Well, we had to be on the bus at 7:30am to head to the Beijing International Airport. I woke up at 6:30, grabbed my things, and was down to eat breakfast before 7am. Then, we had checkout from the hotel, which caused some conflict because it was taking so long per person so Lee got frustrated and really got mad at the staff saying we will leave at 7:30 even if we did not check out. Then, a Chinese man kept trying to cut us in line, and even after being shoved aside by Benjamin repeatedly, and yelled at by Lee, he still cut his way in. We were not happy with him at all. Apparently, he called Lee a “mad man” which Lee agreed with.
Airport check-in took some time because it wouldn’t be open until 9am, and we were all there at 8am. Finally, we figured out how to get the self-check-ins to work and just had to wait for our bags to be weighed and tagged. My bag was 2.6 kilos over so I threw away my hangers and Sunday shoes (they were old and had holes on the bottom), then put a bit more in my carry-on (which really doesn’t fit well). My weight matched Brock’s (who is my bag buddy) and together our bags weighed 23 kilos, which is the maximum weight. It all worked well thankfully!! We got through, saw the huge size of the airport as we took the tracks to the security check, and had almost two hour to wait. I wandered around trying to find a china patch (which does not exist – not even a patch exists here. Finally, I ran into Cameron, Zach, Brad, and Jessica and we bought a pizza from Pizza Hut to get rid of our extra yuan. We barely had enough – so it worked perfect!
On the flight, of course it was long, but really good movies were playing like “27 Dresses” and “Jumper” and “Horton Hears A Who” so I was content. At one moment, they had to turn off all the power on the airplane due to electrical problems in the back – there was a consistent, random dinging that was so loud and annoying that wouldn’t stop. They basically just turned of the TVs and music. No big deal. I found some comfortable positions to sleep in, but it was impossible to actually fall asleep. I wasn’t tired … which will be bad when jet lag finally hits me since China has a 14-hour time difference. Gotta love flying!
When we reached San Francisco, we had a four hour layover which is never fun. I mainly just sat around, then had lunch at Burger King with the group. The flight went well and we made it back to Provo. Now, I’m at my sisters and ready to begin a new project: Stadium of Fire.
Oh, I guess I should say that due to weight, half the luggage was left in San Fran, which included about 3/4th of the personal bags. I have to wait for mine … sigh … no luggage for me yet. Good thing I have most of my souvenirs in my carry on!
From September 2009 to March 2011, I will be posting to my other blog. For those who want to follow my mission experiences in Florida Fort Lauderdale, please go to:
dancetechinservice.blogspot.com
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thur, June 26, 2008
Our first stop in the morning was to sightsee at the Summer Palace that was built by the Empress. It was beautiful with the gardens and architecture. One interesting story is that the advisors told the Empress that she needed to build a navy because of the growth of foreign naval forces. She made one ship, which is found at her summer palace, and it is made of stone … meant for a dining hall. Sadly, I wasn’t all that impressed with it. The architecture was so similar to the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven and such sights, and the gardens were loud with tourists, it couldn’t fully appreciate for what it truly was. There was the most beautiful pond and bridge … I had misplaced my camera on the bus so I did not get any pictures there. I did later find my camera on the bus thankfully. After our short 45min visit there, we headed to lunch near “The Friendship Store” (I thought that sounded funny!!) It’s going to be hard to have to go back to the US and be unable to barter. It’s been a great experience here and I am getting good!
Our favorite part of the day … that which we all looked forward to, was the Silk Market. Once a small alley that turned into a short street, about five years ago it became a shopping center with seven floors, but there were three worth shopping and having fun bartering. It was at this location that Shane had a woman vendor tell him “You break my back!” I had a great shopping experience when I wanted to buy silk robes. I wanted a two-piece and a one piece. It should be real silk, so it probably should be worth a lot, but I only had about 150 yuan on me because it was my last buy of the tour. Well, the original asking price was 1700yuan, but she put it down to 1350 and asked for my best price. I honestly did not want to spend more than 100yuan. Wow did she get mad! Outrageous price, and I also knew that, so I tried to put them down and leave since they didn’t grab my full attention. However, she would not let me leave! She kept complaining about the price I asked for. I kept telling her that it was all I had and would put it down and try to walk off. Finally she offered me 150, but I didn’t want to spend all my money on it. I really tried to walk away but they trapped me in. grrrrr …. She kept telling me that 100 was too low and if she sold it to me for that price, she would be unable to come back to work tomorrow. At one moment, she said, “Your head is broken!” Finally, she lowered it to 140yuan and I really felt I should bring some silk robes back for myself so I agreed. Plus they finally let me leave their store. I may have felt bad, but they didn’t have to sell it to me. They get so affecnded, but they have control of whether they sell it to us or not. Apparently, so was fine with giving it to me for so low, she just wanted a bit more profit and after who knows how long … more than twenty minutes … I gave in. Gotta love bartering.
Back at the hotel, we had to quickly dress for the special VIP Delegate dinner that we were having with several young delegates from China. It is a great honor for us to attend and we were all curious to see what kind of food would be served and the entertainment we would get. The event was held at the Camp David of China. Beautiful landscape and design with several mansions on the property. It was amazing to see. Lee told us to keep our oohs and aahs to ourselves. We were basically given the red carpet treatment and it was amazing. It began to rain as we arrived, but that caused no troubles for us. Inside, we began by mingling with the delegates. It is our hope that these connections between BYU and the young delegates would one day help with the introduction of the church into China. These people would one day hold high offices in the government and already are in charge of foreign affairs in many areas. I was impressed with those I talked to. The meal was a buffet and instead of tables to sit at, we stood and could either hold our plates or stand at high stands (hard to explain but I’ve seen it before where glasses would be set when empty during a professional party). I don’t know how to explain it, but it was great! First, they had a woman perform a traditional Tibetan dance, then we performed the Waltz. Then they had a woman play the zeipher – which is one of the most beautiful sounds, I really love string instruments. Next, we performed the West Coast Swing and they had a man perform a Mongolian dance. We did the Lindy and they followed with a violin and piano classical piece. We ended with the Cha Cha. It was a night never to be forgotten. Their numbers were amazing. Beautiful numbers with the music and movement and costumes. Oh, I simply loved it! There really wasn’t much to say after that so we began to say our goodbyes and they sent us off with souvenirs, a Beijing Olympic shirt and a book about Chinese Culture. How truly blessed we have been on this wonderful trip to China!
Back at the hotel a lot of people tried to stay awake all night so they could fall asleep on the air flights. I lasted until 3am then decided I didn’t want to be social and went to bed in my room. I did get everything packed – just like Tetris. Honestly, every time I pack, everything just ends up perfectly into place. The only problem I encounter is weight distribution. I thought I did pretty well … although my carry on is HEAVY due to the Mah Jong set I bought – and of course the books and scriptures also found inside. My purse was able to carry all the important and valuable souvenirs.
Our favorite part of the day … that which we all looked forward to, was the Silk Market. Once a small alley that turned into a short street, about five years ago it became a shopping center with seven floors, but there were three worth shopping and having fun bartering. It was at this location that Shane had a woman vendor tell him “You break my back!” I had a great shopping experience when I wanted to buy silk robes. I wanted a two-piece and a one piece. It should be real silk, so it probably should be worth a lot, but I only had about 150 yuan on me because it was my last buy of the tour. Well, the original asking price was 1700yuan, but she put it down to 1350 and asked for my best price. I honestly did not want to spend more than 100yuan. Wow did she get mad! Outrageous price, and I also knew that, so I tried to put them down and leave since they didn’t grab my full attention. However, she would not let me leave! She kept complaining about the price I asked for. I kept telling her that it was all I had and would put it down and try to walk off. Finally she offered me 150, but I didn’t want to spend all my money on it. I really tried to walk away but they trapped me in. grrrrr …. She kept telling me that 100 was too low and if she sold it to me for that price, she would be unable to come back to work tomorrow. At one moment, she said, “Your head is broken!” Finally, she lowered it to 140yuan and I really felt I should bring some silk robes back for myself so I agreed. Plus they finally let me leave their store. I may have felt bad, but they didn’t have to sell it to me. They get so affecnded, but they have control of whether they sell it to us or not. Apparently, so was fine with giving it to me for so low, she just wanted a bit more profit and after who knows how long … more than twenty minutes … I gave in. Gotta love bartering.
Back at the hotel, we had to quickly dress for the special VIP Delegate dinner that we were having with several young delegates from China. It is a great honor for us to attend and we were all curious to see what kind of food would be served and the entertainment we would get. The event was held at the Camp David of China. Beautiful landscape and design with several mansions on the property. It was amazing to see. Lee told us to keep our oohs and aahs to ourselves. We were basically given the red carpet treatment and it was amazing. It began to rain as we arrived, but that caused no troubles for us. Inside, we began by mingling with the delegates. It is our hope that these connections between BYU and the young delegates would one day help with the introduction of the church into China. These people would one day hold high offices in the government and already are in charge of foreign affairs in many areas. I was impressed with those I talked to. The meal was a buffet and instead of tables to sit at, we stood and could either hold our plates or stand at high stands (hard to explain but I’ve seen it before where glasses would be set when empty during a professional party). I don’t know how to explain it, but it was great! First, they had a woman perform a traditional Tibetan dance, then we performed the Waltz. Then they had a woman play the zeipher – which is one of the most beautiful sounds, I really love string instruments. Next, we performed the West Coast Swing and they had a man perform a Mongolian dance. We did the Lindy and they followed with a violin and piano classical piece. We ended with the Cha Cha. It was a night never to be forgotten. Their numbers were amazing. Beautiful numbers with the music and movement and costumes. Oh, I simply loved it! There really wasn’t much to say after that so we began to say our goodbyes and they sent us off with souvenirs, a Beijing Olympic shirt and a book about Chinese Culture. How truly blessed we have been on this wonderful trip to China!
Back at the hotel a lot of people tried to stay awake all night so they could fall asleep on the air flights. I lasted until 3am then decided I didn’t want to be social and went to bed in my room. I did get everything packed – just like Tetris. Honestly, every time I pack, everything just ends up perfectly into place. The only problem I encounter is weight distribution. I thought I did pretty well … although my carry on is HEAVY due to the Mah Jong set I bought – and of course the books and scriptures also found inside. My purse was able to carry all the important and valuable souvenirs.
Wed, June 25, 2008
Finally, the time has come! At last the time has come at last. Hehehe …. We traveled to the Great Wall at 7:30am and stayed for at least four hours and we enjoyed every moment! I wanted to stay at the front, but I cannot climb stairs. I finally got up to the second tower and almost gave up. I rested on the ledge for maybe fifteen minutes when the director and tour manager passed and I decided to continue on. I did eventually make it to the seventh guard tower and was at the very top of a section of the Great Wall. A group went down the loop, which goes all the way around the freeway and back again. They were covered in sweat at the end, but they actually made it on time. I am so glad I did not give up and continued on to the top. It was worth it, although it was quite a challenge and many stops for rest were needed along the way. I did buy two paintings near the top and a stone carving at the bottom. It was great!
About the Great Wall … we went to a less tourist area. I was so surprised at the wall. I assumed it would be bigger, flatter, or something different. It was all stairs. Steep stairs of different sizes some almost knee high. It was an adventure! I would not want to be a guard if I had to climb those stairs several times a day. Going down was really easy for me, but up was impossible. I felt like I was going to collapse, like what I did when I climbed up to the Butte du Lion. Sigh … I need to learn how to climb stairs …
We finally returned to the hotel at 2pm for a two-hour rest. We all were told to constantly stretch because after such a climb, the dancers still have to perform tonight. I am so glad I am not a dancer! It did seem to go well, but I hear later that a few dancers were about to collapse at the end and they are all sore …
It was our last performance. I can’t believe it is all over. It is so unreal; I’m not sure what to do with myself! No more shows, no more set-ups or strikes. It could possibly be my last tour and I don’t even know it. I don’t know what I will be doing next year with my job. I hope to be working with Ballroom again but nothing has begun to be decided yet. Life goes to quickly … I am so glad to spend my time with wonderful friends. Even if I may forget the events, it is all about the emotions and impressions that are lasting. These dancers are my friends, and I have been able to get to know something about them all. I will miss those that leave, and look forward to seeing the team change again next year.
About the Great Wall … we went to a less tourist area. I was so surprised at the wall. I assumed it would be bigger, flatter, or something different. It was all stairs. Steep stairs of different sizes some almost knee high. It was an adventure! I would not want to be a guard if I had to climb those stairs several times a day. Going down was really easy for me, but up was impossible. I felt like I was going to collapse, like what I did when I climbed up to the Butte du Lion. Sigh … I need to learn how to climb stairs …
We finally returned to the hotel at 2pm for a two-hour rest. We all were told to constantly stretch because after such a climb, the dancers still have to perform tonight. I am so glad I am not a dancer! It did seem to go well, but I hear later that a few dancers were about to collapse at the end and they are all sore …
It was our last performance. I can’t believe it is all over. It is so unreal; I’m not sure what to do with myself! No more shows, no more set-ups or strikes. It could possibly be my last tour and I don’t even know it. I don’t know what I will be doing next year with my job. I hope to be working with Ballroom again but nothing has begun to be decided yet. Life goes to quickly … I am so glad to spend my time with wonderful friends. Even if I may forget the events, it is all about the emotions and impressions that are lasting. These dancers are my friends, and I have been able to get to know something about them all. I will miss those that leave, and look forward to seeing the team change again next year.
Tue, June 24, 2008
Our sightseeing stop of the morning was a travel to the Drum tower and Bell tower then walk around the small community. We climbed up steep steps and halfway up there the drums began so we sprinted up and was able to see five people sit the drums to replicate the timekeeping methods from the olden days. It was amazing. We also saw models of two other timekeeping methods, one deals with the trickling water and we were able to hear the cymbals go off on the small figurine to show time. It was great! Then I walked around with a few people to see the small community. They were small homes and they had to use community toilets. We found a playground that actually turned out to be an exercise yard. It was so funny! We spent quite a bit of time there and I got tired at the end.
It was our first performance at the Poly Theatre and it is an amazing building. It’s actually a hotel that happens to have a huge theatre in the center. When I say huge, the stage was at least twice, maybe three times as big as the deJong if it was cleared of all band shells and curtains. I had a hard time with sound again because I was back under the balcony in a small sound room. Jay did help to teach me some more about sound, but I know I have much to learn about equalizing and ganging sound differences between the house and the booth. One day …
One of the most memorable experiences on tour was our visit to the Hard Rock Café. It was great! We got 170yuan to spend on the meal and it was all recognizable AMERICAN FOOD!!! The music was loud, but they did play some music like Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, and Avril Lavigne. Before we exited the bus, Lee said we could not dance on the tables, but while inside, he did give permission for us to dance in our table area. We were on the balcony seating with soft couch-like chairs. It was so nice! They even brought candles for table lighting. I had fun making fun of the “flash and trash” lighting, but it would be fun to work at a place for a few months just to get experience lighting for a band. Oddly enough, I bought a veggie burger, but it looked really good and it was quite good … plus I also got onion rings to balance it all out. :-D At one moment in the night, Toffer got me to dance as he taught me the hustle. It was so much fun!! I simply love these dancers!! There were three singers, two women and a man, and the women were scandalously dressed. At one moment, one of the women came up to dance near us and went to one of the boys and stroked his spine. The funniest facial expression he made! Quite an interesting experience. We did have a great time and loved every minute!
