The Wandering Monkey

Wednesday: The last day of filming.  I go onto set, make last minute connections with anyone I've run into, while all the time being extremely conscious of not becoming at all annoying.

They are striking the set.  All of the material will be torn down and thrown away, so I and a group of others take souveniers (with permission from the higher-ups).  I got a large oil painting (rather art-deco) and three full length mirrors.  We shuttle the stuff off in a rented taxi van and I receive my part at my house that evening.

Rest for two hours.

Some of the folks in the movie crew and cast are meeting at a bar.  I get my energy back and head out there.  The three assistant directors are present, plus people from makeup, wardrobe, the language coach, and so on.  Also present is one of the actors, who plays the Japanese character Matsudo.  His real name eludes me at the moment, but he's the same actor who played in the movie The Last Samaurai.  He played the samaurai in the village who wanted to kill Cruise's character during most of the movie.  Anyhow, this guy is really very cool, very friendly, and says hello to everyone.  He's at the bar.

I wander about, realizing this is probably the last time to see most of these folks (for now).  One of the makeup ladies says to me: "You name came up at dinner tonight."  (This is the dinner with the Director, probably all the actors, and so forth).  "The director brought up your name.  He said, and I quote, "And how about this Jimbo?  How's a person go from being a dancing extra to being in a ballet-type piece run by one of the most respected choreographers in the world?  What's more, it was she who requested him!  'I've got to have him,' she said."  The makeup woman finished her statement: "End quote!"

How indeed?

 

Thursday, the next day:

7pm: Go to Zapatas for a swing dance night.  This is the free bi-weekly night we have.  I do it for free, for the publicity. And it's working, too.  Not so many people this time but nontheless a prositive night.  The problem is, I have to leave.  I'm triple-booked tonight...

10:30pm: My German dance partner Andrea shows up, fresh from a five-hour train ride.  We head out to Manhattan, and new bar opening.  We are going to perform there.

11:30pm: Performance at Manhattan.  We end up doing three numbers.  The first is really fast.  We didn't expect the band to choose one quite so fast, but the crowd loves it.  The second one is quite slow.  I'm low on energy and inspriation, but we work through it.  It goes over OK, but all of the photographers there for the evening get a lot of pictures because we are moving slow enough for them to see!  Third song, and it's all over.  The organizers, and the bar owners, and a lot of members in the crowd are very happy by it.  I was I guess you would say 'satisfied', but not really thrilled.  Mainly it's just too hard to work two shows back-to-back.  I have a drink with the bar manager, but I tell him I have to be going...

12:30pm: Go to 5 on the Bund for the 'extras' party for the White Countess.  All of the extras who worked through the whole movie have been invited to go to this party.  I'm still wearing a zoot suit, which I have been wearing all evening since the first performance.  I walk through and I see a lot of folks I know.  I say hello to everyone.  I stop and chat with a few folks in particular.  Also present here is the Japanese actor and the 2nd Assistant Director, Elliot (who is also a very cool guy).

About a half hour into it, a reletively short, dark-haired guy comes up to me.  "Hello," he says, "It is a pleasure to meet you."  The words come out with a hint of awe. 

"Nice to meet you, too." I say.  It's not unusual that someone would recognize me who had been on the set, but still it seems a bit odd.

The guy turns and quietly says to his friend, "Do you know who this is?  This is Ralph Fiennes."

I stop and chuckle a bit.  This day I am in my suit, plus my hair is combed back with a touch of gel.  It's the same style Ralph uses, and come to think of it we are just about the same height and build.  Plus we both have a prominent brow and nose, with a small chin.

"No," I say with a bit of a laugh.  "I'm Jimbo.  I did the dancing on the movie."

With the same quiet, deep respect, the guy says, "Man, what an actor.  Ralph, it is an honor to meet you."

I see I'm not talking my way out of this.

"Actually, it's pronounced RAIPH."

"Oh, yes.  I'm sorry Mr. Fiennes.  Raiph.  Can I get a picture?"

"Sure."

 

FRIDAY

9pm: My friend Phil's last night out.  He's going back to England, the little *&*(.  I and another friend meet him for a few drinks.  What are we going to do on this night?  We're not going to Windows, that's decided up front. 

