Wrapping Up

Today we took a day trip to Tianjin, a large city about 2.5 hours outside of Beijing.  The trip there took quite a long time, given that we hit serious traffic and stopped far more often than necessary for food.  At one rest stop, they had hawthorn ice cream (you know those bright red raising-like fruits? Those are hawthorn), which was delicious.  And at lunch, we FINALLY had dumplings.  The degree of joy at consuming normal foods wrapped in an extra wrapper like little presents knew no bounds.  For some reason, this tiny change changed everything and food was mysterious and new.  Our table reworded about a dozen songs to voice our pleasure.  Look out for "Oh Dumpling Boy" (adapted from Danny Boy) and "Dies Dumpling" (from the Mozart Dies Irae) coming to a radio station near you.

Upon our arrival in Tianjin, we headed straight to the concert hall.  And what a hall.  Its was beautiful, with ridges of wood looping around the edges, cross-sections overlapping on the ceiling, and risers that literally rose up from the flat stage at the push of the button.  Giant white panels that looked like sails molded the ceiling to acoustical perfection.  Singing there was incredible - I could hear everyone and it made our performance and rehearsal exciting.  And we rose to the challenge, singing well and engaging with the pieces.

We didn't have as much time as planned in Tianjin, which was unfortunate since it has an absolutely enormous mall.  It's not that we wanted to go shopping, but a little exploration revealed that it has a variety of entertainment options from two kids in a dance off to a two-level carousel.  Those of us who didn't go to the mall explored the area around the concert hall.  The front steps of the concert hall lead down to a giant lake edged by rushes and a wide walkway.  Interesting architecture frames the pond, though smog also hangs overhead and obscures the details.  People wander around the edge, from couples to families to groups of friends, calm and casual and admiring of the picturesque scene.

And then, tragedy struck.  Two young boys passing a soccer ball on the edge accidentally punted the ball into the water, where it floated about 10-15 feet from shore.  There was no way to get out to it.  Finally, one of the Glee Clubbers, a wonderful freshman names Beau, waded out to get it, completely soaking his lower half in the process.  What a champ.  You should have seen the little kids faces.

Glee Club - 1, Lake - 0

Spotted: an LA theater company.  As we ate at the concert hall cafeteria, a group of older men and a few women walked in to eat alongside us.  It turns out one of them played the dad in Even Stevens and another plays the mother of Blair on Gossip Girl.

Spotted 2: a familiar face.  Among the intense photos of conductors on the walls (including over 100 of this one particular man who I can only assume is the usual conductor here) was a series of Lorin Maazel, the former New York Philharmonic conductor that I worked with when I was in the Chateauville Foundation production of Turn of the Screw.