I was told to extend on this, so I will write my little experience here:
Day 1:
- I am the type to be very silly around people I am comfortable with but I am also PAINFULLY shy around others. I saw most of Team Liquid and EG all together in their groups. I wanted to say hello to them but I was too scared even when my friends tried to push me... I didn't get to say hello. QQ
- I spent most of the day watching Nick and his matches. I sat with OMGYUMYUM people to watch main stage games and helped them out with their "Forever Alone Hurricane Irene" sign woohoo :D They also saved us seats at the second row. I love OMGYUMYUM people.
- Got a picture with TLO, Qxc, Sheth, and Jinro somehow despite how shy I was.. I was pushed to get pictures with them most of the time.
- Sat behind Liquid TLO and Tyler and didn't realize they were getting interviewed. Came out on the youtubes in the back with me being kissed :>
- Hazelynut taught me and smix how to shake our butts to HyunAh's "Bubble Pop". Three e-sports girls in front of the mirror shaking their cute butts at 4am. Hype it.
Day 2:
- I grabbed hazelynut's CSL poster and volunteered to get it signed by korean pros mostly because I wanted an excuse to meet more pros :D However, I remembered how painfully shy I was.. I went up to Hwangsin because we have talked before so it was TINY bit less nerve wrecking. After I got his signature, Hwangsin ran up to me 15 minutes later and said in korean "You know Noblesse?" and took me to Noblesse to get his signature :D And then 15 minutes later again, Hwangsin said, "do you want Rain's signature too?" and took me to Rain. Hwangsin is teh awesome for pimping out korean signatures.
- Made fun of PainUser's gaming gears. His mouse pad was huge (like 12x12" huge) and his mechanical keyboard was super tiny (like 8x4" tiny). He handed me his his keyboard and I got to play with it right before his game. Weeeee. Really really chill guy.
- Sat next to Sonkie to watch pokebunny. Sonkie's a really funny dude. He tried to see which female SC2 stars I knew of such as megumixbear, peanut, flo, etc. Hahahahaha.
- Someone said bye to me when I was leaving the convention building. I turned around and realized it was PainUser. *maeks blog*
- Shook hands with Tasteless in front of a hotel bar. Awesome.
- Made many SC2 loving friends at the inn I was staying at. Sat in middle of the hall at 3am in the morning talking about teh starcrafts.
Day 3:
- Smix bought me amazing brunch buffet. Live jazz music + Smix + strawberry waffles = TL heaven. Screw you all, your argument is invalid.
- I lost my debit card while watching finals. If anyone finds a card from Wilshire State bank, well now you know my full name. It's an alliteration.
- After MLG finals, Nick and I walked around to find some iced tea. Apparently, everything in North Carolina closes before 7pm. As the two of us are from NYC, we'll never get used to this. In search of our iced tea, we kept bumping into Jinro and Hero. Eventually, Jinro and Hero wanted to a bum a smoke from me. They realized the white box in my right hand was an iPhone and not a box of cigarettes. First of all, I wish I had a box of cigarettes (but I don't smoke). Second of all, jinro + hero?! *Maeks fanfic*
- In search for Hazelynut, I somehow found myself in team FnaticMSI's room playing Tetris battle on Iefnaij's laptop and "liked" my own facebook fan page on his account.
- I had an almost meaningful conversation with Noblesse not too soon after.
After MLG, I did something I would NEVER have done 3 days before. Seeing that a guy had pro gamers' signatures on his laptop, I went up to him at the airport gate and started to talk about MLG Raleigh with him. I used to have a hard time being super self-conscious and awkward with people I am not used to, but I surprised myself by making friends on my own.
What did I learn from all this?
I'm not as shy as I used to be. Go for what you love and what appeals to you and let money never be an obstacle because you live this life once (I think). You will find yourself, I assure you. And whether if it's a fan, an e-sports star, or even a non-rts player, make friends with everyone at MLG. No need to be shy.