Paid to be Different

Pri-VET English world,

Guangdong is suddenly very cold. I went outside today and immediately ran back up to my apartment to grab my big Wisconsin hoody. I thought it certainly must have reached a historic low... I just checked and its 67 degrees outside... What's happening to me? I should be embarrassed. My friends in Wisconsin would laugh at me. People are wearing jackets, jeans, and scarves outside. You would think it's about to snow. I mean it IS kind of windy, that doesn’t help right? Weatherman says we should be leaving this ice age by the end of the week and returning safely back to 80 degree weather. Thank God.

Aside from miserable weather life has been really fantastic. I have been reaping the benefits of being the sole western representative in a city of 2 million people. Within the last two weeks I have starred in a video and photo shoot, given autographs, written 2 articles for 2 different international magazines, and been the guest of honor at elaborate dinner function. I will get this treatment when I return to the states. Right?

A week ago my friend called me saying they wanted a westerner to be in promotional material for his friends company. I didn't care what they were selling I was in. Obviously selected for my accomplished acting resume I was going to be the star in the company's new advertisement. I honestly didn't know what to expect. My friend picked me up in the morning and we drove to a massive 5 story factory in the suburbs. When we got there the camera crew was already in place. When I realized what I got myself into my delight turned into a stomach of butterflies and outright fear.

This huge company was relying on me to act in their video. I had to be the face for the company. The company isn't some mom and pop grocery, it's an international company selling amusement park rides and games to customers around the globe. Cameras were swinging around in the sky and rolling around on rails with bright lighting beaming into the set. There were dozens of people walking around setting up the shots, people handing me water, and others snapping my picture as I idly starred slack jawed at the first set. Act... I'm not an actor, I'm barely an English teacher, who am I to represent anything. But there I was taking instructions in Cantonese about what they wanted me to do.

I was acting as the "customer" in the video. I was the guy being shown around the entire factory looking to buy all of their products. Two things proved crucial in my inevitable success. One. My female "co-star" was drop dead gorgeous. She played the company representative leading me around the company showing me all games. Flirting with her came naturally and it totally helped me relax when filming. Two. My acting was essentially playing with a lot of arcade games pretending to love every minute. After the first couple of shots I was hitting my stride. All I did was smile at the pretty girl and play video games. Can you believe they paid me for this? I wasn't acting, I was just being me, and the games were really fun.

I feel like I should get my name up in IMDB. This is the beginning of something magical. Next stop Hollywood. I was told that is a normal career progression.

On another front, my literary stock is rising as well. I was contacted by ink publishing to write a bit of "insider information" for Fam Thai the in-flight magazine for Bangkok Airways. How they found me I have no idea, but one doesn't ask questions about such things. I simply obliged and wrote the first article and to my surprise they wanted another. This time I wrote for Smile magazine of Cebu Pacific Airways out of the Philippines. The write up isn't really anything big. I just wrote some travel tips and things to do for Macau and Guangzhou. Although my picture will be inside the both magazines! I wrote about Macau for Bangkok Airways and Guangzhou for Cebu Pacific. You can pick up copies at your local Asian bookstore. Ha, I still don't have my face on a billboard, but I still have 8 months left. By then I should being wrapping up my latest book tour and movie release.

I will make sure to get copies of my 5 minutes of Asian fame so everyone can put up posters in their bedroom. Life outside Chinawood remains normal. Still teaching up a storm and eating insects in the street.

I need to make a second push at learning more Chinese. I have become comfortably dangerous with my level of Putonghua (Mandarin). I can say just enough to get myself into trouble but not enough to get out. Everything I need to do on a daily basis is easy, but a deep conversation is still out of reach. I want to study hard before I head out on another trip I am planning.

First I am going to see the Macau Grand Prix in a couple weeks followed by a trip to Taipei Taiwan. Aunt Ann, I MUST find that restaurant. The pictures this week are just an odd collection of life up close. I've ran out of ideas, what do you want to see? Thanks for tuning in, have a great week, Zai Jian.

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Part of trip: Life in China

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