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Anya NordströmSeptember 4, 2007
Anya Nordström
I started my journey in Buffalo, flew to Detroit, and then from there I took a 13½ hour flight to Tokyo. From there it was a little less than four hours to Guangzhou China.
I was met outside the customs gate by a short, plump local Chinese man holding a picture of my face. There was a thunder and lightning storm as we drove the half hour from the airport to the model aprtment, but it made things even more magical. I could only make out neon lights over head as we drove down the still busy highways at midnight. At the apartmennt I was met by Hugo, the manager of my agency CalCarrie's Models. He took me up to the apartment which I was surprisingly pleased with; a definate upgrade from Tony's Hotel in Athens. 3 bedrooms; one with 2 sets of bunk beds, one with 2 regular beds and one with a doubble bed. We also have a small kitchenette and bathroom, as well as a TV and DVD player and internet. Currently im living with 3 other girls (one from Calgary) but more are expected to be arriving in the coming weeks. I unpacked my things with a strange thrill; I just wanted to get out and explore! None the less I delayed my adventure until the next day and got some sleep.
My first day we had two castings. One was at the agency which is about a five minute walk from the apartment, and one across town. Apparently most days we have a van that takes us to the castings but on this day we took the public transportation. Regardless of how we get to the castings we always have one of the bookers with us to communicate and help us around. I could tell some of the girls were a a little annoyed but I was excited: my first Chinese bus! It was very crowded but I just watched the sights as they passed. The other girls seemed much more experienced than me but what could I expect? This was my first trip to China. The casting was like most except that the clients spoke only Cantanese, so our guide from the agency was the sole communicator.
From there my new roomates and I went to the fruit and vegetable market near the apartment; I would have to say this was my first, but definately not the last overwhelming Chinese culture shock experience. It was an indoor market with various stands all selling produce, most of which I had never seen before in my life, but VERY cheap. For 10RMB which, if my calculations are correct is a little more than a dollar and a half, I was able to buy all the produce I needed for the week. I think that's even better than Kensington Market. As I shopped I tried to ignore the various hanginging animals and buckets of frogs and fish. However I still needed the usual staples like milk and eggs and bread, so my roomates pointed me in the direction of the grocery store and I was off on my own for an adventure. The grocery store was like something out of a movie! it was huge and PACKED. I swear people in China navigate their grocery carts like they do with their cars on the street! I was practically hit-and-run by like 9 different carts!
Also, everything is in Cantonese so I was a little schetched out as to what I was actually buying. I stood staring blankly at all the different types of milk for about 10 minutes before deciding on one that looked most like my milk at home. I searched the dumpling aisle for about 15 minutes until I finally found one with English writing, "VEGETABLE AND PORK DUMPLING." The line was tremendous, but even still all my groceries (noodles, pasta sauce, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, shrimp chips, tuna, instant coffee and a bottle of Sprite) was only about 100RMB. The sky was starting to get grey and the humidity rising; I knew another storm was on the way, so I hurried home through the congested streets to my apartment, ate some food and suddenly felt exhausted. Around 7pm I fell asleep - note to all visitors of China: don't fall asleep in the evenings or else you will sleep until 2am and then suddenly be wide awake. Just like I am now sitting at the computer at 3:45am.
It seems like I'm off to a good start!
-xoxo Anya
More to follow...
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