Long Sigh....

....of relief!

"Treasure Island" is over! In my opinion, it was a success--and there were so many people who made it possible! So many behind-the-scenes individuals who sacrificed time, money and energy to help make the show possible. They are rarely recognized or seen working, but I'm so appreciative to each one of these people. There were about 60 volunteers altogether and the number of hours they worked, the variety of tasks the accomplished--well, they were all extremely important and carried through with grace.

There's a few "Stars" that stand out extra in my mind.

First off, there is my husband, Adam, who cooked and cleaned and did loads of laundry for months while I was struggling through rehearsals and morning sickness. He helped me lug around 50 pound bags full of fabric from the markets for costumes, haggle with sellers, run and get more cash from the ATM countless times while I waited by the vendors...He made me breakfast every day and packed snacks for work. He was my cheerleader, and the set of ears that listened to venting. He was the guy who suggested making the boys do push ups when they missed cues (never again will I do a show with 17 teenage boys). That was a magical piece of advice. He sold tickets at the Will-Call table and took pictures at performances. He helped pass out subway dinners for the cast and mixed the cookie dough because my mixer was broken (cookies to help stock the refreshment tables). Maybe the ways he helped out were not very significant in the eyes of others, but they kept me going when I had no energy or motivation and I couldn't have gotten through the last few months without him.

Here's Adam dressed up in a silly t-shirt he bought on the first day of shows.

Adam and I after the final show. We almost match!

I love Adam!

Then there is my friend, Lauren. Whoa. She was a miracle worker! I could make a list of everything she did to help, but it would be massive, and I know I would forget half of what she finished for "Treasure Island". She worked on gathering props at markets, on the Chinese version of ebay, and through getting loans from people in our community. She painted sets, she painted props, she made the peg leg, she painted the treasure maps, she helped to prep backstage and the auditorium, she came to many rehearsals and was my right hand assistant--always with her trusty notebook taking notes of things that I spit out randomly, like "the curtains need to be re-pinned together" and "that curtain pole needs to be cut" and "we need another black curtain for backstage!"......What a trooper Lauren is! So willing to help, so patient and hardworking. She is creative and a great problem solver. There were many times when I could have pulled out my hair, but I knew that Lauren could figure it out. Whether it was dealing with paint thinner that wouldn't mix with the clay-like Chinese-style paint, or creating a peg leg out of scraps of pleather and cardboard, or making a piece of fake bread look like a pot roast. Did I mention she can wheel and deal? She probably saved the production a ton of money! She organized our messy prop room countless times and sacrificed time in her classroom to help make everything ready. What a fantastic production assistant, prop queen, market guru, and more importantly--what a precious friend!

And then there is Irene who does not get enough credit for all that she does. She helped find dozens and dozens of volunteers and set up information meetings. She coordinated schedules and made things work. She got tons of food and drinks donated to sell at the refreshment tables. She helped me to set up the backstage area for the show. She made sure even small details, like paying for subway and ironing costumes got taken care of. She is an action person with ideas and energy to spare. She collected baking ingredients and even money from those who didn't want to (or don't know how to) bake to be sold at the refreshment tables. She was quick with communication and always helpful--never complained and was very supportive. Although she didn't have a child in the play, she worked with perseverance in everything she did.

Well, there are so many more people who helped so much. It's very humbling to see the scope of the work that was done by volunteers, knowing that it would be impossible to do it on your own.

Overall, I felt that "Treasure Island" went very well. It was fun to see the students "click" into the roles (some, last minute). What a rewarding experience for me to see them on stage doing so well with their parts! Unlike the audience, I've gotten to see this show countless times. To see it on stage, when it was only ink and paper 4 months ago, is such a treat! It's entertaining for me to see all the blocking that I gave to the students on stage....mixed with their personal spins. It's like a game to me: "oh! I told her to do that--but this is new, I never imagined it that way"; "hey-that's exactly like I said it should be done, but this action right afterwards is completely original to the student". It's also incredibly rewarding for me to see students who were a "gamble" do so well with their characters. They were the students who were placed in roles with a feeling of hesitation. We hoped they would be all right in that part, but there was no guarantee. It's satisfying to see them grow as actor, but also as individuals. There was raw, God-given talent there before, but to watch the process as they developed their gifts was special. Whether they believe it or not, their gifts can be used to bring Him glory--and it makes my heart glad.

Hannah (also a director for "Treasure Island") and I accidentally matched for opening night. I'm so thankful that Hannah joined this year's production. She helped to keep me sane and her experience and perspective were very valuable!

The complete directing team! It was great to work with Nathan again this year on the play. He joined the cast once more, this time as a crazy man who was marooned for 3 years on an island.

A bit more normal picture of the directing team, from the program.

Emily and Nathan!

______________________________

I used to love being on stage. It was among the most satisfying of feelings. Now that I've had a taste of directing two years in a row, I think that given a choice, I would much rather give students an opportunity to be in the spotlight.

