Have a blog

Have you ever tried to have your own blog?

The very first design for this blog is a diary. However, the idea of a “blog channel,” which encourage readers to try something new and different, actually came from my first blog post, after I decided to share my happy memory about the light switch. To somebody, to balance a light switch is bullshit, but for me, it’s my childhood victory.

The “Eating boogers” post was inspired by my girlfriend. Sometimes she tries to put her’s into my mouth, forces me to eat it (of course she failed every time). Plus, I have read about the benefit of that before, so I think some stinky can be funny.

I want to make some post relevance, like a movie series. That’s why my next 3 posts are brothers: try something in 1 day, 1 week and 1 month. They also 3 things I did, I did doing, and I want I will.

The idea for the post “Lying in a car’s trunk” popped up in my head when I was doing that thing. I was excited to share that. Honestly, I was forget the due date for that week’s post and started writing at 23:40. Luckily I made it just in time. And the next post, a sorry for my teacher, I wrote it right after waking up.

Two posts about Feng Shui and the self-cutting haircut is my experience in the US. Also, this post.

Every post, I spend about an hour, just to think about the content and half a hour to write it. Finding something new and different is not a piece of cake. I want to write down what makes my life happy, just in case I will forget because of worry about making a living.

After all, there will be more posts here, on my blog (but obviously will not weekly). And as usual, ending my post with a question: Will you back to my blog?

Organize the room according to Feng Shui

Have you ever heard about Feng Shui?

Last week, I decided to arrange my room again. I heard about Feng Shui since I was a boy, so I tried to place things according to it. Though I don’t have too many furnitures, move them to a new position make the room look very different. I feel satisfied with that.

The first thing I have to do is planning. I surf the internet and learn some basic idea about “Feng Shui.” “Feng Shui” is a Chinese system of theory, considered to govern the arrangement of everything related to the flow of energy. For example, the position of the working table must have something cover behind your back (such as a wall or a big bookshelf), this makes you feel safe and focus on your work. You must look easily to the door of the room (also makes you feel safe and not been surprised if someone gets inside)

After learning some Chinese law of room organizing, I began to imagine where things should be placed in the room. This step quite hard because I can not follow all the rule. My little room has two doors and two windows, that sounds great but somehow make the organizing more difficult. However, I decided to break some rules: I sit opposite the toilet door and next to the window. That quite disturb because the window face to the west and an old plastic blinder cannot stop sunshine directly into my face.

Next, I started to move everything around. Not so hard. I need just about 10 minutes to make everything stay in its place.

Finally, I got a “new room,” looks totally different and logically.

Will you try to organize your room in the Feng Shui law?

Have a self-cutting haircut

Have you ever cut your own hair?
For me, I do it twice per month since I come to the USA. And after 3 months, my hairstyle still looks terrible though It’s better than the first time.

I tried to learn some general movement to have the most simple hairstyle – soldier’s – but at the first time, I failed. It’s not easy for me to look at the mirror and cut my hair. My hand moves the clipper too close to my head, so, I had to cut off all my hair because of a little mistake. From a hairstyle looks like Donal Trump, my hair come as short as Obama. However, it’s still smooth and fast to cut the whole hair by clipper. Just scratch it all around my head, and everything is done. The second time I cut my hair may be the hardest and longest time I spend for a haircut.

After a month, my hair growth. I want to cut the hair in the nape and two sides of my head while still hold the length on top. It’s very hard because I can’t see my back. I had to take a snapshot and recorded videos after every move to make sure everything looks good. After about 1 hour in the bathroom, with nearly a hundred of photo and about 15 minutes of video, with hair fly everywhere and my hand tired, I gave up. I leave my nape somewhere black, somewhere white. Looked funny.

Luckily, I did it better over time. Less photo shoot, less time in the bathroom. Now I know what I have to do. However, it still looks hilarious

Miss a class due to wake up late?

My apologies to Mr. VanBuskirk

Have you ever miss a class due to wake up late? Honestly, I did it today, and that’s terrible.

