Saturation

August 14, 2008
Today I found the secret weapon for taking pictures of Ellis... Angelina Ballerina!
A little family photo shoot. Oh Hugh!After the photo session, Curt and I went to the Olympic Ethnic Park. The park has a great view of the Olympic venues and the Olympic flame was burning... "is it burning, an eternal flame!"It is designed and organized like the Polynesian Cultural Center with a dedicated space for each of the 56 ethnic minorities complete with many people in "authentic" costume. I am so grateful Curt was with me. He read the signs and times for the performances, so we were able to see a couple of dance performances with multiple ethnic dances in them. One of the shows concludes with the "water festival" where the audience can join in the dance and water fight.
Curt and I walked through one of the museums that was organized by function. So all the artifacts: boats, drums, tools, etc. from each of the different minority groups were displayed together. I was oblivious to the different ways museums are organized and I caught a glimpse of the strategic planning that goes in to creating an exhibit.
On our travels through the rain in the ethnic park I saw the most beautiful spider web in the corner of a trellis tunnel. It had drops of rain suspended on it and perfectly spun about a foot in diameter. It took my breath away.
On my leisurely journey home I discovered the bakery right next to Curt's apartment with illustrious cake decorators. I was mesmorized as I watched them effortlessly spiff up these cakes. The bakery is so fun. As you walk in, you get a tray and a pair of tongs. It's like the loose candy bins at the grocery store, only breads and pastries and cookies. You select your goods and take your tray to ring up with the cashier. Between this and the cake decorators, I was entertained for a whole hour.
When I finally made it home I had time to take a few breaths before heading out to the Peking Opera at the National Center for Performing Arts. It is a dome shaped building surrounded by a pool of water.

After walking around 7/8th of it, I finally found the entrance that goes under ground to the bottom floor of the building and as you pass through the foyer to the performance halls, the ceiling is glass and you can see the water you are crossing under. It is a stunning building! It houses three performance venues designed specifically and acoustically perfect for theater, dance and music performances. Brilliant!
I experienced a moment of sheer panic when I walked in and read "please check you bag in closet, shirts must be worn, flip-flops and sandals are not permitted" EEK! I looked down at my black flip-fops and ran outside to find the nearest shoe store. It was too far away, I was frantic. I even offered to trade shoes with the woman I was talking with. She was not at all interested in that idea. During our conversation an older fiesty woman piped up and asked what the problem was. As I explained, she "pashawed" her hands at me then grabbed my hand and pushed me inside telling me to just walk right through. "They won't stop foreigners" she said. I calmly got through security and checking my bag and ran to my seat as the performance had already started.
I saw the performance of "Lady White Snake", a classic opera. It was wowing, funny, amazing, rich, and utterly enjoyable. The whole experience was unforgettable. I didn't realize that the voices in the Peking Opera are really trained in that distinctively strange and obnoxious tone. Listening to the voice influctions was a hoot. Other than the periodic bursts of laughter, my face was permanently smiling. Just thinking about where I was and what I was seeing made me grin ear to ear.
Walking out of the performing arts center, I was stopped by a TV station that asked to interview me about the Opera. They were very interested in my story as a foreigner with fake Olympic tickets and my reason for being there. I never saw the broadcast of it on TV, but it was fun to share my story and impressions of the Opera.
It had just rained that day in Beijing, so the night air was cool, clear, and refreshing. Again I paused to breathe it all in and saturate my cells with this moment.