Now the brunt of the tasks are over. There is a small post-production to-do list that will wrap up the show logistically. Yet it is NOTHING compared to the last few weeks of controlled chaos. I feel twenty pounds lighter (ironically--since I'm probably 20 pounds heavier) and am looking forward to "free time". Time to say goodbye to my classroom and get our apartment ready for our baby. We have less than 11 more weeks before we'll be flying home to America!

______________________________
Backstage Tour

Since photos shared must not include students, I can't post any of the great pictures. But I did think of taking some unpopulated pictures to share on here. This is your personal backstage tour.

Here is what the auditorium looks like if you are standing on the stage. Let me point out it's strengths. It seats a little over 300 people and looks very nice. However, the sound booth at the back was not designed very well. The loud machines are INSIDE the booth, which makes it impossible to hear anything while sitting inside. Plus, the window does not open and is tinted, so it's impossible to make sound judgments about lighting design from inside the booth. Equipment has to be dragged out each rehearsal/performance so that anything can be accomplished at all.

This is what the stage looked like for Act 1 scene 1. Reusing some revamped "Secret Garden" sets along with a few borrowed items. The only new items in this set are the curtains, the three stools, and the paint. Everything else is borrowed or reused.

Reusing the little bed. That little bed has come in handy two years in a row. I wonder how much longer it will be able to last. It is incredible feeble. If you don't already know the story, I first saw this bed on the side of a run-down road. It was there for 8 weeks before I made a move to acquire it. My TI and I went to the side of the road and bartered with the people who were nearest to it (coal sellers). They had a tiny shack and spend their days filling large sacks with coal and delivering it. We were given permission to borrow and paint the bed, which was actually a couch, as long as we returned it. By the time "Secret Garden" was finished, however, the little coal place had been forced to leave that location on account of road construction. We had no idea where they went, and they have never returned. So, the bed is now conveniently ours to keep. Strange.

Our school is blessed hugely with a wonderful, beautiful, new auditorium. However, there are a few details that make it a bit of a challenge when trying to put on a production. 1) the ceiling is not insulated and it is tin--making it very loud when it rains, cold, and poor for acoustics. 2) the backstage area is SMALL and split level. Making it almost impossible to move sets on and off. We have little extensions made for us, but they only afford slight improvement. 3) the curtains are on a mechanical motor which is loud and often jams. We take the curtain off the motor, but there are no ropes to open and close manually. So we have to improvise here as well. 4) there are no wings backstage, minimizing the space we can use backstage for people/props/sets because of sight lines. This also makes it necessary to block off several rows of seats. 5) There is no where on the stage to hang a backdrop, and there are no pulley or rope systems which allow us to change drops.

What we do have is two rooms behind the stage with counter space, a small sink, and mirrors. These are lovely to have and I very much appreciate them. Drama just has one of the rooms. There are several closets in the auditorium---10 at least--but we only have 2! The rest are for who knows what (PE equipment). This is a picture of the "prop room". Which has been under lock and key for almost a year now. This is because people think it is ok to borrow things whenever they want, without permission, take things out, rummage through boxes, and not return what they've taken. We've lost several items on this account. Before "Treasure Island" started, this room was mostly cleared of all props and costumes so that there was space for special make-up.

Another blessing of the auditorium is the activity room which resides directly behind it. There are some pros and cons to having this room. A few great things: it provides extra space for make-up, sets, props, and costumes; it serves as a greenroom during performances; it is conveniently located. A few down points: it echoes a lot; we can't leave our stuff because of PE classes and after school activities; it's very tempting for cast members to play sports during performances which causes sweaty make-up and wrinkled/torn costumes.

It may be hard to see, but those yellow things are stars with the cast members names written on them. A cute idea "Treasure Island's" assistant director incorporated. :)

Perhaps some of my comments about the backstage area sound like complaints, so I want to make myself very clear: I am so thankful for our auditorium/activity room area. They facilitate the drama dept. beautifully. We are blessed to have these facilities and I think that no matter how many weaknesses they might have--it still enables us to put on strong shows. I couldn't have asked for better resources and feel privileged to be included in theater again. :)

This is turning out to be a very long post. Other than "Treasure Island" life continues to roll on. Tomorrow starts another week of school, which I somewhat dread. This weekend felt especially short. I'm now in week 22 of pregnancy and continuing to grow. I can't zip my dress pants anymore, and that has definitely been a mental milestone for me. Its the first time in my life I couldn't zip my pants! I'm learning to sleep on my side and not on my stomach and remembering to take my vitamins every day. Baby is moving lots. I guess, in a word, it has been uneventful so far--and that's comforting to me. We'll probably go for another check-up next week or so....maybe even discover the gender of our baby (if the technicians will tell us)! I have a nasty cough lodged in my chest which has not been fun.

Adam's basketball season is over--but soccer starts tomorrow. His knee has been bothering him almost all school year and we are going to get an MRI of it soon. He's reading an alternate history of the Civil War and spoke at fellowship this morning on Nehemiah 4-5. I'm so proud of Adam and glad to be his wife. I'm enjoying the last few months of just the two of us.

