china stuff

howdy doody friends of mine.

first of all everyone, i need you tomorrow at some point to either say out loud or to yourself, "happy birthday seth". my sweet nephew turns 2, and i can't even be in the country. that's horseshit. but maybe if enough of my friends put the thought out there, he'll have the best little 2 year old birthday possible. gosh dangit that kid is cute. now if i could get his parents to stop trying to make him call me crazy aunt paige. (brett and rachel, so funny)

so tonight is our last show in longgang. and then we load out overnight. they fly us over here, give us time to adjust our sleep, then make us load out overnight. i have to figure out a way to make coffee at work. and the coffee here is instant and comes pre-sweetened and creamed. it's not my favorite. what i wouldn't give for a starbucks. anyway, most likely load out will last until dawn. and be blazing hot. and nobody understands chinese on our crew. and the locals stare at me. i can't wait.

onto other things...
i have made a wish list for things i would like to see in shanghi:
aveda-already checked, the only one is in hong kong. *sigh*
sephora- there are 3 of them, yea, pretty makeup
a mexican restaurant- there's a latin one called caliente, so maybe...
gaucamole- i haven't seen an avacado yet.
starbucks-enough said
we have our first week off in shanghi, because it takes so long for the show to ship. i should have 6 full days to shop, eat, and sight see. very exciting.

some more fun things about china...

i brought a pair of jeans with me that 2 and a half weeks ago didn't fit, and now they are almost too big. we like to call it the chinese diet. and i am eating.

and there is a dancer out here from jonesboro, ar. we have decided if one night we get super drunk,(i don't drink mom.), we're going to call the hogs in china. (but since i don't drink mom, it will never happen.)

keep reading...

china

hello,

so because i am in a country that practices a different type of government, i cannot have true freedom to write or surf the internet. the internet is policed by 300,000 internet police. i cannot read any type of blog here, including my own. i cannot read the comments either. everything is censored in some way. i find it very interesting.

keep reading...

beer.

an interesting fact for all of you to know...

a 22 ounce beer cost 5 yuan in china.

converted to american money, that equals 66 cents.

it's ridiculous.

and the beer doesn't taste very good.

and my 17 hour days are done.

66 cents. really?

keep reading...

oh good pete!!!!

who's pete?

anyway, i am so sorry i haven't written in forever. my day starts about 6:30 am, and ends about midnight. i need sleep. this show process is maddening, but i am learning. i should have learned some chinese before i came, for example,
"don't sit on that." 'please don't touch anything, unless i tell you" "move", etc, etc... the only thing i do know is stop. the word stop in chinese, is ting. and you have to say ting 3 times, progressivly getting louder, until your yelling. it's so frustrating. and i desperately need to know the word for fork. i finally got a chinese help book, with words spelled out phonetically. because i have so much time to read it. i am already tired of fried rice. everybody makes fun of me for eating bananas all the time. and the bananas here are sooooooo good. and of course i found skippy peanut butter. ha ha, take that tiny chinese peeps, i got the peanut butter. i am trying new things though, like prawns. they are okay if they're seasoned well.

some things you'll never see in the states...

children use the bathroom anywhere. i mean anywhere! they are no diapers here. it's odd and kind-of gross.

everybody squats as a way to rest. i can't last more then 2 minutes. i think the crew is going to have a competition on who can stay down the longest. i am gonna win.

staring. not like, "the little kid is looking at you" staring, but the "you might be a big white alien." staring. i find it's fun to make a game out of it, and stare back until the asian person has to break eye contact. yes, i am a grown adult.


oh and for the record, the U.S. has hurricanes, china has typhoons. and a true monsoon season, which is now. it's so hot and humid, i will never have good hair...

keep reading

hi!!!!

my peeps,
here's the dealio, i have NO time right now to write. please forgive me. the first day i have anytime to tell ya'll whet's going on i will. keep checking in on me!

friday

hi all, it's a bit before 7 am on friday.

i feel like i have been here forever. i think i wrote that yesterday too. and when typhoons hit the weather gets even hotter. yesterday, 105 degrees, 99.9-100% humidity. i was outside for 15 minutes and it felt like i had showered. soaking wet. it was so gross. the city is a sauna.
one prop box is almost done!!! and for those of you who know what a nerd i am with my prop boxes, you're smiling a little bit for me right now. i know. i am super prop girl. i could be a super hero, you never know. i could swoop into your house, rearrange some stuff, label where it goes and swoop off. helping people. neatening. one mini-musical at a time....
i think i am real tired...

keep reading,

ok some info...

so load in first...

things i thought i'd never see...