This morning, I wake up without hearing the alarm on my phone, and I thought: “It will be a great day, I wake up before the alarm.” Sadly, I can’t keep that happy mind long. 10 second later, I pick up my phone, press on the home button and my class with Mr. VanBuskirk ended 2 hours ago. I asked myself why my housemate, also my classmate, go to school without me but deep down I know that is my false.

I had a very terrible Monday, and I think it made me much tired. At night, I can’t sleep when the memories of the whole day run through my head frame to frame. I decided to get out of the bed and play computer games to refresh, and a bit physical tired can make me fall asleep quicker. However, I totally forget the time and the game ended at 3 a.m. And what will be, will be.

The feeling of guilty urges me to start typing as soon as possible. This is the first post I do not encourage you to do something, but in the positive thought, I think there will be 2 parallel content I can write for my blog. First is to tell you to try something new, as I still doing, and the second is something you should not attempt. I will try to bring my best to you through these words.

Last but not least, I want to say sorry to Mr. VanBuskirk for my absent. And to you, readers: Don’t try this at home

Lying in a car’s trunk

Have you ever tried lying in the trunk of a car?
Last week, before spring break, I just tried going home from school in the trunk of my friend’s car. It’s a very new feeling.
The small car had to carry up to 6 people, so I decided to try to stay in the trunk for one day to get tight. The trunk is very wide and fits my body. Lying in it is quite comfortable.
For safety reasons, I keep in touch with my friends in the car by phone. We stay in touch during the trip. In the trunk of the car, I could hear people talking, but I had to yell at everyone to hear. Strange.
Lying in the car, I found out that there was a latch, it lit up in the dark, and I could open the trunk with that pin.
The distance from my home school is quite close, but it feels a very long time. I think everyone drove around and teased me, but when I opened google map on the phone, everything was still in the right direction.
In it, whenever the car turns left or right, I feel nauseous. If the way back home twice longer, I will get motion sickness and vomiting in it.
I was so lucky to went home safely.

Say “No” with social media in 1 month

What is the last time you use social media? How frequently you use it? What about staying away from it for at least one month?

2 years ago, there was a period which I almost addicted to social media. Most of the time, I surfed Facebook and watched videos from Youtube. The first thing I do after wake up is check my facebook, and that usually made me late to school. I stuck with social media any time I can turn on the phone screen, even when the lecturer teaching on board.

I only realize my lousy situation when my friends got a part-time job. I asked myself: “What did I do when people outside are working?”. I quickly found my core problem, that is I have no time to do other things. I had no time to study, no time to gain knowledge, no time to read, no time to find a job. That is all because I did one thing too much: enjoyed social media.

I quit using the social network, I shut down my facebook account, I delete the Youtube and Instagram app. And here comes the time. I did exercises, I read formal news, research somethings, and found a part-time job.

I was a waiter at the JW Marriott Hanoi Hotel, banquet department. That is the hotel which Barack Obama and Donal Trump chose to stay when they came to Vietnam, of course when they still a President of the United States of America.

Since the time I avoided social media to the moment I had a new job, that was exactly 29 days. Unluckily, the number stopped at 29. My manager uses Facebook to connect with the employee, to schedule working time and make announcements. I had to reopen my Facebook account, and never stop using it till now.

What about you, do you want to try to say no with social media and figure out what its impact is?

Be a vegetarian in 1 week

Have you ever tried to be a vegetarian? What about having a week without any meat, fish, etc.?

Since I was a child, I hate eating vegetables. There just a few kinds I like. Every meal, I tried to eat as fast as I can, and when my mom realized I did not eat any vegetables, I’m full, and I denied to eat anything more.

For me, it’s hard to have a day without meat. I tried several times to have just a day without meat, but it’s harder than I thought. I ate fried tofu to go through that day. The most challenging moment is when my neighbors were cooking, food smell came to my house, and it made my mind oscillated. However, I passed, but I ate doubled meat the next day. So far, it just a challenge for me that day.

