Happy Halloween~!

So I spent most of this week with a cold, laid up in bed! It was going around. On Wed. I made it out and went with my friend Ramela to Yu Gardens, which is considered 'Old Shanghai.' Traditional buildings, the old neighborhood is being knocked down, it looks like a primitive ghetto. You can see why they are tearing it down, but it is just the kind of thing I must get some pictures of before it's all gone. I had planned to take some pictures at the Yu Gardens, but it is such a tourist place (There are pics on the internet I'm sure), once you take a camera out you get hounded by people selling watches and handbags. Funny though- none of them are wearing a watch Or a handbag! We went inside a 5 story warehouse that was packed with little 3 ft. by 3 ft booths. The booths were packed with whatever it specialized in...feathers, souvenirs, underwear, knick knacks, electrical wires, hair things, jewelry....and the place was packed too! I looked around and realized you can probably find just about anything there! I went back the next day with Norm and we found an old Buddhist Temple full of female monks. YOu get incense when you pay a dollar to go in. You can buy candles there too. Beautiful big rooms full of shrines in gold with fruit offerings, and lots of people praying on their knees. It was really amazing to be there.
So when I went home I started making my Halloween costume! I decided to make a famous Miss Amelia costume since I discovered all the materials! I banged it out in an amazing amount of time and with good precision! It looks great too, may be my best yet! I posted pics on www.flickr.com/photos/ameliakallman, so you can see! I also made it for under $100 US dollars! I NY this particular costume would've been pushing 300 I think. Went to a great Halloween house party last night! Norman made his own costume too- He went with 4 arms! Very popular costume! We walked into the house party, full of Chinese, some ex-pats, kids- a lot of people- and must have stood in the doorway for 20 minutes getting our pictures taken! Had a great time! Then went to Shanghai Studio for an ex-pat Halloween Party with Ramela and her husband T.J. (my new favorite couple!). It is a club in a bomb shelter! The layout was really weird and it was a little claustrophobic, but it was very festive and fun! Then we went to Logo and met up with our friend Ukachi, who's also a NYer. We got the best seat in the house there, which is always nice! On Wed. 'for real Halloween', we plan on entering a costume contest and then later going back to Logo for Punk Night! 3 Chinese punk bands covering the punk classics! "Anarchy in the SH! Rong Rive the Queen!" (I couldn't resist!)
I got a guitar this week! It is my first one. I've always wanted to learn, so I figured this was as good a time as any! I am really enjoying it! They have free lessons on the internet, which has been handy! So I went out to get a pedicure the other day, which turned into a foot massage, pedicure, hair washing, head massage, blow dry, and curl....all for a total of $11! What a fix! I was in heaven! All the hair people are male and the lead stylist is a very hip, prestigious job that is trained for and taken quite seriously! As the main guy was brought in special to curl my hair, there was a crowd of 5 people just standing around watching, like they had never seen anyone curl a blonde's hair before!
I'm working on my Chinese! Knowing Chinese here not only shuts down all the hounders selling watches, it gets you mad street cred and respect! The locals here are really sweet. The Chinese working class are generally cheerful and nice. THere is a new class of rich Chinese who seem to be newly rich and lacking in real class. YOu can tell these women a mile away, full of themselves, pissed at the world, and always wearing something with a big label on it so you know how much they payed for it. These are the women that yell at you for taking too long to order, or push you (physically) out of their way. I guess I shouldn't say they are all like that, and it's true that every place has that equivalent but on a few occasions this type has been very rude to me, and it happens so rarely one begins to take note! We have an "I-Eee" who comes here to clean every Saturday. When we moved in we learned we were expected to have one. "I-Eee" really means 'aunt' or 'Woman over 40' (try getting away with that one in the states!) Ours cost $3/hour, which is considered expensive. She thinks we are strange that we do our own laundry! She was teaching me all kinds of words yesterday and getting a big kick out of my Virginian/New York accented Chinese! Chinese is very difficult, they have sounds that I've never heard before and my ear doesn't know what to make of it, let alone my tongue! Speaking english we tend to speak out of the front part of our mouths, using lips teeth and tongue rapidly. Chinese uses the roof of your mouth, curled tongues, little amount of lip action, and the throat. It is a challenge, but I find myself referring to the lessons I learned in Voice and Speech classes back in college, which proves helpful. So, it is official! The other day I went to go on youtube to find we no longer have that service here in China! Can you believe it!? There's a rumor that myspace is next, which would be truly devestating to me! I read an article the other day saying the radio here only plays these horrible sappy love songs due to censorship. Don't have English cable here yet (I can't write about that) , but back at the hotel they had MTV and it was one video of guys crying after another, with the occasional Teddy Bear love scenes...for real....then the occasional bubble-gum, summer pop hit. Miserable! It made me want to go into the CHinese music industry and introduce Good music and Good videos! Was having this conversation last night with someone about Chinese dancing...it's funny because they try to copy western dance moves, but on them it just does not look right. My friend said "They dance to the words and not the beat!" That pretty much sums it up! Smith Island, the band I was in in NY, is on Fearless TV tonight! If you search Fearless Music TV, I'm sure the video will be up soon. Just got word that our friend Shelly Bomb is coming to stay with us in a few weeks, which will be fun! I think that is about it for now! Hope you are well! Love, Amelia