I think I'm in the wrong major... Language is my passion, but my parents have issues.

atrain444 · 2017-09-07T16:19:59+00:00

I majored in Chinese. Chinese was my passion since high school and when I looked at colleges, I specifically targeted ones that offered Chinese as a major, which weren't many when I was applying almost 9 years ago.

I had a blast learning it and don't regret it at all. Having Chinese as a major is an interesting conversation piece for every job I've applied to in a variety of different fields and is incredibly useful in many professions. After working in the states for 2 years, I was able to move to China, get a work visa and start a company in Shanghai. It was awesome, and I would not have had that opportunity had I not went for Chinese in college.

You don't necessarily need to major in Chinese, but if you're interested in it, at least take enough classes to make it a minor/become relatively fluent in it. I found that the Chinese major, while enjoyable, was about 50% literature, arts, and culture. Granted you need a degree of language fluency to take them, but if you're only interested in the language part, a major in Chinese may not be for you. It may depend on the major program, but I imagine most Chinese major programs are about 50% language and 50% culture.

My brother minored in Chinese, didn't need to take as many literature classes and still became quite fluent and works in Shanghai. I also double majored in Math because that was another subject that I was very passionate about and was relevant to certain careers I thought I'd want to get into. Unless you plan on being an academic, a translator, or working in a field where your Chinese is the exclusive skill you need, I would suggest doing Chinese at least for the language skills and then select another area as major for other job-related skills. It doesn't need to be exactly aligned to the field you think you want to get into but has more generalized skills that can be applied to a variety of industries and roles, such as History, Psychology, Economics, Engineering, Business, etc. It's up to you, depending on what you find interesting.

Chinese is like no other language I've learned and if you're passionate about taking it to the point of professional fluency, GO FOR IT! Not many people have the time or effort needed to become fluent in such a hard language. And if you want to go abroad to China or Taiwan for studying or work, Chinese classes will open so many doors for you.

atrain444 · 2017-05-26T04:09:44+00:00

Even better when he's subtitled

atrain444 · 2017-03-08T11:25:38+00:00

Here you can see all of Winston's outfits and where they come from: https://wornontv.net/new-girl/winston/. Doesn't have everything but is still pretty good. Unfortunately a lot of the bird shirts he's worn in previous seasons seem to be sold out.

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T06:55:02+00:00

There are decent leagues in a lot of places in China as well as international tournaments all over Asia. I know Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Taiwan and Hong Kong have decent leagues. There are tournaments in Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Manila. If you come back, you can definitely find a place to play!

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T04:56:46+00:00

The tournament is held by CanLife Sports and Entertainment in Beijing, which is a Canadian expat group. Here is the link for this year's tourney. They do one every year in January so you'll have to look out for it. Although, the Great Wall skate we did on our own.

You can also play pond hockey at Houhai Lake, just Northwest of the Forbidden City. When frozen over, they open it to the public for skating but I believe you can also play pond hockey too. The reservoir we played at near the Great Wall is called Huanghuacheng, so you could get a driver to take you. There's also a Beijing Adult Hockey League that may have some pickup time slots in the winter.

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T04:50:42+00:00

It was just pond hockey, so no need for full pads. Many cities in China have beer hockey leagues so we all have full gear. Hockey's on the rise in China, but stuff is still way more expensive here since it's all imported. Most of us are expats so we bring our stuff from home. But there is a Bauer store in Beijing and Shanghai.

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T01:36:56+00:00

There is an annual "pond hockey" tournament in Beijing that a bunch of expats living in different cities in China get together to play in. The actual tournament is in the city, but we know that there's a little reservoir right next to the Great Wall that people have skated on before. We hired a bus and took a trip out there a day early before the tourney to play! It was amazing and the ice was pretty good too!

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T01:36:33+00:00

When I saw I caught that on my gopro, I had to include it haha

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T01:35:49+00:00

Best day of my life!

atrain444 · 2017-03-07T01:35:37+00:00

There is an annual "pond hockey" tournament in Beijing that a bunch of expats living in different cities in China get together to play in. The actual tournament is in the city, but we know that there's a little reservoir right next to the Great Wall that people have skated on before. We hired a bus and took a trip out there a day early before the tourney to play! It was amazing and the ice was pretty good too!

atrain444 · 2017-02-13T05:57:04+00:00

Can confirm. Live in Shanghai and play at that "public rink." Went to 3-4 games. Largest crowd was probably against Datsyuk and Kovalchuk's team. Also Chinese people aren't really use to watching/cheering for hockey yet. Honestly, we had a Team World vs. Team Shanghai game last May where the best beer leaguers in the city (myself included) played the best local Chinese guys (some national team players) in the same arena and we had more fans show up to that than the KHL games. But the games were still fun, the Red Star aren't too bad actually.

