Enthusiasm for Art
Before I start, I shall apologize for no pictures taken during my last trip to Scotland. I forgot my camera. =(
Aron and I went for Monika's 30th birthday celebration in Edinburgh Aug 10-12th. It was great timing because Fringe Festival (check out the link) is on throughout the entire August which added a lot of charm (or just population) to Edinburgh as a city. The city itself is also incredibly gorgeous with all the carstels, old buildings, tiny alleys (usually called XXX close, indeed narrow).
We had a great time walking up and down the 'Royal Mile' - one of the 2 main streets in the city. (The other one is a shopping street called Prince Street.) Since there is no traffic on Royal Mile, it is a natural stage for all the artists. Magicians, comedians, acrobats, theatre actors and actresses... There are 'free' shows going on one after another exhausting all they can to win applauses and cheers. The 'free' shows aren't entirely free. They usually ended with some calls for donations.
We also had some great fun participating in the shows. In one of the standup comedy shows, Aron was on stage 25% of the time. I think he enjoys the attention because he used to play theatres. So he volunteered himself under the risk that his head might be chopped off by an amature magician. =)
What struck me the most is not the quality of the performances - most of them are probably students or amatures on their way to 'broadway'. But the ENTHUSIASM touched my heart. Some of the artists standing on the Royal Mile trying to gather more audience for a show were very dedicated. They tried to approach everyone passying by. They patiently explained to people what the show would be about, where and when and kindly asked them to show up. Totally different from the usual flyer distributor who just care how they can give away all the flyers ASAP.
The pity was that we did not stayed there long enough to check out the carstels and highlands nature. But we have got reasons to return.
After Edinburgh, we went to Glasgow to visit my university best friend/roommate Lynn who is taking her master degree together with her husband. Aron had a bit of 'Chinese adventure preview' along the way. The first day's dinner was quite normal Chinese home-made dishes and spring rolls which Aron enjoyed very much. Second day, Lynn prepared dumplings and chicken feet (I have never found one foreigner who loves chicken feet which is an all-time love for most Chinese). It is indeed hard for Aron because Chinese don't say no easily while being invited or offered something. He boosted his adventurous spirit and recognized that chicken feet does not taste bad, with some time, he can probably get used to the idea of actually eating chicken's feet!!! Hahaha.......He has a lot more to adventure in eating Chinese cuisine! =)
Aron and I went for Monika's 30th birthday celebration in Edinburgh Aug 10-12th. It was great timing because Fringe Festival (check out the link) is on throughout the entire August which added a lot of charm (or just population) to Edinburgh as a city. The city itself is also incredibly gorgeous with all the carstels, old buildings, tiny alleys (usually called XXX close, indeed narrow).
We had a great time walking up and down the 'Royal Mile' - one of the 2 main streets in the city. (The other one is a shopping street called Prince Street.) Since there is no traffic on Royal Mile, it is a natural stage for all the artists. Magicians, comedians, acrobats, theatre actors and actresses... There are 'free' shows going on one after another exhausting all they can to win applauses and cheers. The 'free' shows aren't entirely free. They usually ended with some calls for donations.
We also had some great fun participating in the shows. In one of the standup comedy shows, Aron was on stage 25% of the time. I think he enjoys the attention because he used to play theatres. So he volunteered himself under the risk that his head might be chopped off by an amature magician. =)
What struck me the most is not the quality of the performances - most of them are probably students or amatures on their way to 'broadway'. But the ENTHUSIASM touched my heart. Some of the artists standing on the Royal Mile trying to gather more audience for a show were very dedicated. They tried to approach everyone passying by. They patiently explained to people what the show would be about, where and when and kindly asked them to show up. Totally different from the usual flyer distributor who just care how they can give away all the flyers ASAP.
The pity was that we did not stayed there long enough to check out the carstels and highlands nature. But we have got reasons to return.
After Edinburgh, we went to Glasgow to visit my university best friend/roommate Lynn who is taking her master degree together with her husband. Aron had a bit of 'Chinese adventure preview' along the way. The first day's dinner was quite normal Chinese home-made dishes and spring rolls which Aron enjoyed very much. Second day, Lynn prepared dumplings and chicken feet (I have never found one foreigner who loves chicken feet which is an all-time love for most Chinese). It is indeed hard for Aron because Chinese don't say no easily while being invited or offered something. He boosted his adventurous spirit and recognized that chicken feet does not taste bad, with some time, he can probably get used to the idea of actually eating chicken's feet!!! Hahaha.......He has a lot more to adventure in eating Chinese cuisine! =)
posted by Jingwei @ 4:33 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Jingwei, i have to confess - got to Yum Cha here in Sydney, tried chicken feet, and liked it! my chinese-aussie flatmate couldn't believe her eyes :)
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