Adam’s Not Here

So last week I filmed some dialogue scenes for a large English teaching company. I got the gig by responding to an online ad for people who want to be “real actors.” The pay was ok, but I mostly did it for kicks. Getting into commercials and media type stuff is way easier here (for foreigners) than it is back home. The standards are way lower and you don’t really need agents or headshots. They said they’d send me the DVD when it’s finished, so I’ll post it here if possible. Watch out Dashan!

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Date: 03/03/2006Views: 649

So who is Dashan （大山 - Big Mountain） you ask? Well, he is only the most famous foreigner in China! From Canada, Dashan has lived in China for twenty odd years and has appeared on Chinese TV for the past decade and a half. He started out doing comedy routines but lately focusses more on language and cultural education programs. He is even linked to the Gomery report business, as one of his programs apparently received money under the federal sponsorship program (knowing Dashan, I am sure it was money well spent). So why is he so special? Well, basically he can speak Chinese better than Chinese people. Lots of Chinese people apparently mess up tones and pronounciation quite often. Dashan’s speech is flawless, I have had many Chinese people tell me that if they close their eyes and listen to him, they can’t tell he is a foreigner. Almost every Chinese person knows who he is and rumour has it, he has even been given Chinese citizenship (which is supposedly impossible for non-Chinese to get).

I myself have felt that my language is really starting to coming along. While certianly no Dashan, I am starting to be able to converse comfortably. While the conversations are still fairly basic, my confidence is much improved and I am able to learn new things much more quickly. So the outlook is good.

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Date: 03/03/2006Views: 605

Now, being in India I missed out on Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) in China. A shame, but it had to be done. However, I have found a nice Chinese New Year photo story by someone living in Shanghai. It has some great photos and nice short personal stories. So it’s worth a look. Another great site I found is Hanzi Smatter. Hanzi is the Chinese word for Chinese characters/writing. This site has photos of people who got Chinese tattoos thinking they looked cool, but without verifying what they meant. This guy translates them. Let’s just say that being featured on his site would be a major, life long burn.

Today and yesterday I was called by my old company to come in as a substitute teacher for the afternoon. Yesterday I was at one of the schools that I taught at last semester, but teaching a different group of kids. I walked by one of my old classes and when the students saw me they all came and swarmed around me. It was really nice to see them again, they were my cutest kids, so little and sweet (when they weren’t being terrors). I was amazed by how much they had grown in the two months since I had seen them last. Coming in as a substitute reinforced the fact that it was the right decision to not sign another contract for this term. I really, really love the kids, but teaching only occasionally means I have the energy to enjoy my time with them, instead of feeling so burnt out. So I think the setup for the next few months is going to be pretty sweet.

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Date: 10/26/2005Views: 725

In other news, a new restaurant opened across the street. My first experience with the constant change in Shanghai (akin to new stores always opening up in the Beaches and then going belly up in 6-12 months) was when the restaurant at the corner closed 3 weeks after I moved in. There are lots of restaurants around, but this one served the best damn sweet & sour pork. So finally, last week a new restaurant opened in its place. It’s beside my favourite zhen zhu nai cha (bubble tea) shop, so I figured I’d get to know the staff, as I would certainly be a regular customer if the food was any good. I went there everyday for the first week. By now we are getting to be pretty good friends. They know what dishes I like and are always giving me extra food. The problem is, now when I get sick of xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings) and order something else, they are like, “hey, he LOVES xiao long bao, lets give him a bunch” and of course it’s impolite to decline. It’s sort of like having the Greek or Italian aunt from the movies who keeps giving you more and more to eat. I’ve recently explained that yes, I do enjoy my sweet and sour pork and steamed dumplings, but the reason I order them all the time is because I can’t read anything on the menu! Tonight, the manager invited me to come and eat with the staff, they had this warm alcohol (I think vodka) mixed with egg. It looked almost like a watered down pea soup but was actually pretty good. They like to raise their glasses in a toast every time the host takes a drink, about every 2 minutes. I’ve offered to help them make an English menu, which will be quite the task. The manager has said he’ll treat me to the entire menu (which is fairly large) so I can figure out what it all is. I guess I’m going to have to buy bigger pants.