It was our first performance at the Poly Theatre and it is an amazing building. It’s actually a hotel that happens to have a huge theatre in the center. When I say huge, the stage was at least twice, maybe three times as big as the deJong if it was cleared of all band shells and curtains. I had a hard time with sound again because I was back under the balcony in a small sound room. Jay did help to teach me some more about sound, but I know I have much to learn about equalizing and ganging sound differences between the house and the booth. One day …
One of the most memorable experiences on tour was our visit to the Hard Rock Café. It was great! We got 170yuan to spend on the meal and it was all recognizable AMERICAN FOOD!!! The music was loud, but they did play some music like Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, and Avril Lavigne. Before we exited the bus, Lee said we could not dance on the tables, but while inside, he did give permission for us to dance in our table area. We were on the balcony seating with soft couch-like chairs. It was so nice! They even brought candles for table lighting. I had fun making fun of the “flash and trash” lighting, but it would be fun to work at a place for a few months just to get experience lighting for a band. Oddly enough, I bought a veggie burger, but it looked really good and it was quite good … plus I also got onion rings to balance it all out. :-D At one moment in the night, Toffer got me to dance as he taught me the hustle. It was so much fun!! I simply love these dancers!! There were three singers, two women and a man, and the women were scandalously dressed. At one moment, one of the women came up to dance near us and went to one of the boys and stroked his spine. The funniest facial expression he made! Quite an interesting experience. We did have a great time and loved every minute!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mon, June 23, 2008
Well, we met at the bus at 8:30 to begin our trip to first the Temple of Heaven, then on to shopping. It was beautiful architecture and design in the Temple of Heaven. I walked along the Emporer’s path and wondered how it must have been like in ancient times, if the Emperor walked alone or is the sides were lined with people or guards. Also, what would have been going through his mind at such a time as he saw the gates to the temple and the trees begin to open for a greater view of the property. We were at the center of the universe, the echo wall, and there at the central temple. It’s great to be with this team and participate in the different discussion and jokes that go on.
Our next stop was at the Pearl Market and I found out I’m getting a lot better at bargaining. I’m sure I have a lot more to learn, but there were a few purchases I was really happy about. I got three jade figurines for 180 yuan when they originally wanted about 260 each. That’s a fourth of the price … pretty good … Although it’s called the pearl market, no one really bought pearls because we already got what we needed from Qingdao or our first shopping experience in Beijing. There were great clothes and souvenirs for sell, so there were a LOT of stuff bought. Many of the dancers had bags full of things, me included. It’s been the best shopping experience I’ve had. Things actually jumped out to me! Now, all we have left is the silk market … and that will be a great experience!
We had an hour stop at the hotel at 2:30pm, but it was the quickest hour ever! I leant my computer to some people, and when I finally had alone time, I had ten minutes before reporting to the bus! And guess what we found outside … RAIN!!! We had quite a travel to make to the site, and when we got there, it had stopped raining, but it quickly began again and we were trapped on the bus or in their dressing rooms. It didn’t let up until 5:30 and the performance was to begin at 6pm. There was a lot of worries about the soaking wet carpeted stage floor (there was no roof for the theatre) so the dancers were able to wear character shoes and they avoided any dance moves that were to be done on the ground. It was a worry that they’d injure themselves, but all did work out (as three dances were cut from the order – including the medleys). It began to rain again, but thankfully it was a light rain so we were able to continue. Pres. Samuelson and twelve other people prominent at BYU and in the church were present, but due to the rain were swept away by the V.I.P. staff afterwards to protect them from getting too wet. Oh, did I mention this was a part of the opening ceremonies of the Cultural Olympiad? It didn’t appear as a big event, but we were the main event. A choir sang two songs before us and also a soloist and a dance group were included, but seven songs were ours. The end had paper confetti … and they pumped a lot out of the cannons!! Everyone was covered, and quickly learned that it dyes the skin. It looked cool though! I stayed out of the confetti falling, but saw the huge effect on the dancers … definitely something to laugh about!!
Our dinner was at a pizza place where we had a pizza buffet! Everyone loved it! It was funny that a lot of the pizza included corn and peas. A new combination but still good. It was American food – or at least recognizable food - and honestly nothing else matters. Most dancers went to bed full and happy … and we were able to talk Lee into letting us pick our clothes for tomorrow. He had assigned awfully hot and miserable clothes so after much discussion, he gave us the freedom to choose …. YEAH!!! It’s a rare occasion, so we are all glad that we can.
Our next stop was at the Pearl Market and I found out I’m getting a lot better at bargaining. I’m sure I have a lot more to learn, but there were a few purchases I was really happy about. I got three jade figurines for 180 yuan when they originally wanted about 260 each. That’s a fourth of the price … pretty good … Although it’s called the pearl market, no one really bought pearls because we already got what we needed from Qingdao or our first shopping experience in Beijing. There were great clothes and souvenirs for sell, so there were a LOT of stuff bought. Many of the dancers had bags full of things, me included. It’s been the best shopping experience I’ve had. Things actually jumped out to me! Now, all we have left is the silk market … and that will be a great experience!
We had an hour stop at the hotel at 2:30pm, but it was the quickest hour ever! I leant my computer to some people, and when I finally had alone time, I had ten minutes before reporting to the bus! And guess what we found outside … RAIN!!! We had quite a travel to make to the site, and when we got there, it had stopped raining, but it quickly began again and we were trapped on the bus or in their dressing rooms. It didn’t let up until 5:30 and the performance was to begin at 6pm. There was a lot of worries about the soaking wet carpeted stage floor (there was no roof for the theatre) so the dancers were able to wear character shoes and they avoided any dance moves that were to be done on the ground. It was a worry that they’d injure themselves, but all did work out (as three dances were cut from the order – including the medleys). It began to rain again, but thankfully it was a light rain so we were able to continue. Pres. Samuelson and twelve other people prominent at BYU and in the church were present, but due to the rain were swept away by the V.I.P. staff afterwards to protect them from getting too wet. Oh, did I mention this was a part of the opening ceremonies of the Cultural Olympiad? It didn’t appear as a big event, but we were the main event. A choir sang two songs before us and also a soloist and a dance group were included, but seven songs were ours. The end had paper confetti … and they pumped a lot out of the cannons!! Everyone was covered, and quickly learned that it dyes the skin. It looked cool though! I stayed out of the confetti falling, but saw the huge effect on the dancers … definitely something to laugh about!!
Our dinner was at a pizza place where we had a pizza buffet! Everyone loved it! It was funny that a lot of the pizza included corn and peas. A new combination but still good. It was American food – or at least recognizable food - and honestly nothing else matters. Most dancers went to bed full and happy … and we were able to talk Lee into letting us pick our clothes for tomorrow. He had assigned awfully hot and miserable clothes so after much discussion, he gave us the freedom to choose …. YEAH!!! It’s a rare occasion, so we are all glad that we can.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sun, June 22, 2008
I’ve got the tour journal today. Dress code was gray pants, white shirts, yellow and blue stripped tie, and BYU blazers for the boys, and white dresses for the girls. Although the meeting time was 7:45am, we loaded on the bus ten minutes later after Lee had to fetch people, including Shane, from breakfast. We discovered that Brock and Tia had overslept their alarm and we left without them, causing them to pay 22 yuan for a taxi. On the bus, Richard Baldwin chose the song, “Abide with Me,” Charisse had the thought about following the rules: Jacob 6:12, and Angela gave the prayer.
We arrived fifteen minutes early to the meeting place for the Beijing 3rd Branch, located on the fourth floor of the Golden Tower. Before exiting the bus, we gave our bus driver a BYU t-shirt to thank him for all he does for us. Church began at 8:30am and there were about 30 members in attendance at that branch, but they had just split and many were on vacation or just moved. We attended all three hours of church with that branch.
When we returned to the bus, Micah informed us that during the Olympics, our church is the only religion allowed to meet and hold church services (according to the 2nd counselor of the branch) because we have followed the rules while other religions still try to preach underground.
We ate lunch at the same location as the day before. At one point, Shanae heard a little asian boy complain to his mother in English, ‘Mommy, I don’t want to eat a turtle!” And finally the mother turned to her son and stated, “You’re not going to eat turtle! It’s just there for decoration!”
As we headed to the Forbidden City, the men were able to take off their blazers as the women could change out of their nylons and heels. It wasn’t until after our picture at the cypress that men could remove their ties and women their belts. It was a hot day outside! Everyone was dripping with sweat …
So, our first stop was at the garden to discover the cypress tree where President David O. McKay offered a dedicatory prayer on January 9, 1921. We had a long walk from the bus to the entrance, but we found our way and took our group picture. What a sight for the people to see fifty foreigners finding fascination with a tree. Although it may have one appeared as a secluded spot, it now is a busy area for parents searching for arranged marriages. We spent maybe ten minutes in the garden before heading over to enter the Forbidden City. We were given three and a half hours (until 5pm) to wander around the grounds. Many were already worn out so just walked through the central area and had about an hour and a half to sit and wait around. Others took their time and visited many of the different halls. There was a few museums, but many did not realize that although it cost money to enter, the price was only 1.5 yuan … of course there were a lot of people who did not bring money since it is the Sabbath.
Because of the long wait where most of the team sat around wishing we could leave, the blame began to wander. No one really knew who set the time to be 5pm, and no one was going to accept the responsibility. It may or may not have been true *wink* that Lee thought we should make a doll that looks like Shane, hang it by a noose and burn it! Later, such a statement was denied …
We returned to the hotel at 6pm, and had thirty minutes until dinner. It was a nice turntable dinner at the hotel, but it was finally nice to return to the rooms and be able to rest from the long day.
We arrived fifteen minutes early to the meeting place for the Beijing 3rd Branch, located on the fourth floor of the Golden Tower. Before exiting the bus, we gave our bus driver a BYU t-shirt to thank him for all he does for us. Church began at 8:30am and there were about 30 members in attendance at that branch, but they had just split and many were on vacation or just moved. We attended all three hours of church with that branch.
When we returned to the bus, Micah informed us that during the Olympics, our church is the only religion allowed to meet and hold church services (according to the 2nd counselor of the branch) because we have followed the rules while other religions still try to preach underground.
We ate lunch at the same location as the day before. At one point, Shanae heard a little asian boy complain to his mother in English, ‘Mommy, I don’t want to eat a turtle!” And finally the mother turned to her son and stated, “You’re not going to eat turtle! It’s just there for decoration!”
As we headed to the Forbidden City, the men were able to take off their blazers as the women could change out of their nylons and heels. It wasn’t until after our picture at the cypress that men could remove their ties and women their belts. It was a hot day outside! Everyone was dripping with sweat …
So, our first stop was at the garden to discover the cypress tree where President David O. McKay offered a dedicatory prayer on January 9, 1921. We had a long walk from the bus to the entrance, but we found our way and took our group picture. What a sight for the people to see fifty foreigners finding fascination with a tree. Although it may have one appeared as a secluded spot, it now is a busy area for parents searching for arranged marriages. We spent maybe ten minutes in the garden before heading over to enter the Forbidden City. We were given three and a half hours (until 5pm) to wander around the grounds. Many were already worn out so just walked through the central area and had about an hour and a half to sit and wait around. Others took their time and visited many of the different halls. There was a few museums, but many did not realize that although it cost money to enter, the price was only 1.5 yuan … of course there were a lot of people who did not bring money since it is the Sabbath.
Because of the long wait where most of the team sat around wishing we could leave, the blame began to wander. No one really knew who set the time to be 5pm, and no one was going to accept the responsibility. It may or may not have been true *wink* that Lee thought we should make a doll that looks like Shane, hang it by a noose and burn it! Later, such a statement was denied …
We returned to the hotel at 6pm, and had thirty minutes until dinner. It was a nice turntable dinner at the hotel, but it was finally nice to return to the rooms and be able to rest from the long day.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Cultural Differences cont.
No personal space – packed like sardines, pushed
Hack a loogey - yelling
Quickly strike from a theatre after a performance
English and Chinese on signs in cities
Little storage space underneath busses
Holes in children’s pants for “potty training”
Countdown for traffic lights
Waitresses are given numbers instead of names on tags
Sell meat by full animal appearance.
Uncomfortable with us coming into audience
Giving fruit to show appreciation
Underground crosswalks
Sound volume is LOUD
What they clap at – singing scales, sleeve movement
Picture taking w/ foreigners
Save on electricity – turns power all off
Flowers given at the end of performances
Killer Elevators – impatient people
Very kind and helpful people – run spots, help set-up and strike, bus driver w/ water
Repetitious in performance – theme
Don’t clean restrooms – all else in establishment really nice
Hack a loogey - yelling
Quickly strike from a theatre after a performance
English and Chinese on signs in cities
Little storage space underneath busses
Holes in children’s pants for “potty training”
Countdown for traffic lights
Waitresses are given numbers instead of names on tags
Sell meat by full animal appearance.
Uncomfortable with us coming into audience
Giving fruit to show appreciation
Underground crosswalks
Sound volume is LOUD
What they clap at – singing scales, sleeve movement
Picture taking w/ foreigners
Save on electricity – turns power all off
Flowers given at the end of performances
Killer Elevators – impatient people
Very kind and helpful people – run spots, help set-up and strike, bus driver w/ water
Repetitious in performance – theme
Don’t clean restrooms – all else in establishment really nice
Sat, June 21, 2008
This morning, we reported to the bus at 9am, but first was breakfast when we discovered that a wedding reception was going to be there later in the day so the whole room was decorated in pink!! We talk in and wonder if we are in the right place, but that was the breakfast buffet … I am never going to have pink at my wedding! Wow … that room was covered!! I’m thinking it’s because of the meaning of red in China, and she felt like lightening it a bit by going with pink.
At 9am, we headed to a market and spent two and a half hours shopping! I accidentally spent the rest of my money on souveneirs – which adds to about 500RMB and I only got halfway through my list. We still have the Pearl market and Silk street to go to, so there are plenty of shopping opportunities – I just need to make a budget. Sigh ….
Our new adventure is at the CCTV studio. For almost five hours, we spent our time on a TV set filming the dances to air on CCTV. It seems to be a part of a TV series called Dance World. It actually was a pretty nice set, although it was more for rock lighting then dance. There was a star curtain, flash bulbs, about a hundred moving heads, and par-cans galor! With the hazer running it was a cool effect, but definitely nothing we ever tried for Ballroom before. We’re always up for an adventure! I just ran sound from the side of stage and had a monitor to watch. It was a fun time! I only messed up twice – playing the wrong music, and having my headset off for the first time causing me to miss stopping the music when a dancer got injured. Downside to monitors, you don’t get the big picture – only what the camera man and editor wants you to see.
Our dinner for the evening was amazing as we were able to go to an Italian style dinner where we were spoiled with food!! Oh there was pizza, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, recognizable meat, actual dessert … it was great! One funny thing was a chocolate mousse actually had rum in it and it caused the whole back of the bus to sing the whole way back to the hotel – over an hour long drive!! They were CRAZY!!! Finally, Lee actually began to lead them in song, trying to gear them towards primary and reverant church songs. Well, primary songs went well … it actually lead to “The Wheels on the Bus” which lead to them mimicking people on the team – especially the leaders. It was HILARIOUS!!!! Eventually, we tried to calm down while Kaelynne (an amazing singer) sang “God Bless America,” and Shane sang a few lines from “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Unfortunately, we lost that calmness when Ron began to sing “The Lollipop Guild” from Wizard of Oz. He’s really good at it. We tried to get Benjamin to do Rubber Ducky because he’s good at that, but it didn’t work.
It’d say it was an altogether GREAT day!! We got back to the hotel around 10pm and had some good laughs along the way.
One thing to add about the day is that Jaren Wilken joined us for the rest of the week. He is the professional photographer for BYU and took some great pictures of us last year at Blackpool. Already today, he took several pictures, many of me working or just standing around – meaning I stood on center typing on my laptop as specials were angled at me and he got some good shots of me in a special light w/ my laptop in hand. As he put it, a great Apple advertisement!!
At 9am, we headed to a market and spent two and a half hours shopping! I accidentally spent the rest of my money on souveneirs – which adds to about 500RMB and I only got halfway through my list. We still have the Pearl market and Silk street to go to, so there are plenty of shopping opportunities – I just need to make a budget. Sigh ….