*at least half of the people helping us load in are wearing some sort of flip-flop, sandel, shoe. nobody has gotten there toes messed up. yet
*we americans, excited, that more than 3 boxes made it up on the elevator. visibly excited.
*work ethic. oh my goodness. i have a you guy working with me. he will do anything i ask, no matter how much the job sucks. yesterday, he refused to go to dinner or even take a break, because he wanted to finish a project for me. and he learned to say your welcome, because i have to say thank you to him so much.

it's a little crazy. i keep thinking i have been here forever, but it has not even been a week.
now if i could just get a little more sleep.

and the internet! it is not quite 7 a.m. here, and this is the best time at the hotel to jump on the internet. i am not saying i am getting up earlier for this, but it is helpful. and there is internet at the theatre, but it's worse than the hotel. so until we get the cast onstage i am going to have very little time to keep writing everyday. i will be able to cut and paste thoughts and such in the next week or so. please forgive the sparse posts, and please keep reading...

p


rachel and brett if you are reading this, i had a dream about seth. he was 5 or 6 and running all over the place with me at a razorback game. it was odd...

um, wow, work

first day of work yesterday.
f-ing wow.
i don't have time right this second to explain everything, but what a crazy load-in. 13 hours to unload 8 sea-containers. i have so much to write and not a bit of time. the heat. my translator, ivy. pretty cute little girl, onstage, in heels. what????
i will try to get more info to you tonight. right now priority #1, western breakfast.

and for those of you who know me really well, i don't like chinese food, but i am the queen of fried rice!!!!
and i did find skippy peanut butter. ha, ha, china! you cannot deny me my peanut butter!

more later my loyal readers

1st day...

so today we start the load in process. it is said to take 2 days, due to the language barrier and lack of knowledge of what we do. we just get a bunch of folks who do what the interpreter says to do. that should be interesting. and i think it's about 500 degrees outside already. i will be so pretty in about 3 hours. beauty contest material for sure.
and for all of you that know just how much i enjoy chinese food, guess what was for dinner last night. yup, chinese. i am going to be the master of rice after this whole thing is over. now if i could just get my chopsticks to cooperate. i will have to practice that in my room, so i don't embarrass the people i am eating with. nobody laughed at me, but i felt really stupid. i mean really stupid.
oh, and the open gawking, freaking wow. we went to a grocery store yesterday. i was my own freak show. staring and finally pointing. i just smiled and nodded. maybe if i was to point back... i will not be offensive in a foreign country, i will not be offensive in a foreign country, say it with me....

JET LAG!

so this whole jet lag thing is killing me. i should be asleep. and i am fading fast, which i cannot do. so i thought i'd write on what it looks like here. i am in the middle of all these lush, green, hills/mountains. and it looks like city development just threw-up right in the middle of everything. it sprawls out everywhere. like if you were to put your palm flat on the table and spread your fingers as wide as they go, and then put hills between every finger. i am not even sure if that makes sense. i am quite loopy. and there is a river or large stream right outside the hotel. it has a lot of floaties. not sure if it's garbage, or what. and everybody carries an umbrella. in the old southern tradition, i would call it a parasol. a little way to help keep the sun off. maybe i'll have to try it. it could help me fit in, and deter the gawkers. i feel like i am drunk. and i can't quite fathom yet, that i am not leaving this part of the world for a long time. it's also very hazy here. it reminds me of L.A. ot near as much traffic though.
is it wrong to stare at your bed and wonder if it's friendly? or if it will treat you as good as you plan to treat it? or if that fluffy white pillow, is as fluffy as you think? i think i might be losing my mind. i have never had to deal with jet lag like this. east coast to west coast and vice versa is easy. what if i just laid my head down on my keyboard for just a second. i would have key indentations. that would be hot. just like MY CANKLES!!!!!! still a little bitter about that. i think someone should have warned me. i think i have to stay awake for 7 more hours. NOT SURE HOW I AM GONNA DO THAT!!!!!!! can't read a book. that's my before bed thing. can't drink anymore coffee. i have had about 8 cups. i have already unpacked, found the 2 english t.v. stations, showered, gone to a small market, and written 2 blogs. i think i will go investigate the hotel. or nap in a stairwell. forgive the exhausted ramblings...

i am in china!!! finally

some points to ponder if you decide to go to china...

1. nobody told me during the plane ride that my ankles and feet would swell beyond normal proportion. thanks. i have cankles right now. so cute.
2. a 14 hour plane ride sucks. especially when your next to someone who keeps accidentally hitting your t.v. channels and doesn't know it. thank you little asian gal.
3. jet lag. jet lag. jet lag. jet lag is horseshit!!!! i have a watch set to my time at home, just so i can think about sleep. *sigh*
4. um, it's f-ing hot. like southern florida hot, but the type of humidity i have never encountered.
5. i have been leered at more in the last hour, than in my entire life. i could be on the streets of new york, naked, with a shetland pony, and it doesn't compare.
6. i thought spanish was bad, but i have no idea what anyone is saying. they're probably discussing my cankles. dammit.


my room is nice. i have one of those straight down waterfall types of showers. it's pretty cool. i have a bathrobe and slippers. my view is amazing. there are like 8 bars in our hotel. and i am getting paid to do all this. wow.

so that's all i have for now. i must stay awake for about 12-14 more hours. maybe i will take pics of my room, who knows.

uh, what

oh my goodness,
oh my goodness,

i am freaking out. i leave home in like 3 hours. aaaaaauuuuuuuuurrrrrrruuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhh. for a long time. i am freaking out!