Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to all, from Chengdu! No whit Christmas here – just a foggy one!

Yesterday was interesting and surreal. I went to the Catholic Church in Chengdu for Christmas Mass. The church reminded me of one of those Portuguese ones, cos of the semi-circular arches. I’m no church expert, but it didn’t look like the ones back home. Here's a pic I took with my phone:



I’d never been to a church in China before, and didn’t know what to expect. Inside was quite nicely done with chandeliers on the roof and everything. It was sort of weird for me to see a church full of Chinese people, since I’m used to seeing them full of paddies!The mass seemed pretty much the same as the one in Ireland. Actually, the mass started off bilingual (Chinese and English) but the majority was in English, well, Chinglish. Fair play to them for doing it but 95 of the congregation would have been fairly lost. I think the majority of the people at the Mass were older people but there were a few young people. The young fella behind me was fairly into it. He knew all the lines and responses for the prayers! More than I remembered from my Mass-going days.

Well, after getting my fill of holiness, we adjourned to the foreign students building for a Christmas party organised by some of the students. It was a great spread with lots of lovely things to eat and drink! They organised some games too, which got pretty competitive! We managed to fluke a win. Seemed that Efram and Sylvia had a telepathic connection for the charades round!

Off for my turkey this afternoon. Fingers crossed that it will turn out ok. It’s Justin’s first time – a turkey virgin!

For anyone who’s actually read this far – fair play. I’d have been bored by now. Anyways, wish you all a great Christmas, and hope all your dreams come true in 2008!

Gig

Gig over. Went pretty well. The sound in the hall wasn’t fantastic: whoever was in charge of the mixing desk didn’t know his arse from his elbow. So, the sound wasn’t really mixed properly and sounded a bit crap, but aside from that, the gig was good craic and we did fine. I don’t have any video, but here are some pics






We were the first people to perform. The others consisted of bands and other people singing with backing music. Our bass player and also organiser of the event, Peng, made an appearance with another band and also did a solo song (all original). The lead guitarist, Cong, (who is amazing on guitar), teamed up with Peng to perform 2 of his own songs as well. Good for them, writing and performing their own stuff. I am a talentless songwriter (well, I have never tried), and a less than average guitar player. So, since I play and sing other people's stuff, that makes me nothing more than a glorified karaoke singer! But I enjoy it! Long live karaoke (and it is alive and well in China!!)

Only a week til Christmas! A few western students will get together and have Chrinbo dinner! We’re ordering in the turkey from a western restaurant, pre-cooked, and we’ll do the rest ourselves. Should be interesting. One positive thing: seems that Brussels sprouts can’t be found anywhere in Chengdu!!

Rock and/or Roll

OK, what’s been happening? Chengdu has got colder. As the Chinese say, sometimes it feels warmer outside than inside in the central-heating-less south. Nonetheless, we are all soldiering on.

I have been doing a good impersonation of a diligent student for the last 2 months. Hard to get into the studying lark after being away from it for so long. Gotta hang in there.

Our “band” is playing a gig in the uni on Saturday. Met some Chinese guys a while ago who like to jam a bit. They’ve rented a room in an underground carpark beneath a KTV near the uni. They put gear (mixer, amp, speakers, drums, guitars, bass and mic) in the room for jamming purposes. Been there and it’s been good craic. One dude on lead guitar, who’s an amazing guitarist, another guy on bass, and an Aussie on drums. I sort of play rhythm guitar and warble into the mic. The bas player is a bit of an entrepreneur and has his own company on campus. He’s organising the gig on Saturday. It’s a concert for the students who will graduate next year. Let’s hope they like what we have to offer. If someone takes a vid, I’ll post it up.

Apart from all those shenanigans, I have been keeping a low profile, too lazy to write anything in this blog. Not such a “great” blog after all. Won’t be heading home for Christmas this year. Since China is a secular country, they obviously don’t do Christmas hols. We finish on January 11th. I’m hoping to head to the Philippines for a few weeks then, to visit a mate from home, who will be there at that time. It’ll be definitely warmer there! After that, I’ll find somewhere in China to celebrate Chinese New Year. Have one or two invites so far.