Our new adventure is at the CCTV studio. For almost five hours, we spent our time on a TV set filming the dances to air on CCTV. It seems to be a part of a TV series called Dance World. It actually was a pretty nice set, although it was more for rock lighting then dance. There was a star curtain, flash bulbs, about a hundred moving heads, and par-cans galor! With the hazer running it was a cool effect, but definitely nothing we ever tried for Ballroom before. We’re always up for an adventure! I just ran sound from the side of stage and had a monitor to watch. It was a fun time! I only messed up twice – playing the wrong music, and having my headset off for the first time causing me to miss stopping the music when a dancer got injured. Downside to monitors, you don’t get the big picture – only what the camera man and editor wants you to see.
Our dinner for the evening was amazing as we were able to go to an Italian style dinner where we were spoiled with food!! Oh there was pizza, spaghetti, mashed potatoes, recognizable meat, actual dessert … it was great! One funny thing was a chocolate mousse actually had rum in it and it caused the whole back of the bus to sing the whole way back to the hotel – over an hour long drive!! They were CRAZY!!! Finally, Lee actually began to lead them in song, trying to gear them towards primary and reverant church songs. Well, primary songs went well … it actually lead to “The Wheels on the Bus” which lead to them mimicking people on the team – especially the leaders. It was HILARIOUS!!!! Eventually, we tried to calm down while Kaelynne (an amazing singer) sang “God Bless America,” and Shane sang a few lines from “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” Unfortunately, we lost that calmness when Ron began to sing “The Lollipop Guild” from Wizard of Oz. He’s really good at it. We tried to get Benjamin to do Rubber Ducky because he’s good at that, but it didn’t work.
It’d say it was an altogether GREAT day!! We got back to the hotel around 10pm and had some good laughs along the way.
One thing to add about the day is that Jaren Wilken joined us for the rest of the week. He is the professional photographer for BYU and took some great pictures of us last year at Blackpool. Already today, he took several pictures, many of me working or just standing around – meaning I stood on center typing on my laptop as specials were angled at me and he got some good shots of me in a special light w/ my laptop in hand. As he put it, a great Apple advertisement!!
Fri, June 20, 2008
We are flying to Beijing today so our report to the busses was 6:15am. Everything went smoothly and quickly at the airport and we had a short flight into Beijing. Finally we arrive! It is going to be a very busy week full of many great opportunities!!
I am all alone for the next seven days! No roommates for me, but I’ll have a lot of people over, I’m sure. One problem, though, is the fact of the Internet. Since Hong Kong, this is the first time we’ve had to pay. Go figure! It costs 0.5RMB a minute with a max of 80RMB a day. Therefore, I’m sure people won’t be using it as often to cut down on costs. Sigh … we have seven days here and we don’t even get free Internet. At least I have music to keep myself entertained. We do get to unpack everything and try to feel at home in our room. It’ll be a long week, but we’ll keep busy with sightseeing. Unfortunately, I almost overslept our meeting time. I had leant out my alarm clock and didn’t get it back during the break. When I awoke and looked at the time, it was on the dot of the meeting time. I rushed out quick (forgetting a few things, like my camera) and found the group gathered together giving announcements. Of course, I find out there were two other people who overslept so I wasn’t the only one – and thankfully not left behind! I made sure to get my alarm clock back!
Our first stop for sightseeing was the Tiananmen Square just outside the Forbidden City. The Mao Mausoleum is only opened in the morning, so we were unable to go inside. We wee given fifteen minutes for picture taking, then we walked down to a nearby shopping center. It wasn’t too bad, but nothing really grabbed my attention, so I just followed others around. Those shop vendors were rally aggressive. I got grabbed several times and they don’t let go. I’d just look at their thinks, say no thank you and quickly get out of there. After thirty minutes, we had to report to the bus to head to dinner. It seems like meals are getting a lot lighter and shorter. It’s not as unique, but it doesn’t even come close to filling us up.
Tonight, we were able to go see a Chinese Opera!! It was the story of the jewelry pouch teaching the lesson of good fortune coming from good deeds. Two and a half hours with no intermission! That’s not too bad, and I’ve been to shows like that, but there were many comments from the other dancers who couldn’t take it. It was hilarious on the bus afterwards!
First, my opinion on the opera: Being a theatre major, I really liked it! It was different then I expected, but I may have confused some aspects with Japanese theatre. It was impressive how simple the set and lighting design appeared, but they compensated with costume and movement. I enjoyed the story and really did not think it was too long, for I have been to and seen operas. One of the things I liked was the actors showing stairs or the step over at doorways. Although they forgot at times, there were some specific movements to show them going down stairs or transitioning from room to room.
The response from the dancers was shocking. The liked the first hour and a half, then thought it just went on and on and on and on and on … Then, they couldn’t help but laugh at the way they clapped – I do not feel it to be appropriate to state how one dancer put it, but it is too excited of an applause with a lot of sounds. Then the moments the people clapped was confusing because it was every time the singer did a scale and did a traditional movement of the sleeves, and other moments we couldn’t figure out.
Now on the bus, we make fun of the applause constantly, speak/sing in really high voices, and consider Peking Opera to be a torture treatment. It’s sad since I enjoyed it so much, but oh well ….
It took an hour to return to our hotel, and when we returned at 10:30pm, we walked to the market a block away and bought snacks – it began as a small group but ended up to be the whole team!
I am all alone for the next seven days! No roommates for me, but I’ll have a lot of people over, I’m sure. One problem, though, is the fact of the Internet. Since Hong Kong, this is the first time we’ve had to pay. Go figure! It costs 0.5RMB a minute with a max of 80RMB a day. Therefore, I’m sure people won’t be using it as often to cut down on costs. Sigh … we have seven days here and we don’t even get free Internet. At least I have music to keep myself entertained. We do get to unpack everything and try to feel at home in our room. It’ll be a long week, but we’ll keep busy with sightseeing. Unfortunately, I almost overslept our meeting time. I had leant out my alarm clock and didn’t get it back during the break. When I awoke and looked at the time, it was on the dot of the meeting time. I rushed out quick (forgetting a few things, like my camera) and found the group gathered together giving announcements. Of course, I find out there were two other people who overslept so I wasn’t the only one – and thankfully not left behind! I made sure to get my alarm clock back!
Our first stop for sightseeing was the Tiananmen Square just outside the Forbidden City. The Mao Mausoleum is only opened in the morning, so we were unable to go inside. We wee given fifteen minutes for picture taking, then we walked down to a nearby shopping center. It wasn’t too bad, but nothing really grabbed my attention, so I just followed others around. Those shop vendors were rally aggressive. I got grabbed several times and they don’t let go. I’d just look at their thinks, say no thank you and quickly get out of there. After thirty minutes, we had to report to the bus to head to dinner. It seems like meals are getting a lot lighter and shorter. It’s not as unique, but it doesn’t even come close to filling us up.
Tonight, we were able to go see a Chinese Opera!! It was the story of the jewelry pouch teaching the lesson of good fortune coming from good deeds. Two and a half hours with no intermission! That’s not too bad, and I’ve been to shows like that, but there were many comments from the other dancers who couldn’t take it. It was hilarious on the bus afterwards!
First, my opinion on the opera: Being a theatre major, I really liked it! It was different then I expected, but I may have confused some aspects with Japanese theatre. It was impressive how simple the set and lighting design appeared, but they compensated with costume and movement. I enjoyed the story and really did not think it was too long, for I have been to and seen operas. One of the things I liked was the actors showing stairs or the step over at doorways. Although they forgot at times, there were some specific movements to show them going down stairs or transitioning from room to room.
The response from the dancers was shocking. The liked the first hour and a half, then thought it just went on and on and on and on and on … Then, they couldn’t help but laugh at the way they clapped – I do not feel it to be appropriate to state how one dancer put it, but it is too excited of an applause with a lot of sounds. Then the moments the people clapped was confusing because it was every time the singer did a scale and did a traditional movement of the sleeves, and other moments we couldn’t figure out.
Now on the bus, we make fun of the applause constantly, speak/sing in really high voices, and consider Peking Opera to be a torture treatment. It’s sad since I enjoyed it so much, but oh well ….
It took an hour to return to our hotel, and when we returned at 10:30pm, we walked to the market a block away and bought snacks – it began as a small group but ended up to be the whole team!
Thur, June 19, 2008
Well, we reported to the bus at 9am to begin our day with some sightseeing. We want to the Yantaishan Parks, where we walked around the lighthouse and toured the old Consulates for the US and Denmark. Then, we walked near the port to cross the Love-Locked Bridge (Connected Love Bridge) where it is common for newly weds to link two heart-shaped locks onto the bridge to symbolize their everlasting love. It was a great place to relax and play on the rocks near the water. The team took some great pictures there … I just sat back and watched.
After we reported to the hotel at 11:30am, we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves until we reported to the venue at 4:30pm. I mainly slept the whole time as dancers used my computer. I usually try to stay awake, but I’ve got nothing to do when my computer is being used, and I have been worn out. When we got to the venue, we quickly learned that no projection will be used for this show. The TV land was placed right where projection was before so Benjamin just decided to cut it. Therefore, the screen went down and the whole time we had a red sponsor poster as a backdrop. During the blacklight number, it glowed. Sigh …
With a TV filming, I wish the show went wonderfully, but unfortunately, we had three huge mistakes! First, the tango was thrown off because a dancer forgot an important cue due to costume misplacement, and we had a new dancer for the lead to replace Nick who went home to his wife and new baby. We were off by at least three eight-counts. I felt so bad for them! The next mistake was during Bollywood when during our best act in China (the half girls), one girl couldn’t get wrapped up correctly and didn’t appear on stage. That threw off the other three girls and it just didn’t work well. The last mistake is not for certain, but I believe it was in the quickstep when the men dropped Jessica from a lift. That is never a good thing!
Oh well, we got through the show and were able to quickly strike and leave the venue. It has been a great adventure here in Yantai. It was our first visit to the city and it really was good. They appreciated our performances, so that’s all that counts.
Back at the hotel, we gave gifts to the sponsors, had dinner, then tried to catch some sleep before an early morning flight.
After we reported to the hotel at 11:30am, we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves until we reported to the venue at 4:30pm. I mainly slept the whole time as dancers used my computer. I usually try to stay awake, but I’ve got nothing to do when my computer is being used, and I have been worn out. When we got to the venue, we quickly learned that no projection will be used for this show. The TV land was placed right where projection was before so Benjamin just decided to cut it. Therefore, the screen went down and the whole time we had a red sponsor poster as a backdrop. During the blacklight number, it glowed. Sigh …
With a TV filming, I wish the show went wonderfully, but unfortunately, we had three huge mistakes! First, the tango was thrown off because a dancer forgot an important cue due to costume misplacement, and we had a new dancer for the lead to replace Nick who went home to his wife and new baby. We were off by at least three eight-counts. I felt so bad for them! The next mistake was during Bollywood when during our best act in China (the half girls), one girl couldn’t get wrapped up correctly and didn’t appear on stage. That threw off the other three girls and it just didn’t work well. The last mistake is not for certain, but I believe it was in the quickstep when the men dropped Jessica from a lift. That is never a good thing!
Oh well, we got through the show and were able to quickly strike and leave the venue. It has been a great adventure here in Yantai. It was our first visit to the city and it really was good. They appreciated our performances, so that’s all that counts.
Back at the hotel, we gave gifts to the sponsors, had dinner, then tried to catch some sleep before an early morning flight.
Wed, June 18, 2008
Well, I actually was up at 7am for no reason and got ready for the day as we were to report to the bus at 9:30. We were heading to a Korean City Market to do some shopping, but when we got there, it wasn’t the kind of place we like to shop. It was just a modern store selling clothes and such. No bargaining or cheaply priced goods. Rarely anyone really bought anything. There just wasn’t anything to buy. Finally we were able to return to the hotel for lunch then headed to Horse Raising Island for some sightseeing. There are some great sculptures there and it was nice to relax and walk around the place.
After that, we went to our venue. They really spoiled us in welcoming us to Yantai. It was wonderful! Several signs welcomed us on the exterior and interior of the venue. It was a great honor. All signs were in red and big. Our background was as big as the stage with a watermark of the footloose picture. Also, they ad made neon lights stating the American BYU Ballroom Dance Company China Tour. I was greatly impressed at I entered into the theater. However, it just wasn’t properly prepared for our show. We asked for specific lighting and a black background or projection and they didn’t follow through. Everything did work out well, but I feel so bad putting a screen in front of the huge poster and even the neon sign could not be turned on during the performance because it conflicted with our lighting atmosphere. It was difficult for the dancers because we were in an arena meaning no wing space, and the stage was on platforms causing theme to climb steep steps. It did look great! I had a hard time with sound volumes because I’ll set it will a full volume and I’d get a louder cure from audience members. It really was blasting, and it seemed like that’s what they wanted! I can’t believe it … I’m going deaf. Sound is not an easy task!
But it seemed to go well and they set off confetti as they gave flowers at the end. Unfortunately, they came on during the tag so w didn’t fully finish the concert, but they didn’t know that. Sigh …
After the show, while in one of the hallways, an older woman gave Charisse and I a kind of root. Chaise had to find a restroom so I was left alone with her. She gave me another and showed me how to peel the skin off and just eat what is inside. It’s similar to a potato. She then gave me a whole bag to show me her appreciation and gratitude for our show. Later on, I offered some to Brent, Jay, Linda, and even Kathy. Kathy is our interpreter and she told me it was Taro and that I should just take a picture and throw it away. I didn’t think it was that bad, but no one else wanted a bite. Oh well. So, I took a picture, and then left it in the dining room of the hotel – because it is usually baked and served with sugar at nice reception dinners. I don’t like things to go to waste, especially a full bag of them. I appreciated it though, which makes the gift worth it.
Well, back to the hotel for a buffet dinner and off to bed.
After that, we went to our venue. They really spoiled us in welcoming us to Yantai. It was wonderful! Several signs welcomed us on the exterior and interior of the venue. It was a great honor. All signs were in red and big. Our background was as big as the stage with a watermark of the footloose picture. Also, they ad made neon lights stating the American BYU Ballroom Dance Company China Tour. I was greatly impressed at I entered into the theater. However, it just wasn’t properly prepared for our show. We asked for specific lighting and a black background or projection and they didn’t follow through. Everything did work out well, but I feel so bad putting a screen in front of the huge poster and even the neon sign could not be turned on during the performance because it conflicted with our lighting atmosphere. It was difficult for the dancers because we were in an arena meaning no wing space, and the stage was on platforms causing theme to climb steep steps. It did look great! I had a hard time with sound volumes because I’ll set it will a full volume and I’d get a louder cure from audience members. It really was blasting, and it seemed like that’s what they wanted! I can’t believe it … I’m going deaf. Sound is not an easy task!
But it seemed to go well and they set off confetti as they gave flowers at the end. Unfortunately, they came on during the tag so w didn’t fully finish the concert, but they didn’t know that. Sigh …
After the show, while in one of the hallways, an older woman gave Charisse and I a kind of root. Chaise had to find a restroom so I was left alone with her. She gave me another and showed me how to peel the skin off and just eat what is inside. It’s similar to a potato. She then gave me a whole bag to show me her appreciation and gratitude for our show. Later on, I offered some to Brent, Jay, Linda, and even Kathy. Kathy is our interpreter and she told me it was Taro and that I should just take a picture and throw it away. I didn’t think it was that bad, but no one else wanted a bite. Oh well. So, I took a picture, and then left it in the dining room of the hotel – because it is usually baked and served with sugar at nice reception dinners. I don’t like things to go to waste, especially a full bag of them. I appreciated it though, which makes the gift worth it.
Well, back to the hotel for a buffet dinner and off to bed.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Tues, June 17, 2008
I slept in til 8:30 and was ready for the bus at 9:30 (too bad the busses were LATE … which made some leaders frustrated). We had wanted to take another trip to the shops, but were told we couldn’t change the schedule of the busses, then the busses are 30min late! Who wouldn’t be frustrated? Anyways, we are driving to Yantai, which is a four hour drive. Two busses are crammed full with dancers and bags. I had no seat buddy, but that means I have more room to stretch. I slept through the first half, but when we stopped for a restroom break we also bought a whole bunch of snacks. I didn’t feel like it – specially since I missed lunch and needed more then sweets – but it’s funny to see what dancers have bought. Some spent way too much!
