Almost Famous. On Wednesday night, I get a message from my Argentinian friend Agustin, offering me a job to act in a movie the next day. They would pay us 300 Yuan. Having nothing better to do at that point in time I agreed and signed up along with 3 other friends. So we met on Thursday morning at 6.15am at our school's south gate where we would catch a cab to another school. Once there, about 30 westerners hopped on a bus and started our way to Tianjin. The bus ride wasn't very comfortable. The AC wasn't on, and I made the smart move of sitting on the back of the bus right where the engine is.

After about 3 hours of restless efforts to try and fall asleep on my friends shoulder, we got to a Hotel by the side of the river. Tianjin is supposed to be the Shanghai of the North. That is, there is some French architecture. I did not see it. It looked pretty dirty to me, then again I did not see much of the city. Once in the Hotel, they fed us chinese breakfast at around 11am. At noon, they gave us lunch. Of course nobody was hungry, but they insisted because we would not have time to eat until later on that night. In the meantime, they gave us our costumes. By costumes I mean dirty overalls and shirts. Some of the guys had suits however. We were divided into construction workers and aristocrats. We were also given boots, black army-like boots. They were pulled off a truck, where they were just randomly piled. Inside the boots, was a "Mary Poppins" type of bag effect. You know, when things just keep coming out of them. At some point I thought they were alive. But anyhow. Here are some pictures.

Shoes

Costumes

Roberto makes a big scene for an ice tea

The victim

The crew
We got on a bus for another three hour ride. Finally, we got off in one of the most obscure places I have been to in China. It was by the ocean and they were building a humungous cargo ship. I had always asked myself how they did it, and well now I've seen it. Interesting. We were then all taken into this sort of hangar filled up with boxes to simulate some type of factory which was our set. Amazingly enough the set was not ready. They were paying 30 foreigners to go to this place which wasn't even ready. They were still setting up all the cameras and equipment. After about an hour and a half of standing in line and "rehearsing" what we were going to do, the director decides to cancel the shoothing because of the rain (I still don't understand why since the rain was outside!!). Anyhow, that was it. We hopped back on the bus, and headed back to the initial hotel. We returned our costumes and were fed a delicious KFC Chicken sandwich. Then another 3 hours back to Beijing. A total of 18 hours, they spent about 1,500 dollars on us, and got nothing out of it. I don't get it.

 

6-19-04
Chinese Opera? No, Italian. The opera you usually hear about in Beijing is the famous "Jingju" or Beijing Opera. Today however, we saw normal opera, or at least from our western point of view. Rigoletto by Verdi. Jeronimo took me since the person he was taking at the last minute cancelled on him. Well it all turned out to be quite interesting and fun. Five chinese people (3 men and 2 women) performed for an hour in a half all in Italian. Quite impressive. The voices of two of them were exceptionally good. Then again, that's just coming from me, a non-opera expert; but it did sound well. It was just funny to see chinese people dressed up in these costumes singing in Italian.

 

6-18-04

Another night out. Well it's friday night and after a busy week of doing paperwork here and there for my school transfer, a spanish girl friend of ours invited us to a concert in a small, very small bar called "Shenme Ba" (What Bar). There were water leaks all over the place. It smelled like one of those swamps deep in the woods where you can really smell the wood and you feel like water is being infiltrated through your skin pores. Pots were carefully layed across the place to keep the water trapped, but their purpose wasn't really succesful. I also stepped on one of them.

Before we got there however, we were all meeting up at this intersection near my appartment. Sitting there, waiting for a person to come out, we heard nothing. To our surprise, less than 100 meters away from us a car had completely tipped over.

Car-tipping
Sure enough I popped out my camera and starting shooting. In less than 5 seconds people completely crowded the place up. There must have been more than 100 people for sure in a matter of minutes. People didn't seem to notice I was around taking pictures, the injured person on the ground seemed much more interesting for obvious reasons, but that was until my flash bursted out and caught everyone's eye. That's when I knew I had to leave, and so we did. So the night went on and we took a cab to "What Bar".
Back to the first part of the story. So after we got to the bar, sat down and talked for a while, we watched a group of foreigners perform. The lead singer was a girl from Quebec (see picture on the right). She was singing some classic blues french songs. She had an air to Patricia Kaas. Anyhow, very refreshing especially when you're in China. After being there for a couple of hours, at around midnight Jeronimo and I walked a little around the Forbidden City while the others went to a club. Then we headed back home.