~julie

The Wig

Proof of why I should never have this color hair. Apparently, wigs are a pretty big deal in China. When you pass a wig shop, you might not be inclined to step inside or even consider buying a wig. At least that is how it was for me. But after going into a few in search of a wig for "Treasure Island", I realized that I would probably buy a wig for myself. There are so many cool hairstyles. If it wasn't freaky to change the length and style of your hair everyday, and so strange to put fake hair on my head, I would probably do it. Natural is best...but some of those wigs are really tempting! Believe me, this wig looks 100 degrees better on the young lady who is supposed to wear it.

~julie

Rambling

Every day that slips by brings us closer to opening night for "Treasure Island". I've started having the worst nightmares about "Treasure Island". I think these dreams are made worse because of all these pregnancy hormones. Last night, I dreamed that all of these people from different schools (which are non-existent in reality) kept coming to sit and watch our rehearsal on Saturday--I couldn't get anyone to leave, no matter how much I yelled and screamed into a microphone that wouldn't work. I wouldn't generally mind people watching, but there were over a 100 people and they were being very loud and rude. We couldn't even practice. After two hours, we had only gotten through 2 minutes of the play. I kept trying to kick people out and then resorted to charging them 20 kuai to stay. It felt very real.

Now that I am awake, I have to keep reminding myself that "Treasure Island" will be a great show. There's so many more people helping out this year--some people I haven't even met yet. There is still a lot left to do--but I think it can be accomplished....

Adam has been playing a lot of video games this Chun Jie break. He has borrowed "Mass Effect 2" which is a sci-fi game that allows you to "become" a character and build relationships with other characters. Not a lot of fighting--mostly talking, collecting elements, and trying to solve the mystery. It's like an interactive movie and very addicting. Hopefully he'll get this kind of game out of his system--it is break after all--and once our baby comes the 360 will hopefully become less and less of a priority.

The Green Bay Packers won the Super bowl! I'm such a bad wife--I didn't watch the game (I don't understand the rules). Adam was up bright and early to watch his team. I was happy for him that the Packers won. He wore his Packers jersey all day.

I was just thinking about how fast the school year is slipping by. I will probably stop teaching a few weeks before school is out in order to fly to America before I am too far along in my 3rd trimester. We also have spring break in April....so after Chun Jie break is over, I think that I will only have to teach for 13 more weeks. I have a lot more to do with these kids before they're ready for 4th grade! They are still so cute and small that I can hardly imagine that they are ready for 4th grade! Hopefully the grow taller and more mature over the next few months.

~julie

Thanks, Lauren!

Last year, one of the most stressful jobs for me in pulling "Secret Garden" together, was looking for all the props we needed. Some had to be made, others were bought, and some were borrowed. It's not very easy to find period props around our city, where there are no thrift stores, second hand shops, or antique places around. A much different strategy is needed, and it exhausted me! This year we are working on a production of "Treasure Island" and there are a lot of props and fake weapons to buy.

My good friend Lauren has been a hero--she came on board as the prop finder and she has done a great job! She has committed herself to working the crazy market scenes on the weekends and accumulating random weapons during the week on China's version of Ebay. She has organized our prop room and made it easy for all the 28 students to find and put their props away quickly. I could definitely not do this without her! She's saving this tired, crazy lady a lot of stress in the prop division!

Lauren hard at work, bargaining at Wu Ai.

~julie

Week 17

I haven't updated our blog in such a long time. I have some really good excuses this time.

1. Treasure Island is consuming me.
2. Pregnancy is exhausting me.
3. Inflexible parents are preoccupying me.

So, let's talk about these three excuses for a dead blog.

"Treasure Island" is coming so close to production I can hardly believe it! I think that we are in a good place with everything right now. Since our Chun Jie break is now beginning, I feel like I can rest knowing that different facets are being taken care of by others or are already well underway. There are so many details to orchestrate and remember. Right now, the paint is being ordered, props are being searched for, the program is being made, and the costumes are being sewn...while I sit at home! It's so wonderful to have help--I think that it makes for better show and a less frazzled me.

Pregnancy is finally getting to those "enjoyable" stages I've heard about. Morning sickness has all but vanished and I am left with an insatiable appetite for everything. I ate Chinese food at home for the first time in over two months. Adam was very happy about that. Previously, the thought of ordering Chinese made me want to hurl. The baby and I both seem to be fairing well and staying healthy. That is a miracle to me, especially when you work with such germy little kids all day. I'm used to getting sick at least once a month, but since being pregnant, I haven't had any serious colds or sinus infections. I'm hoping that it stays this way! I'm so relieved to not be sick in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening anymore. Besides being hungry all the time, I am really achy in my muscles and joints, especially my back. Usually by the end of the school day I can barely walk home---once I walk through our front door I'm done acting and ready to just die.