Anyways, we passed into northern china and it is beautiful country. Brent decided to give us another cultural lesson. People in northern china are taller then those in southern china. Also, rice is grown in the south while wheat is grown in the north. Cars are a relatively new thing here in China – only about a decade. Beijing has very strict traffic laws, but other places are still progressing towards that part. With following rules, one phrase they say is “The mountains are tall and the Emperor is far away”, similar to our phrase, “When the cats are away, the mice will play.” We talked about how that also relates to videotaping at our shows. There was no way of stopping it for as soon as the ushers left, they’d take them out again.
Apparently, our bus driver is crazy and we are all worried of our lives or the lives of people on the road. He hits on the brakes sending all of us forward, he almost hit someone earlier, and cuts it really close with cars. Hopefully we make it to Yantai in one piece …
Well, we arrived at the hotel and had a few hour rest before a fancy reception dinner with honored guests from Yantai. It really was amazing! Dish after dish at least twenty times, with food like sea cucumber, peaking duck, several kinds of fish, fruit & vegetables, noodles, chocolate rice, etc. Delicious! Personally, I liked the sea cucumber, but the girls couldn’t stand the texture. I am really enjoying the food here and will miss it when I leave. Just the way we are served food and eating it with chopsticks, just everything is great!
After spending almost two hours at dinner, we had the night to ourselves. It’ll be fun to be together with different people of the group! Tour just keeps getting better and better!
One member of the tour, Nick, is now a father!! His wife, Carisa, was my spot op buddy last year. She couldn’t go on tour this year because she got pregnant, and now she is a mother of a 5lb 8oz girl named Cicily! So cute!! He'll be flying home in two days. We'll miss him, but will survive as he goes home to his new daughter ... awwww ...
Anyways, we passed into northern china and it is beautiful country. Brent decided to give us another cultural lesson. People in northern china are taller then those in southern china. Also, rice is grown in the south while wheat is grown in the north. Cars are a relatively new thing here in China – only about a decade. Beijing has very strict traffic laws, but other places are still progressing towards that part. With following rules, one phrase they say is “The mountains are tall and the Emperor is far away”, similar to our phrase, “When the cats are away, the mice will play.” We talked about how that also relates to videotaping at our shows. There was no way of stopping it for as soon as the ushers left, they’d take them out again.
Apparently, our bus driver is crazy and we are all worried of our lives or the lives of people on the road. He hits on the brakes sending all of us forward, he almost hit someone earlier, and cuts it really close with cars. Hopefully we make it to Yantai in one piece …
Well, we arrived at the hotel and had a few hour rest before a fancy reception dinner with honored guests from Yantai. It really was amazing! Dish after dish at least twenty times, with food like sea cucumber, peaking duck, several kinds of fish, fruit & vegetables, noodles, chocolate rice, etc. Delicious! Personally, I liked the sea cucumber, but the girls couldn’t stand the texture. I am really enjoying the food here and will miss it when I leave. Just the way we are served food and eating it with chopsticks, just everything is great!
After spending almost two hours at dinner, we had the night to ourselves. It’ll be fun to be together with different people of the group! Tour just keeps getting better and better!
One member of the tour, Nick, is now a father!! His wife, Carisa, was my spot op buddy last year. She couldn’t go on tour this year because she got pregnant, and now she is a mother of a 5lb 8oz girl named Cicily! So cute!! He'll be flying home in two days. We'll miss him, but will survive as he goes home to his new daughter ... awwww ...
Mon, June 16, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MYSELF!!! I’M FINALLY 21!!!!!
Anyways, now that is over with … we loaded on the bus at 9:30am, and all the time before that, I spent curling my hair and doing make-up. Apparently, I looked dang hot! Everyone gave me compliments! Then, my friend Kaelynne made sure that the whole group knew it was my birthday as she announced it on the bus and sung “Happy Birthday!” We headed to a shopping center where Shane got the best deal of pearls.
The first thing I bought was a Prada purse for $120RMB. Great story there … for I was in a group with Jessica, Brad, and Amber. Brad is one of the best at bargaining! I was having Jess teach me about purses because I don’t own one and have seen so many girls buy some here for cheap. So, after a lot of searching, I found one I liked and Brad began bargaining it for me. The woman was offering $380 and Brad just said, $110. Nothing would sway him. I couldn’t belive it. I din’t know if that was too cheap, but he kept at it and when she wouldn’t go under $200, we began to walk away because I wasn’t sold on it and would keep looking. However, as we walked away, she kept lowering the price. First … $150, then as we were about to turn out of the hallway, she yells out $120! I thought that was a great price for a fake Prada bag, about $20USD, so we decided to turn back and I bought it. I though, (although I’m really liking it now) if I decided I didn’t want it, I could always give it to Nor, for she would probably DIE for one. Hehehe, for now, I’ll keep a hold of it … it’s really growing on me and I always wanted to say I owned a Prada bag. Who says it’s fake … besides the fact I bought it at a Chinese marketplace for cheap …
I then joined the rest of the group in buying pearls. It’s my birthday, so I’m going to spoil myself with a pearl set. I found earrings first, and then proceeded in finding a bracelet/necklace set that really grabbed my eye. It was quite a challenge, but finally found something that everyone seems to like and hasn’t seen before. I just LOVE it! I’m happy with my purchase and can’t wait to start wearing it constantly. I also bought two jade rings, for I’ve gotta buy jade here in China and rings seem the best way for me to actually use them.
Qingdao is the sight for the Olympic sailing events, so we went to the site for that. Wasn’t much to see, but we walked across a bridge and looked at an Olympic merchandise store. Then, we drove to the Governor’s House just to see for ten minutes. After that, off to the venue we went.
Apparently Jay would like to say we have a rat infestation at our venue … I thought I saw something at the last venue, but now we can officially say a rat as big as a shoe ran past Ian’s foot towards center-stage. Hopefully the dancers don’t hear about it, or find it … hehehe.
So, set-up went well. I love the LED screens along the border … which has a welcome for the BYU Ballroom Dance on it. So nice! I bet the theatre department would just love to have that screen for opera captions. I’d love it because it looks so nice. There are also two LED screens on house right and left to post the show order and announcements. Benjamin and Mark have been talking and wishing and dreaming for a LED screen to use as a kind of cyc, instead of lugging around a screen, projector, and mediaplayer. Of course LED screens aren’t light either. We have quite a nice technical wish list (most are from Mark who wants new sound equipment … if we ever have a lot of money to waste.
Performance seemed to go well and it always makes me laugh to see how quickly the venue techs try to get us packed out and shipped out of the theatre. I have people over my shoulder the whole time we strike. What was interesting during the performance was that I had people over my shoulder looking at my different laptops as I ran the show. I may be a bit protective of the equipment so it makes me feel uncomfortable at times as they lean close to the laptops. If one shuts down, we’ve lost an important part of the show. All went well though, and it’s nice to see people interested in how we run things.
When we left the venue, we met with … rain! Oh the joy of rain! On the bus, we learned that Shane was the woman’s gloved hand in the tango!! I didn’t even notice! So funny … and Lee didn’t like it … oh well! Dinner was a nice sit down at the hotel. We had the sponsor come and present the leaders with some gifts … but us being at other tables could not hear. We’ll find out on the bus tomorrow. We all were exhausted, but were not able to leave until Lee gave us permission and in all honesty, he didn’t even know. Finally, we did leave after 11pm. Instead of going to bed, Shanae and I went to Cameron and Zach’s room to visit with Shayla, Kurt, and Brock to watch a movie. I brought my computer and it went around for internet, as we watched some clips from “Flight of the Concords”. Around 1am, we finally began watching 300, finished up at 3am, and had an episode as we thought we lost the key and found it in Cameron’s pants pocket. I’d say it was a great birthday! It’s still like another day, but it’s fun to spend it with friends. These people are so nice!
Tomorrow is Find-A-Friend Day!!! Apparently Lee thinks we are falling in a routine with hanging with the same people. Also, he doesn’t like the tour flings where all pictures are taken with the same person who will probably not be their future spouse. This is going to be very funny! Already we are talking of pen pals and calling different people as their new friends. Gotta love this group!
Anyways, now that is over with … we loaded on the bus at 9:30am, and all the time before that, I spent curling my hair and doing make-up. Apparently, I looked dang hot! Everyone gave me compliments! Then, my friend Kaelynne made sure that the whole group knew it was my birthday as she announced it on the bus and sung “Happy Birthday!” We headed to a shopping center where Shane got the best deal of pearls.
The first thing I bought was a Prada purse for $120RMB. Great story there … for I was in a group with Jessica, Brad, and Amber. Brad is one of the best at bargaining! I was having Jess teach me about purses because I don’t own one and have seen so many girls buy some here for cheap. So, after a lot of searching, I found one I liked and Brad began bargaining it for me. The woman was offering $380 and Brad just said, $110. Nothing would sway him. I couldn’t belive it. I din’t know if that was too cheap, but he kept at it and when she wouldn’t go under $200, we began to walk away because I wasn’t sold on it and would keep looking. However, as we walked away, she kept lowering the price. First … $150, then as we were about to turn out of the hallway, she yells out $120! I thought that was a great price for a fake Prada bag, about $20USD, so we decided to turn back and I bought it. I though, (although I’m really liking it now) if I decided I didn’t want it, I could always give it to Nor, for she would probably DIE for one. Hehehe, for now, I’ll keep a hold of it … it’s really growing on me and I always wanted to say I owned a Prada bag. Who says it’s fake … besides the fact I bought it at a Chinese marketplace for cheap …
I then joined the rest of the group in buying pearls. It’s my birthday, so I’m going to spoil myself with a pearl set. I found earrings first, and then proceeded in finding a bracelet/necklace set that really grabbed my eye. It was quite a challenge, but finally found something that everyone seems to like and hasn’t seen before. I just LOVE it! I’m happy with my purchase and can’t wait to start wearing it constantly. I also bought two jade rings, for I’ve gotta buy jade here in China and rings seem the best way for me to actually use them.
Qingdao is the sight for the Olympic sailing events, so we went to the site for that. Wasn’t much to see, but we walked across a bridge and looked at an Olympic merchandise store. Then, we drove to the Governor’s House just to see for ten minutes. After that, off to the venue we went.
Apparently Jay would like to say we have a rat infestation at our venue … I thought I saw something at the last venue, but now we can officially say a rat as big as a shoe ran past Ian’s foot towards center-stage. Hopefully the dancers don’t hear about it, or find it … hehehe.
So, set-up went well. I love the LED screens along the border … which has a welcome for the BYU Ballroom Dance on it. So nice! I bet the theatre department would just love to have that screen for opera captions. I’d love it because it looks so nice. There are also two LED screens on house right and left to post the show order and announcements. Benjamin and Mark have been talking and wishing and dreaming for a LED screen to use as a kind of cyc, instead of lugging around a screen, projector, and mediaplayer. Of course LED screens aren’t light either. We have quite a nice technical wish list (most are from Mark who wants new sound equipment … if we ever have a lot of money to waste.
Performance seemed to go well and it always makes me laugh to see how quickly the venue techs try to get us packed out and shipped out of the theatre. I have people over my shoulder the whole time we strike. What was interesting during the performance was that I had people over my shoulder looking at my different laptops as I ran the show. I may be a bit protective of the equipment so it makes me feel uncomfortable at times as they lean close to the laptops. If one shuts down, we’ve lost an important part of the show. All went well though, and it’s nice to see people interested in how we run things.
When we left the venue, we met with … rain! Oh the joy of rain! On the bus, we learned that Shane was the woman’s gloved hand in the tango!! I didn’t even notice! So funny … and Lee didn’t like it … oh well! Dinner was a nice sit down at the hotel. We had the sponsor come and present the leaders with some gifts … but us being at other tables could not hear. We’ll find out on the bus tomorrow. We all were exhausted, but were not able to leave until Lee gave us permission and in all honesty, he didn’t even know. Finally, we did leave after 11pm. Instead of going to bed, Shanae and I went to Cameron and Zach’s room to visit with Shayla, Kurt, and Brock to watch a movie. I brought my computer and it went around for internet, as we watched some clips from “Flight of the Concords”. Around 1am, we finally began watching 300, finished up at 3am, and had an episode as we thought we lost the key and found it in Cameron’s pants pocket. I’d say it was a great birthday! It’s still like another day, but it’s fun to spend it with friends. These people are so nice!
Tomorrow is Find-A-Friend Day!!! Apparently Lee thinks we are falling in a routine with hanging with the same people. Also, he doesn’t like the tour flings where all pictures are taken with the same person who will probably not be their future spouse. This is going to be very funny! Already we are talking of pen pals and calling different people as their new friends. Gotta love this group!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tribute to Dancers 3
Through this tour, I have been able to get to know Kaelynne Hill a lot more and we’ve become great friends. She’s always over at my room to use the internet, but it gives us time to get to know each other and have fun! We enjoy sightseeing, shopping, or just listening to music on my laptop together. She is a wonderful person, nice to everyone … and I am so glad to be able to get to know here while on this tour!
Callie Hill has been on the team since I was able to work with Ballroom, and I will definitely miss her when we part from the team. She is simply amazing! Always kindly giving compliments to the dancers and there to help when she can. We can just talk about anything! She’s getting married soon and I enjoy being able to sit with her and her how happy she is with her boy. She is one of the kindest people I know.
Another dancer I was able to know as she was always there to use my computer was Marie Dayton. She is such a cute girl! We were only able to room together for one night, but I enjoy getting to know her as she comes visits my room at night to wait in line for the internet. She is such a nice girl and I look forward to getting to know her more as we continue on with the tour.
One of the greatest girls to be around is Angela Divine. Her name says it all! She’s from England and has been in the states for the past eight years so still has her beautiful British accent. She is simply amazing! She is also one of the nicest people and can quickly brighten up your day when you are low. She quickly can bring a smile to your face and just make you laugh. I love her!! She is also one of the engaged dancers and it is so beautiful to see her talk about her sweetheart. It’s great to see her so happy! She is also such a shopper so I enjoy going shopping with her. She already has two big , three wallets, kimonos for her and her sister, keepsakes for her sweethearts, and who knows what else in her luggage.. What an amazing person!
Callie Hill has been on the team since I was able to work with Ballroom, and I will definitely miss her when we part from the team. She is simply amazing! Always kindly giving compliments to the dancers and there to help when she can. We can just talk about anything! She’s getting married soon and I enjoy being able to sit with her and her how happy she is with her boy. She is one of the kindest people I know.
Another dancer I was able to know as she was always there to use my computer was Marie Dayton. She is such a cute girl! We were only able to room together for one night, but I enjoy getting to know her as she comes visits my room at night to wait in line for the internet. She is such a nice girl and I look forward to getting to know her more as we continue on with the tour.
One of the greatest girls to be around is Angela Divine. Her name says it all! She’s from England and has been in the states for the past eight years so still has her beautiful British accent. She is simply amazing! She is also one of the nicest people and can quickly brighten up your day when you are low. She quickly can bring a smile to your face and just make you laugh. I love her!! She is also one of the engaged dancers and it is so beautiful to see her talk about her sweetheart. It’s great to see her so happy! She is also such a shopper so I enjoy going shopping with her. She already has two big , three wallets, kimonos for her and her sister, keepsakes for her sweethearts, and who knows what else in her luggage.. What an amazing person!
Impression of China:
It has been a wonderful trip to China! The country is so beautiful, the people are so nice, and the sights have been breathtaking. I am enjoying every minute I’ve had here on this tour. Although there is some culture shock, I am really coming to love this country. The food (for me) is simply amazing! The way they maintain their landscape makes the city look so beautiful! The people are so nice and always happy to help. The children, especially, are so energetic and excited to come meet with us. I have been so blessed to be able to visit this wonderful country and hope to be able to return one day.
