My First Tattoo

Getting inked.

My recent internet surfing has led me to the exploration of body tattoos. Just 2 weeks ago when I was surfing the net, an interesting pop up about tattoos appeared on my computer screen. Mesmerized by the interesting pictures and colors of the variety of tattoos, I entered the website. Through out my exploration, I learned the purpose of having a tattoo and the meaning of certain animal tattoos. Ever since I got exposed to that tattoo website, I started surfing for more tattoo images and learning the meanings of the animal tattoos as well as the Chinese characters. In addition to that, one of my friends recently got a tattoo on her back of her neck which looked really nice. Telling me that the procedure of getting the tattoo on wasn't painful and unhygienic, my friend convinced me that having a tattoo would be okay. The next thing I knew, I thought of having one.

Initially, I thought of having a large picture of a Navy SEAL commando with the words, "Specially Trained" pasted on my back. However, after countless opinions from my friends thinking that they prefer my back to be clean, I dropped the idea of having a tattoo. I discussed this issue with my friend who got a tattoo on her back neck. In our discussion she suggested of having a small tattoo instead of a big one pasted on my back seeing that the bigger the picture the more expensive it can be. She was right and her suggestion made me thought about a new tattoo for myself. Instead of having a picture, I asked myself why not some meaningful words.

I thought about some meaningful words which truly reflected myself. Initially I couldn't decide which words to have since my personality hardly resembles any meaningful or virtuous words. I was then inspired by my previous tattoo idea. From that point on, I knew what words to get it inked on my body: Specially Trained. The word, "Specially Trained" was ideal for me since I'm a special forces and SWAT fanatic. However, the number of alphabets in that word which was a lot was going to cost me a bomb since that the price of having a body tattoo depends on the number of alphabets. Consequently, I thought of shortening the word. The next question that popped into my head was how?

Surprisingly it didn't took me long enough to answer this question. I thought of using Chinese characters for that word. On the other hand, I was clueless about writing "Specially Trained" in Chinese as I don't know Chinese. Fortunately, some of my friends over here in Canada knew Chinese; so I asked them to write my desired words for me . Although they wrote it out for me, I was a bit worried that the Chinese writing for specially trained might not be an accurate translation. So I went to my friend and asked for her confirmation. Knowing that she could be trusted, I gave her the writing and I asked her to check whether was it correct. The moment she concluded it was correct, I knew I had the ideal picture for my tattoo. The next question was which part of my body should it be pasted at?

Seeing that the Chinese characters were small, I knew it would look awkward to paste it on my back. I thought of putting it on my chest, but it would not be visible to others since my shirt will be covering the tattoo up. Finally, I decided that I should have it on my left shoulder. The next thing to do was to get the Chinese words calligraphed. Fortunately my friend knew how to calligraph those words since she learned it when she was young. After successfully getting the words caligraphed, it was time to get it inked on my left shoulder.

On the following day, I took a bus to downtown. I roamed around the town to look for the tattoo parlor and the moment I found it, I braced myself before I entered. Since it was my first time getting inked, I was very nervous. Furthermore, after being told several times by others about how painful the process was, I felt shaky. Nevertheless, telling myself that I am tough as nails, I felt more confident and more courageous to endure the pain. Later on, I was introduced to this friendly lady who was the owner of the parlor. She answered everything I needed to know about the tattoo process and she convinced me that the process would not be painful for me judging by how tough I looked. As it was time to get my tattoo done, I followed the lady's husband into the "surgery room".

Like his wife, the "surgeon" was also friendly. He was eager to know me and it was really fun talking to him. As he started the "surgery", he told me to relax and he comforted me by telling me that the process would not be very painful. The moment he ran that mechanic drill down my shoulder, I felt uncomfortable and annoyed. It felt like something was chewing my shoulder off and the fact that I needed to sit still for hours while experiencing such annoyance made me impatient about getting the tattoo done. In the middle of the "surgery", my friends dropped by to see how was I doing.

My Indian friend who was hoping for me to cry in pain was disappointed as he witnessed the smile on my face. As for my female friends, they were looking at the "surgery" with interest at the same time snapping photos of me getting inked.After the "surgery" ended, the "surgeon" bandaged my shoulder and congratulated me for having my first tattoo. He taught me how to take care of my tattoo before I paid him. The price was expensive as it cost me $64 for two Chinese words. Nevertheless, it was worth the price as the work was quite good.

On my way home, my friends were concerned about me as they said I looked pale. I wasn't surprised when they said that because during the "surgery", I saw the "surgeon" wiping a lot of blood from my shoulder. However, I felt much better after I rested myself. Overall, getting a tattoo wasn't as painful as I thought. Right now, I just can't wait to open my bandage and see the art on my shoulder.

The "surgeon" doing his job

Specially trained


All patched up and ready to go