EPTThe trip home from Bucharest was incredibly long and exhausting. The total trip took just under 30 hours which seemed like eternity, also being afraid of planes and heights didn't help the situation. My first stop was in Prague, Czech Republic with a 3 hour layover until I left to new york. The flight to new York was a little over 8 hours, however it felt like the shortest flight since I got to sit next to this beautiful Romanian girl the entire way. Flights always seem to go faster with a hot chick that falls asleep on your shoulder. Landing in New York was amazing, no offense to anyone, it was just nice to hear English as a first language as it's what I was accustomed to before I left. Not hearing much of it for over 3 months can throw you off a little bit. When I finally arrived back in Los Angeles my family was waiting for me at the bottom of the escalator and for some reason it was incredibly emotional seeing them for the first time in almost 4 months (I spent over a week at RaNgeD's pad in Washington prior to leaving to Bucharest).
Once again, I found myself adjusting to a new sleep schedule that was 10 hours behind what I was used to. The first week my body wanted to go to bed at 6:00 pm and wake up at 2:00am. Being completely exhausted throughout the day isn't fun when everybody is excited for you to be home and wanting to see you. Regardless, it was amazing to be home in my own bed, surrounded by friends, families and my releases from grinding games.
Not only did I have to adjust to a new sleep schedule, but also to a new PC setup which I feel is a lot harder than it sounds. The height of my chair was completely off, it sat alot higher than what I was used to, also was way too comfortable. I eventually swapped out my chair for a dining room chair which I believe my parents still haven't realized is missing. When I play, I typically sit on one of my feet and alternate as each one falls asleep. Doing this also allows me to adjust my elbow height, letting me play comfortably. Next big thing were my monitors at home. For starters, going from a 24' to a 19' LCD monitor really throws you off. Units tend to look smaller and your mouse feels to move faster, making it harder to micro. Also having two monitors is so much more distracting versus having one, since you can have Facebook, stream chat and other lovely stuff in plain site. It took about 10 days to fully adjust to my setup here at home, however sadly I can't stream until I get a new motherboard and processor, but soon enough!
Strangely, after being in a different country practicing everyday playing 30+ games a day, watching streams and replays while analyzing them, it's really hard to see progression. The moment I got adjusted to things at home, I started to realize how much I improved. Certain situations used to make me panic, overreact and not play calmly. I've noticed that my patience inside the game as well as my mentality has progressed immensely. As far as points go, I'm only about 1600 on US with a 170 bonus pool. My mmr is a different story. Yesterday I finally started to face GM players on US which was thrilling as that tells me I have progressed quite a bit and I can compete at a decent level. Season 3 Is going to get rocked by sLeEpy, so I hope everyone is ready. There's 3 LANs this month that I will be playing in, 1 of them being MLG Anaheim so be sure to keep your eyes open and check out the replays that get posted. I'm going to be quite frank, i don't plan on making it out of the open bracket since the competition is incredibly fierce, but I do plan on doing some damage and taking down a few named players ♥
Thanks to everyone who has read my lengthy blogs over the last few months. I can't thank you guys enough for the support that's kept me pushing on. I hope you guys will continue to follow my progression throughout the time Starcraft II stays competitive. Enjoy your summer and God Bless
Summer Pix below!:
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Me taking my dogs in the water
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Enjoying the lake
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My dog Saydee behaving for once!
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just waiting to wake skate and wake board =))
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such a nice day on the boat
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Ally getting her drank on
Previous blogs in Romania series:
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We went out there to help establish the team, progress in our own personal play and enjoy a different country