Sun, June 15, 2008
My alarm did not go off this morning, and I was suppose to wake up my friend this morning at 6am. Thankfully, hers did work and I woke up with Marie’s alarm at 6:30. We were to be packed and ready to leave at 7:15. We loaded into two city busses and headed to the Ningbo Airport. Everything went quickly through check-in and security. We had an hour and a half before boarding. Better to be early then late …
So, last night we were presented with flowers again, and there were two beautiful bouquets full of lilies, daisies, and roses, then sprinkled with glitter. To help Linda out, I took one to carry, and now it’s my flowers … hmmm, what to do with them. It looks so weird as I carry around this huge, beautiful bouquet through the airport. I can’t complain though. Linda is carrying a huge bunch of roses, collected from all the last bouquets we were given from each venue/host. I have several I’m drying, but I had to pack them in my check-in so we’ll see if they last the airport handling. It’ll be interesting …
Awwwww … when we got on the bus in Qingdao, a note was passed back to me from my “Secret Admirers” thanking me for all I do for the team. It was so sweet! I love this team! They are so great!!!! I don’t want to graduate if I have to leave the dance department.
Today is a day of rest as we check into our hotel, eat lunch, have our church service, then have free time until dinner. CCTV did come to interview three people for the tv recording we’ll do when we reach Beijing. Oh … did I mention our show will be recorded and shown on CCTV, which will constantly be shown throughout China for the next few years.
Our group church meeting was great, and I have notes in my hand-written journal about it, so I decided not to say much. It was great and I have to say my favorite times is on tour with dance groups. The spirit is always so strong!
During free time, I had some dancers use my computer while I took a nap. After dinner, I joined Megan, Shawn, Aubrey, Jay, Micah, Chris, and Nick on a walk around the beach. We saw some great vending places to visit tomorrow and then walked on the beach to take pictures and such. I was really nice outside! The wind was blowing, but it felt really good. I love the seaside and would love to live in such a place someday.
I spent the evening with Aubrey and Jay learning about Skype and using their wireless network for internet. Now I know how to share my internet through a network. EXCITING!!! But now I really should go to bed!
So, last night we were presented with flowers again, and there were two beautiful bouquets full of lilies, daisies, and roses, then sprinkled with glitter. To help Linda out, I took one to carry, and now it’s my flowers … hmmm, what to do with them. It looks so weird as I carry around this huge, beautiful bouquet through the airport. I can’t complain though. Linda is carrying a huge bunch of roses, collected from all the last bouquets we were given from each venue/host. I have several I’m drying, but I had to pack them in my check-in so we’ll see if they last the airport handling. It’ll be interesting …
Awwwww … when we got on the bus in Qingdao, a note was passed back to me from my “Secret Admirers” thanking me for all I do for the team. It was so sweet! I love this team! They are so great!!!! I don’t want to graduate if I have to leave the dance department.
Today is a day of rest as we check into our hotel, eat lunch, have our church service, then have free time until dinner. CCTV did come to interview three people for the tv recording we’ll do when we reach Beijing. Oh … did I mention our show will be recorded and shown on CCTV, which will constantly be shown throughout China for the next few years.
Our group church meeting was great, and I have notes in my hand-written journal about it, so I decided not to say much. It was great and I have to say my favorite times is on tour with dance groups. The spirit is always so strong!
During free time, I had some dancers use my computer while I took a nap. After dinner, I joined Megan, Shawn, Aubrey, Jay, Micah, Chris, and Nick on a walk around the beach. We saw some great vending places to visit tomorrow and then walked on the beach to take pictures and such. I was really nice outside! The wind was blowing, but it felt really good. I love the seaside and would love to live in such a place someday.
I spent the evening with Aubrey and Jay learning about Skype and using their wireless network for internet. Now I know how to share my internet through a network. EXCITING!!! But now I really should go to bed!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Cultural Differences:
Traffic is survival of the fittest
Biking and walking is more popular than driving – sidewalks are large
Tea is served at meals – we had to have hot water
Ends meal with fruit - watermelon, honeydew
A lot more gardens (landscape design)
Umbrella bags at every door - ready for rain
Late Dinner – 10pm
Bargaining – street vendors
Buildings prep for future – holes through center for future flying transportation
Colored lighting of city at night – freeway, bridge, buildings, etc
Shrines inside homes - forms of worship
Women shield from sun, don't want to tan while working outside
Modesty – naked kids at zoo, man closing shop in underwear
Loud crowd/audience noise throughout
Keeps talking through narrations and music
Dong reminders
Great ushers – strongly try to enforce photo and video use
Clean streets … no litter
Squatty potty w/ no toilet paper or soap
Biking and walking is more popular than driving – sidewalks are large
Tea is served at meals – we had to have hot water
Ends meal with fruit - watermelon, honeydew
A lot more gardens (landscape design)
Umbrella bags at every door - ready for rain
Late Dinner – 10pm
Bargaining – street vendors
Buildings prep for future – holes through center for future flying transportation
Colored lighting of city at night – freeway, bridge, buildings, etc
Shrines inside homes - forms of worship
Women shield from sun, don't want to tan while working outside
Modesty – naked kids at zoo, man closing shop in underwear
Loud crowd/audience noise throughout
Keeps talking through narrations and music
Dong reminders
Great ushers – strongly try to enforce photo and video use
Clean streets … no litter
Squatty potty w/ no toilet paper or soap
Sat, June 14, 2008
Well … We were to report to the bus at 9:15, so Kim and I decided to stay in our room until 8:45 (when really breakfast began at 8am). I woke up at 7:15, but kept going in and out of sleep … wake up for a shower, sleep, pack a bit, sleep, etc. For about five minutes I felt really ill (which happened right after I took a vitamin w/ flavored water … I decided to throw away the water and never try that again). Apparently, I have a great immune system (or I’m just a luck person) because no kind of sickness lasts very long. It just came, felt awful, then passed.
So, we rode the bus to Ningbo … and it is such a beautiful place. Our hotel is right next to a waterway. So pretty … anyways, the hotel we are staying at is called China Bride Hotel, and when you walk in, there is a huge golden Buddha and to the right is a staircase lined with roses. Everywhere is red curtains, flowers, etc … a beautiful hotel but I’ve got to laugh at the name. (That reminds me, a great quote being added to the quote wall was said by Craig Wakefield. He’s been married to Brittney since December. He said a few nights ago on the bus that if Britt gets pregnant, he’s going to tattoo “Made in China” on their baby. Brittney was not happy when he said that, but the rest of the bus had a great laugh!)
We stopped at one of the oldest libraries in China, and the world … It didn’t look to be a big compound from the outside, but it was quite a maze and just kept going. It was beautiful! Gardens were placed throughout … a few had rock formations shaped as animals. The first we came to, there was suppose to be nine lions, two sheep, and an elephant. I saw several of them, but I couldn’t tell the difference between a lion and sheep in a rock formation. Oh well … but while there as I was getting my picture taken, a Chinese couple started taking pictures of me at the same time. Then the woman came up to me to get a picture … they took three or four. I thought it was so funny! I take my blonde hair for granted. Apparently, it’s worth getting a picture of for some people here in China. I don’t mind, though …
Anyways, we were able to get to the venue at around 2pm. It wasn’t a bad venue for they had some great technology, but it wasn’t quite what we needed. Therefore, the lighting won’t be quite what we’re use to, but it’ll work. The high sides are old instruments that emit a lot of heat, so I feel so bad for the dancers who will definitely be dripping with sweat … probably after the first dance …
Sound should go well as I am sitting in the house, and hopefully we fixed the problems with the lav mics and headset reception should be good. We’ll see …
It was a bit frustrating to work on some aspects with the theatre, but it went well enough. They wanted us out quick after the performance, so we packed up as fast as we could and left ... heading to dinner at a restaurant. I thought it was great! I tried all the unique things and enjoyed most of it. I found my favorite fish ... couldn't say what it was or how it was seasoned, but I loved it!! Now off to sleep as we prepare for an early rise to travel to the airport. Tomorrow ... we go to Qingdao ...
So, we rode the bus to Ningbo … and it is such a beautiful place. Our hotel is right next to a waterway. So pretty … anyways, the hotel we are staying at is called China Bride Hotel, and when you walk in, there is a huge golden Buddha and to the right is a staircase lined with roses. Everywhere is red curtains, flowers, etc … a beautiful hotel but I’ve got to laugh at the name. (That reminds me, a great quote being added to the quote wall was said by Craig Wakefield. He’s been married to Brittney since December. He said a few nights ago on the bus that if Britt gets pregnant, he’s going to tattoo “Made in China” on their baby. Brittney was not happy when he said that, but the rest of the bus had a great laugh!)
We stopped at one of the oldest libraries in China, and the world … It didn’t look to be a big compound from the outside, but it was quite a maze and just kept going. It was beautiful! Gardens were placed throughout … a few had rock formations shaped as animals. The first we came to, there was suppose to be nine lions, two sheep, and an elephant. I saw several of them, but I couldn’t tell the difference between a lion and sheep in a rock formation. Oh well … but while there as I was getting my picture taken, a Chinese couple started taking pictures of me at the same time. Then the woman came up to me to get a picture … they took three or four. I thought it was so funny! I take my blonde hair for granted. Apparently, it’s worth getting a picture of for some people here in China. I don’t mind, though …
Anyways, we were able to get to the venue at around 2pm. It wasn’t a bad venue for they had some great technology, but it wasn’t quite what we needed. Therefore, the lighting won’t be quite what we’re use to, but it’ll work. The high sides are old instruments that emit a lot of heat, so I feel so bad for the dancers who will definitely be dripping with sweat … probably after the first dance …
Sound should go well as I am sitting in the house, and hopefully we fixed the problems with the lav mics and headset reception should be good. We’ll see …
It was a bit frustrating to work on some aspects with the theatre, but it went well enough. They wanted us out quick after the performance, so we packed up as fast as we could and left ... heading to dinner at a restaurant. I thought it was great! I tried all the unique things and enjoyed most of it. I found my favorite fish ... couldn't say what it was or how it was seasoned, but I loved it!! Now off to sleep as we prepare for an early rise to travel to the airport. Tomorrow ... we go to Qingdao ...
Friday, June 13, 2008
Fri, June 13, 2008
Well, 7am breakfast and we had to be on the bus to travel to Hangzhou at 8am. We all were tired and quickly fell asleep. Travels lasted until about noon, and then we ate lunch at the hotel and were able to rest for an hour or so – due to rain …
We had a show tonight … sigh … don’t get me wrong, I love running a show, but I am exhausted! I guess I should try to get more sleep, or something …
We did drive around West Lake, which reminded me of the peacefulness of Waldon’s Pond. When we got to the venue, there was a huge poster for our concert, and a children’s dance group was there to meet with us. The main picture on the poster was of the Cha Cha dance, “Doo Wah Diddy” so the dancers posed in front of it and soon, the children noticed they were the ones on the poster and began to want their own pictures. Lol … Anyways, set-up at the venue went slow for me as I wasn’t able to set up for the first … hour or so. It did go well, except headsets had awful reception. In many ways, we weren’t able to communicate and I give both lighting, spot, and backstage cues. It was an adventure!
Really, not much happened today. After the show, we had dinner at the hotel then off we went to bed. I leant my computer to some dancers until 12:15. I stayed in my room watching an interesting movie. I find my eyes notice a lot more of film aspects since I’ve worked on the set. Also, a lot more things in Chinese films make sense as I recognize similar temples and such.
We had a show tonight … sigh … don’t get me wrong, I love running a show, but I am exhausted! I guess I should try to get more sleep, or something …
We did drive around West Lake, which reminded me of the peacefulness of Waldon’s Pond. When we got to the venue, there was a huge poster for our concert, and a children’s dance group was there to meet with us. The main picture on the poster was of the Cha Cha dance, “Doo Wah Diddy” so the dancers posed in front of it and soon, the children noticed they were the ones on the poster and began to want their own pictures. Lol … Anyways, set-up at the venue went slow for me as I wasn’t able to set up for the first … hour or so. It did go well, except headsets had awful reception. In many ways, we weren’t able to communicate and I give both lighting, spot, and backstage cues. It was an adventure!
Really, not much happened today. After the show, we had dinner at the hotel then off we went to bed. I leant my computer to some dancers until 12:15. I stayed in my room watching an interesting movie. I find my eyes notice a lot more of film aspects since I’ve worked on the set. Also, a lot more things in Chinese films make sense as I recognize similar temples and such.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Tribute to Dancers 2
I am really enjoying being able to be so close to some people that I am able to see through the outer shell. There are some that I feel are very distant or selective and I have a hard time really getting to know who they are. After two years, I am finally able to really see who they really are, even if it is only for a moment each day. These dancers are simply amazing people. I enjoy being able to get to know each person beyond what they first appear … and being able to call each of them a friend. I love them all! I don’t know what my life would be like without the BYU Ballroom Dance Company! And of course that also applies to all the BYU dance companies, but Ballroom really has had a great impact from our travels in the last two years.
Thur, June 12, 2008
Well, I got to get my hair and make-up done by Jessica today. I decided to blow dry my hair and Jess showed me another way of curling the ends. Then, she taught me her way of doing make-up. I’m gong to learn so many people’s way of eye make-up. One day, I’ll find the one that I like and stick with it, but might as well learn from the dancers while I can. We had breakfast at 8am, and then left the hotel at 9:15 for sightseeing.
Our first stop was the Jade Buddha Temple. Another peaceful place, but there were a lot of tourists. The different shrines were beautiful and there were so many different statues. We finally were able to see the Jade Buddha, which was quite impressive. The story behind it was … three Jade Buddha’s were made and sent to Shanghai for transportation to their resting place in a far off place. Unfortunately, one Jade Buddha was so heavy, they were unable to transport it by train, boat, etc. so they saw it as a sign that it needed to stay in Shanghai – therefore, they built a temple around it and there it still rests …
Our next stop was a beautiful garden that I wish to have in my backyard. It was so peaceful with the ponds full of goldfish, zigzag bridges, many hidden nooks, and wonderful rock formations. If I have money to spend in the future, I’d love to have a fung sui garden in my backyard. A nice retreat. The garden is lined with shopping centers, but all noises were muted and not heard within the garden. It was amazing!
Oh dear … so we went shopping again which was a great shopping center, but nothing grabbed my attention for me to purchase. Anyways, we were uncertain if the meeting time was 1:20 or 1:30, so we were there at 1:15 and were one of the firsts. We go to a nearby store to look around, and got so busy bargaining, we didn’t start leaving until 1:25, which quickly showed us that the meeting time was 1:20. No one was around! There were three of us, Angela, Tia, and I. Ange saw Lee and Shane at the far end of the street waving us on so she began to run, but Tia wasn’t with us. I saw him begin to leave with us but get pulled into another sale. I tried to wait, and even searched the store for him, but had no luck finding him. I then began to run to catch up with the group and got a “look” from Lee along the way. I had hoped that Tia had passed by when I wasn’t looking. Unfortunately, when we got on the bus, he was the only one missing. We had to wait at least another five minutes for him and when he finally got to the bus – thank goodness – Lee had us get off the bus to lecture us. Oh dear! I feel awful! So, we learned a valuable lesson … when it comes near the meeting time, be in sight of the meeting place at ALL times!
Next, we went to take pictures of the tallest building in the world … at least it will be for the next few months until the construction finishes on the next tallest being built in another city in China. It is such a constant competition to be the tallest. It’s almost nonsense!!
So, the venue was amazing with the nicest help. All went well and smooth. I wasn’t sure about the sound levels because what I hear is a lot muted then in the house so I was worried to blast the people’s ears – especially since the bass was so heavy in that venue! Anyways … we got out at 9:45 and headed to dinner.
We were all tired and not that hungry for Chinese food, but I really liked it! It wasn’t as good with only appetizers, but as soon as the main dishes came out – especially the fish – It was amazing. I enjoyed it! Apparently, the leaders decided to try the stinky bean curd, which would seem to “smell like poop and taste like poop. Two leaders and four boys tried it and couldn’t bear their small bite! Lol … well, we definitely are ready to go to bed!
