An American In China
It has been a whirlwind adventure here in China! I am finally feeling somewhat normal tonight. We have been rehearsing for Aladdin and have started character work for Snow White. I have also found out I will be playing cast Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, which is very exciting!
The first few days were really rough. I felt homesick almost the moment I got here. It has been really stressful adjusting to life here. Getting from the airport to my apartment, finding where to eat, how to get to the rehearsal space, how to get cash, and how to take taxis...the list goes on. The culture shock has been very real. Jessica, my roommate (playing Snow White) and I have been attached at the hip. We are lucky we get along so well, and have very similar feelings to the overall experience! We have finally found a market to get our food. We've been making dragon fruit, banana, yogurt smoothies for breakfast every morning and then experimenting with other foods for lunch and dinner. We've been trying a lot of Chinese food but we've also already been by Starbucks, Burger King, and Haagen Dazs- just for a few safe and "home like" flavors. Although, Haagen Dazs is like a sit down restaurant and very expensive here, which was unexpected and kind of funny.
Today we had rehearsal in the morning and split up around lunch time to eat and get ready for the Dongguan: I Love Art opening ceremony. We were invited to attend as special guests. We had a lot of attention from the photographers right when we walked in and throughout the entire ceremony. It was overwhelming and exciting, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. We were invited to stand behind the government officials during speeches; and after, the ceremony dancers pulled us up to dance around with them! It's really funny because people assume we must be hollywood actors. One of the Chinese actors we're working with asked us if we were in Lord Of The Rings!
After the ceremony we were nearby one of the theaters we'll be performing in so we got to pop in and peek on a performance. The space was beautiful and the theatre was quite large. We also got to see our shows on the season line up! Everything felt more real after seeing the space, it made my week! Everything has been such a struggle so it was really nice to have such a good day today.
Jessica and I decided to explore a bit tonight and found some really beautiful parts of the city. Today I finally felt more comfortable and let myself have fun. China is a very different country then the U.S. We are also very unusual here, everyone stares at us or double takes because there aren't a lot of Americans here. Most people have been very friendly and helpful, the staring has not felt bad or rude, we just look different. The Chinese actors we're working with are incredible, very kind and also super talented. They don't speak much English so it's been a pretty neat experience getting to know them other ways. We do have a translator bridging the language barrier which helps!
I really wanted to blog tonight and update how everything is going. My last blog post was probably very strange to read having been just hours after getting to China, but it felt important to document the first feelings. I am enjoying my night in, and will be face-timing with Jake later, but in the meantime I need to do some script work. My we-chat is down but I am active on social media, e-mail and have i-message... so feel free to reach out. I only have my apartment address in mandarin right now, but I'm working on getting the english version soon!
Thank you for reading and for supporting my crazy dreams. I miss and love all of my family and friends back home!
xoxo,
Is
The first few days were really rough. I felt homesick almost the moment I got here. It has been really stressful adjusting to life here. Getting from the airport to my apartment, finding where to eat, how to get to the rehearsal space, how to get cash, and how to take taxis...the list goes on. The culture shock has been very real. Jessica, my roommate (playing Snow White) and I have been attached at the hip. We are lucky we get along so well, and have very similar feelings to the overall experience! We have finally found a market to get our food. We've been making dragon fruit, banana, yogurt smoothies for breakfast every morning and then experimenting with other foods for lunch and dinner. We've been trying a lot of Chinese food but we've also already been by Starbucks, Burger King, and Haagen Dazs- just for a few safe and "home like" flavors. Although, Haagen Dazs is like a sit down restaurant and very expensive here, which was unexpected and kind of funny.
After the ceremony we were nearby one of the theaters we'll be performing in so we got to pop in and peek on a performance. The space was beautiful and the theatre was quite large. We also got to see our shows on the season line up! Everything felt more real after seeing the space, it made my week! Everything has been such a struggle so it was really nice to have such a good day today.
Jessica and I decided to explore a bit tonight and found some really beautiful parts of the city. Today I finally felt more comfortable and let myself have fun. China is a very different country then the U.S. We are also very unusual here, everyone stares at us or double takes because there aren't a lot of Americans here. Most people have been very friendly and helpful, the staring has not felt bad or rude, we just look different. The Chinese actors we're working with are incredible, very kind and also super talented. They don't speak much English so it's been a pretty neat experience getting to know them other ways. We do have a translator bridging the language barrier which helps!
I really wanted to blog tonight and update how everything is going. My last blog post was probably very strange to read having been just hours after getting to China, but it felt important to document the first feelings. I am enjoying my night in, and will be face-timing with Jake later, but in the meantime I need to do some script work. My we-chat is down but I am active on social media, e-mail and have i-message... so feel free to reach out. I only have my apartment address in mandarin right now, but I'm working on getting the english version soon!
Thank you for reading and for supporting my crazy dreams. I miss and love all of my family and friends back home!
xoxo,
Is
I am so so proud IZZY!
ReplyDelete