My Fellow Americans, China is splendid. I just received an email from Mama Wells reminding me that I have not updated my nearest and dearest on the happenings of my Asian life. So here goes: China has truly been a wonderful learning experience for me and a lesson in the old saying that "things are not always as they appear." Before I came here, I thought i would really have a tough time having to coexist in a culture whose beliefs i disagree with but, in all reality, the country is very welcoming and, if anything, very proud of who they are and where they have come from and gone through to become what they are today: a bustling whirlwind of over a billion people are moving towards the same goal of bettering China and its place in the world. From Xian (the first city in China with the amazing city walls and Goose Pagoda outside my hotel that dated to 652AD) we did our one and only bus trip to the city of Zhenzhou. We stayed in a wonderful hotel but were only there for four days and there was not much to be seen in the city, so it was an "in and out" kind of deal. However, on the Monday of our last show, I booked a van with some friends to head to the Shaomin temple and caves and also the Kung Fu school of China (the birthplace of Kung Fu). The caves that i saw were truly some of the most amazing I had ever seen in my life. Buddhist Monks took over 400years to carve over 100,000 Buddhas ranging from the size of my finger nail to 60ft tall into the side of a mountain. It was one of the strangest concepts I had ever had to ponder- a monk spends his entire life carving something that neither he, nor anyone he knows would ever get to see finished. Dedication beyond imagination. The main attraction of the caves would of course be the tallest Buddha. He sits overlooking the mountain at a modest 60ft tall and is surrounded but other carvings of kings, demons, students and warriors, eat about 40ft tall. The Kung Fu school was awesome and we got to watch a demonstration of what they do, and it was awesome awesome awesome- again, being around something so old just instantly makes you awe struck.    on a random note, have i mentioned how terrible the drivers of China are? well, on the way home from the temples and Kung Fu i experienced first hand, a Chinese car accident. whoops. we were sideswiped while pulling into a gas station by a motorcyclist. we were not allowed out of the car and after a 20 min convo...screaming thing betweens drivers, money was exchanged and we left...i thought "illegal?" not here. everyone was fine- few cuts and bruises- especially for the motorcyclist's passenger- one last thing about zhenzhou was that I did read that the city boasted a "somewhat smaller" version of Xian's city walls and I just had to compare...so...there was a mound of dirt about 15 feet high. it was very exciting... Onto Guangzhou! the culinary capitol of China (so they say). Since i have been here, I have had great italian food, spicy mexican, gelato galore, arabian cuisine(complete with a belly dancing performance in the middle of the meal), lunch and dinner at my new favorite Muslim noodle house for 90 cents US, and had an amazing burger and Guiness at the Irish pub "Hooley's."....twice. Anyone who knows me would be very proud of my expansion of eating habits since I have arrived. I have such things as liver, lamb, intestine, stomach, tail, tongue, and vegetables. The last one on the list doesn't sounds too exciting, but let's be real, have you met my eating habits? I made a trip to Hong Kong while I have been here- (we are playing the month of November there, but i could 't resist, it was only a few hours away by bus) it was one of the coolest cities i have ever seen. It's obviously British inspired, but has so much character of some place like New York without being dirty or overdone. It has a remarkable balance of classy yet hip- I fell in love. So the show...hmmm. well, i'll be honest and say that we will have been in Guangzhou for two and half weeks and we only did 4 performances...also, those performances were not overly great because the show did not fit in the venue- it was more of a concert hall than a theatre venue, so there was just enough room for the show. Lea was almost crushed by the carriage tipping over, there were beams from floor to ceiling on stage, you could see the wings completely, and there were huge holes in the floor that we had to "be aware of.." luckily, no one was hurt and Lea's a good sport (lucky for all of us) about the whole "being crushed" thing. We lost our first cast member this past week- He played the Herald and went back to the US to perform in "how the grinch stole christmas" which is touring between boston and baltimore this christmas- he plays Papa Who I believe. go see it if you can- i heard tickets at the Wang are over 100$, so don't bother if it's that much, but if it's cheap enough, i hear it's a fun show, and he's really great, so i have high hopes. Soo......We are moving on the Shanghai on Monday for a week, and then Beijing for a week and then to hong kong for the month of november- it's all going by so fast, but i'm still having a great time- i miss you all and am starting to forget what normal life is, so i need to come home soon- haha. love to you all! sean ps, i have been able to keep up with all of the politcal can economic stuff from here, so i hope everyone is pumped to vote!! wheee!! |
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