Sometimes, in life, you realise there are two sides to every coin. My good friend, Mathew, after reading my last blog, decided to offer his perspective on who Alex is. And well, let’s just say he went with a different route.
Below is what he wrote on all things Alex. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, he’s a fabulous writer:
Before I begin yapping away, I need to give credit where credit is due. Yang (or Alistair as some would call him) is a great storyteller and writes very well. I can’t even put into words how great his “blogging” series is, and he’s only written two so far. Hats off to you old friend. Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts.
To give the reader some context, one of Yang’s written series revolves around the meticulous depiction of his peers. Since I found this to be such a brilliant idea, I decided that every time he would write about a mutual connection, I would do the same but coming from my own perspective. I hope that the reader will enjoy my version of events as much as Yang’s, and I do also hope that you find this perspective refreshing.
The first person he wrote about is this kid called Alexander (Hao Lin) Chen. Coincidentally, I know him too. That guy man. Goodness gracious. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of that kid is how obnoxiously lazy he is. In French, we have this saying that kinda describes him: “avoir un poil dans la main”. It translates to being lazy to the extent of growing hair on one’s palm. You have to understand, Alex is naturally one of the most academically proficient people I know. YET, HE IS LAZY. That says something about his intellect. In school he was always known to be the smart kid who didn’t try much. But people admired him in that sense. Quick-witted, intelligent, extremely humorous (at times), and owner of a crappy moped in Shanghai, there isn’t much that can stop Alex if he puts his mind to it. Whether it be gaming, academia, or conversations, Alex is able to adapt to many settings.
However, (Lex if you’re reading this, don’t take offence) he could really improve on the efforts he puts in his social life. Last I heard (which is a while ago since he doesn’t make an effort) he doesn’t leave his room much. He’s lowkey an “otaku”. Maybe not that extreme yet, but I can see him getting there. His roommate Bryan (which was also someone that went to school with him & another great friend of Yang’s) is almost the exact opposite of Alex. He’s proactive, tidy, driven, hardworking. Traits that I don’t think Alex have yet.
Lex if you end up reading this, I hope you don’t take offence. What I’m writing is my perception of the person you’re becoming since we left for uni. I may be wrong, and I know you’re still achieving very high results. But from the limited interactions we’ve had since we were 18, it seems that way. I hope the harsh tone don’t affect the way you see me.
Although he’s been mildly getting on my nerves lately, I still think that he is a valuable person. Yang has alluded to how very nonchalant Alex is in his way of living. It is true. To be honest it is very impressive how he seems so disconnected from his emotions at times. It’s a good characteristic to have as a person with these tendencies doesn’t get affected over simple banalities. For example, he doesn’t make much of an effort to keep in contact with old friends. Actually, that was wrong. The kid makes no effort whatsoever. Maybe it’s just a me thing, but I’m pretty sure Yang receives similar treatment from Alex. And that REALLY sucks on Alex’s part – given that the pair basically grew up together. Lex is a geezer of many qualities, but I fear that this one flaw of his will cause him some issues down the line.
Regardless, we’ve spent great times together in Shanghai. The laughs we shared with the rest of the friend group in his room, his compound, are truly memories that will last my lifetime. I’m not exactly the type to get sappy (unlike Yang lmao) but I have to recognise the fun times spent gaming on his PC, excessively consuming hard liquor, going to bars & clubs (to be fair, he didn’t attend those events often as it wasn’t for him but the moments he came out with us were still enjoyable nights), vaping with his brother (that was funny lol), or just hanging out at McDonald’s/KFC after school.At the end of the day, Lex is a charming figure who knows how to entertain. He may be a little awkward with strangers, but it doesn’t take much for him to impress. I wonder if he still vapes.