Sleeping is all I ever want to do. Waking up feels like being hit by a truck or being heavily drugged. I hate waking up so much. Nine hours isn't enough. Ten hours isn't enough. I'm not sure any amount of sleep would be enough because I'll want a nap later on anyway. It's a good thing that teaching keeps me going non-stop during the day. There's usually no time to think about my back or my drowsiness or my hunger.....never mind on the hunger part, I am always hungry! My students usually drop off little offerings on my desk, "for the baby" they say. I normally would reject the random muffin or oreo, but these days I devour all food in my path. Despite eating frequently throughout the day, I don't seem to be gaining too much weight--in fact, I've lost weight according to the scale. It's so strange to me because my stomach is growing quite large. I feel like I look bigger than other women at this stage of pregnancy. Maybe it's because I've never stuck out this much before, or maybe because I'm short.....I don't know!

Right now we are on break for Lunar New Year. I'm so relieved! Last month we were on break for Christmas--and I was so sick and tired. Now I'm thankful for the break because it eats up time. I only have to teach for another 13 weeks or so, which is such a relief in many ways. I love my students. I love teaching. I love working with their parents. I love reading the funny things my kids say and marveling at their interesting questions that never cease. However, I've had some challenges with a few parents this year. If you could lift that up specifically, this is the are in my life that is causing me the most stress right now. It's so much worse that dealing with teaching and planning a play at the same time. I would rather direct two plays than have to smooth things over with these few individuals. Without giving away any details, my general feeling is that I'm being run ragged. It's like I'm silk that's been rubbed by sand paper too many times.

We're watching Project Runway season 7 right now. I love the creativity and innovation that comes out of these episodes.

So, that's a quick update. We're saving up for a baby! Almost half way until we get to meet him/her. We'll hopefully find out the gender within the next month! :)

~julie

Egg Drops and Upper Cuts

On Friday, Adam's eighth grade science class designed and created protective gear for an egg and then watched as Mr. Johnson threw their projects from the fourth floor fire escape. Some of the elementary classes went outside to watch as eggs dropped from more than forty feet. 2nd grade B, 3rd grade and 2-3rd grade ESL and 1st grade ESL were all out their, screaming their little heads off as egg after egg was tossed down. Some eggs broke on the first plunge, while others survived for a second round. The second fall was much more dangerous, since Adam chucked them down towards the blacktop as hard as he could. Still, some eggs were able to survive!

Here is Adam throwing down one of the projects--the lighting is not the greatest.



This past week was busy with parent teacher conferences. Thursday and Friday were half days, which made the week go by much faster! We were still able to have Treasure Island rehearsal on Thursday and were able to finish blocking Act 1. Some of the actors also were able to create some fight sequences. A few of the sequences were very realistic and creative. I think I should promote those students to "fight choreographers".

Conferences were successful for third grade--I was glad to be able to meet more of my students' parents and have some meaningful and much needed conversations with them. A major difference that I see between this year's first quarter conferences and last year's is the amount of work I left the conferences with. So many parents requested extra handwriting or math or grammar homework. Now each student has a different set of optional homework...I still have two more conferences to go next week---I will be busy every day after school.

One of the high points of my week was getting to teach a mini-unit on one-room school houses (within our pioneer unit). At the end of the week, we role played one-room school house lessons. We learned math, reading, and spelling lessons while the desks were set up in rows. We recited the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of "school", and recited our lessons at the end. All the students were in different grade levels and ciphered their problems on their slates (our little whiteboards). So cute! The kids ate it up and begged that normal third grade always be like a one room school house.... I don't think so!

Getting ready for another busy week--Adam has a middle-school and high school lock-in this Friday and I think that I am helping by default this year. A lot of kids to supervise all night long! My TI will also not be able to come to school Tuesday--Friday. Her frequent absences are definitely becoming an added burden to me.

~julie

Gold Collars, Markets, & Cabbages

Another week of learning slipped right past and I hardly even noticed it. There were several times this past week when I thought, "I need to remember this so that I can share it on my blog". Whether it was something funny a student said, a crazy happening in Shenyang, an interesting conversation, or whatever...I had so many things stored in the blogging sector of my brain, that I lost all of the information I wanted to write about.

Thankfully, I took some pictures throughout the week. Many of the pictures were of our students, but I tried to be intentional about taking non-student pictures as well. I was a little foolish and deleted many of my pictures because I thought that I had already uploaded them onto our computer....bummer...

Cabbages and Green Onions---they are everywhere right now! People buy them off of trucks that are piled high and packed tightly with these two vegetables. They leave them outside for many days (perhaps a few weeks...I'm not sure exactly how long) to be dried in the cool air and sunshine. They will use these veggies as a major ingredient in their meals throughout the long winter. I have heard it said that until about ten years ago, the amount of food that was imported to Shenyang over the winter months was not very much--people continued their traditions of drying food to avoid hungry days.

Lots of onions and cabbages can be seen everywhere around our nice apartment complex. It is an accepted practice and respected by all of the residents. I would be worried that my cabbages would be stolen or eaten by animals--but I guess even squirrels respect this tradition.




