EPTMarch 19th, 2011 - Blog #2 - So it begins
If you have been reading my blogs, you know that they are about myself, Justin "sLeEpy" Peterson and Austin "RaNgeD" King, and our adventure to pursue our dreams of becoming professional Starcraft 2 gamers. Currently we are getting a monthly salary, all paid apartment expenses and the opportunity to live in the country of Romania for 3+ months to practice our hearts out. To catch up with this blog, check out the previous blogs above.
We officially have been in here in Bucharest, Romania for 9 days and are finally adjusting to the jet lag, the culture and most importantly our setup here at the office, so we can begin to play more fluently. Austin still does not fully have his setups where he would like it to be, because he forgot to bring his mouse pad and we cannot find a soft / silk like mouse pad (not sure the exact name of the type of pad) anywhere in any computer / electronics store, they are all hard top pads. We had ordered him up a Razer mouse pad a few days ago, so hopefully he will get it within the next couple of days. Practice has still been consistent with ladder grinding, replay analyzing and strategy discussions. We've participated in a few craft cup tournaments, however didnt pull the best results, but I assure it's because we're still getting used to everything and have been overly exhausted this last week. It's crazy how long it actually takes to get used to the time difference, especially it being a 9 hour difference and all. We have been trying to stay up late, however couldn't keep our eyes open passed 8 pm and would wake up at 3 or 4 am and head back to the office to practice more, where we would be putting in 12-14 hour days of practice. It's insane how that much starcraft can actually drain you. Thinking non stop for that long is draining on your brain believe it or not ^,- Both of us are steadily progressing and are excited for everything else to come with the hard work we are dedication we are putting into the sport. Analyzing the game and replays with RaNgeD has really put a different perspective on my play style and how to adjust / adapt to certain situations in the game. I'm also starting to notice different play styles on EU and US as well. I notice a bit more cheese over here on EU ladder and less of a macro based style of play. However, I'm still climbing ladder and my MMR is only about 3500.
Along with fighting jet lag, we've been fighting quite a few other things such as fleas in one of our beds for some weird reason, sleeping on the floor due to this, having to hand wash / dry our clothes because our washer is broken, a neighbor who loves to pound things into their walls and a few other small things haha. All in all we're incredibly grateful and actually are really starting to love the environment and their culture here. The Romanian's are incredibly friendly and inviting. We've been invited to go eat lunch with our coworkers daily, invited to clubs, raves and parties. Last night it was one of our coworkers birthdays so we all cracked open beers in the office after hours and sat around conversing with everyone. They seemed to be very interested in our opinions about their country and how things operate here. After chatting for a bit, they started to tell us about the poverty level and how their government operates with everything. Being a U.S. citizen I realized how good we have it over there in the US and how much we actually take for granted, it's actually pretty sad. They have little options as far as career opportunities here. We work with a bunch of programmers and game producers here who would typically make an easy 70k salary in the US but they are making less than that of a minimum wage job. Hearing some of the stories definitely is going to change the way I look at things back at home.
We're definitely having a hell of a time and are starting to enjoy it even more every day that we are here. We're coming across new things daily that make our stay even more enjoyable such as specific types of food, amazing beer and different people. There's a type of beer here called Silva that is a darker beer and has a malty / caramel taste to it that's friggin' amazing. We'll continue to practice and participate in tournaments until we are the best. We're more dedicated and passionate about the game than any of our opponents which gives us the edge over them. We hope to give some good games in some of the tournaments we will be playing in, so keep a look out for us as we push on. God bless.
Blog #4 - March 31st
Some more photos for you guys:
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RaNgeD enjoying a wrap at lunch
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Myself kickin' it at the mall with RaNgeD
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Bomb.com
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Local mall
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RaNgeD as "ThuG NasTay" lol
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Enjoying a Silva
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One MILLION dollars mwuahahahaha
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4 am drink at the office
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Creepeeeeeeeeeer
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lol @ carwash
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Dogs blocking a car at an intersection lol
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Our office
. Skol (mentioned in an earlier blog) is one of the worst beers you can find, and for a dark beer Silva is not exactly top shelf material.
