Showing posts with label Xiamen University of Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xiamen University of Technology. Show all posts

Apr 30, 2013

Shakespeare in Xiamen

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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About a week ago I attended a drama competition at Xiamen Institute of Technology (厦门理工学院). There were 13 short scenes performed, all of one of which were in Chinese. The one English scene was from Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Hamlet.
In the scene, Hamlet is losing it a bit
I had been recruited by the students performing the Hamlet scene and met with them once to help them rehearse their lines. Although speaking in Shakespearean English of the late 16th century was a serious challenge for the Chinese students, they made a good effort not only in trying to pronounce the dialog, but also acting out the scene with dramatic flair the Bard himself would be proud of. Apparently the judges also appreciated the effort since the Hamlet group made it into the finals of the competition to be held sometime in May (getting exact dates for anything more than a few days in advance is virtually impossible in China).

 I actually also enjoyed the Chinese performances. While I couldn't understand most of the dialog, I was able to get a general idea of what was going on just from watching the action (helped a bit by a Chinese student who whispered brief explanations to me).
This girl with a painted on beard was quite amusing
Here she slapped this guy, who not able to remain in character, broke out laughing
A traditional Chinese dance
An Emperor and a few of his concubines
3 girls portraying Chinese soldiers
Evening ending musical finale

Apr 18, 2012

Jeremy Lin Skips NBA for XMUT?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
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I recently spotted Jeremy Lin, the NBA's new star, on the campus basketball courts at Xiamen University of Technology (XMUT) this afternoon. Lin is not playing the rest of the NBA season for the New York Knicks due to a knee injury so I wondered whether he's moonlighting here in China. However, when I saw Kobe Bryant nearby as well, I started to get a bit suspicious.



Jeremy Lin being here is slightly more believable since he's currently on the Knicks disabled list and his parents are from nearby Taiwan, but Kobe might find it harder to escape from the Lakers at this time. In reality, Jeremy and Kobe were here only in cardboard cutout form (I wonder if the NBA has licensed their appearance). Jeremy, Kobe and some other NBA figures were just standing around while XMUT students competed in some dribbling and shooting contests.

Lin and Kobe at XMUT

Dec 3, 2011

XMUT Conference Banquet Karaoke

Saturday, December 03, 2011
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Last night, after spending the day at a conference at my university (Xiamen University of Technology; 厦门理工学院), I attended a dinner banquet at nearby Jimei University. The food was good, the wine was flowing freely, and (as always at any serious party in China) karaoke singing ruled the stage.


A fellow foreign teacher persuaded a few of the rest of us to sing The Beatles' Hey Jude. Fortunately, it was at the end of the evening when most of the audience had already left and my contribution was basically limited to background vocals - "na na na nana na na, nana na na, hey jude." The remaining Chinese audience loved us so I guess that means truly meaningful lyrics such as "na na na" translates well regardless of language and cultural differences.
The Xiamen Beatles
Foreigners just can't compete with the Chinese though when it comes to karaoke. We were treated to an eclectic variety of performances including Chinese classics, Beijing opera and even some English pop songs by eager to sing Chinese colleagues. The finale of the evening was a rousing rendition of John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads. For some reason, Chinese people love John Denver, maybe because was one of the first popular Western singers to tour China in 1993, only about a decade after China began opening up and allowing Western music and other influences. Denver's songs were apparently considered non-threatening, even by traditionally conservative Chinese standards. Of course, the younger generation of Chinese tends to prefer Lady Gaga, but fortunately I didn't have to listen to any karaoke covers of Gaga's Poker Face or Bad Romance.
Long Live Chairman Mao and John Denver in China!

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