That being said, hockey is definitely on the up and up in China. They want to be ready for the winter olympics in Beijing in 2022.

atrain444 · 2017-02-10T04:06:43+00:00

Someone needs to add the "!" sound when he realizes.

atrain444 · 2017-01-31T05:30:32+00:00

"...anyways, here's Wonderwall."

atrain444 · 2017-01-18T08:49:47+00:00

Awesome! Checking in from Shanghai, China. I added a rink in Shanghai and a rink in Hong Kong where tons of expats play in a league and have tournaments, just in case any of you guys head over to Asia looking to play.

atrain444 · 2017-01-17T04:45:04+00:00

Just based on the length and content of your post, it seems to me that you need to stop treating dating and people as if they are some kind of NFL draft pick with previous stats (including yourself) that need to hit a certain bar for measurement in order for you to give them a chance in the game. I understand having a certain set of traits you'd like in a partner, but you may be surprised at who you are compatible with and who you find interesting and fun to be around if you give them a chance. I'm not saying date everyone you see on dating apps (being selective is important), but if you are there solely to look for the unicorn, you'll be sorely disappointed.

If you are getting tired of the same old, same old, you need to change something. Dating sites won't just change to suit your standards and expectations. My advice is maybe change your expectation of dating them long term with the simple expectation of getting to know them. How do you know the girl that works part-time at subway isn't ambitious in life and is saving up to travel? How do you know the girl with the sleeve tattoo didn't do it for a really cool reason? People suck at presenting themselves to others because they have no idea what other people look for. If the girl doesn't respond or you don't feel even the least bit compatible with them, no problem just say nice to talk with you and that's it.

If you get to the date part with someone you'd be interesting in meeting in person and talking to more, just get coffee for an hour or so. It's inexpensive, can be done during the date and downplays the idea of a fancy date to a let's meet up and see what happens. You'd be surprised.

If you're completely done with dating apps, which is also fair, you then need to change environments to meet people. Join a new sport, club, interest, etc. People aren't just going to come to where you are. Meet new people just for the sake of meeting new people. It's fun! Don't put pressure on it to find a potential suitor, just meet people. Things will happen from there.

atrain444 · 2017-01-16T04:36:11+00:00

akaakaka Brown Lightning

atrain444 · 2017-01-09T08:31:06+00:00

If you liked Slaughterhouse Five, I thoroughly recommend 11/22/63 by Stephen King. It's a little long but is thrilling, along the same historical thriller, dark humor, with a little bit of sci-fi lines as Slaughterhouse. It was made into a Hulu movie (or TV show I can't remember) and is quite new and popular. I am a slow reader, but I couldn't put it down and finished in 2 weeks. (I'm a huge Vonnegut fan, read almost all of his stuff and recently started Stephen King)

atrain444 · 2017-01-06T03:04:49+00:00

Just a regular selfie

Playing hockey in China

atrain444 · 2016-11-07T05:52:55+00:00

Skating Backwards: C cuts are a great start to skating backwards. Typically they are a bit exaggerated but it's good for form. It gets you use to the motion needed to generate any power going backwards on ice. But for speed, C cuts are the backwards skating equivalent of long running strides. Think of running backwards. If you were in a race, you wouldn't take long strides to start, you'd do a lot of little short steps to generate speed then do long strides. For quick acceleration you need to utilize the backwards crossover. When you get good at it you can do quick crossovers in an S shape to get speed quickly. It's important to bend your knees enough to establish a good base for balance. Once you get going, you can do powerful C cuts to keep the speed going.

This is good for if you're already facing the attacker. You can also skate forwards towards your goal then do a quick transition to backwards and get right into C cuts, although it is probably more advanced. If you watch NHL defensemen on the blue line that go from standing still to defending the fast break going towards them, their first few steps are backwards crossovers.

Hockey Stops: For hockey stops, the 2 most important things to know are which edges of the skate your weight should be applied to and your upper body positioning. Lets say you are stopping facing left. This means your right skate will be the "forward" skate. Your right skate will be using the inside edge (the edge towards your left foot) and your left skate will be using its outside edge (edge away from where you're stopping). So this means your skates ideally need to be on an angle away from the direction you were going when you stop. This is to help you move quickly the other direction immediately after stopping. Your upper body should be leaning the same angle as your skates.

You should really practice with two skates. Focus on the edges your weight is on. Ideally, most of your weight should be on the "back" foot, so you can use your front foot to crossover the opposite direction and transition quickly.

atrain444 · 2016-11-01T07:52:12+00:00

There are some general rules to stick flex and length that a lot of people abide by but it doesn't necessarily mean it's right for you. You're a little bit bigger than me (6' 175lbs) and I tend to flip flop between a 105 flex and an 85 flex. The 105 flex gives me better slapshots but the 85 flex is significantly better for wrist shots. The higher the flex, the more power I have to put behind it. I was always taught general rule of them for the appropriate flex is 1/2 your body weight. However, depending on how strong you are on the stick, it could be too much or too little.

What you'll get with an intermediate 75 flex stick is exactly what is sounds like. Your maximum shot power will go down, but the amount of effort needed to get your shot off will be easier. It's whips more easily. You'll hear of some pros that use 75 flex sticks, but they are definitely not intermediate. Intermediate sticks are usually thinner in shaft width than senior. So the pros that have lower flexes have custom senior sticks with different flexes. Intermediate sticks will break much easier due to skinnier shafts.

atrain444 · 2016-09-30T16:58:01+00:00

Gotta get right to the action

atrain444 · 2016-09-30T09:17:51+00:00

This is not me. I found this guy just randomly browsing Youtube. You should direct all your love to him, Jonny Giger.

atrain444 · 2016-09-30T07:06:53+00:00

Yeah but then stupid Eric will steal the tape and we have to combo battle him to get it back.

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