Hi everyone!

I am now in Longgang, which is a suburb of Shenzhen.....this is where we're rehearsing. I'm grateful that the hour-long bus rides from downtown Shenzhen are over. But after being in this new hotel for about 2 weeks, I almost wish I was back at the old hotel. Here in Longgang, we're in the middle of nowhere. There's no park across the street (or anywhere within walking distance, as far as I know).....there's not much to do around here. But at least the food in the new hotel is better. There's much more variety, and it's a nice mix of Chinese food and American food. (I was thrilled one morning to see corn flakes and toast for breakfast!) The only bad thing is that the restaurant has exactly one English CD--a mix of random songs--which they play *nonstop*. So I've had to listen to Madonna's version of "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" exactly 28 times so far, and I'll have to hear it 14 more times before we move back to downtown Shenzhen for tech week. (I suppose it could be worse.)

We've had the past two Sundays off, and I spent both days in Shenzhen's "Overseas China Town." It's a huge complex that's sort of like Disneyworld. One part is called Windows of the World, and it's very much like EPCOT--it has replicas of all the famous world landmarks. There are different sections for each country or continent, and they have shows/activities at each of them. I got to ride a camel in the Africa section, and dress up in traditional costumes in the Asia section. Another part of the complex, called Happy Valley, is similar to Six Flags. It was also a lot of fun. At some point I'll return to see the third part, the Chinese Folk Village, which is just like Windows of the World except that it features the different ethnic groups within China itself.

At Windows of the World, we were celebrities! It was quite crowded, but everyone there was Chinese except me, my students, and their mothers. We were stopped for photos every ten minutes! The Chinese were particularly interested in my one student who is the lone Caucasian child on the tour....though my students who are of Filipino descent were also frequently stopped for picture requests. But they're really cute little girls!

Another surprise for me at Windows of the World was the behavior of the salespeople whenever I stepped into a shop. They were so aggressive! I would walk into a store, and they'd pounce on me, saying "Do you like this?" or "How about this?" and not leave me alone for a single second. Even when I'd say "I'm just looking", they'd still follow me (at a 6-inch distance!) until I either bought something or walked out of the store. I'm still not accustomed to the Chinese concept of personal space!

But Chinese salespeople can also be extremely nice. There's a large bookstore right next to our rehearsal building, and I went there one day just to look around. I was going to buy a few little things---pencils, paper, etc.---so I was just holding them in my hand while I browsed through another section of the store. Before I knew it, a salesgirl walked up to me, took the items out of my hands, and just held them for me while I continued shopping! She just followed me around, holding my stuff! (And she kept a good distance---maybe 3 feet or so.) I felt so bad that after a few minutes I told her I was ready to leave.

I am just amazed at how incredibly nice and generous the Chinese people are. Last week, one of the mothers needed to exchange money. (The ATMs here only dispense US dollars.) She went to a bank near our rehearsal building, only to discover that it was already closed for the day. But a few people were still there, and one of them approached the mom and asked what she needed. She told him, and he explained that this particular bank didn't exchange money; she needed to go to an international bank. But, he still wanted to help, so he asked her how much money she needed to exchange. She pulled out her cash, and the guy grabbed his calculator to do the conversion. Then he *took out his wallet* and began counting his own money! When he discovered that he didn't have enough, he called over to one of his co-workers, and the co-worker also began rummaging through his wallet! Between the two of them, they were able to exchange the mom's money. She was so floored by their extraordinary generosity that she was near tears, even an hour later when she was recounting the story to me.

I have many more stories to tell you...but it's already past my bedtime! (There's a school right next to my side of the hotel, and they blast Chinese military music at 7:30 every morning, so I like to be in bed by 11:30 to get a good night's sleep. And yes, I know tomorrow is Saturday, but I don't want to disrupt my routine too much.) I'll send another update soon! I hope you are all doing well!

Take care,
Christine :-)

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