so, have you ever felt your personality change? it's kind of a weird experience.
i don't know if anybody's gauged that my personality has changed since i moved abroad just by reading my blog, but i'd like to think that it has changed for the better.
three and a half years ago, when i was living in LA and working in the film industry, i felt that my personality was slowly changing for the worse. especially when it came to driving. any time i got in my car (and the two hour traffic-filled drive that accompanied it on weekdays), i would instantly switch into an aggressive hatred of other people because i felt nobody knew how to drive.
whereas now, i'd like to think that i would react in a "who cares" response to the traffic. i would sit there, relaxed, feeling introspective and weirdly appropriate.
the thing i would like to think that has most changed for the better is that i'm more proactively aggressive in inter-personal relationships (maybe i'll exclude family from this one, unless they feel it applies too). when i was in LA i sat back waiting for people to call me to do things, now i'm more willing to set things up and get the ball moving.
i'm also more laid-back in a general sense, it's an easier life when you don't stress about the uncontrollable details of life. you're late for an appointment, so it goes. maybe you could have prevented it and you'll do better next time, but when it boils down to the situation at hand - move your ass as best you can but there's nothing much more you can do about it. you're at the mercy of the world and things will probably not go exactly as you want. so why get upset if they do?
i used to get so agonizingly aggravated by the traffic in LA. i would scream and curse and shake in irritation. (that was the negative personality change.) now i think i would laugh first, sigh second, and then go with the flow.
i think i'm also more open to bluntness. there's a benefit to bluntness and lack of discretion. i know the appropriate times to use discretion but i also know that the truth is best left in its rawest colors. i think, on average, americans have gotten good at giving themselves half-truths. we find polite ways to address every issue, trying to make it as harmless and kosher and digestible in small pieces as possible. i think that's a dangerous mentality now. i think by speaking in roundabout tongue twists, you only end up missing the obvious and the changeable. it's easier to make excuses using that sort of language.
why soften language? why must we be so p.c.? if the intent behind the words is not there, why read in an intent that wasn't there just because somebody said a word that "might be offensive"?
so maybe i've actually changed. i know that i've been walking around with my head up and looking strangers in the eye more frequently, despite the dangers of dog feces or psychotics (respectively). again, i would like to think that i have for the better and maybe, just maybe, i will be able to apply it to my non-inter-personal life - in particular, my application towards getting work (see also "career") done.
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on that note, let me quickly elaborate future plans for you. i write this as ideas, even if i state them as facts. there is a possibility that they might happen, there's also a possibility that they might not happen.
i'm floating ideas now about what to do in the near-future.
first, the concrete: i'm going to Rimini, Italy again at the end of March - again for paganello. i will be teaching in Prague until June. the first week of July is the European club championships in Rostock, Germany. so i'll be going there for that.
second, the ideas: after Rostock, i'm thinking about travelling around Europe for a month or two, seeing what i haven't been able to see (and yet, still missing quite a lot). i'd like to see Turkey and. i'd like to see Budapest and the Baltic and Balkan countries. i'd like to see Scandanavia. Poland too. i'd like to see all of Europe really. anybody want to come with me?
when the summer's up, i'd like to try my hand at volunteering in South America for a month or two, working with sea turtles or jungle creatures. i've looked into this and there are quite a few programs listed over at idealist. working on a beach somewhere would be a pleasant change - this is coming from somebody being done in by the endless cold (and colds) of Prague winters. (my dad said it was 60 fahrenheit in bloomington, indiana last week. i'm looking forward to spring, suffice it to say.)
after that, i'm considering a host of options, almost all of which mean moving back to California: 1) starting my own website with a partner, details of which can only be revealed person-to-person; 2) pitching and finding a fellow producer/sponsor for a pair of reality TV shows (to be submitted to the WGA first, of course); 3) giving into my gut instinct that says i should be an actor and vainly trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles (film and TV work - i'm not as good a stage actor, i'm afraid) but do i really want to become a member of the deluded crowds (that David Cross so lovingly talks about)?; 4) doing a combination of all three. i'd 100%, totally, completely, absolutely love to stay in prague, but i can't make my career in my desired field here - even the website would pretty much require me to be in the U.S. due to its content.
lastly, the dreams: if i could do anything right now, i'd take over the world and make it a peaceful harmonious place in order to prepare for the inevitable arrival of an intergalactic envoy from the planet Kornblatdoppleganggoffa.
so, what happened last weekend...
