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.
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).
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| Playing for the drummers in our shared dressing room |
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).
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