Peoples taught me that I have to have proper nutrition in every meal, and a kid has to have meat for protein to grow up. That’s correct for children. A few years ago, I incidentally read an article about the benefits of being a vegetarian and surprisingly, it’s better than I imagined. People can have protein from many sources such as tofu, seitan, chickpeas, soybeans, etc., so we don’t have to worry about the lack of nutrition in meals.

There are many advantages of vegetarianism to health: improve physical fitness, decrease calories, weight loss, less migraine, less stressed, balance hormones, less body smell, low BMI and have more beautiful skin. Furthermore, our grocery bills also cheaper.

1 week without meat can not make us be a vegetarian, but it is enough to refresh our body.

So, will you try?

Not talking any words for 1 day

Have you ever tried muting yourself for at least 24 hours?

You can do anything you want, you can open your mouth, you can eat, drink, sneeze, cough,… but you must not say any words. If you’re going to do this challenge, make sure this has to be last long in at least 24 hours. Remember to tell people who close to you that you will not say anything, don’t make them worry or you have to talk to explain.

There are some benefits we may gain from this activity.
Non-talking mean you have to use gesture to communicate with the others, it can improve your skill in using body language. When talking, we can transmit information through words, but sometimes words impotent to express the meaning of what we want to convey, even in the written language. That’s the reason why we have to use body language to support our verbal language, make the
conversation more lively through gestures, even facial expressions.

You will have to use every bundle of muscle in your body, include 43 face muscle. They all have to work more than usual, which can compare with a low-intensity exercise. You can burn a little bit more calories than usual due to the effort to express your mind.

Furthermore, the way people translate your body language also very funny, there will many misunderstanding occurred, and you will have a big laugh about that. “Smile is the best medicine.”

Anyway, someone will use a pen and a piece of paper or typing on the phone. That can reduce some advantage from this activity. However, it’s up to you.

I had not done this before, but I will do it soon. What about you, have you ever tried?

Eating boogers

Have you ever tried eating boogers (someone calls snot or dried nasal mucus)?

I have seen many kids did that with curious and excited. They picked their noes, look carefully what just came out from a nose on the finger as a scientist looking for bacteria. And, they put that thing in mouth. For me, that’s disgusting. I have never tried it, but when surfing the internet, I found a lot of things different, many people tried that “dishes” and they like to do it. Moreover, some scientists even researched about that. Interesting!

There is more than one research about eating that thing. Almost all of them tells that eating boogers is good for our health. They said, “snot contains salivary mucins that help form barriers against cavity-causing bacteria.” Furthermore, it also can improve the human’s immune system. The snot which contains many kinds of dust, dirt, and bacteria, when coming inside us, can work as a vaccine shot. Our body can fight against it and prepare for the new strike of the same virus. However, bring bacteria directly inside our body can cause many diseases such as stomachache, diarrhea or Gastrointestinal infection. Picking noes also can make bacteria from our hand stick in the nose and in some cases, that bacteria can move straight to our beautiful brain.

I asked my friends about this, and some said they ate mucus already. Some said it salty, some said it sweet. What about you? Do you want to try yours and tell me how it is?

Light switch balancing

Have you ever tried to balance the light switch?
Since I was a child, many times I tried to keep the light switch stay balance. And it’s tough. Light switches did not make to be balanced, it has to stay in one of the sides. I know that, but the more its challenge, the more I want to do. I tried it many times, made it as slow as I can, but even I held it firmly in the half-way position when my finger released, I heard the sound “tick,” and the switch came back to the fixed position.
However, after many times tried with many different switches, I did it beautifully. That moment I felt I could do everything else in the world, nothing harder than balancing light switches. And it’s worth to spend times to do that. In spite of that proudest, I kept it for myself, says nothing to anybody.
2 years ago, when surfing Facebook, I saw a photo of a balanced light switch with a caption: “Did you do this in your childhood?”. That’s when I realized not only me did that. There are many people, who commented on the post that they also did it. It is an amusing memory.
Searching on the internet, I read someone even thought that the light will be dimmed when balancing the switch. Somehow it’s very reasonable.
What about you? Did you make it? Or you can try it now!