last weekend there was an indoor ultimate tournament in Rottenburg, Germany - a small town about halfway in between Hamburg and Bremen in Northwest Germany. the town is a nice little town and has a very beautiful little cobblestoned street in the center of the town. in the middle of said cobblestoned street there is a statue that looks like half of a giant ball-bearing sticking out of the ground - or, in other words, a large silver dome.
the tournament featured many great teams from Northern Europe - in particular, many from Germany, a few from Denmark, one from the Netherlands and a few from non-Northern Europe (Italy and the Czech Republic, in particular).
we took 8 people to the tournament, split between two cars - four per car. or, at least, on the way there...
the drive there was uneventful, really. we stopped at b.k. - i didn't eat anything there, but my friend (and the driver) insists on stopping at any b.k. he can because all the Czech Republic has are McD's. the other car was on our tale and arrived about 30 min after us. it was about a 7 hours drive.
on saturday, we won two out of three of our first games and that allowed us to advance into the upper pool. we played two more games (including the last game of the day at 19:30) after that on Saturday. after our last game, as is tradition at all frisbee tournaments, there was a party. before the party, however, was dinner at an italian restaurant...
how this smallish town managed to attract native italians is beyond me, but it did mean a good, genuine italian meal. some of us had shots of grapa with the meal, including the driver of the other car.
and then came the party, which was comprised of standing around at a bar and matching our morning challengers in shots... or, at least, for some people it was. i didn't volunteer my shot matching services past the second round. the other driver, however, did.
within two and a half hours of being at the bar, he (the other driver) was absolutely blottoed. i mean you could see it in his eyes. we left for the sleeping hall.
along the way, we passed the big silver dome. i tried to climb on top but it was a little two wet and therefore slippery for me to actually make it. the other driver (TOD) told me that i wasn't doing it right and took a running try at it...
but his intention was not to climb but rather was to slide over it. he went limp when he hit the dome and looked like a ragdoll sliding over the dome.
he wasn't hurt. no. he just looked hilarious doing it. that's why i note it. for my benefit, really...
or, at least, that's what i would've hoped.
we stumbled the rest of the way back to the hall and promptly went to sleep.
we woke up the next day, ready for another day of fierce competition...
but sometime before the first game, TOD came up to me and asked: "have you seen my car keys?"
"um, sorry, TOD, but i haven't."
"shit."
we played our first game and beat our opponents by sheer will - after all, a majority of our team had been matching them in shots the night before. we were more prepared for the alcohol, i guess.
we won our next game and ended up playing the 5th place game to finish off the tournament. unfortunately, we lost that game and ended up in 6th place. but that's really irrelevant...
since when we left, we left with full knowledge that the other car would not be leaving that day at the minimum. the keys were still missing.
so we ended up taking one of the other people from TOD's car and stuffing him in the middle seat in the back of our car. it was a nice tight squeeze...
for about 7 hours.
the worst thing about tournaments, especially difficult ones, is a long drive home. and this one was no exception. anybody who exercizes should know that after a strenuous workout, you like to stretch and lie around, be spread out and comfortable.
well, frisbee tournaments with long drives are the opposite, especially if you need to force an extra person into your car. (oh, and one of the players in my car happens to be about 7 feet tall, so he automatically got the passenger seat.)
so i cramped up in under an hour and had a few, rare opportunities to stretch it out. i did a half sleep thing for about half of the ride. and went to bed almost immediately upon arriving home.
as for TOD... his dad had to drive to Rottenburg to deliver the second key to the car... which still wasn't enough, because the car was immobilized by the original key ring. and it, the original key ring that was now lost, was the only thing that could undo the immobilization.
anyway, he ended up arriving home two days later with the other two players who we had also left behind in tow.
so, the ground is covered and prague has once again undergone it's transformation to winter wonderland. snow has the magical ability to make this city clean. the buildings, although still dirty, seem to radiate something when the ground is covered in snow and that which has melted drips into puddles of slush on the sidewalk.
as the snow gets old and nasty, after the first six hours, it turns prague into something different - a fallen winter wonderland. the puddles of slush become puddles of sludge and the dog feces take new stances on top of unmelted snow.
mmm... this is a wonderful description... don't you just want to come and visit me?!
in all seriousness, this place is beautiful, no matter the condition.
i came on here with the intention to post about my weekend, which had some unusually unfortunate moments that were followed by unusually fortunate moments as well.
unfortunately, my weekend post will have to follow at a later date, since i teach shortly and need to do some last minute prep...