It all started a year or so ago when my kids got really interested in this game called Minecraft. Not being a gamer myself, I've not showed much interest in it but all I hear from them is Minecraft and I always remember them mentioning the name Jeb.
Sunday night, at 8.30pm I tucked my kids in to bed and 10 minutes after, my daughter stomps in to my room looking as though she was suffering from an anxiety attack. She tried to tell me something but due to the fact she was over excited, all I heard come out of her mouth was..."mummy ... Jeb.... Singapore!!" I swear I thought my child was going nuts!
However, not just thinking she was nuts, I was mad at her because she was supposed to be in bed. Nevertheless, I finally managed to understand what she was trying to tell me..."Jeb the developer of Minecraft; the game they play, is here in Singapore."
After yelling at her to get back in bed, I got on twitter and followed this Jeb guy. I remember my kids talking to me about him and how they'd love to meet him one day....so why not meet him now since he's already on Singapore soil?
So like a stalker, I followed him on twitter and tweeted him about my kids and what great big fans there were. I did this not expecting a reply because you usually don't get replies from popular and famous people like this... although I have to admit I've had pretty good charms with celebrities. Haha.
True enough, not too long after, I heard the notification come in on my iPad. It was Jeb! He was keen on meeting my kids but told me he would try as he is here for his honeymoon. After a few tweets back and forth, he asked to meet at the lobby of Marina Bay Sands (where he and his wife was apparently staying at) on Tuesday ay 10.30am! Dammit! Lani will be having her Chinese Oral examinations then. Now if she wasn't having any exams on that day, I would have allowed her to skip class...
Anyway, I didn't want to seem pushy and neither did I want to let this opportunity of my kids meeting their hero slide...so I took the chance and tweeted him a few more times asking if it was possible to change the timing as my daughter was having her exams. He replied saying he will try his best as he was here for his honeymoon but will get back to me Tuesday morning.
Told my kids about this the next day and they were excited and hopeful.
Nevertheless, up till about 12pm today, I did not get a tweet confirming if my kids could meet him before he left Singapore today. I was going to tweet him to ask but before I could do that, he tweeted to give me a time and place to meet.
As busy as I was at the office, I managed to find some time to get some things ready for my kids' meeting with their hero. I got photos printed for Jeb to autograph it for them and a couple gifts and souvenirs for both Jeb and his wife. Then it was time for me to leave the office to go get my kids. I took half a day off as I know how important this is for my babies.
We got to the the airport, Terminal 3 by 5:45pm and waited at his flight check in counter. My mum spotted Jeb first and from the photos I had tweeted him of the kids, both he and his wife recognized us. Being the wonderful people they are, instead of heading to check in for their flight first, they actually walked up to my kids who were by the way really calm.
Jeb was soft spoken but really down to earth and seemed shy. His wife was a doll. They didn't rush the kids and spent time talking to them, taking photos, signing autographs and Jeb even recorded a video for my kids' YouTube channel.
The kids passed them the little gifts and they were thrilled. Jeb's wife asked for a picture and we said our goodbyes (not without thanking them for making two kids so happy).
I never was in to Minecraft as I am not a game person. But after this meeting, even if I don't play Minecraft, I'd still support my kids with their interest in it... obviously to a certain extent as school still comes first.
Thank you Jens Bergensten. I will be ever so grateful to you for making two kids in Singapore feel extra special!
Videos of the meeting
http://youtu.be/lm9UFZwwcmg
http://youtu.be/FI9Valfj2xs
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Most of what I know about Minecraft I’ve learned through watching my kids become totally immersed in that world. They spend half their time playing and the other half between watching video tutorials other players have made or making their own videos about Minecraft.
I used to think it was a total waste of time but Minecraft is a community actively learning and discovering from one another. I've also learned that in scripted games, everybody experiences the same thing — they’re all rescuing the same princess and what not, but in Minecraft, you use your imagination to create whatever you want. It might be a story or an interesting place where you can go and play. But whatever it is, it’s a reflection of you and your intention and your creativity.
My kids have definitely exercised much more creativity since playing Minecraft and their interesting in wanting to be graphic designers and computer programmers have grown immensely.
So who is the person behind this awesome game?
Jens Peder Bergensten, also known as Jeb is a Swedish video game designer. Since December 2010, he has worked for the game developer Mojang as a programmer and game designer. He then became the lead designer and lead developer of Minecraft, after Markus "Notch" Persson stepped down from the positions in December 2011.
Bergensten was born May 18, 1979 started programming his first games at age 11 using BASIC and Turbo Pascal.
Nevertheless, the one thing I regret not doing when we met Jeb at the airport was doing a short interview with him. But I really didn't want to take too much of his time....wanted my kids to enjoy it all and didn't want to hold both Jeb and his lovely wife Jenny back from getting ready for their long flight back to Sweden. Maybe next time or maybe an email or Skype interview...