Even though fresh fruits and vegetables are imported in great supply now, many people choose to continue this discipline of buying cabbage and green onions and drying them before winter sets in. Many older people probably remember times of hunger--storing for the winter has been ingrained into their way of life!

Last weekend, I went to WuAi with one of my good Shenyang friends who is going to help accumulate props for "Treasure Island". We were actually able to buy a few items as we scouted out the market stalls, and were able to barter on some bigger purchases that we will need. Fun things like treasure chests, steering helms, trees, stockades, and maybe even some swords. The only swords we saw that were within our price range were the kinds that are used at wedding to shoot off fire crackers. They have sockets on the tips of the swords where fire crackers can be loaded.

We will possibly use these strange decorations for the island stockade. They aren't the most formidable defense I have ever seen, but they are light and can be stored easily backstage.


Here's a string of pictures taken outside of the main WuAi market buildings...I was just about to buy some wooden buckets that will be used for swabbing the decks.



The wooden buckets....I think they are intended for "spa" like uses, such as soaking your feet.




Autumn means that street-vendors start selling baked sweet potatoes! They smell delicious!



Our radiators still haven't turned on. They are supposed to warm up starting on November 1, although many of the other foreigners in our apartment complex say that their heat turned on several days ago. Our radiators are still as cold as ice! I hope that that changes tomorrow! This year seems a lot warmer than last year's Autumn in comparison....something that I will talk about more in the Spirit Week post.


Adam's computer charger got stuck in this power strip from school...it wouldn't come out no matter how hard we tried! He tried taking it apart with our IKEA tool set, but to no avail. We didn't have the right kind of screw driver tips. Adam said he had never seen screws like that in his life! Finally, he was able to pry his charger out of the power strip!

Last picture is of some noodles that we like to order from a little hole in the wall restaurant close to home. It's extremely cheap, filling, and so yummy! The noodles are handmade at the restaurant too!

~Julie

The Coldest Month of the Year

October really shouldn't be the coldest month of the year, and here in Shenyang, October's temperatures definitely do not drop as low as they do later on in the year. Yet I think that October feels the coldest. We still have no heat in our buildings. The heat will turn on eventually, but not until November. So, while it's beginning to reach below-freezing temps outside, we have no heat indoors! It makes waking up at 5 o'clock in the morning torturous! Only a few more weeks and the radiators will come to life and make our apartment and school feel a little warmer in the mornings. They never get very hot, only faintly warm, but somehow they make a slight difference in our comfort levels.

My mom used to tell me, "There's no such thing as cold weather, only poorly dressed people". So, break out the long-underwear and woolen socks, winter is fast approaching!

This past week, I had the privilege of teaching a Tiger Teacher Training. This is a weekly training that the national staff at our school attend for an hour every Wednesday. It was so much fun to present some of my ideas to them. Chinese people are such attentive and respectful students. I could have made a hundred mistakes and they would probably still respect me as a teacher. They are very accommodating and gracious students. I told them at the beginning of my presentation that I hoped to not offend any of them since I knew that there experience and knowledge in education far outweighs my own in some cases. Some of these staff members have a ton of experience, confidence, and knowledge about theories and practices. I hope that it didn't bore them to tears, but I spoke about "Arranging Classroom Spaces". The lady who is in charge or setting up speakers for TTT asked me to speak on this specific topic, which was flattering, of course.

So, I shared the theory behind classroom space arrangements, the purpose of planning effective spaces, and TONS of pictures. I know their English proficiency varies from person to person, and pictures are always helpful. There were probably 60-70 pictures of classroom arrangements and different ways of using spaces. I wish that I could have shared even more! Somehow we got through all of it. Even though it seems like such a trivial subject, it really is important, and I have seen the benefits of having a well-planned out space. The kids enjoy it, and we have plenty of room for literacy work stations now.

I almost wish that I could have had two TTT sessions for this because I would love to have a scavenger hunt with the staff where they would go around the school taking pictures of good examples they find of planning/creative storage/small-group spaces....

Maybe I will get a chance to teach another TTT in the future--they are such appreciative students! One of the points that I shared with them was about having a teacher's desk. I had three questions that if they answered no to, they should consider getting rid of their desk. I also had three questions that if they said yes to, they should definitely keep their desk. The next morning, one of the national teachers that teaches across the hall from me, removed her desk out of her classroom! She said, "I realized that it was too crowded and unorganized in my corner, and there was never enough room for my small group. Now, I share the small group space with my students and only have a small space to keep my teacher things separate"

What a shock! I guess that convicted her! I mean, I still have a teacher's desk...but will probably remove it someday. It takes up too much space and I rather use that corner for stations or small groups. I don't do very much work there. It's mostly just a place to sit when I'm not busy and keep my jacket and backpack. What a waste of valuable space! A coat hook and chair could suffice!

Adam is an amazing husband. He is letting me use his personal computer right now, since mine is broken. He backed up everything on my laptop, which is having issues, put a load of laundry in the washer, cleaned our kitchen, and did a huge load of dishes! Did I mention that he also brought me a mocha from IS cafe? He just announce that he fixed our broken window as well. We had a window in our bedroom that wouldn't close....which meant freezing air would blow on us all night...brrrrrrr!