(Note: So apparently, most of the development of tall buildings and impressive architecture began in the 1990’s. BYU’s first appearance in Shanghai was of small one-story stores and trees. It has developed much in the last two decades.)
Our first stop was the Jade Buddha Temple. Another peaceful place, but there were a lot of tourists. The different shrines were beautiful and there were so many different statues. We finally were able to see the Jade Buddha, which was quite impressive. The story behind it was … three Jade Buddha’s were made and sent to Shanghai for transportation to their resting place in a far off place. Unfortunately, one Jade Buddha was so heavy, they were unable to transport it by train, boat, etc. so they saw it as a sign that it needed to stay in Shanghai – therefore, they built a temple around it and there it still rests …
Our next stop was a beautiful garden that I wish to have in my backyard. It was so peaceful with the ponds full of goldfish, zigzag bridges, many hidden nooks, and wonderful rock formations. If I have money to spend in the future, I’d love to have a fung sui garden in my backyard. A nice retreat. The garden is lined with shopping centers, but all noises were muted and not heard within the garden. It was amazing!
Oh dear … so we went shopping again which was a great shopping center, but nothing grabbed my attention for me to purchase. Anyways, we were uncertain if the meeting time was 1:20 or 1:30, so we were there at 1:15 and were one of the firsts. We go to a nearby store to look around, and got so busy bargaining, we didn’t start leaving until 1:25, which quickly showed us that the meeting time was 1:20. No one was around! There were three of us, Angela, Tia, and I. Ange saw Lee and Shane at the far end of the street waving us on so she began to run, but Tia wasn’t with us. I saw him begin to leave with us but get pulled into another sale. I tried to wait, and even searched the store for him, but had no luck finding him. I then began to run to catch up with the group and got a “look” from Lee along the way. I had hoped that Tia had passed by when I wasn’t looking. Unfortunately, when we got on the bus, he was the only one missing. We had to wait at least another five minutes for him and when he finally got to the bus – thank goodness – Lee had us get off the bus to lecture us. Oh dear! I feel awful! So, we learned a valuable lesson … when it comes near the meeting time, be in sight of the meeting place at ALL times!
Next, we went to take pictures of the tallest building in the world … at least it will be for the next few months until the construction finishes on the next tallest being built in another city in China. It is such a constant competition to be the tallest. It’s almost nonsense!!
So, the venue was amazing with the nicest help. All went well and smooth. I wasn’t sure about the sound levels because what I hear is a lot muted then in the house so I was worried to blast the people’s ears – especially since the bass was so heavy in that venue! Anyways … we got out at 9:45 and headed to dinner.
We were all tired and not that hungry for Chinese food, but I really liked it! It wasn’t as good with only appetizers, but as soon as the main dishes came out – especially the fish – It was amazing. I enjoyed it! Apparently, the leaders decided to try the stinky bean curd, which would seem to “smell like poop and taste like poop. Two leaders and four boys tried it and couldn’t bear their small bite! Lol … well, we definitely are ready to go to bed!
(Note: So apparently, most of the development of tall buildings and impressive architecture began in the 1990’s. BYU’s first appearance in Shanghai was of small one-story stores and trees. It has developed much in the last two decades.)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wed, June 11, 2008
The day began … with rain! I didn’t know this of course because I was inside as dancers continued to use my computer. Breakfast was served at 7:30 – and all bags had to be packed and set in the lobby beforehand. We left the hotel at 8:40 to head to the airport! Our first flight inside Mainland China … How exciting!
AWWWWW ….. So, on our way to the airport, our tour leader began to show baby pictures of the team members and read a biography that the mothers sent. It was so cute! I love baby pictures – we were all excited! I love what our tour leaders do for us so we don’t get too homesick. I was the last one done for the day … and my mom picked my favorite picture! It was great! I’m so HAPPY!!!!
Getting through security in the airport wasn’t too bad. It was just like airports in the states, but no liquids are allowed. My bag was searched just because I still had my first aid supplies in my carry-on. It was mainly checking the first aid cream and chapstick – apparently not even chapstick is allowed! They didn’t take anything, just checked to see what it was. I do have four water bottles in my checked bag, so hopefully it doesn’t decide to explode. If it does, my laundry will be done! Hehehe … okay, I won’t do that next time. Water is just hard to come by and I need to stop dehydrating myself. I work so hard, I don’t notice the heat and don’t drink water. I got a headache last night during the show probably because of that reason. Thankfully, I was able to have headache medicine from Ron, but I learned to always carry my meds with me. I really will need it – at least the Tylenol.
What a tiring flight. For the first hour, most of the team was sleeping, then we were fed lunch and it seemed to have woken people up. I could not get comfortable for sleep, so I just took out my laptop to listen to music and continue typing. Too bad my computer wasn’t charged all the way and will run out of battery soon.
After an interesting check-in, we were able to drop off our things in our new hotel room - and discover the interesting design that has the shower showing into the room. We had some interesting conversations about that at lunch. Our next trip was to a shopping street. It was similar in style to the one in Guangzhou, so I didn't really care much for it. Finally, at 6:30pm, we headed to see a Chinese Acrobatic show. It was called the ERA Intersection of Time (http://www.era-shanghai.com). It was very impressive show and the whole team loved it! It seemed to have cost at least 500RMB, but it was only 80RMB, being about $11. Our seats weren't the best, but there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. It was amazing!
We then headed to see the Shanghai nightscape, which was really nice. I was getting a headache and was tired after the show, but being out next to the water was great and it woke me up quickly. I had forgotten my camera, but my friends were able to get a picture for me. Then, off we went back to the hotel where my computer was used for internet and I fell asleep. I rarely get to use my computer during the evenings, but I don't mind.
AWWWWW ….. So, on our way to the airport, our tour leader began to show baby pictures of the team members and read a biography that the mothers sent. It was so cute! I love baby pictures – we were all excited! I love what our tour leaders do for us so we don’t get too homesick. I was the last one done for the day … and my mom picked my favorite picture! It was great! I’m so HAPPY!!!!
Getting through security in the airport wasn’t too bad. It was just like airports in the states, but no liquids are allowed. My bag was searched just because I still had my first aid supplies in my carry-on. It was mainly checking the first aid cream and chapstick – apparently not even chapstick is allowed! They didn’t take anything, just checked to see what it was. I do have four water bottles in my checked bag, so hopefully it doesn’t decide to explode. If it does, my laundry will be done! Hehehe … okay, I won’t do that next time. Water is just hard to come by and I need to stop dehydrating myself. I work so hard, I don’t notice the heat and don’t drink water. I got a headache last night during the show probably because of that reason. Thankfully, I was able to have headache medicine from Ron, but I learned to always carry my meds with me. I really will need it – at least the Tylenol.
What a tiring flight. For the first hour, most of the team was sleeping, then we were fed lunch and it seemed to have woken people up. I could not get comfortable for sleep, so I just took out my laptop to listen to music and continue typing. Too bad my computer wasn’t charged all the way and will run out of battery soon.
After an interesting check-in, we were able to drop off our things in our new hotel room - and discover the interesting design that has the shower showing into the room. We had some interesting conversations about that at lunch. Our next trip was to a shopping street. It was similar in style to the one in Guangzhou, so I didn't really care much for it. Finally, at 6:30pm, we headed to see a Chinese Acrobatic show. It was called the ERA Intersection of Time (http://www.era-shanghai.com). It was very impressive show and the whole team loved it! It seemed to have cost at least 500RMB, but it was only 80RMB, being about $11. Our seats weren't the best, but there really wasn't a bad seat in the house. It was amazing!
We then headed to see the Shanghai nightscape, which was really nice. I was getting a headache and was tired after the show, but being out next to the water was great and it woke me up quickly. I had forgotten my camera, but my friends were able to get a picture for me. Then, off we went back to the hotel where my computer was used for internet and I fell asleep. I rarely get to use my computer during the evenings, but I don't mind.
Tue, June 10, 2008
Breakfast was at 8:30am, and then we began our sightseeing at 9:15. When we got on the bus, our tour guide for the day, John, began to give us a history of Guangzhou. It is the gateway to South China and its name means Cloudy Mountain. One myth that goes with the city is about the five goats. Many century’s ago, there was a terrible drought. Five Immortals came down from the sky riding five goats, one immortal on each goat. The goats hade a rice year held in their mouths. Because of the resection, respect, and joy that the people showed to the Immortals, they promised prosperity all the years to come.
We began our sightseeing by going to the Six Banyan Temple which gave us the opportunity to see the way monks live. It was such a peaceful place … who wouldn’t want to live their life there? We also were able to climb up the temple to the ninth floor, which gave us a beautiful view of the city. Afterwards, we headed to the Folk Art Museum and were able to look around a building that used to be a university. There were such detailed and intricate designs on the roofing. The rooms were all open (no solid walls) to allow wind to cool it down. So many beautiful artworks were displayed; including carvings made of stone, wood, olive wood, bone, ivory, coconuts, etc. They are preparing to redo several of the displays, so we didn’t see any of the embroidery art and the Buddha was no longer in the compound.
Next, was lunch and a time for shopping. We went to a restaurant near the shopping street and I just love the food here and how it is served. There is so much variety and we just have all the food on a turntable so we can serve how much we want whenever we want it. It’s interesting to see how they are trying to help us out, but it just isn’t working … since we don’t drink tea, they bring water, but water from the tap isn’t safe for us to drink. Therefore, they boil it so we have steaming hot water. To cool it down, they try to give us ice, but that’s just frozen tap so we don’t touch it. Then. They bring us forks to use instead of chopsticks, but Lee says we are not allowed to touch forks since it really isn’t nice manners towards them. Eating is always an adventure. I do like to eat at the same table as Lee and Linda. Today, at one instance Lee was telling us a story of one person getting so frustrated with eating with chopsticks that they just speared the food – and to show this, Lee takes his chopsticks and hits his plate (with nothing on it). The waitresses haven’t had any facial expressions as we ate, but the one who serves us, saw that and just started to laugh and turned to the other waitress to tell her and they both tried to hold back laughter. Lee is trying to teach us to be courteous and have good manners during meals, and then he does that! It’s hilarious!!! I am storing some great memories!
Well, we had an hour and a half for shopping, but it was shops of trendy clothes and such. Nothing interested me, but I looked for some jewelry for my sisters. I bought one thing, but I’m not telling what it was or whom it’s for. I like surprises!
We had a performance that night and I was told to have the most improvement! The venue was so big and beautiful! Definitely an adventure for the technical aspect. It was so funny to see my set-up. At my feet, I had three monitors – two for projection, and one for the lightboard. Then, in front of me was my show computer. We work with so many computer screens! As we began the performance, projection froze up, so I had to go down between a number – and then the power cable was pulled out from across the house (yeah, we had an adventure sending power to projection). For the first half of the performance, there was no projection, but finally for the Viennese Waltz, we were able to get it running again and I slowly got the picture back up again. I had to leave the booth, go to the projector, and old my hand over it as it showed the startup Epson sign, then went on to the image. I love my job! Spots had a hard time at this venue as they were unable to get upstage on the side they were located. They were constantly dousing out and switching people. It was fun and crazy! I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about calling lighting cues. I got Midi to work from SFX to the lightboard for projection. We’ve decided to just use our board for projection – so it sticks with me – and Benjamin will use their board to design each show. We’ll never have the same show twice! It is easier that way …
There was a little worry after the show when one of my spot techs, Jay, was over-hydrated and almost passed out right in front of me. We had him sit down and I searched for his wife and got the physical trainer to help him out. It’s never fun to see people get sick while on tour. Dehydration is a huge problem because of the heat and humidity, but it doesn’t help that one can get sick from drinking too much water.
There was a flower presentation at the end of the concert, so all of us could take back some flowers. I got three small pink roses and I’m hoping to dry them if they will survive travels. The bouquets were beautiful. Not only did they do that for us, but they posted a banner above the stage to welcome the ballroom dance company. It was so nice. When we returned to the hotel, there was another dinner for us – 11pm dinner – and an announcement was made that the Beijing office called us to congratulate us on a great first show in Mainland China. Since we don’t drink, we toasted with Sprite. It was so nice of them! I’m excited to finally be in Beijing and see all the different opportunities we will have …
Awww … engaged people are so cute! There are three engaged girls and one engaged boy on team. I can’t say anything about the boy, but it is so cute to hear the girls talk of their boy and read the cute parts of emails the boys send. Although dating can be frustrating, engagements are adorable, so it’ll be worth it in the end. I had two of the engaged girls in my room talking about their boys and reading excerpts of emails sent from them. It was great! There’s a way to spend a night!
We began our sightseeing by going to the Six Banyan Temple which gave us the opportunity to see the way monks live. It was such a peaceful place … who wouldn’t want to live their life there? We also were able to climb up the temple to the ninth floor, which gave us a beautiful view of the city. Afterwards, we headed to the Folk Art Museum and were able to look around a building that used to be a university. There were such detailed and intricate designs on the roofing. The rooms were all open (no solid walls) to allow wind to cool it down. So many beautiful artworks were displayed; including carvings made of stone, wood, olive wood, bone, ivory, coconuts, etc. They are preparing to redo several of the displays, so we didn’t see any of the embroidery art and the Buddha was no longer in the compound.
Next, was lunch and a time for shopping. We went to a restaurant near the shopping street and I just love the food here and how it is served. There is so much variety and we just have all the food on a turntable so we can serve how much we want whenever we want it. It’s interesting to see how they are trying to help us out, but it just isn’t working … since we don’t drink tea, they bring water, but water from the tap isn’t safe for us to drink. Therefore, they boil it so we have steaming hot water. To cool it down, they try to give us ice, but that’s just frozen tap so we don’t touch it. Then. They bring us forks to use instead of chopsticks, but Lee says we are not allowed to touch forks since it really isn’t nice manners towards them. Eating is always an adventure. I do like to eat at the same table as Lee and Linda. Today, at one instance Lee was telling us a story of one person getting so frustrated with eating with chopsticks that they just speared the food – and to show this, Lee takes his chopsticks and hits his plate (with nothing on it). The waitresses haven’t had any facial expressions as we ate, but the one who serves us, saw that and just started to laugh and turned to the other waitress to tell her and they both tried to hold back laughter. Lee is trying to teach us to be courteous and have good manners during meals, and then he does that! It’s hilarious!!! I am storing some great memories!
Well, we had an hour and a half for shopping, but it was shops of trendy clothes and such. Nothing interested me, but I looked for some jewelry for my sisters. I bought one thing, but I’m not telling what it was or whom it’s for. I like surprises!
We had a performance that night and I was told to have the most improvement! The venue was so big and beautiful! Definitely an adventure for the technical aspect. It was so funny to see my set-up. At my feet, I had three monitors – two for projection, and one for the lightboard. Then, in front of me was my show computer. We work with so many computer screens! As we began the performance, projection froze up, so I had to go down between a number – and then the power cable was pulled out from across the house (yeah, we had an adventure sending power to projection). For the first half of the performance, there was no projection, but finally for the Viennese Waltz, we were able to get it running again and I slowly got the picture back up again. I had to leave the booth, go to the projector, and old my hand over it as it showed the startup Epson sign, then went on to the image. I love my job! Spots had a hard time at this venue as they were unable to get upstage on the side they were located. They were constantly dousing out and switching people. It was fun and crazy! I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about calling lighting cues. I got Midi to work from SFX to the lightboard for projection. We’ve decided to just use our board for projection – so it sticks with me – and Benjamin will use their board to design each show. We’ll never have the same show twice! It is easier that way …
There was a little worry after the show when one of my spot techs, Jay, was over-hydrated and almost passed out right in front of me. We had him sit down and I searched for his wife and got the physical trainer to help him out. It’s never fun to see people get sick while on tour. Dehydration is a huge problem because of the heat and humidity, but it doesn’t help that one can get sick from drinking too much water.
