Superstardom is Tough
I wish I'd been keeping count of the number of times I've been on tv since arriving here. Apparently it happened again last night. The count is sure to be into double figures by now. Seriously. There seems to be a crew at every function I go to and a camera without fail gets jammed in my face. Evidently the presence of a young female laowai is a newsworthy event. Last night's effort was at a Municipal Government Spring Festival Concert that we attended on Monday afternoon.
Reggie didn't quite believe me when I told her how famous I am in Chongqing. Okay 'famous' is probably a bit of an exaggeration but I'm certainly on the telly with surprising regularity. She changed her tune soon enough... within 48 hours of her arrival in China we were accosted by a crew in the Forbidden City.
It was actually quite an interesting story… we were in the ‘Hall of the Clocks’ where an elderly Chinese gentleman with a tag around his neck proclaiming him a volunteer was explaining to us the history of a particular sun dial. I noticed that a crew was filming us and as we left the building they chased after us. Reggie thought they were just regular student scammers so she kept walking trying to ignore them (students constantly approach in the Forbidden City asking you to visit their art exhibitions) but I recognized them as the crew so stopped to hear what they had to say. It turns out they were from the Discovery Channel filming a documentary about the old guy – a retiree of 73 years of age, he’d been learning English for four months in preparation for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. And his English was terrific, I was really surprised he'd only been learning for four months. He was volunteering at the Forbidden City in order to practice his English and improve his skills. Apparently learning English in preparation for the Olympics has become a common past-time for retirees who have plenty of time on their hands and like to make themselves feel useful.
Anyway, the Discovery Channel being an international network, we were asked to sign a release allowing the use of our image in their program… a practice unhead of in Chongqing!
Reggie didn't quite believe me when I told her how famous I am in Chongqing. Okay 'famous' is probably a bit of an exaggeration but I'm certainly on the telly with surprising regularity. She changed her tune soon enough... within 48 hours of her arrival in China we were accosted by a crew in the Forbidden City.
It was actually quite an interesting story… we were in the ‘Hall of the Clocks’ where an elderly Chinese gentleman with a tag around his neck proclaiming him a volunteer was explaining to us the history of a particular sun dial. I noticed that a crew was filming us and as we left the building they chased after us. Reggie thought they were just regular student scammers so she kept walking trying to ignore them (students constantly approach in the Forbidden City asking you to visit their art exhibitions) but I recognized them as the crew so stopped to hear what they had to say. It turns out they were from the Discovery Channel filming a documentary about the old guy – a retiree of 73 years of age, he’d been learning English for four months in preparation for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. And his English was terrific, I was really surprised he'd only been learning for four months. He was volunteering at the Forbidden City in order to practice his English and improve his skills. Apparently learning English in preparation for the Olympics has become a common past-time for retirees who have plenty of time on their hands and like to make themselves feel useful.
Anyway, the Discovery Channel being an international network, we were asked to sign a release allowing the use of our image in their program… a practice unhead of in Chongqing!
posted by bvc @ 3:49 PM
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