I don't think I'm in the mid-west anymore

I will begin each post with an Ancient Chinese Proverb. I do not mean for them to be a slap in the face to 5,000 years of Chinese history, but rather as a humor joke.

Ancient Chinese Proverb: To Make Smooth and Quick Passage In Crowded Chinese City, Carry Big Piece of Greek Architecture.

Wow...(I don't have much time to make this witty, so try to deal with drab just this once)
My flight friends were two Fillapino guys flying back to Manila after working on a tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil from Iraq to the USA. That translates to about 62 million gallons.

My entire flight/arrival went off without a glitch--immigration, security, luggage came through, etc. I took the train from the airport to the Hong Kong station, where I was to call fellow Dramatic English employee, Johnson. As I searched the station for a phone, a young lady approached me: "Excuse me..." and I wondered why anyone would think it would ask the one caucasian person dragging three suitcases behind her ANYTHING and expect a reliable response. But she actually just asked if I was Camber. I affirmed the fact and she (Joan) introduced me to Man (the producer at Dramatic English) and Johnson. We hopped in a taxi (they're red here) and set off for my apartment.

Along the way, I received a personalized tour of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon peninsula across the way. It's spectacular. I haven't taken any photos, but I'll try to get on that soon. Apparently, the apartment where I live is where Johnson used to live, but he's moving out to another part of HK. My building is currently covered with bamboo scaffolding for renovation. Man promises that it's safe and that "we've been climbing on it for thousands of years," but I have no present plans to test it.

We dropped off my bags in the 26th floor apartment and went out into my new " 'hood", Tai Koo. We ate at Mos Burger, a Japanese chain. Man had a rice burger which is not, as I had envisioned, rice between bread. Rather, the BUN is made entirely of rice crammed together to create a bun form. Meat between. It's brilliant really. We picked up some groceries and went back to the apartment. I have two English language TV stations, but prefer Chinese soap operas.

This morning, I woke up at 3am and unwillingly stayed awake to watch the sun rise over the mountains outside my window. I had the day off, but went to dim sum with other Dramatic English people. Dim sum is great: several different selections of Chinese food on a huge turn-table. Spin it around and everything is shared as a group meal.

After dim sum, I tagged along with Man and Tim to acquire props for our upcoming Greek mythology show. We first went to Prince Edward, the plant and flower district. There, we picked up a few items on the list, notably a plith, which Tim carried throughout the streets and markets of Hong Kong thereafter. It's kind of nice walking around with a guy carrying an ionic column. He gets stared at more than I do, anyway. And it provides an instant, albeit miniature table for group meetings or to cross things off our list with greater ease. For example:
fabric for snake costume
3 fake birds
5 babies (preferrably human, mostly orphans)
Once, Tim nearly knocked over a little kid with the plith. I thought it was a ploy to get baby #1.
I start rehearsal tomorrow and have a performance on Sunday--
okay, I've rambled and need to go buy a phone and hope not to get duped by those smooth-talking used phone salesmen.