There was a flower presentation at the end of the concert, so all of us could take back some flowers. I got three small pink roses and I’m hoping to dry them if they will survive travels. The bouquets were beautiful. Not only did they do that for us, but they posted a banner above the stage to welcome the ballroom dance company. It was so nice. When we returned to the hotel, there was another dinner for us – 11pm dinner – and an announcement was made that the Beijing office called us to congratulate us on a great first show in Mainland China. Since we don’t drink, we toasted with Sprite. It was so nice of them! I’m excited to finally be in Beijing and see all the different opportunities we will have …
Awww … engaged people are so cute! There are three engaged girls and one engaged boy on team. I can’t say anything about the boy, but it is so cute to hear the girls talk of their boy and read the cute parts of emails the boys send. Although dating can be frustrating, engagements are adorable, so it’ll be worth it in the end. I had two of the engaged girls in my room talking about their boys and reading excerpts of emails sent from them. It was great! There’s a way to spend a night!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Tribute to Dancers 1
Well, apparently, I have to say something about one of the Latin dancers – named Cameron Smyres. Yep, he pretty much rocks. What more can I say? He is so nice and fun to hang out with. While standing with some leaders, they were discussing how nice these dancers are and how helpful – so they brought up Cameron who is always aware of who needs help with carrying bags. When I look for a good group to wander around with, he’s one of the dancers I seek out – for he makes the group great! Before we got to the hotel, we were just able to talk about anything. He is a great listener and always there to brighten up the day. I'll miss him when he leaves the team at the end of this tour.
More Interesting Observations:
Oh, so I guess I should give an update on the weather … I think it is nice, but humidity is very high so we can feel the height as soon as we take a step outside. We just begin sweating. It doesn’t bother me much though. It’s a change from what I’m use to, but I think it feels good - although a bit sticky. Yep, I apparently can withstand any kind of weather. Hot, cold, humid, dry, rain, snow, you name it, I’m okay with it …
We have some great photographers on tour, who promise to make DVDs for everyone on team, so I don’t go out of my way for pictures. I’ll still take some, but I’ll put off my official tour slideshow until I’ve got those images. We also have a few video cameras, so this year is going to have a lot of photo documentation. Wow … we just laugh at how many pictures are taken in an hours’ time …
We have some great photographers on tour, who promise to make DVDs for everyone on team, so I don’t go out of my way for pictures. I’ll still take some, but I’ll put off my official tour slideshow until I’ve got those images. We also have a few video cameras, so this year is going to have a lot of photo documentation. Wow … we just laugh at how many pictures are taken in an hours’ time …
Mon, June 9, 2008
Travels again … Breakfast at McDonald’s was at 8am, and then we packed up to get on a bus at 9:30am. We all crammed on a bus and drove to a warehouse to pack up our equipment and separate onto two buses to prepare to cross the border into Mainland China. Off we go …
It wasn’t too bad to get through customs. It was just a bug mess of cases and dancers. We all have to unload both buses and carry our things across the border through the departure/arrival hall. At 1pm, we were finally able to begin our travels to Guangzhou. With customs behind us, we were on our way. All of us were put on one bus – so all seats were full. The other bus had all equipment and luggage. The first thing we talked about on the bus was some cultural notes for language phrases, bargaining tips, etc. Then we got our itinerary for the day as we only need to check into the hotel and have the rest of the night to ourselves. My roommate is Callie for the next two nights, and she is AMAZING!!!! I love her, so I am so excited for these next few days.
During the break before dinner, we were able to go to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was nice, but the animals were all in small cages made of cement. They looked so thin and sad. I felt bad for them. Also, we couldn’t see the Great Panda because they were put away for the day. I did see the Red Panda. And I also saw a hippopotamus! – and I thought of my sis, Nor and Al, the whole time ;-D
Well, there is free Internet here, so my computer is public domain to all the dancers. It’s now a party in my room! Yeah!
We had dinner in the hotel and it was great authentic food. It’s hard to know how to eat everything, especially with only the use of chopsticks. Lee will not let us use utensils, even if they offer it to us, but it is bad manners. We all should learn to use chopsticks, but how does one eat chicken w/ bone? It’ll all work out, though … I did finally have myself a chicken head. There isn’t much edible there. Too bad, too, because it seemed pretty good. I didn’t like the brain too much, but the eye juice was amazing and the tongue/mouth muscles weren’t too bad. Because I did that, apparently Lee and Linda plan on inviting me to the VIP reception dinners so I could eat the “unique” food that is given to the guests of honor. Both Linda and Brittney could not bear to watch me eat any part of the chicken head. They couldn’t even believe that I’d consider trying it. I love to shock people! And it never hurts to do something out of the ordinary and try new things.
It wasn’t too bad to get through customs. It was just a bug mess of cases and dancers. We all have to unload both buses and carry our things across the border through the departure/arrival hall. At 1pm, we were finally able to begin our travels to Guangzhou. With customs behind us, we were on our way. All of us were put on one bus – so all seats were full. The other bus had all equipment and luggage. The first thing we talked about on the bus was some cultural notes for language phrases, bargaining tips, etc. Then we got our itinerary for the day as we only need to check into the hotel and have the rest of the night to ourselves. My roommate is Callie for the next two nights, and she is AMAZING!!!! I love her, so I am so excited for these next few days.
During the break before dinner, we were able to go to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was nice, but the animals were all in small cages made of cement. They looked so thin and sad. I felt bad for them. Also, we couldn’t see the Great Panda because they were put away for the day. I did see the Red Panda. And I also saw a hippopotamus! – and I thought of my sis, Nor and Al, the whole time ;-D
Well, there is free Internet here, so my computer is public domain to all the dancers. It’s now a party in my room! Yeah!
We had dinner in the hotel and it was great authentic food. It’s hard to know how to eat everything, especially with only the use of chopsticks. Lee will not let us use utensils, even if they offer it to us, but it is bad manners. We all should learn to use chopsticks, but how does one eat chicken w/ bone? It’ll all work out, though … I did finally have myself a chicken head. There isn’t much edible there. Too bad, too, because it seemed pretty good. I didn’t like the brain too much, but the eye juice was amazing and the tongue/mouth muscles weren’t too bad. Because I did that, apparently Lee and Linda plan on inviting me to the VIP reception dinners so I could eat the “unique” food that is given to the guests of honor. Both Linda and Brittney could not bear to watch me eat any part of the chicken head. They couldn’t even believe that I’d consider trying it. I love to shock people! And it never hurts to do something out of the ordinary and try new things.
Sun, June 8, 2008
First of the day was an amazing breakfast buffet at 7am. A lot of good food. Then, we began our walk to church at 8am. We were going to take the public ferry across the bay to Hong Kong. The church building is beautiful! When we walked in, missionaries were there taking pictures before a baptism. I made me think of my cousin as he just returned a few weeks ago from serving in Hong Kong.
Church went well as we attended an English-speaking ward and had great talks and lessons. The first youth talk was the bishop’s son who bagan with how he didn’t want to give a talk, so he spoke on the relationship between a son and father and the power that is found there. During that talk, I thought of my own talk that I’d like to write about the relationship between mothers and daughters. Not only the great power and love between our birth mother, but also the sisterhood we have in the church and how we are able to look up to each other and I can find a kind of mother figure in the tour wives who are always there for us and the closeness we find with our friend’s mothers. It was just something I thought about during sacrament meeting.
After church, we ate dinner at a restaurant by the bay before taking the ferry back. We got about two hours for a break, and although I tried to get some rest, I couldn’t fall asleep so I listened to music on my computer the whole time. Then at 4pm, off we went to visit the Hong Kong temple. It is surprising to see a temple in the middle of the city. It was so hard to find property to build that temple, there really is no room between it and the next buildings. There is a beautiful courtyard and it feels like an escape from the outside world. The side door was open and the mission president, Pres. Van Dam, was in his office when he saw all of us from the window so he invited us in. We were able to talk to Pres Van Dam and his wife. We went into his office also to see all the pictures of the missionaries and hear more about the mission in Hong Kong. The whole time, I thought of my cousin. I did remember that one of my high school friends was serving there, Elder Ty Hansen, as I saw his picture on the wall. It said he was the DL for Kowloon West. I wish I had known that so I could have kept my eyes out for him at the performances. I’m not sure how many missionaries were able to go to our performances, but the mission president was there for one. It’s always nice to see a familiar face, especially while across the world.
Following our temple trip, we went to prepare for the fireside at 7pm. I can’t remember the name of the building we went to, but we were on the 4th floor set up in the cultural hall. We ate dinner, which I thought was great food, and then helped set up risers for us to sit on and had the podium on the little stage. We had the area authority come to our fireside, so Lee told us to be on our best behavior – no sleeping, reading, writing, all men had to have their blazers and women had to take off their coats (it was really cold too). It looked nice and the talks given by a few of the dancers were great. I love listening to talks given on tour. They are usually the best I have ever heard. Oh, so I was able to run into Elder Hansen right before the fireside. Him and his companion had brought an investigator with them, so I was able to say hi. Then, after the program when I was able to talk to the people, one woman wanted to talk to me and take a picture with me, and he was nearby to help translate. It was great seeing him. I love the thought of all the men from high school serving their mission and even some of the women beginning to leave. At times, I would love to be able to serve in that way, but I just remember what I am doing now on this tour and I can see that my mission is to work on the technical crew for these dancers to help bring the power and spirit to the people through dance and performance. It make it all worthwhile.
Afterwards, we were also able to travel to Victoria’s Peak to see Hong Kong at night. That was a beautiful site! Halfway up the peak, we were hit with fog, but there was enough of a break to see the city. I tried to get a few pictures, but didn’t bother trying to be in any since a flash will only wash it out. One of my friends wasn’t feeling well – we think it may have been her reaction to the food – so I let her rest her head on my lap as I gave her a head massage. Before we were able to see the view, we tried to see the view for the top of a building, so all 47 of us went up at least 8 escalators, then found out that only a month or two ago, they decided to start charging people to use the viewpoint. Oh well … back down the escalators we went! I thought it was quite funny to see our team go up and down escalators. Hehehe …
I am really going to miss Hong Kong. The lady I was talking to after the fireside said that she hoped I’d come back to visit sometime, and I realized that I really hope I can. There is still so much I would love to see. With the rain, I didn’t get as much of the opportunity …
… Speaking of, the rain we had broke all records. The road from the city to the airport was closed for the first time since it was build eleven years ago, which was one reason why our cultural advisor and his wife was unable to make it to our show Saturday night. They had just flown in – which was amazing since several flights were delayed or cancelled, and had to take the train since the roads were flooded. According to the Sunday Morning Post:
“The Observatory issued the amber rainstorm warning at 5:15am. The black rainstorm warning was hoisted at 6:40am and only lowered at 11am.
“More than 400mm of rain fell on parts of Lantau and more than 300mm on parts of Hong Kong Island. The average monthly rainfall in June is 376mm.
“In Tsim Sha Tsui, the 124-year record for rainfall per hour was smashed.”
Some more information included:
539 cases of flooding by 7pm
412 flights delayed by 8:30pm, and 14 cancelled
89 landslides by 9pm
145.5mm of rain between 8am and 9am in Tsim Sha Tsui, the most in an hour since records began in 1884
300mm The average rainfall across the city between midnight and midday
3,657 lighting strikes between 7am and 8am
So, we had quite an adventure while in Hong Kong. Our hotel lobby flooded, lights flickered only a few times, and we got soaked while walking to breakfast that morning. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice, but we didn’t know it was that bad until afterwards.
I loved my time here, and can’t wait to continue on. I hear Guangzhou is nothing like Hong Kong. I’m looking forward to seeing Mainland China! It feels like we’ve been on tour for two weeks now, and it’s only our first weekend. This is going to be an interesting tour …
Church went well as we attended an English-speaking ward and had great talks and lessons. The first youth talk was the bishop’s son who bagan with how he didn’t want to give a talk, so he spoke on the relationship between a son and father and the power that is found there. During that talk, I thought of my own talk that I’d like to write about the relationship between mothers and daughters. Not only the great power and love between our birth mother, but also the sisterhood we have in the church and how we are able to look up to each other and I can find a kind of mother figure in the tour wives who are always there for us and the closeness we find with our friend’s mothers. It was just something I thought about during sacrament meeting.
After church, we ate dinner at a restaurant by the bay before taking the ferry back. We got about two hours for a break, and although I tried to get some rest, I couldn’t fall asleep so I listened to music on my computer the whole time. Then at 4pm, off we went to visit the Hong Kong temple. It is surprising to see a temple in the middle of the city. It was so hard to find property to build that temple, there really is no room between it and the next buildings. There is a beautiful courtyard and it feels like an escape from the outside world. The side door was open and the mission president, Pres. Van Dam, was in his office when he saw all of us from the window so he invited us in. We were able to talk to Pres Van Dam and his wife. We went into his office also to see all the pictures of the missionaries and hear more about the mission in Hong Kong. The whole time, I thought of my cousin. I did remember that one of my high school friends was serving there, Elder Ty Hansen, as I saw his picture on the wall. It said he was the DL for Kowloon West. I wish I had known that so I could have kept my eyes out for him at the performances. I’m not sure how many missionaries were able to go to our performances, but the mission president was there for one. It’s always nice to see a familiar face, especially while across the world.
Following our temple trip, we went to prepare for the fireside at 7pm. I can’t remember the name of the building we went to, but we were on the 4th floor set up in the cultural hall. We ate dinner, which I thought was great food, and then helped set up risers for us to sit on and had the podium on the little stage. We had the area authority come to our fireside, so Lee told us to be on our best behavior – no sleeping, reading, writing, all men had to have their blazers and women had to take off their coats (it was really cold too). It looked nice and the talks given by a few of the dancers were great. I love listening to talks given on tour. They are usually the best I have ever heard. Oh, so I was able to run into Elder Hansen right before the fireside. Him and his companion had brought an investigator with them, so I was able to say hi. Then, after the program when I was able to talk to the people, one woman wanted to talk to me and take a picture with me, and he was nearby to help translate. It was great seeing him. I love the thought of all the men from high school serving their mission and even some of the women beginning to leave. At times, I would love to be able to serve in that way, but I just remember what I am doing now on this tour and I can see that my mission is to work on the technical crew for these dancers to help bring the power and spirit to the people through dance and performance. It make it all worthwhile.
Afterwards, we were also able to travel to Victoria’s Peak to see Hong Kong at night. That was a beautiful site! Halfway up the peak, we were hit with fog, but there was enough of a break to see the city. I tried to get a few pictures, but didn’t bother trying to be in any since a flash will only wash it out. One of my friends wasn’t feeling well – we think it may have been her reaction to the food – so I let her rest her head on my lap as I gave her a head massage. Before we were able to see the view, we tried to see the view for the top of a building, so all 47 of us went up at least 8 escalators, then found out that only a month or two ago, they decided to start charging people to use the viewpoint. Oh well … back down the escalators we went! I thought it was quite funny to see our team go up and down escalators. Hehehe …
I am really going to miss Hong Kong. The lady I was talking to after the fireside said that she hoped I’d come back to visit sometime, and I realized that I really hope I can. There is still so much I would love to see. With the rain, I didn’t get as much of the opportunity …
… Speaking of, the rain we had broke all records. The road from the city to the airport was closed for the first time since it was build eleven years ago, which was one reason why our cultural advisor and his wife was unable to make it to our show Saturday night. They had just flown in – which was amazing since several flights were delayed or cancelled, and had to take the train since the roads were flooded. According to the Sunday Morning Post:
“The Observatory issued the amber rainstorm warning at 5:15am. The black rainstorm warning was hoisted at 6:40am and only lowered at 11am.
“More than 400mm of rain fell on parts of Lantau and more than 300mm on parts of Hong Kong Island. The average monthly rainfall in June is 376mm.
“In Tsim Sha Tsui, the 124-year record for rainfall per hour was smashed.”
