. Some of you may have heard me say something like "Demand by Yourself!" or "Want try?"...yea, those mistranslations were from this guy.
so...
Nick and I took a picture of him, photoshoped it, and sent it in to get t-shirts made, we get them tomorrow, here is our final design.
How much more rasict and insensitive can we be?
|
|
| For Samurai fans... |
[06 Jun 2006|04:19pm] |
So here's the deal, theres a couple of movies that I have to watch for my Samurai film class, who wants to watch them with me.
The movies are:
Harakiri
When the last sword is drawn (well, It just is so good I wanna watch it again)
Also, theres this series called 'Lone Wolf and Cub'. We watched the first two in class last night, and its the bloodiest samurai series I've ever seen. I think this is the one that Kill Bill got the 'blood hose' thing from. It is uttterly amazing. And I thought it was gonna be bad...
So, whos in?
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
pagemaster's journal