Month 1 Down

Hey all.

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm not good with keeping things like this up to date ... especially with a bunch of stuff going on. So here's what's making news in China.

Past few weeks have been ... well kinda slow (at least for me anyway). Everyone has pretty much fallen in to the work routine here. Like I've mentioned, we don't have a set schedule so we don't perform at the same time every day or even every week, although it's looking a bit more stable now. The shows have been going well and more and more people are talking about it so that's cool. We're getting more used to the schedule so we're just meeting up at work, performing, and then peacing out afterwards. We don't do the big group travel together thing anymore like tourists. I was talking to Carl and we've even found it hard to talk about stuff because we're so accustomed to things here. It's completely normal to get up and have to take an elevator 16 floors downstairs and walk through an enormous casino to get my breakfast. Eating in a room full of hundreds of chinese people staring at me ... completely normal. Unfortunately, not buying groceries or cooking or doing my own laundry is getting very normal too haha! :P

This last week was hard though. Carl hurt himself and hasn't been able to perform for the past 2 days so we've had to adjust the show around him being missing ... and I've been covering a lot of his parts so I'm really really tired this week. I spent all day today sleeping. I'm hoping I'm wrong but I think I might be getting sick from over working myself this past while and my sleep being off. He should be better soon and walking so things can get back to normal.

The weather here is still smoggy and humid. Nights have been kind of cool now though and I've been spending a lot of nights out walking. I'll need to get my next batch of pictures up. I haven't been out with anyone so I'm still not in any of the pictures (which might be a good thing depending on how you look at it) but I'll get those up in the next little while.

So now that I'm used to our work and where to go etc I've been hanging around to watch the other acts that perform on stage with us and getting to know people. I've met my boy Philip, a black guy that's been living in Hong Kong for 11 years and sings on stage in chinese. People love him here. He's been updating me on all the things I can go and see and do. He's a funy guy ... lots of fun to talk to during the day.

There's a live band here called Fever and their set consists of playing requested songs by the audience ... both english and chinese songs. They're really good too. Depending on when our last show is for the day I usually stay back to watch one of their sets. I've been talking to their trumpet player and he's going to let me practice with his trumpet (I used to play years ago) and in exchange I need to get a room at the fitness center we have access to and teach them to flip haha.

It's been cool meeting new people and hearing their stories about how their shows and groups came together. We're one of the only groups that has come to this contract as a group and known each other and what we're going to be doing. Most of the other groups met here a few weeks before their contracts began ... met their team members and learned their shows. I can't imagine having to do that.

Like I said, I've been out walking around a lot while everyone else does their thing at the end of the day. I've walked for hours in each direction from our hotel and gotten lost all over the place checking out Macau. It's really interesting to see all the differences and similarities between here and home ... which brings me to the Oddities of China List ... things I've noticed that I don't understand.

1) There are signs everywhere with this malnutritioned children from Africa eating food off the group telling us not to waste food. Every meal however is a buffet and sometimes there are chefs behind the stalls handing out portions of food. There are McDonalds restuarants all over the place ... no bins for donations or anything however.

2) Apparnetly toilets (at least men's toilets) are also to be doubled as sitting and horking stalls. I must not be peeing right because everyone that walks in to the public bathroom horks up and spits in the stall before going to the bathroom ... sometimes even *while* they're going to the bathroom. I will never get used to that ... it's gross.

3) We're asked to always be aware of our energy consumption. To turn the lights on in our hotel room we need to put our key in to the wall or else the lights will turn off in order to save energy. This is coming from the hotel with the largest casino in the world running slot machines and flat screen tvs 24/7 ... they have tvs out by the pools ... there are so many spot lights pointing up at the building itself that I can't see the ground if I look out my window at night because it's too bright ... the airconditioning is on full blast all day long ...

4) Same thing with water ... we're supposed to be conserving water as well. They wash the floors here every day (normal I guess with the amount of people in this place) but they wash with a hose and just spray everything and let it drip ... then run over it with huge soap machines. There are fountains ... everywhere.

5) Men like to hold hands ... and poke and look at other men. Uncomfortable yes. 'Nuff said. Eric walking around the pool or walking outside with a tank top on is a no no.

6) Smoking is apparently the best way to lose weight and the best thing for you here. You can buy cigarettes any and everywhere and smoke wherever you want. Is this normal at home? I dunno 'cause I'm not usually around smokers. It's gross though. For while I was wondering how everyone here ate so much and stayed so thin. On the one hand yes they're used to it ... but smoking 25 packs of cigarettes a day is also normal here so that counters it easily.

7) Massage parlors are as normal as 7/11 convenience stores. A lot of them I've passed by scare me though. I'm gonna leave that one alone.

8) I think there are too many cleaning staff. They stand at tables and clean while I'm eating. It's like they're waiting for me to drop a grain of rice ... they move my tray and grab it and then put my stuff back. It's weird. Everything around is kept very clean though.

9) Anyone here can become a pop star. Talent not neccessary. Just put on a tin foil costume and run around on stage with a bunch of people dressed equally as weird and people here will love you.

There's more ... but my brain is stalling on my from lack of food.

Hope everyone is doing well back home. If there's anything people want to know then it would be easier to ask than wait to see if I'll mention it because like I said, I'm already desensitized to it all. I'll be getting another round of pictures up soon. Speaking of which for those of you that don't have me on facebook my first round of pictures was there:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=161995&l=0fd4f&id=628240306

Alright all. Out for now. Peace!