Some more information included:
539 cases of flooding by 7pm
412 flights delayed by 8:30pm, and 14 cancelled
89 landslides by 9pm
145.5mm of rain between 8am and 9am in Tsim Sha Tsui, the most in an hour since records began in 1884
300mm The average rainfall across the city between midnight and midday
3,657 lighting strikes between 7am and 8am
So, we had quite an adventure while in Hong Kong. Our hotel lobby flooded, lights flickered only a few times, and we got soaked while walking to breakfast that morning. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice, but we didn’t know it was that bad until afterwards.
I loved my time here, and can’t wait to continue on. I hear Guangzhou is nothing like Hong Kong. I’m looking forward to seeing Mainland China! It feels like we’ve been on tour for two weeks now, and it’s only our first weekend. This is going to be an interesting tour …
Sat, June 7 cont ...
First, the black rainstorm warning caused a lot of delay and the museum would be closed due to it. Therefore, I wandered around the harbor with a few dancers for a while. We walked a bit around the Avenue of Stars that had statues of anime characters and names of stars on the cement walk - like in Hollywood. It was right next to the harbor so we had a great view of the skyline. It is amazing here!
We met at noon as a group for lunch and had McDonald’s. I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for the employers or be glad to give them so much business. It is hard to work with a group of 47, but we definitely give them a lot of business! Hopefully, we won’t be eating at McDonald’s so much in the next few days. We’re starting to get tired of it. It’s better then in the states, but I’m hoping for more authentic, culture food.
Well, due to the problems and delays and cancellations caused by the black thunderstorm warning, the bus was delayed by at least 45min. I disliked having nothing to do all day. I love the structure and business of tour, so it was weird to have so much free time – and due to the rain, we were stuck inside the whole time.
Finally, we headed to Stanley Market. We had an hour and a half to shop. It was a nice market with so much beautiful merchandise, but I wanted to wait until we got to mainland, so I just bought my Hong Kong patch to add to my tour bag. It was a great experience and I enjoyed wandering with different dancers and seeing what everyone decided to buy. I’ve got some great ideas and look forward to future shopping.
We headed to the venue for our last performance in Hong Kong. Apparently, SFX was being awful to me! I realized my mistake, finally, but it caused some grief. Oh well. All got organized and ran great. I felt confident in the show tonight. Sound wasn’t the best, but I adapted well. Now … on to the next venue!
We met at noon as a group for lunch and had McDonald’s. I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for the employers or be glad to give them so much business. It is hard to work with a group of 47, but we definitely give them a lot of business! Hopefully, we won’t be eating at McDonald’s so much in the next few days. We’re starting to get tired of it. It’s better then in the states, but I’m hoping for more authentic, culture food.
Well, due to the problems and delays and cancellations caused by the black thunderstorm warning, the bus was delayed by at least 45min. I disliked having nothing to do all day. I love the structure and business of tour, so it was weird to have so much free time – and due to the rain, we were stuck inside the whole time.
Finally, we headed to Stanley Market. We had an hour and a half to shop. It was a nice market with so much beautiful merchandise, but I wanted to wait until we got to mainland, so I just bought my Hong Kong patch to add to my tour bag. It was a great experience and I enjoyed wandering with different dancers and seeing what everyone decided to buy. I’ve got some great ideas and look forward to future shopping.
We headed to the venue for our last performance in Hong Kong. Apparently, SFX was being awful to me! I realized my mistake, finally, but it caused some grief. Oh well. All got organized and ran great. I felt confident in the show tonight. Sound wasn’t the best, but I adapted well. Now … on to the next venue!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Misc Observations
Some interesting observations I had:
I love the landscape here in Hong Kong. At the waterfront, all you see is skyscrapers. But while driving around, there are these beautiful gardens. I love the landscape design and the trees. I just love nature ...
While taking the several boat rides, I loved the movement of the boat. I began to remind me of music as I moved my hand with the movement and felt like I was conducting a song upon the waves. I thought it was really interesting how the sea wasn't too different from the calm travels to Lamma Island and the pouring rain traveling back from Lamma Island.
Notes about Tour:
We are actually staying in Kowloon at the YMCA Building, so we have to take the bus through the tunnel to get to Hong Kong. When we went to Lamma Island, we traveled by bus to Aberdeen, then a ferry over to Lamma Island. Stanley Market, which is where we are heading to now, is at the Southern tip of Hong Kong, so we have quite some travel to take. I've gotta head off now!! The bus is waiting.
I love the landscape here in Hong Kong. At the waterfront, all you see is skyscrapers. But while driving around, there are these beautiful gardens. I love the landscape design and the trees. I just love nature ...
While taking the several boat rides, I loved the movement of the boat. I began to remind me of music as I moved my hand with the movement and felt like I was conducting a song upon the waves. I thought it was really interesting how the sea wasn't too different from the calm travels to Lamma Island and the pouring rain traveling back from Lamma Island.
Notes about Tour:
We are actually staying in Kowloon at the YMCA Building, so we have to take the bus through the tunnel to get to Hong Kong. When we went to Lamma Island, we traveled by bus to Aberdeen, then a ferry over to Lamma Island. Stanley Market, which is where we are heading to now, is at the Southern tip of Hong Kong, so we have quite some travel to take. I've gotta head off now!! The bus is waiting.
Sat, June 7, 2008
The day began with ... rain! And thunder and lighting. (there was none of that yesterday …) The weather forecast for this week is rain, rain, and more rain. Hopefully, we will be able to see the sun as we head to Mainland China. The only problem with the rain is the fact that very few of us have raincoats. Thankfully, it is a warm rain. I’m just glad I actually did pack my umbrella. I usually don’t like using it, but I’m now very glad to have it with me. China doesn’t only rain, it usually pours! The clothes schedule for the day is a dress … and I thought about curling my hair, but seeing the rain come down, I’m just fine putting it up in a bun. I remember how beautiful the city looked at night and hoped to see it during the day, but so far, we mainly got a thick fog across the city so I miss seeing a lot of the skylines. We did have a good view from the boat ride yesterday morning, but that’s mainly it. Hopefully it clears up a bit before Monday when we travel to Guangzhou.
Again, we had breakfast at McDonald's at 7:30, and then we were to go to a school to teach ballroom dance to kids. However … it is a Black Thunderstorm Warning and all stores are closed except McDonald's. We step one foot outside and we are soaked. Apparently, we had a bit of flooding in the YMCA lobby. Apparently, there hasn’t been a black thunderstorm warning for the past several years. So, our plans have been canceled until noon. Hopefully by then, we will be able to go shopping at Stanley Square. Now, I have four hours to kill, and I have no idea what to do … apparently, there is an internet sharing party on the 13th floor, a Transformers movie party on the 12th floor, and then at 10am, I’ll join the Carr’s to the Museum of Art.
Well, it may be a few more days until I am able to update my blog. It cost me $40HKD for these four hours of internet (okay, that is only $5.40USD so it isn't too bad). I will keep a log of all my doings and constantly upload my pictures to my laptop. Whenever I get a few minutes online, it will be an easy upload ...
Again, we had breakfast at McDonald's at 7:30, and then we were to go to a school to teach ballroom dance to kids. However … it is a Black Thunderstorm Warning and all stores are closed except McDonald's. We step one foot outside and we are soaked. Apparently, we had a bit of flooding in the YMCA lobby. Apparently, there hasn’t been a black thunderstorm warning for the past several years. So, our plans have been canceled until noon. Hopefully by then, we will be able to go shopping at Stanley Square. Now, I have four hours to kill, and I have no idea what to do … apparently, there is an internet sharing party on the 13th floor, a Transformers movie party on the 12th floor, and then at 10am, I’ll join the Carr’s to the Museum of Art.
Well, it may be a few more days until I am able to update my blog. It cost me $40HKD for these four hours of internet (okay, that is only $5.40USD so it isn't too bad). I will keep a log of all my doings and constantly upload my pictures to my laptop. Whenever I get a few minutes online, it will be an easy upload ...
Fri, June 6, 2008
Where do I begin? It was an amazing day! We ate at McDonalds at 7:30, then headed off on our first adventure at 8:30. We were able to visit an authentic fisherman’s village, so on a boat we went. It was so nice! It had begun to rain that morning, so we came prepared with our raincoats and umbrellas. It continued to rain as we took our ferry to the Lamma Island. To travel to the small fisherman wharf, it was a boat ride big enough for only ten people, so I was on the first group to go over. When we got there, we were on a floating platform with several exhibits of how to fish, authentic fishing boats, etc. We finally were able to begin fishing ourselves when it began to POUR!!! I was already soaking wet from the boat ride – water has always been my friend – so I didn’t mind standing out there holding other people’s umbrellas as they fished – don’t worry, I had my umbrella too. We soon learned that our raincoats really aren’t even close to being raincoats - they barely pass as windbreakers. So we all looked like “drowned rats” and the rain was only getting worse. We actually had to wait longer for a bigger boat to come pick us up! It was that bad! Next, we were fed the best food – said to be the most expensive meal we’d get on this tour. Thirteen dishes were passed around, including shrimp, calamari, scallops (the BEST EVER), etc. I really enjoyed it, and couldn’t help but laugh as I saw others cringe at the thought of eating anything with a face.
Well, we finally headed to our first venue to begin the set-up of our show. It wasn’t too bad. I was very rusty with the running of the show, and I had to call every light cue – which didn’t turn out all that well - but overall, it was a good show. The technicians at the theatre were so nice to us and we were able to set up with no problems at all. There was no need to strike because tomorrow we have another performance at the same place. It was great to not have to worry about striking! I’m not use to leaving all the equipment out, but it leaves more time for shopping tomorrow!
Anyways, we were all tired afterwards, but a group of us were also hungry, so I went to Pizza Hut at 10pm – which is a very fancy restaurant here – and spent an hour with thirteen other members of teams (all but two being men). It was nice, but I am glad to finally be able to go to bed! Good Night!
Well, we finally headed to our first venue to begin the set-up of our show. It wasn’t too bad. I was very rusty with the running of the show, and I had to call every light cue – which didn’t turn out all that well - but overall, it was a good show. The technicians at the theatre were so nice to us and we were able to set up with no problems at all. There was no need to strike because tomorrow we have another performance at the same place. It was great to not have to worry about striking! I’m not use to leaving all the equipment out, but it leaves more time for shopping tomorrow!
Anyways, we were all tired afterwards, but a group of us were also hungry, so I went to Pizza Hut at 10pm – which is a very fancy restaurant here – and spent an hour with thirteen other members of teams (all but two being men). It was nice, but I am glad to finally be able to go to bed! Good Night!
Wed – Thur, June 4-5 2008
Well, it has been interesting traveling … I was so bored. The flight from SLC to SFO wasn’t too bad as I was able to catch up on reading about film lighting and catch a few winks of sleep. It was flying from SFO to HKI that took sooooooooo long ….. I slept, listened to music, watched some movies, and still was not even half the trip had passed. I can’t believe how long it took. I don’t recall the flight to Europe being this bad, but then we had in-seat video that allowed us free access to our own choice of music, tv, and movies. On this plane we don’t have that luxury so we only have the options of four mediocre movies and twelve different radio stations from the seat rest. It’s really not that bad, especially when we are fed. It’s just a tiring ordeal.
So, we reported to the RB at 4:44am on Wednesday morning. Although we had hoped to leave at 5am, it took a little longer to get everyone there and the luggage weighed. My bag was a little over 25lbs so I had to transfer things to my carry-on. I didn’t bring any more than what was on the list … maybe it was my scriptures. I probably should have put those in my carry-on. My bag partner seemed to be the last person to arrive at the RB while I was one of the first five to arrive, so I got to wait next to the weights for the whole time, but it was fun to see everyone checking weight and shifting things around. We actually had one girl dancer with only 15lbs!! I don’t know how she did it! Then, we had one guy who had a 40lbs carry-on! It’s a lot of fun to see how people pack.
My sister was able to drive me this morning and it was funny for me because my roommate really wanted to drop me off. I had to tell her that family does come before best friends, but I made sure to get my hug and goodbye before leaving. It will be a few years before I see her again. I am really going to miss her …
Well, I think I now know what it feels like to need the sun. Being locked inside an airplane for 14 hours can really make a person yearn for sunlight. Every time someone opened a window shade, I’m automatically drawn to it … too bad I had an isle seat.
It finally hit me that I am traveling to Hong Kong when I looked out the window and finally saw land. It was so beautiful! When we finally escaped the airport, we were able to see the city at night. I can’t wait to see it during the day! There has yet to be any culture shock as signs are both in English and Chinese. We will see what the morning brings. For tonight, sleep is all I want. A lot of the dancers are walking around town, but my roommate, Jamiee, and I are sticking to the room. I did exchange $20USD for $148HKD. It was a great exchange rate. At the SFO, the rate was 6.8, while YMCA gave a 7.4 rate. Wonderful! So … off I go to sleep!
So, we reported to the RB at 4:44am on Wednesday morning. Although we had hoped to leave at 5am, it took a little longer to get everyone there and the luggage weighed. My bag was a little over 25lbs so I had to transfer things to my carry-on. I didn’t bring any more than what was on the list … maybe it was my scriptures. I probably should have put those in my carry-on. My bag partner seemed to be the last person to arrive at the RB while I was one of the first five to arrive, so I got to wait next to the weights for the whole time, but it was fun to see everyone checking weight and shifting things around. We actually had one girl dancer with only 15lbs!! I don’t know how she did it! Then, we had one guy who had a 40lbs carry-on! It’s a lot of fun to see how people pack.
My sister was able to drive me this morning and it was funny for me because my roommate really wanted to drop me off. I had to tell her that family does come before best friends, but I made sure to get my hug and goodbye before leaving. It will be a few years before I see her again. I am really going to miss her …
Well, I think I now know what it feels like to need the sun. Being locked inside an airplane for 14 hours can really make a person yearn for sunlight. Every time someone opened a window shade, I’m automatically drawn to it … too bad I had an isle seat.
It finally hit me that I am traveling to Hong Kong when I looked out the window and finally saw land. It was so beautiful! When we finally escaped the airport, we were able to see the city at night. I can’t wait to see it during the day! There has yet to be any culture shock as signs are both in English and Chinese. We will see what the morning brings. For tonight, sleep is all I want. A lot of the dancers are walking around town, but my roommate, Jamiee, and I are sticking to the room. I did exchange $20USD for $148HKD. It was a great exchange rate. At the SFO, the rate was 6.8, while YMCA gave a 7.4 rate. Wonderful! So … off I go to sleep!
Monday, June 2, 2008
One Day, Thirteen Hours ....
So, I was totally wrong. I thought we were leaving for China on Thursday ... that's not quite true. Apparently, I forgot the time difference in Hong Kong, so we are actually leaving Wednesday morning to reach Hong Kong by Thursday Night. Cool, huh? It's only a fourteen hour flight, but we pass two days. hehehehehe
So, while I should be packing my apartment for storage and pack my luggage for China, I am writing on my blog to tell you I am leaving in one day, thirteen hours, six minutes, fifteen seconds ....
Ummm . . . so I've gotta PACK!!! BYE!!
So, while I should be packing my apartment for storage and pack my luggage for China, I am writing on my blog to tell you I am leaving in one day, thirteen hours, six minutes, fifteen seconds ....
Ummm . . . so I've gotta PACK!!! BYE!!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Nowhere Man 2
Yesterday was so much fun!! I'm sad that I won't be able to help any more. It looks like a really good film and I have enjoyed helping with grip and electric. So, we went to Kaleidoscope Pictures to film a few scenes. We started in the men's bathroom, ... that was entertaining ... especially as the urinal kept flushing on its own every time someone passed by it ... then we headed out into the hallway. I learned a lot new things about lighting and rigging. I love working on film sets!!
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Stagehands have astonishing learning curves. It's not unusual for stage crews to have trucks full of unknown scenery arrive at a theatre on Monday, which we need to assemble and understand to open a show we've never seen before... on Tuesday night.
Most people, if confronted with such a task, would flatly say it was impossible.
Stagehands find ways to make it possible. We learn quickly, we draw upon years of experience, skills and training, and (all too often) we drink lots of coffee and work all night.
I've had one longstanding handicap in my career as a stagehand. I don't drink coffee.