Now it's off to Carrefour. We need to go shopping very badly. I actually can't remember the last time we went grocery shopping. Adam is having the student council kids come over for dinner and a meeting tonight so that they can continue working on planning some events. Spirit Week is coming up soon, and they are also putting together a lock-in for early November.

My TI is back finally! This has made my life so much easier. She brought me a whole box of Dunkin' Donuts this time! She is very sweet and super helpful. It's very hard to work without her! She has so much experience, a great attitude about teaching, and confidence to teach lessons as well. I haven't had a Mandarin lesson in over a month because she has been gone during my lesson times. I am very rusty now. It's hard for me to even say simple sentences--I'm forgetting so much!

"Treasure Island" is underway! We finished our read through of the script and have started character development. There are 26 kids in the cast! Wow! So much more to be held accountable for! I'm still learning all of their names. Next week we will work more on character development, develop their acting techniques a bit, and introduce them to stage combat! :)

~julie

Feels Like Fall

Just a few of the fall decorations around our apartment. Some is new--sent in the mail from Adam's mom--some is hand-me-down stuff from families who have moved away (Christa!). Anyway--it surprisingly helps a lot to have some autumn colors around when you don't get to see many trees changing colors, or go apple picking, or drink cider.


It's hard to see, but there are leaves hanging on the door, and a turkey on the door handle. We also have a few other things hanging around the house, but didn't get pictures of those items. Seems strange to take pictures like this and post them. But, it's for those of you who like to see pictures of the ordinary. Here's another reference point for you. Pictures help sometimes.


This picture makes me smile. The Momence Johnsons sent us some baby pumpkins from their garden! These pumpkins traveled a long way to get to China! :)


Enjoying some hot drinks in my pumpkin cup.


Update about "Treasue Island". We were finally able to decide on and post our cast list last Wednesday. I am very excited for this year's cast and hope that everything will go well with rehearsals. Opening Night is in about four and a half months! Now comes the hard part for me. How to get a talking parrot. How to make someone look like he has one leg. How to make a set that looks like a ship from the 18th century. How to choreograph fight scenes.

We cast everyone that auditioned. What a great feeling! About 25 students this year are in the play. I am excited to see how the production will go. Hopefully we will be able to raise the bar even higher. :)
~julie

Cast List Under Construction

One student suggested to me that the cast list should be announced through messages in bottles with rolled-up messages that must be decoded. Clever, huh? It's tempting. If drama was my only responsibility at school, I would definitely follow through with this idea. If my TI was here this week, I would probably have her do it for me. Maybe I will get a chance...

Still making final decisions. It's taking a little longer than I expected to assign all the characters. With such a great turn-out at auditions its hard to make decisions. I hope that we will have something final ready by tomorrow.

Getting ready for a play also means getting ready for criticism. You have to remember that you can't please everyone. Whether it's the students, the teachers, the administration, the parents, your husband, or yourself...you're are going to lose somewhere. At the risk of sounding fatalistic, I would like to point out that it's good to prepare yourself for hitches, errors, frustrations, and confrontations. It's practical, reasonable, and necessary if you have any hope of clinging to a shred of sanity.

What am I preparing for?

historical inaccuracies
script inadequacies
set issues
costume challenges
schedule conflicts
huge/long school holidays
students dropping out
parents upset about the plot
and all manner of bus problems
teaching someone to walk on one leg


This is NOT pessimism. This is realism at work. These things happen, and when they do it can be discouraging. I have to remember that these problems are not attacking me or my baby--my baby is the play--they are just there because that's life.

It's also hitting me that we will have to choreograph fight scenes. Whoa. Not my forte at all.

This year, so far, there are lots of people helping. We already have a backstage crew. We have a tech/lights committee, we have a props/program committee, there are now three directors on the team altogether. Life is good.

Like anything else in life, when a program doubles in size, the organization should match the growth. With more people helping, there is a need for more communication, more production meetings, more procedures. This will probably be the biggest change compared to last year's play, from my perspective. Not having to do as much is definitely a good thing--but communicating what needs to be bought/made/constructed/designed/arranged will be a new step. It's a bonus to have help! It's a positive, upward, progressive step. Yay drama!

Maybe, this year, we will actually have "Treasure Island" t-shirts made. That would be awesome! How can you have a play without a t-shirt, anyway?

School was crazy today. I appreciate my TI so much. She keeps our classroom running smoothly in every area. Without her, my brain is a discombobulated mess. I can't think straight when there are a hundred details in my short-term memory at once. I am so ready for her to come back! :)

~Julie

Auditions

A quick update before bed. "Treasure Island" auditions went swimmingly well. I am very happy with how many students showed up and the talent base that we are privileged to start with this year.
I had been praying that at least 25 kids would show up for auditions, which was a pretty steep number since only 11 kids showed up last year....at least 25 showed up tonight! Granted, some of the kids only wanted to audition for experience so that they could help with the production team. However, it was really encouraging to see so many faces in the auditorium. It was also great to see so many boys show up for auditions. They took a break from chess club and volleyball practice to try out--it was mostly boys in there. How awesome!