This is what the bar looks like from the entrance door.

 

6-16-04

Gas. This is the propane kind. The way it works here is like a phone card. You refill your gas card with x amount of money, which will give you x amount of points. The points on the counter in our kitchen go down gradually as we use gas for various purposes. Well more than a month ago the points went down to 0.00 just as we were cooking. Nobody had really taken the initiative to pay for gas. Since I didn't know where and how to pay for it, well nobody did anything about it. So for a month, it's been no cooking, and cold showers. Every morning it's like jumping into a cold lake on the top of a mountain. I know temperatures have gotten more than just warm, but still, I don't go well with cold showers. Then when you want to shave, the warm water is key. However to this I have found a solution. I just grab a bowl of rice and fill it up with water, throw it in the microwave for a minute or two, then take it back to the bathroom and shave.

Today I figured out how to pay for gas, and my roomates want it back. So I think tomorrow we shall have the warm stuff back home. That's it for today. Paying for bills is simple, but not always practical.

 

6-11-04

Clubbing? For the first time I really went out on Friday. For those who know me, well I don't have to tell you that I'm not the type to go out every thursday, friday and saturday. Actually, some people go out partying every single day of the week. Well on Friday my classmate Itamar, from Israel, threw a big party in a big club. He had been organizing this for at least 3 months and it finally happened. After much hard work and long nights, it all went well. He wanted me to go as a photographer and take pictures of people and the party in general, and so I did.

Above is a part of the club. We got there at around 8pm and the doors opened at 10 for the public. So we got to see the club completely empty which was nice. The place was amazing, pretty big. It had two different environments which later that night would be occupied by a techno DJ and an R&B/Hip Hop DJ. I was 4 stories high: the last ones were VIP and Karaoke rooms.

This was my first eerie experience that night. I walked into the men's room to pee. I finish doing my thing and I'm going to wash my hands (I always wash my hands after going to the bathroom) and well, there was this guy there, a Chinese person working for the club. At first I thought he was just mopping the floor and he was cleaning as a job, but his task was a little different. So he opens the water for me, and as I'm reaching for the soap, he passes it to me and squirts some on my hands. I rub them together and notice that he starts "combing" my clothes with this weird kind of comb. I don't know exactly what he was doing. After I was done washing my hands he grabbed a small towel and started drying my hands. Then, as I started heading out, he stood in between the door and myself, and pointed at a little golden plate where he had carefully placed a 20 Yuan bill. Yikes! I thought. This smart-ass had gotten me. So I pulled out a 20 Yuan bill and this is the story of how I paid 20 Yuan for a piss. I had gotten into the club for free (the cover was 60 Yuan) Itamar could get us drinks for free (each drink was 30 Yuan) and I don't drink. But the bathroom guy got me for those 20 Kuai. Oh well. The night went on, and well, I must admit I had some fun. At some point they even played latin music and we danced to the rhythm of Elvis Crespo.

A few cups of water and a can of pepsi later, well, I had to go again. I decided to go to a different bathroom, I wasn't going to fall for the same gig one more time. I went in and there was another guy, waitin for me, happy to know that he would walk out with 20 more yuans in his pocket thanks to a stupid foreigner. I was determined not to let that happen. So I went straight to the urinal and stared at the wall as we usually do. All of a sudden, I sense his shadow sneaking up behind me. The next thing I know, he's massaging my back. The flow is immediately interrupted and I scream: - HEY! - then he starts saying in Chinese "Shufu! Shufu" (this means, comfortable! comfortable!) I replied with a - Bu shufu! Bu shufu! - This means Not comfortable! Not comfortable! And well he stopped, but obviously the damage had been done already. I couldn't possibly resume the process after that experience. So without even thinking, I zipped up and went straight out the door. He tried to wash my hands, and well that didn't happen. So I walked out and told my friends not to take a piss in the club. Too late, they all had the same story to tell me. Ah, the stories you will tell.

Here's an interesting shot. As everyone raves to the techno music, you can see how people look blurry because of the long exposure shot. However, there's that couple in the middle standing still, slow dancing.

Mixing of colors and tunes.

 

 

6-08-04

The flame stays in Beijing for 2 days. A tradition that started back in 1936 during the Berlin Olympiad will go through Beijing's main arteries tomorrow from 9am until 6pm. It will start at the Great Hall of People in Tian'anmen Square . The man starting the relay has yet to be announced. I know one of the runners is the famous basketball player Yao Ming, however I do not know if he is the one starting it or ending it. But I am assuming it must be one of these since he is such a popular figure here.

