Listaroo

Things I Miss in China:

ice

napkins

speaking the language that everyone else speaks

meat without fat on it

meat in general

Mexican food

paying with a card

tap water

my personal bubble when in public

salads

easy internet

margaritas

So interesting, the things you take for granted!

Broadway Bootcamp

So, the reality is that there is probably no better class that I could be taking right now to get myself back into shape after being on tour for so long. One of my qualms with coming to China was that I had been really looking forward to just living in the city, taking a ton of dance classes and voice lessons, and getting fierce for the next big audition season. But this -- this will do the trick just fine.

We're singing and dancing for 7 hours daily, and as a dance swing, I'm covering 5 girls' tracks. It's completely intense, and I find myself not struggling to keep up so much with the amount of material, but with the technique -- these girls are all gorgeous dancers, and I struggle just to keep a double pirouette clean. There are multiple times daily where, literally, I remind myself that giving up is not an option. I'm here, in this amazing new place, with an opportunity to come out of this experience better (on so many levels), and I will push through. But if Jenn says "double in tap shoes" one more time, I'm gonna cry.

The great thing is that the majority of the dancers are so sweet, and willing to help with anything that I need. I'm completely up front about the fact that I'm not a dancer-dancer, and that this is definitely a learning experience for me. But the bottom line is that if I need to go in for someone, I want to do that track justice, and not just "get by."

So that's where I am. Oh, and: don't drink the water.

xoxo

Retro Blog

Only retro inasmuch as I wrote this blog on the plane heading to Shanghai, but couldn't post it due to lack o' internet. Here she is.

It's about halfway through the flight to Shanghai, and I think we're somewhere near the top of the world. At least that's what it looks like on the map. Jackie thought we'd fly west, I thought we'd fly east, Ryan thought we'd fly right up and over the top. Ryan was right. :) (Sidebar: Anyone ever see that episode of The West Wing where there's a committee that wants to flip the map of the world upside-down, because they claimed that once upon a time someone just randomly decided that north was up, and there's nothing that says north can't be down? Intense. Think about it...)

(Oooh! Another sidebar: I'm watching Mulan on the in-flight tv. Isn't "I'll Make a Man Out of You" a freakin' awesome song? When they sing a cappella in unison octaves at the end?!? Gah!! Men's voices in a choral setting drive me out of my mind. In the good way.)

Anyhoo, when we got on the plane today, they were playing James Taylor's version of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma! I thought it was a good sign. And aside from some questionable "steak" that they served for dinner, that's all I have to report.

xoxo

ni hao and zai jian!

off to china tomorrow -- heading from Newark to Shanghai, nonstop. i'm sort of all turned around and not sure whether i'm coming or going; these last 2 weeks in the nyc have sort of felt like i'm still on tour and just waiting to go to the next city. i'm crossing my fingers for drawers in our hotel rooms in shanghai. it would blow my mind to open a drawer and see my clothes in it! drawers and hangers. that's all this girl really needs.

sooo... say a prayer, if you don't mind, that we all have safe travels and take care of each other. this, for sure, is going to be an adventure.

gen wo lai!!

xoxo