Long Time No Posts

Study

I've been studying Chinese an okay amount each day due to the fact that I have an idea... I want to play Dungeons and Dragons in Chinese. Now this may seem like a random idea but let me tell you where it came from.

Recently, while browsing the web on different types of Chinese vocabulary I found an advertisement for a website/app called WordSwing which is for learning Chinese. Basically, WordSwing has a bunch of text adventures, comics, stories and other interactive things that are all in Chinese (the Intermediate level) but this combined with the ability to create word lists or pair it with Pleco on your phone makes it a powerful learning tool. After playing the free text adventure a couple times and reading some of the free comic I have to say that it is enjoyable and really teaches me words that I wanted to learn and teaches me sentence structure as well.

WordSwing only has a few free features, the rest you have to unlock with a monthly payment of 8 dollars a month or 72 dollars a year. Not too bad and I believe that after I finish studying the free resources I will pay the subscription so that I can continue playing Chinese Text Adventures.

At the bottom of this post you'll see all the words that I've been studying using WordSwing and its free Text Adventure and free Comic.

 Board Gaming

 So recently I've actually done some board gaming type things. One of the things I've been doing is creating my "dream character" in HeroForge. Hero Forge is a website where you design your own custom miniature and then can order it, for quite a bit of money. But, as I've watched Hero Forge, their customization options keep getting better and better. Plus, with the addition of advanced posing you can create so many cool poses that you could never make before. (See picture above)

I hope to one day buy my little Goblin Warrior Monk and paint him so that we can go on adventures.

Another thing I did was buy the Dungeons And Dragons Starter Set from the local Target since it was on clearance! I snagged a 20 dollar product for about 15 bucks. Right now, I'm just reading the new 5e rules and reading the included adventure for fun but I hope to get collecting the books after my 1-2 years of Kung Fu in China.

In order to fix my D&D "craving" I've been playing a small game with my family's kids that we now call "adventure". Both of them are still young, 9 and 5 years old, so it is very simple but what surprised me was that the 5 year old is the one that got hooked on it. Using a six sided die, markers, crayons, post it notes and very few miniatures we've already gone on three different adventures in this Sci Fi setting that is slowly being made. To be honest, it is fun and its neat to see what his little 5 year old brain does but I can also teach him basic math with it and I can help him expand his creativity.

Working Out

There hasn't been much going on with me and exercise. I'm kind of bummed out about this as this includes my Kung Fu Training, Flexibility Training and Strength Training. I'm still doing Push Ups and Twists every day. Sometimes I throw in other workouts too like Planks and Pull Ups but I don't think its helping me all that much. I will continue to push myself every day even though work has gotten tougher recently.

I must continue training and not give up.

Life

Well, in two weeks a lot has happened in my little life. Mostly it has been me relaxing and dealing with a new work schedule. I've been putting overtime in to earn some extra cash and my work has also asked me to come in early on a few days to help out 1st shift.

Mentally, I've been tired but I feel that I've been giving in or relaxing myself too much over these past two weeks. I know I can work, watch kids, workout, stretch, study and play all in one day. I just have to be motivated and concentrated.

I also planned a October trip to go see my Chinese friend during "National Day" in China for a week which took a huge chunk out of my savings. I believe through heavy overtime and maybe a second job I'll be able to get that money back but we'll see.

The most recent thing that happened though was a tornado came through our area and hit a lot. My family's home was affected as many trees were uprooted, a car was crushed and a roof damaged.

So really, I've done pretty bad the last two weeks on my goal.

I hope you all still like reading this. How have you all been doing?

-Johnny

Useful Words 有用的词：

逃出去 (Táo chū qù) "to escape"
房门 (Fáng mén) "door of a room"
得到 (Dédào) "to get, to obtain, to receive"
敲门 (Qiāo mén) "to knock on a door"
要不然 (Yào bùrán) "otherwise, or else, or"
情况 (Qíngkuàng) "circumstances, state of affairs, situation"
决定 (Juédìng) "to decide (to do something), to resolve, decision, certainly"
水池 (Shuǐchí)  "pond, pool, sink, washbin"
托盘 (Tuōpán) "cafeteria tray"
查看 (Chákàn) "to look over, to examine, to check up, to ferret out"
骰子 (Shǎizi) "dice"
塑料 (Sùliào) "Plastic"
叉子 (Chāzi) "fork"
钢刀 (Gāng dāo) "Steel Knife"
错误  (Cuòwù) "Error, wrong"
我们在一个房间
-This means "we are in the same room"
爬 (pá) to crawl, to climb
窗口 (chuāngkǒu) "window"
窗台 (chuāngtái) "window sill, window ledge"
窗户 (chuānghu) "window"
面对 (miànduì) "to confront, to face"
墙 (qiáng) "wall"
楼层 (lóucéng) "story, floor"
向右 (xiàngyòu) "rightwards"
试着 (shìzhe) "to try to"
其他 (qítā) "other, else, the rest"
失去了知觉 "To Lose Consciousness"
以前 "before" (noun/time)
并不 "not at all" (Adverb)
不足 (bùzú) "insufficient, lacking, not enough" ADJECTIVE
估计 (gūjì) "to estimate, to reckon" VERB
仔细 (zǐxì) "careful, attentive, cautious" ADJECTIVE
说明 (shuōmíng) "to explain, to illustrate, to indicate, to show, to prove" VERB
思考 (sīkǎo) "to ponder, to reflect" VERB
魔法 (mófǎ) "enchantment, magic" NOUN
配 (pèi) "to mix, to make up (a perscription)" VERB
魔法水
配料 peiliao "ingredients (in a recipe)"
一项配料 "One ingredient"
项 xiang "classifier for items, tasks, principles" Measure Word
趴 pā "to lie on ones stomach, to lean forward"