Holiday Update

I think it's been a while, so I figured it's time for an update on what's going on.

 

Lucinda, my co-worker/flatmate and I joined a diverse group of friends (some teachers, some theater people, and others, South African, Korean, English, and American) for a surprisingly fun and relaxed Christmas Eve party.  Charades works very well as a multi-lingual party game.  A few of us also went out for a Christmas turkey buffet at a Canadian-style (-themed? -oriented?) brew pub the next evening, which was really good, except for mashed potatoes that tasted like they came out of a box.  I ended up back working on the 26th, doing a few last performances of The Jungle Book, which finished up on the 28th.  It's in English, for children's edutainment, and I've been acting in it, playing an elephant, a tiger, a monkey, and a "jungle friend", which basically means I wear a vine over my sparkly jungle-camo costume (NOT my design) and sing in the chorus.  It's a small production, but has been a lot of fun.  I'm glad it's over now though, as I've got lots of work to do for Cho-In (my original company), updating and redesigning our website in the off-season.  It was also over an hour's commute from home, which got old really fast, and which I'd been doing pretty regularly since late October, when we started rehearsal and Cho-In was performing in a nearby theater.

 

For New Year's Eve we had a little company (Cho-In) party after finishing rehearsal early, which was livened up by the arrival of some French performers (and their wine and chocolate) who are here to do a workshop with us, starting tomorrow.  Well, two of them were here for that and two more have just arrived today.  They're from two different companies, but both saw us in Avignon and were interested in learning from us/doing some collaboration, so we sort of organised this workshop thing.  I haven't been very involved in the planning, other than saying that I thought it was a good idea, but I will be taking part in it, partially to help out with communication, but also just to learn for myself.  So that should be interesting, and good exercise.

 

Speaking of which, I've finally realized that our apartment is actually very close to the mountains (I've lived in this part of town for HOW long?  More than 9 months, although maybe just 5, if you don't count the summer and other time away), and I've figured out how to get up there, which is great for hiking and just getting out of the city for a few minutes.  There are also a few good, quiet, flat spots which are good for taiji.  Of course, it's freezing cold here, but it's still well worth it.  Although the cold has meant I'm spending more time indoors, watching movies or downloaded TV shows.  It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I've actually been working my way through Grey's Anatomy, because Lucinda loves the show and has some on DVD and more downloaded onto her computer.  I think I'll stop after Season 2 though, because she says it goes downhill after that, something I can well believe, seeing as how character (never mind circumstantial) believabililty has been stretched well to the breaking point.  She also has the BBC Planet Earth series, which is great.  That's a project which I think I would have loved to be able to work on.  Maybe some day.  Anyway, home, bed.  Photos at some point.