All in all, the torch will be passed 148 times before it reaches its destination at the Summer Palace located in North West Beijing. Each person will only run 400 meters and then hand it to another one and so on. People from all around the country will participate in this event. Males, females, actors, athletes, fans or just ordinary people will get a chance to participate in the event that will take approximately 8 hours in a 55 km (35miles) route.

The torch will travel however, a total of 78,000 kilometers of which 1,500 will be carried by 3,600 torch-bearers. They will pass by all the cities that have once hosted the Olympics and a few others as well. The fact that it comes to Beijing I think is of extreme importance, hence the reason it is here for two days. The more attention it gets the more people will know that in 4 years China will be ready to host a world-class event. Also, it is a reminder to all Beijingers of what is coming up next time. I cannot possibly put into words the pride and joy people have here for hosting the 2008 games. It is all over the place. There is even a TV channel solely dedicated to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

On the right is the official logo they came up with. Personally, I love it. Maybe 4 months ago I wouldn't have liked it as much, and you might not there's anything special about it yourself. But after you spend everyday of your life for 4 months reading characters on books, bottles of water, TV programs, DVD subtitles, street signs, internet etc... they start to become an essential part of your life. That red and white figure looks just like an ancient chinese character hence why I think it is great and perfect for the occasion.

 

6-06-04

Today: Sumo. Our school invited us to 280 kuai tickets. These authentic Sumo wrestlers came straight from Japan, one from Mongolia and one from...I don't know but he was white, hairy and had a big nose with round eyes (in other words, westerner). They came to perform in Beijing for only two days. Today was the first time I saw Sumo and it was, entertaining. The only down-side is its slowness. I must have seen like 15 matches, each one lasting on average 20 seconds. In between each match, there is like a 5 minute ceremony, so it can become quite monotonous. However, when they fight it is pretty exciting as you see these enormous masses slap each other's faces and as they slam their bodies together to puch one another outside a 5 or 6 meters in diameter.

 

Sumo is the Japanese National Sport. Sumo appears in the earliest histories of Japan, the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki, and in early Shinto. By the end of the Heian period (794-1185), it was established as a court ritual for some three hundred years.

Modern Sumo has become a professional sport and is very popular. These giant wrestlers can weigh up to 265 kilos (almost 600lbs)!!

Techniques I observed included: picking up the opponent by the belt and carry him over the circle on the ground which gives victory. Another is just pushing with sheer strength until the other is forced to step outside the circle. Another one is slapping, although eye-gouging, hair-pulling, and hitting with a closed fist are not permitted.

A "small" wrestler decides to jump over his adversary in order to make him go straight out of the ring. A train can stop faster than these guys.

6-05-04

More than a month and a half ago, the spanish department asked Andres and I to give a presentation about anything from Colombia to the Chinese students that study Spanish in our school. Week after week we've been postponing our meetings and efforts to finish the project. We did have a subject but had no idea what to do. Jeronimo and Ana Maria were going to participate as well. We had planned this sort of short sketch which a couple of hours before our time to present was completely disastrous. At the last minute we decided to completely change our plan and ended up putting a Powerpoint presentation together in less than an hour. Once in front of all the people, we stood up there and completely improvised. We basically showed my pictures from Colombia while Andres and Jeronimo talked about architecture, their profession. All in all it was stressful for a while, but fun and well worth it. We did a good job.

Our audience

Andres y Jeronimo make up what we're going to say...

Everything went out perfectly!

6-01-04

Today is "Children's Day". I haven't seen more kids than usual outside today. Only a few activities organized here and there amongst drawing contests and tables lined up along the street selling children's books and movies.

After reading some Chinese news, this is all I know: China's president, Hu Jintao, sat with some children who showed him webpages created by themselves. He attended to various performances at the Children's Palace where more than 600 "pieces of state-of-the-art" were in display as a symbol of China's rapid growth and development (I think).

Just a little background: "China Youth Daily" reported that about 10 million children in China under 15 years of age are not being taken care of properly by their parents. Half of those don't even go to school and are left at home working. There are 367 million people under 18, and China passed a proposal to assure thay they will have the opportunities to grow up well, in an environment free of narcotics and pornographic materials and other harmful products.

Kids draw pictures at Hua Qing Jia Yuan