Or, How I Somehow Convinced China I’m fit to Appear in their Musical, and Why Tea Requires Multiple Adjectives
Evening all! Well it’s been a busy ol’ couple of weeks, and I’ve plenty to add on the list of strange things happening in China. Rehearsals for a musical, job interviews, Frisbee injuries, and buying brooms have all their own stories to be told, but that in due course- let us begin with the next installment of my Mistranslation of the Month Award!
This email invitation to the SU’s Halloween party came through a while ago, demonstrating a minor but important cultural difference. Details like time, venue and ticket costs all included, but it’s this snippet that confused me.
“Also, we will give lovers a pair of light horn. You need to prove you are lovers while buy ticket”
Firstly, what constitutes ‘lovers’ in this context, and secondly, how do you prove that you and the person standing next to you are just that? And what, can someone tell me, is a light horn? I may go along just to find out.
Back to the real world, what’s been happening in China? Well, as listed above, quite a bit. The biggest story is that I’ve had an audition for a musical, but I’ll get to that in a bit. I’ve had a job interview for a preschool toddlers-looking-after type thing, which I think I did pretty well at. The job was essentially teaching mums to teach their babies to walk, and making sure no-one walked into a wall. Lots of primary colours and smiling, but sadly my course is keeping me too busy to follow it up. Also, I remembered I really don’t like small children. I can only take so much noise.
Continuing in the vein of things I signed up for before debating if it was a good idea, some modelling company needs western people to show off their clothes. I went through a phase of seeing any given email and replying “I’ll do it, it'll be a chance to practice my Chinese!” without actually thinking it through. No word back from them yet, but I’ve suddenly realised I may have signed myself up for something terrible, like wearing mainstream emo fashion and making Edward-Cullen-esque faces at a camera. I really need to start thinking these things through.
I brought a broom. When I said that had a story, I may have exaggerated. There is a story, but it’s simply that the floor in my room was dirty. Sorry if I got your hopes up there.
Once again I’ve managed to obtain my weekly supply of bizarre injuries- this time its Frisbee related. In my first post I mentioned how there’s a lot of diving around in Frisbee, trying to catch the flying disk? Turns out I’m really, really good at that. Though I say it myself, I’ve made some fantastic catches, tip-of-the-fingers edge-of-your-seat Aled-Jones-walking-in-the-air-slow-motion Frisbee catches, running and diving and landing like a madman. And now both my shoulders and my back feel like an oak tree. Damn, Frisbee is fun!
Best news of recent weeks though was getting a parcel from home. Getting post in China is much like waiting for the next Harry Potter movie to come out. You know it’s coming, but you’re not sure when, and every time you think it’s almost there, it gets delayed by another six months. Or two weeks, in this case. But finally a parcel arrived, containing a wonderful letter from home (all old news, due to the magic of email, but somehow a letter is always nice to receive even if you already know everything in it), a box of tea and a 4-pack of Double Deckers. HUZZAH! I’m going to say that again, to emphasize how happy it made me. HUZZAH!
I picked up this package in the foyer of our hall of residence. I may also have shouted quite loudly then, I was so happy. A few people may have looked round in alarm.
HUZZAH!!!
Worth it for British tea and Double Deckers though. The chocolate lasted about four days, and the tea will see me through until December with any luck. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go into detail about just how heartwarming and soul-fulfilling a cup of sweet, milky tea packed with all that flavour and comforting warmth is at the end of a cold, rainy day, hedging out as it does any screed of chill or unhappiness, filling you to the bones with joy and two spoonfuls of sugar… but I just have.
There was also a Bible in a Year book, which I’m using to plan our next 9:20 session- thinking I might cover something familiar from Phillipians, my favourite book, since I’ve never actually planned a Bible study before, so I’d like it to be something I know well. The book itself is going to be really handy as well, just because I find it so hard to regularly read the Bible- a pre-planned scheduled version is, well, a real blessing!
So tea makes me happy and the broom was a set-up, but what of this musical I’ve been hinting at? Well, it’s another odd story. In fact, it’s two odd stories, and I’m at a loss as to which I should tell first.
Nottingham Ningbo university drama club is putting on a production of Sweeney Todd in December- if you don’t know the story, it’s about a barber called Benjamin Barker who is exiled to Australia on a false charge by a corrupt judge, who wants to have it off with Barker's wife. Fifteen years later, Barker returns under the name of Sweeney Todd, swearing revenge. He sings his way through about a dozen murders (Spoiler!), in an attempt to get to the judge and avenge his wife and daughter. There’s also a subplot involving some suspicious cooking and Helena Bonham Carter, who’s make-up artist is possibly a panda. There is one thing about this play that I feel I should re-state, and that is IT’S A MUSICAL. Which begs the question of why did I think to audition, given my notorious tone-deafness.
Well, I thought it’d be a laugh. A few of us went to auditions together, we thought it’d be fun, and with the intensive Improv training I had over the summer, I figured I’d be able to sell myself as a pretty good actor first, and blag a part that didn’t have much singing. In a way, it worked. I’ve been given the role of Anthony, a sailor who in the film version (which our play is based on) looks like this.
My acting may only have a certain amount to do with me getting this role. Hint: all Chinese male students have short, black hair.
And to be fair, Anthony has just two songs. The first is only three lines long, and the second… oh, the second song. This is where I don’t understand why I got the part. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really enjoying playing him, and I’m also really enjoying the play itself. I just don’t understand why I’ve been given this song. The only way I can explain it is to show you what I’m meant to be singing. It’s only two minutes long, give it a listen, and watch out for that last note.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex-EZuSrXR8
The weird thing is, I’ve done this song six times in rehearsals, and so far no-one has said anything other than “Well done, it’s really good.” Which means either my voice has massively improved over the last few years without me noticing, or the casting directors are all as tone-deaf as I am. Here’s hoping they remain oblivious!
As for the other odd story regarding this show, you have to admire my good friend Kenrick. Excellent bloke he is, he went along to the auditions for a bit of fun, thought he’d maybe get a minor role, and just use the play for networking- fair enough, we’re here to improve our Chinese first and foremost, and you do get plenty of chances to practice even though the play is in English. More to the point, prior to the auditions he had seen neither the film or the stage version of Sweeney Todd, and didn’t even know the story- I had to give him the fifteen-second synopsis before we went in (pretty much that same as I wrote up there a bit). So he didn’t expect much but a bit of fun from the auditions, I guess.
Imagine his surprise when he got offered the title role.
Well, he’s doing a great job of it, is pretty familiar with the story now and getting stuck right in to the old throat-slitting! Fun times all around.
I think I’ve now regaled sufficiently- I swear these entries get longer each time. I hope you’re still enjoying them! Much international love, and I’ll post again once enough interesting stuff has happened.
Nes y tro nesaf!
Dan
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