Debut

I thought that those who care should know that I made my Chinese television debut this past Friday. For the Nanjing government's Mid-Autumn Moon Festival..."gala," I guess you could call it...The Nanjing government demanded my presence alongside the Brit who lives in my building--as well as alongside a Congolese student studying at Nanjing University. We sang "Purple Mountain," a song written by a Canadian and in honor of the Nanjing people's stand against the Japanese. The song was in English, and it had a bit of a Memphis feel to it.

Playing for the drummers in our shared dressing room

As my colleagues were instructed to lip synch, I was instructed to pretend to play guitar. All this Ashlee Simpson-ing is so that there are no mistakes. Harmony must be maintained--in regards to musical performance and quality of entertainment. The only entertainers who weren't faking during the evenings proceedings were the scantily clad Chinese dancers (who wore bunny ears and tails but zebra stockings) and the absurdly talented children playing in a traditional Chinese drumline--one kid totally wailed in a solo...would have kicked Nick Cannon's ass.

Anyways, I spent much of the day drinking free kumquat-and-lemon juice (weirdly good) and joking around on guitar with the children who played traditional Chinese drums--whenever, of course, they were allowed a break from their homework.

The show ended with cannons shooting golden glitter over all of us, with us smiling and waving to a packed auditorium and to the cameras telecasting us live to the city, with some handshaking with who I assume to be the significant governmental officials of the city, with our contacts gifting us a couple bottles of wine, and with the television offices rewarding us a three-hour salary for about four minutes of work.

This was easily one of the silliest things I have been a part of since coming to China, but I am in no way surprised. It feels like a rite of passage as a waiguoren (foreigner). Out of the evening, I was approached to help a teaching center as an English teacher and foreign model. Obviously, I am not sure really how this will pan out.

After scouring the Internet, I cannot find video (yet). I will keep searching, but I hope that these pictures will whet thine pallets for more on my rising stardom in China:

2nd pic--check that professional lip bite

And these women were one of my favorite acts--they came on about 15 minutes before us (same routine, though this footage is from some other absurd proceeding).

Confession

I need not tell you, my loyal and kind readers, that I have been posting with increasing infrequency. I have chalked-this-up to a busy schedule, distraction, and other excuses. While those may have been true (and may still be), I have realized in the past months that I have grown weary of my writing.

China Skill #8: Squatting like a champion

I am displeased with the writing I do both privately and publicly. For the most part, I am sick of how self-oriented all of my writing is. I would prefer to write about others, about culture, about travel, about food, about philosophical and moral quandaries, about a transnational livelihood, and about so many other topics. But I find that so many of my sentences include "me" or "my" if they don't start with "I."

Hell, that paragraph has those words nine times in just four sentences.

Furthermore, I am a little sick of my writing style. I feel like I once wrote with lighter tones, more developed thoughts, and a general indication of potential. Somehow, I feel I have failed to maintain that standard of writing for myself.

So, I am taking a break from my typical blog for a while. I'm also taking a break from my journal. This should present a strange conflict between searching for a familiar catharsis and searching for a more satisfying form of expression, between wanting to record my experiences and striving for a higher quality of thought. I am weighing a few options: making a mural on one of my far-too-white apartment walls, buying a microphone and a loop pedal to make beat-box beats with which I can mess around, pursuing calligraphy in a serious way, etc.

As a teaser, I am working on a different blog project that will undoubtedly be less Elie-oriented and more geared towards conversational pieces. I am not sure when it will be ready to go public, but I assure you that you (whoever you are) will know when it happens.

I do hope to continue updating and posting on "Traveling Onion" in a different manner, though. As I begin to write more developed short stories (anecdotal and fictional) in my journal, I will transcribe them here for your [dis]approval.

Cheeky knocker

This may all be a way of motivating myself to pursue additional forms of expression. And I may end-up continuing this blog as is. I am not really sure. I just feel as though I need a change.

Until then, my new job is wonderful thus far. The university sophomores and freshmen willingly enrolled in my class and are enthusiastic to have the opportunity to study with a native speaker. I will be leading a weekly film discussion group, a drama group, and a mini-workshop on journalism in English. It's too hot to be wearing bow ties, but I'm still wearing them. I found a great expat bar in Nanjing that is probably one of the top five bars to which I have ever been. And I may have two months of paid vacation for the Chinese New Year (12/23-02/20). I am currently planning a National Day week of Jiangsu travel: hosting friends in Nanjing, seeing the Venice of China in Suzhou, visiting West Lake (inspiration for a large portion of classic Chinese literature and painting) in Hangzhou, and revisiting one of my favorite cities in Shanghai.

Music, Books, Movies, T.V.: "Have Love Will Travel" by The Sonics, "Punching in a Dream" by The Naked and Famous, "Little Green Bag" by The George Baker Selection, "I Gotcha" by Joe Tex, " Watcha Clan, Kid Koala, "One Sunday Morning" by Wilco, "Brains and Eggs" by One Ring Zero, Thunder from the East by Kristof and WuDunn, Howl's Moving Castle by Jones, Entourage, True Blood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Game of Thrones.