Cast list will be up soon. Maybe even by tomorrow!

In other news. It's a little before 9pm and Adam is already sleeping. :)

~julie

364 More Days Until My Golden Birthday!

Ever since I learned about what a Golden Birthday was, I have been looking forward to September 24, 2011. Time is pushing me closer and closer to that date! I feel much older today, compared to how I felt yesterday. Maybe a little wiser, definitely a little grayer; twenty-three is so much older than twenty-two. It sounds older. It looks older. Twenty-two is when people are graduating from college and starting their adult lives. It's when adolescence is officially over, in my mind.

What did I do on my birthday? I woke up at 4:50 am, and got ready to go into school early. I crammed in as many lessons as I could before 11:55, finished a few units with my students, and went upstairs for an impromptu library time--totally forgot to reschedule it on Thursday. Why did library need to be rescheduled? Because of Field Day! For whatever reason, Field Day is idolized by elementary students across the board. They are devoted to it whole-heartedly and look forward to each Field Day with great anticipation. My students thought that it was pretty amazing my birthday was on Field Day this year.

What else happened on my birthday? Well....my team didn't win the Field Day games.

But, I got to dress up like Hyphen-Hero!

Looking at rubrics for the 6-Traits of writing, I stumbled upon information about National Punctuation Day in the US. Granted, there is a national day for almost everything--even Teddy Bears--in the US, but who can pass up Punctuation Day? My Lead Teacher was equally interested by it, and it was decided at last week's elementary dept. meeting, that we would dress up like Punctuation super-heroes. Each teacher was assigned a different punctuation mark and the 5th grade teacher even planned his chapel presentation around proper punctuation usage. Our classes learned about our assigned punctuation marks and walked around dressed up with period necklaces, apostrophe headbands, or exclamation mark bandannas. It was very cute.

These two pictures show some of us elementary teachers, ready for National Punctuation Day before the students arrived.



Captain Apostrophe, Madam Coma, Exclamation!, Hyphen-Hero, Question Mark, and Captain Quotation. :)


My costume was not very awesome, but I would like to point out that as the Hyphen-Hero, I had an eye-patch that allowed me to look up any word in the dictionary. You see, I was half Dictionary, half Hero! Ok...I was also wearing the eye-patch to get excited for "Treasure Island" auditions. You would think that I was auditioning for the play as well; I am so nervous!

Apparently, when looking up rules for hyphens, there are literally hundreds of rules to follow when using hyphens correctly. We talked about five of those rules in 3rd grade; the most important rule was that you should double check whether a word is a compound word using the dictionary before hyphenating it.

Also--we talked about the difference between dashes and hyphens. My girls were the darling-dashes, and my boys decided they wanted to be the dare-devil-dashes. We were saving communication, one compound word at a time. Which ended up being rather convenient since all of our spelling words for the last two weeks have been compound words.

The staff at SYIS sang "Happy Birthday" to me in three different languages, followed by three cheers (an Australian tradition) at our morning meeting. The elementary students also sang to me in three languages at our elementary assembly. At the end of the day, Adam and I went home on the student bus, where the students sang "Happy Birthday" to me again. It is almost unbearable to have "Happy Birthday" belted out to you in three languages--all attention is on you--but I felt the love and appreciated the people singing to me!

After school, Adam took me out to dinner and we stayed at a fancy hotel in our city. It was nice to have a nice night out together, without any traveling. A short vacation where we could eat Western food and watch English television. Adam also watched, "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Sense and Sensibility" with me. I fell asleep half way through "Sense and Sensibility", but Adam swears that he finished the movie without me. Maybe he actually liked it.

Adam was very sweet for planning some time for us to spend together. We are not always the best about making intentional plans like this, so it felt like a miracle to have a short vacation on my birthday! This year was great compared to the last three birthdays I have had! [I do not do well with surprises--it took Adam two tries to figure that out]

There is a Dunkin' Donuts in Shenyang now. It opened while we were in America, which is rather ironic since it is something that Adam missed a lot during our first year in China. For some reason, Adam craved Dunkin' Donuts almost daily--even though he was not a frequent customer of the place (he says). Today, we picked up some donuts for the first time, and I think Adam was very happy.




This past week was a little difficult for me. It seems as though I am a curse of sorts to my TI's. Last year, my TI ended up getting brain cancer. This year, my TI lasted a few weeks before she had to take a 2-3 week hiatus in order to rest an injured ankle. I am without a TI--however, the other elementary teachers have been very generous about sharing their TI's and help with me. Thursday and Friday, and graduate student who works at school 2-3 days a week came to help me. This was great, because then I had constant help throughout the day. Yet, it was challenging on a different note since she is still learning how to speak English. I have to explain things several times, as slowly as I can, and usually have to find someone to translate my sentences for her anyway. I haven't gone to my Chinese lessons in two weeks (which is really, really bad) because my real TI was absent on lesson days, and my stand-in TI needs a lot of attention.

