For those of you who missed it,
part
1 is here and
part
2 is here.
Quote:
OK, so as some of you know, I'm old. I'm not, really, but guys that
are like, 19, and spend most of their time at school and hanging out
on the internet don't get much exposure to people over 25, so you tend
to think that you all live in some version of a Logan's Run universe
where people over 30 are killed off. That in itself is a cultural
reference that y'all are probably too young to get, so here's the link.
By the way, if you check that out and are really confused as to why
that movie has some kind of cult status, trust me, it's not a
generation gap thing. Pretty bad movie. I got no clue. Maybe
in 30 years no one will have any clue why we liked Superbad either.
Anyway, there's a bunch of **** I wish I had done when I was younger
but didn't because no one told me to.
Oh, WAIT, snap, a bunch of people told me to do this **** ALL THE
****ING TIME. The real reason I didn't do it is because I was, like,
18, and I was pretty sure that everyone over 30 had been killed off,
so whatever old dude was telling me these things was obviously some
criminal on the run from the law that I dare not pay attention to.
I made a Pooh-Bah post once but don't remember ever making a Carpal
Tunnel one. And in the cheese thread a while ago, someone said that I was
like the crazy uncle that knew a bunch of random ****, so, in the hope that
some of you are more willing to trust me than your aunts and uncles and
parents and stuff (I am, after all, way cooler), I've got a list of some ****
that all of you really need to start doing now. I'll even try to prove it in
some EV terms.
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Part 3: Get your ass out of the country. And, I don't mean for, like, 2 weeks.
This should really be a post about going to live anywhere, not just in
Europe, but my experiences are European, because I lived there for
13 years, so I can't speak about Asia/Africa because I've never been,
or South America because I have never lived there. I presume that the
general principle of what I am saying applies, though.
This applies especially to all of you that a) are not married and b)
play poker exclusively for a living. You are in an incredibly unique
and awesome position -- you can ply your trade anywhere in the world
with an internet connection. What this means is that you can live
anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
So...do it. Move to another country. If you are in school, do a
year-long exchange program. If you aren't, just go play poker
somewhere else.
Some great reasons to leave the country:
1) Your opportunity cost is at its lowest right now, while you are
young. You don't own a ton of stuff (yet) that you'll need to sell,
store, or pay money to move, you aren't approaching getting to partner
at your law firm, you aren't just around the corner from a promotion
to the vice presidency of your company, etc.
2) There are many countries (e.g. the UK) where poker winnings are
tax-free. Balla.
3) You can get back on PartyPoker.
4) It will make you really cool. You remember the opening scene of
Pulp Fiction? Spend a year or two in Europe, and you're like Vincent,
telling everyone about Hamburger Royales and ****.
-- Did you know that in Bavaria, there are places you can order a
5-litre glass of beer that's in the shape of the boot, and that
there are VERY strict rules about how you drink them in groups?
Like, for example, if you an air bubble from the toe of the boot
pops and causes beer to splash on your face, you must buy the
next boot.
-- Did you know that in Germany, it is impolite to drink without
toasting first, and further, that when you toast, it is impolite
not to look the person you are clinking with in the eye?
-- Did you know that beer and wine are cheaper than soda in most
bars and restaurants in Europe? Can you guess why (hint: has to
do with who owns the bars)?
-- Did you know that there are "Eco-farms" in the middle of Austria
where you can sit at a table on the farmer's porch in the middle
of a bunch of mountains, and the farmer's wife will serve you
wine from their own vinyards, along with cheese from their own
cows, bread from their own oven, and pork and beef from their own
animals? They'll even serve you schnapps distilled from their
own fruits.
5) When your "home base" is not the US, you can travel with a much greater bang-for-your-buck and see a lot cultures. Practically everywhere in Europe is just a few hours away from 5 or 6 neighbors that speak 5 or 6 different languages and have totally different cultures. Asia is similar. When you live in the US, though, aside from Mexico, you are a 5-6+ hour plan ride away from experiencing a different culture. That means that if you live in Europe or Asia, you will be exposed to much more diversity in your travel options.
You learn a lot of random **** travelling. And you learn a lot about
yourself, and a lot about how people and other countries perceive your
country, some of it justified, some of it bull****. Mostly, you learn
to completely demolish a lot of myths, preconceptions, stereotypes,
and other lies, both about yourself and about the rest of the world.
But, mostly, living on your own in another country will force you to
discover, plan and do a bunch of stuff that you'll never do at home.
When I lived in Regensburg, I rode a bike 8 miles to work each way, on
protected bike paths. Man, I miss that. I drive everywhere now. And
I learned to really appreciate beer. I mean, you all drink beer, some
of you like beer, but you don't
know beer until you visit
Germany. In Germany, they actually have a university that gives out a
degree in Brewmeistering (it's the only one in the world)! How
****ing cool is that?!? It's like what UNLV is for Hotel Mgmt.
If you lived in France, you'd learn a lot about wine, and you'd
quickly get to know what "Cabernet" really means, and what the
difference between Champaigne and Prosecco really is. In Spain, you'd
learn a lot about history (did you know they were basically ruled by
Arabs in the past?) and you'd learn what it's like to live a schedule
around taking siestas (either that, or you will collapse from
exhaustion, trust me, because at 1 A.M. the people are just starting
to trickle into the bars...)
And everywhere you go you will learn a ****ton about geography and
politics that people in America are completely ignorant of. Did you
know that in Germany, Austria, and, I believe, France and Italy, there is an actual church tithe tax? The government takes a tax out of your paycheck and gives it to the church of your religion. The only way to avoid it is
to officially excommunicate yourself from the church (I did this) -- a
letter gets sent to your Bishop (insert non-catholic equivalent here)
and everything. So why doesn't everyone ex-communicate themselves?
The simplest reason is that there are no state-run Kindergartens.
They are all run by churches. And you won't get a spot in one for your
kid(s) if you are ex-communicated.
This is just a minor example, but you'll learn stuff like this every
day if you just live somewhere and hang out with the locals and get to
know people. And the internet is making it really easy. With the
advent of the internet, it is
incredibly easy to hook up with other
americans abroad. There are Yahoo/Facebook/Google/etc Groups in
almost every major city in the world, and trust me, hooking up with a
bunch of American expats is a lot of fun.
Furthermore, it's easy to meet the locals. Most European countries have
sports clubs. Pick a sport you like and look up a club, find out when
they meet, and show up for practice. If you are lucky, they'll even
be a sports club in something that is common for you but is "exotic"
for the locals, like American Football or Baseball. Being good at one
of those is your ticket to instant cameraderie -- one team in
Regensburg actually offered me money to play baseball. And I was like
a .250 hitter in high school on my good days and am useless outside
the infield.
Another easy way to meet people is to take a language class. There
are actually studies that learning a second language opens up neural
pathways in the brain. I don't know if that makes me any smarter, but
it sure as **** sounds cool. And I love being able to speak a second
language. It's very cool when you are watching a movie like Saving
Private Ryan, and that scene where the wall collapses, and you're the
only guy in the theatre who understands what everyone is saying
So pack up that laptop, get yourself a student visa (even if you've
already graduated it isn't hard to get admitted to a college in
europe, and tuition is very very low in many countries) to the country
you'd most like to visit, and go live there! Do it! Hell, you can
probably find someone on 2+2 to help you with the paperwork and
everything!
This might be one of those things that you are going to have to trust
the old dude on: one year is NOTHING. At first you might get lonely,
but you won't believe how fast it will pass.
Two Plus Two
Re: Bilbo's Advice from Old Dudes. Part 3: Get the **** Outta here!
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