Writer's blog

A common definition of a writer's block is that the they lose their ability to write due to lack of inspiration or creativity. Me? Sometimes, I just don't write. Period. I should, though, and I should do it more often. Writing clears my thoughts and puts them in a more organized form to be dissected and analyzed. Or whatever.

I participated in an English speech contest here, hoping to actually achieve something here. In the first round (a kind of qualifying one), the texts were given. Or rather, you randomly select one of five or six different texts. Of course it was just my luck to get a overly sugary sweet speech about love. Actually, now that I think of it in retrospect, it seemed more bittersweet after all. Needless to say, I didn't make it past even the first round. Will blame it on the topic.

If you have followed my tweets (Twitter updates, same as my Facebook status messages), you know that some student here committed suicide last week. She (yes, a girl) apparently wasn't afraid of the heights. They say in the school's BBS (discussion board) that the motive is either the high pressure due to exams or problems in love life, both of which are quite plausible explanations.

I guess that just about ruins my earlier plans to talk about how I felt that the Chinese people were so much happier than people in Finland, for example. But it was just an initial illusion I had, being in ignorant bliss and "tourist mode" myself. The more I got to know people here, the more I learn about the stuff beneath the surface and the more I realize how alike all the people in the world are. How similar problems they are all dealing with. It also acted as a harsh reminder that I couldn't escape my own demons by just going to someplace new. The dust has officially settled. Oh, and the nights here are officially colder than in Helsinki.

You may also have noticed from my tweets that I finally saw both Wall*E, the Pixar movie I was eagerly anticipating since this spring, and the Dark Knight, the "second" batman flick (which I didn't quite anticipate, but was just curious about). Out of these two I have to admit that I was soooo disappointed at Wall*E. Maybe all those praising reviews I read had me set ludicrously high expectations for it. A movie about robots, for gods sake! To me, they didn't feel human at all. I even liked Ratatouille better. The Dark Knight, however, was a pleasant surprise. Maybe also because I didn't expect so much of it. It was gloomer than I thought, which is good for a superhero movie. I mean, the Iron Man was just too happy hippy.

Other than the news, my life is still going on the same. School and work still come and go, stuff at the tv station is still interesting as ever, and I still miss u guys at home. Laters...