We hosted a few podcasts together for school, along with Yang. And so help me God and may the Lord be my witness, but THOSE PODCASTS, were HILARIOUS. Maybe not to the general public, but to us it was fun. That podcast bred true profanities coming from all of our mouths. Alex is a “YouTuber” of sorts. That helped with the editing of those videos. Podcasting was a shared hobby of ours and it was reflected in the sheer amount of fun we had creating that series for school. We boasted a plethora of amazing guests (our teachers) whom Alex was able to swoon in our direction. Where did this ability to swoon come from? Well, some would say that Lex is a professional yapper. Teachers liked him for his sarcasm, but deep down I think they liked him just because he had good grades (I’m joking, obviously it took more than just that; we’ve established now that Lex is a somewhat entertaining character). We had other yappers in our class, but they weren’t as successful in the “teacher department” since those kids truly had atrocious grades (I won’t name drop anyone, but I might in the next piece I write).
I know Yang didn’t mention this, but PERSONALLY I would really like to talk about this flipping kid’s love life. I don’t want to use the Lord’s name in vain, but Jeeesuuus this guy sometimes is inept. I mean he dated this girl once literally because he couldn’t be bothered to reject her! What the flip! The kid once again was so nonchalant about the situation that he let some chick be his “girlfriend” and completely neglected her in the process (as expected; but it’s not like he treated her badly, quite the opposite, he can be a gentleman). To be fair that situation was quite funny, and maybe the girl needed to learn a lesson from the neglect (I don’t know where I’m going with this so I’m going to stop slandering her). Safe to say that Lex isn’t exactly romantic; unlike Yang who spews love scenarios out of nothing. I’m not one to judge, how people love and care for others is totally subjective – fair enough – but the kid literally could not care. Thinking about that relationship makes me laugh. Girls do enjoy Lex, but I think that none (or at least none of the ones that have shown clear interest in him as of now), have tickled his fancy… yet (tbf idk if it will happen). Ok last thing I’ll say about one of his exes, but she kissed him. And he didn’t enjoy it. I doubt that she did either. Whatever, who cares.
All I know is that the kid does appeal to certain women. AND I KNOW I KNOW, LIFE ISN’T ONLY ABOUT CLARTING AND ROMANCE, but you know it doesn’t hurt to dip your toes and try a cheeky little bite once in a while.
Goodness! I forgot to mention, he also dated this extremely strange girl in our class once. I won’t disclose her name to the general public, but we’ll call her J (LOL she was quite the character let me tell you that for free). I know that Lex and Yang will know who I’m referring to. That girl man, she went insane over Alex. They sat next to each other in biology class and that’s where the love flames started BOILING! They’d “flirtatiously” sit next to one another in biology and be the only people to enjoy that class. And boy oh boy did they have their privacy alright (they shared a table at the very back of the class, isolated from everyone). The excitement from this budding romance quickly turned to dust as Alex one day seemingly lost interest (to be fair I doubt that he had much interest in the first place). Consequentially, the separation was imminent. They had plans to meet for a meal one weekend – Alex didn’t show up. That was the end of the relationship. Lmao. Genuinely, lmao.
As you can see, this guy is quite a legend with women. They fall for him, but he doesn’t fall back for them. Quite an impressive feat if you ask me. But it ties back to how nonchalant he is about almost everything. It’s a respectable feature at times.
My goodness re-thinking about his past lovers has made me chuckle quite a bit.
Anyways, enough on the topic of love. I’ve tried helping him search for jobs, but I don’t think my aid is welcomed. Fair.
He’s currently in Toronto. His Instagram used to be fun but now it’s completely dead (not that it matters really). That was a useless comment but it had to be said. At least unarchive the old posts you had man, they were pretty cool.
To end this on a more positive note, Alex’s approach to life is one that more people should adopt: just chill out man. His ability to remain level-headed in many situations allows him to stay rational. I hope that your brother has grown/is growing into someone with similar attributes as you, because you haven’t done too badly for yourself (could be better though; I also hear that Eric is more of a ladies’ man than you are).A wittily smart and charming person – not much can cause Lex failure in his endeavors.
In the grand scheme of things, one’s treatment of others reigns supreme… and in that regard, Lex consistently exemplifies generosity.
Written in Copenhagen
RST
Alistair's blog 