Monday (two days), marks the day for our Spring Play auditions! I can hardly believe that it is already time to start working on another production. I'm not sure if I am ready to take the plunge yet. We will have as many auditions as possible on Monday, and perhaps hold a second round, or call backs, on Thursday. Hopefully we will have our cast list for "Treasure Island" finalized by Friday at the latest. We will begin rehearsing as soon as our October Holiday is over (the second week of October). Wow.

We need at least 17 students for the play to work. At least 12 of these students MUST be boys. If you feel lead, please direct some "thoughts" in this direction. I sincerely hope that enough students will come out to audition on Monday/Thursday. It would be ideal if 25-30 students auditioned.
Here is a picture of me finally getting all the audition information together for students who are interested in "Treasure Island"
.


This afternoon, I spent time reading about the Golden Era of Piracy on wikipedia...

Trying to beef up my historical background on piracy, and steer away from the romanticism that authors, poets, and Hollywood have associated with that period in history.

Reading about the escapades of men and women who were real pirates is interesting. Lots of intrigue and missing details--it's not like pirates recorded their lives for posterity.

I learned that 1-1.25 million Europeans were captured and sold as slaves to middle-eastern countries during the height of piracy.

Tortuga and Port Royal were actual havens for pirates.

Original pirate flags were red.

Anne Bonny and Mary Reed are interesting pirates to read about.

The height in piracy was often due to lack of occupation for sailors after different wars ended.

* * * * * * *

I was very happy to get to talk to my Mom and Dad, Tommy and Emma on skype today! I can't wait for Day Light Savings Time--I feel like it is easier to find to talk during the Fall and Winter.
Tonight, a friend of ours is coming over to watch Chuck with us. We introduced the show to her a few weeks ago and she has been devouring the episodes. Which is good because tonight, she is bringing chili over for us to devour together! I can't wait!

~Julie

I don't know when to stop....

This is what my life feels like sometimes.

So. Last week. Eating lunch. During teacher in-service. The assistant principal started to ask me a question. He wanted to know if I had a pirate costume that he could borrow to have a student promote the upcoming "Treasure Island" auditions. Of course, I don't have any costumes yet, but this began a longer-than-expected conversation about how I am having doubts about whether or not enough students will audition for the spring play this year. It was a lot of work last year, and no doubt this year's play will also involve a lot of effort. However, there is so much more that will be EASIER this time since a system was a created, guanxi was established, and new paths were cut through the performing arts frontier at SYIS. Yet, I feel that many of the students who are still at our school will be deterred because of the amount of commitment that is required without the benefit of academic credit and grades for their transcripts. Also, there is the added stress of "Treasure Island" being a very male-dominated play. Although some parts can be converted into female roles, there are several that absolutely should not and CAN NOT change genders. The question is: are there enough boys at our school interested in acting? Interested in dressing up? Interested in wearing make-up? Interested in possibly singing a few ditties and fighting with fake swords and daggers? Interested in coming to rehearsals and memorizing lines? Interested in applying hairspray?

That's the question that I'm dying to know the answer to. I would love to do another play, but the ball is in the students' court right now. How interested are they? How committed are they to obtaining a balanced education, improving their English skills, and becoming character scholars?

Ok--so these thoughts, and a few others, were discussed. And all the sudden, I found myself to be teaching a high school and middle school drama elective that will last the whole year. Did I mention that it starts the day after tomorrow? I'm frantically putting together a scope and sequence, aligning it with the standards and benchmarks, lesson planning, and getting very excited for the possibilities! The great thing about this opportunity is that I will be able to do so much more with the students that sign up for this elective. "Treasure Island" is set to have auditions at the end of September. Everyone in this elective will be required to audition, but no parts are guaranteed. Auditions are open to other secondary students as well, whether or not they are in this elective. But with the extra time that this elective affords, we will be able to dig deeper into dramatic topics, run more activities and improv exercises that would otherwise be impossible, and even get a broader perspective of theater through in-class projects, case studies, and discussions. They can finally develop as actors, and in so doing, develop as individuals that view the world through unique lenses. We will be able do so much more than just "Treasure Island"! That last statement is both a blessing and a curse. For although I am excited for this opportunity, I already feel a heavier burden in my schedule that I was not anticipating.

There is another factor. Students have the option of switching electives during the first full week of school. So, I might loose students, or gain them--depending on how the elective goes. That's definitely something to think about on my behalf. I would love for this to be an option for students here. But success is a privilege and not to be taken for granted. From my perspective, it's the missing puzzle piece in their education--and I'm happy that they can finally get credit for it! :)

I'm looking forward to this new role; it means meeting new students, covering content at deeper levels, and hopefully igniting a passion for performing arts in their lives. I can't believe how fast auditions are going to creep up!

Am I crazy? Sometimes, I don't know when to stop myself.

~Julie