Today was a special day. I skipped Chinese class to finally see my puppet show and I finished my TCM class, so the Public Health portion of this trip is concluded. I woke up at the normal time today, but instead of going to class, I first skyped my parents and then took the subway over to the puppet theater. I got there early and was asked to wait downstairs. I was one of five people there; the other four were two women with their two boys. They took photos in all the places I was last night, and I did some additional exploring before taking my seat front row center.
Ten minutes before curtain time, and little boy and his father arrived. Then, at both five til and five past ten, a bunch of audience members arrived. There was a young family who sat next to me on the right, and another family who sat on my left. The little boy didn't want to sit next to me, but I think he was more comfortable after I said 你好. Chinese people do not arrive early or on time for things.
It was kind of awkward to be alone and clearly foreign, and I was sad for the theater and company that the audience was so small, or at least it was for most of the time leading up to the show. However, despite this sadness, my excitement grew as time passed. I was finally going to see the show I've been trying to see!! Sixth time's the charm, right? The space itself was adorable, the music playing was very Chinese and certainly too loud, but it set the right mood, and I could see costumed people moving backstage.
The show started with one person wearing a triangular hat speaking, then an empress type character entered and the two of them talked. I don't know what they said, but they mentioned 朋友们 (pengyoumen; friends) a lot and used the phrase 朋友们一起 (pengyoumen yiqi; friends together), so that's was cool that they were using inclusive audience language.
The first shadow play was with three human characters and a tiger. The couple talked and possibly argued about something, and then another man entered, and the husband served him water and something alcoholic (I heard 水 and 酒). Then the drunk guy took a hike and the story ended with him fighting a tiger. The fight was really cool and very dynamic. The puppets did exactly what I wanted them to do, and I loved the interaction with music in a sort of Peking Opera style way, and there was even a time when the husband was rapping (more like speaking rhythmically, but it was still cool). They did have Chinese subtitles for the dialogue, so that helped since they spoke so fast.
Instead of an intermission, the pengyoumen were invited backstage to try the puppets. At first I didn't realize we were all allowed to play, but I was out of my seat as soon as I realized what was happening. It was the coolest part!! I was so happy to see behind the shadow screen and try controlling one of the people. Seeing the real construction of these puppets and the theater was so rewarding, particularly because I knew what I was looking at. I'm really happy that this is a standard part of their shows.
After the break, we saw another shadow play. This one had no dialogue and took place on a lake. The characters were a bird (a heron or stork), two frogs, a turtle, and some fish. The scenes were set using still pieces made from the same painted leather as the puppets, and there was a rock in a lake with some lily pads and a lotus plant that bloomed during the show. The bird was so lifelike and moved so well when it was flying, preening, and hunting. I love the frog puppets, they are pretty common to try playing with, and the turtle was just so funny because his head poked in and out of his shell. The puppets did what they were supposed to do, moving like life and dying like toys, and I was so happy to see the show.
It was a very hot day!! I managed the subway by myself totally fine (it was only one stop), and as I was walking back to the dorm, I got hiccups. I used TCM to make them go away by holding my breath and pressing the Neiguan acupoint, and it worked! That was pretty awesome. I had baozi for lunch with some friends, then did some studying, and took my TCM final at 2:00. It was an easy test, but I felt like the questions were looking for certain answers without asking the question they wanted to ask. It was open book, so it was very smooth.
I finished and got home around 3, when I started working on my studying for Chinese and writing my final paper for TCM. I wrote my paper about treatment of injuries with TCM therapies based on our clinical experiences. It was not a big deal. At 3:30, I met with Marissa to go to Nanluoguxiang because we planned to go together at the point when neither of us had been. It was fun to walk around, and we enjoyed going into the cupcake shop, tea shop, and journal shop. It was a cool area to walk around, and we made it back to campus around 6:30. On the train going there, for one stop there was a young family and the little boy tried to speak English to me. He said "peace" and "you are beautiful" and I responded in Chinese. His parents seemed impressed that I could reply in their language, and when they left I said "zaijian, pengyou," which means goodbye friend, and the cuteness of the interaction was a fantastic memory. I finished my paper, and then was in for the night. I needed to study for my Chinese final because I have to reinforce all the grammar plus learn the vocab that was reviewed in class today. The test shouldn't be too hard, but I do need to prepare.
I'm feeling great in this last week. I'm keeping busy, seeing the last things I need and want to see, and getting through the work part with effort and ease. I'm very happy with how this trip has gone, and I felt my progress when ordering ice cream at the hutong today (I don't like cupcakes; we were just intrigued by the presence of a cupcake shop since they're so trendy). I couldn't have done that when we got here and now it's not a big deal at all. That is simply amazing to me.
Today is awesome because I finally got to see my puppet show and it was everything I wanted, and I finished TCM class successfully.
No comments:
Post a Comment