Ho ho ho! CounterStrike invades Christmas!

So, it's been a while since I was a crazy about playing video games like Counterstrike for hours on end, and you wouldn’t think that I’d pick up that habit while I’m here. But I have to confess that I spent a couple hours of my Christmas day playing CounterStrike! But before you make too many assumptions, let me clarify that it was actually an indoor laser tag facility that they called Counterstrike! And it was an absolute blast!

Chances are, if you are a guy who likes video games, or you know someone who does, you have probably played laser tag some time in your life. Two teams – running around and shooting each other – Trying to get as many kills – using any technique possible to avoid being shot -- when the buzzer sounds, whoever has the most points will be the next James Bond! Great! Right?

That’s fun but, this laser tag adventure was a little unique, due to the fact that we had army camouflage vests, headphones providing real-time combat sound effects, only three lives rather than an unlimited number (headshots were twice as lethal as chest shots) and a real filthy concrete facility! The best part of it all was that when you got shot, you didn’t just hear something or see yourself blink (how realistic is that!), but you for sure when you were hit because you got a little (notice I said little) electronic shock when you are hit. It made for quite the effect and gave a little more of a feeling of paintball where you work a little harder not to get hit because of the slight discomfort of the occurrence. I’m not sure it would fly in the US, but its great fun and though I’d much prefer spending time with the family during this season, it at least gave me short term high!

*Note I was not hired by any laser tag company to post this blog entry, will receive no commission on laser tag visits from viewers, but honestly just wanted to share with you what I consider to be a freakin fun adventure for the whole family (well, as long as your kids know the difference between a real gun and a fake gun. Then it might be scary!)

3 … 2 … 1 … Foreigners in Action!

My classmate and I are seriously considering writing a list, which soon could turn into a book, entitled: “You know you are in [my city] when…” The most recent addition to that list would have to be an event I took part in last week: “…You’ve only been in your city 3 months and you are asked to shoot a commercial that will be shown to a European government to try to bring investment to your area!” It makes me feel like such a good citizen to contribute to my community by leveraging my white skin to bring some more business to this already booming area!

The commercial was broken up into 2 parts. One in a shopping mall and the other in a bank. After arriving at the mall, we were told our clothes weren’t quite up to par. So we perused around the ritzy mall for an hour trying on $100-200 shirts to borrow in order to appeal more stylish from a Chinese standpoint for the impending shoot! After 3 hours of repeating scenes to get them exactly right, we finally satisfied the director’s fancy.

Next, at the bank, we got decked out in suits and pretended to be brokering $100 billion dollar deals. In actuality we were carrying 5 cent folders and talking about why people liked staring so much (Yes, our words will be dubbed over so they really didn’t care what we said).

Though I’d like to think we acted so well that other companies would want to pay to also use our amazing performances, we didn’t actually sign any kind of waiver or identity protection. So who knows, maybe next week I’ll show up on a slew of those huge billboards plastered along roadsides throughout the city! Regardless, its one more thing I’ve already done in this country that I’ll probably never be able to do back at home!