京剧

Rad Lizard
The other night I went to the Beijing Opera（京剧）. It was crazy..more like a musical than an opera, although there were plenty of high notes and signing, there was also talking and play acting..like a spear fight with some pvc pipe like sticks with fuzz balls on the ends. On TV here you can watch other opera or Chinese opera like things. They are actually rather interesting, crazy awesome clothes and rad singing. At the Beijing opera the lead female would break out into these bouts of voice projection and note prolongulation. It was actually similar to yodeling, or at least the yodeling we get in the US. Here voice would wildly undulate from high to low and back and forth with different durations and different variations. The main female was a princess awaiting her true love in the forbidden city(故宫). She was highly annoying: whiny, prissy, and lame. Most annoying was here voice, nasally and high. Her interaction with the emperor was also annoying...based around pouting complaining and more high pitch whining. Also annoying was her endless dreams of true love…she needs some hobbies and so social interaction, way too much self time. On the other hand, that kind of princess was probably the best back in the day. Glad I wasn’t the unlucky sap that got to marry her.

By far the best part of the Beijing Opera was the music. Lots of wooden blocks mixed with a selection of awesome string instruments. The orchestra served both music for the songs and hilarious sound effects.

Awesome bug.

Went to get my hair cut today, not nearly as exciting as I was hoping for, nor as cheap. I was told that it would cost 三块(3rmb) by my host papa. Turned out to be 八块(8rmb) for no apparent reason…and it was a standard hair cut, except the conversation that took place in the shop while I was there. There was one probably not Chinese women sitting with one of those brain sucking machines attached to her skull, one old lady with really no hair..but they were combing it a lot. Just after my haircut commenced a women entered the shop and proceeded to ask the owner, my haircutter today, if the shop had some particular item. Turns out she was asking about those plastic curling things..the multicolor things that look like little cylinders. She spent the next 10min holding one and inspecting it while it was very close to her face. She asked the owner lots of questions about the small device and switched it for others to also inspect them. The conversation ended in an agreement that she would come back in a few days and get applied to her hair.

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Special words learned this week in class:

Sanguine 血腥

Massive hemorrhage 大出血

Pass UK, Catch US 超英赶美

Cool Rocks.

I tried the bar scene again Friday night, yet again no good. Loud, smoky, crowded. Cant even talk to the person next to you..people just stand around. Went to another place, but that was the same with a dance floor. Definitely a place to go and see other people but I don’t understand the how quality of time spent there can be so bad yet people still swarm the places. I will try again sometime..but try for an even quieter place. I was told the one we went to on Friday was much more chill..but was just terrible wrong.