10:30pm, Windows: So we're here again.  Well, the drinks are 10rmb ($1.25)  Its the same old thing.  Not so bad once you are here.  Go walking about, flirting with the girls and doing some dancing.  I'm not feeling too much on the prowl tonight.

2am: Our other friend cuts out since he has to work.  It's just Phil and I, so I say lets get out of this place.  We go to a quiet bar where we can have some drinks and talk a bit.  No sense in spending out last hours in each other's presence shouting over the loud music. 
Over on conversation we talk about each other and what's been going on for the last year.  Phil and I met on a subway completely randomly.  It was in the first three months we were both in Shanghai, and during that time you will make friends with anyone who speaks the language.  Phil and I are rather different characters, but I'd say and I think he'd say that we are best friends of those we know in this city.

As a friend, I have to tell him I'm a bit dissapointed that he didn't do more things to stay here.  Granted, it can be hard to get a job, and I respect his decision not to teach English.  But even so, he never spent any time talking to people who might benefit his career.  He never talked about work or expressed much of any initiative to get such work.

In order to understand Phil, you must know where he comes from.  He grew up in Manchester, England, which is not the best of towns.  Furthermore, he was in the Salford neighborhood, which is rough even for Manchester.  His mom raised both him and his sister all on her own, taking a job as a bus driver to do so and pretty much sacrificing whatever her own goals might have been to pull this off.

Phil saw a lot of his friends get involved with drugs, and he saw the downside of it.  At a relatively young age he decided to avoid them, altough being Irish he didn't avoid beer...  He was also the only person amoungst his friend group who went on to college after high school.  He went late, and paid for it himself, and got a degree in camera work.  That's the type of work he was hoping to get out in Shanghai, but it's hard if you don't speak Chinese.

Phil is a tall guy, has done some kickboxing, and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him.  Of course you'd have to try pretty hard to get on his bad side.  He's pretty much a positive thinking person, even if to a fault.  "I'm a simpleton," he says.  "I'd like a simple life.  Some people might say to me, 'Would you be happy just having a regular no-brain job which paid enough to get by and you could get time off to have beers and spend time with your mates?'  Yeah, actually I really would be happy with that.  Really."

He often makes references that he's not as 'smart' as the rest of us.  But honestly I'd never have made that comment myself.  I think he might think we are more educated, or more cultured, having come from backgrounds in which we didn't suffer threat of major injury or beating eavery day whilst growing up.

There's a lot to say about Phil which will never make this blog, but perhaps he'll be worked in later under disguise of another character.  Man, I gotta tell U.

We drink beer, talk a bit, and see the sun come up, just like we had done months ago on several occasions.  A proper farewell to a friend I will never forget.

 

SATURDAY

Sleep until late.  I'm meeting a girl for dinner.  Met he originally on the set of the movie, before I was working as Assistant Choreographer (my official title for the credits now).  This is our second date.  She is a dang fine woman, I can tell U.

 

SUNDAY

Silver Moon Christmas Party.  I'm double-booked again today.  I have to be in two places at once again.  I have asked Kellian to handle this evening.  She invites her college kids and I teach some minimal stuff, but I have to leave 90 minutes after it starts, to...

Web School Christmas Party.  We've been training for about three weeks.  Four couples, including myself.  We went with black pants and white shirts for the guys, and the reverse for the girls.  One of the couples asked to join us in the last two practices, just one week before the show.  They were of course stuggling to get through the routine.  I asked them, "Do you want to be in the show?" They both say, "I don't know if we can do a good enough job..."  So I just say, "Yeah, but do you want to be in the show?"  "Uh, umm, uh.  Yes."

They did a fine job, too, with only two practices.  The performance was well received, with probably five hundred or so people in attendance.

After we are done, there is one more performance and the emcee comes on.  He's a black guy, an American, who used to play football I think.  I've seen him on TV out here. His Chinese is just flawless as far as I can tell.  He's joking around and managing the crowd.  He goes on to say, "Some of you Web students will come on to my TV show, or my radio show".  It's not often, especially lately, that I feel envy, but I do right now.  Man, if I could just speak Chinese.  What could I accomplish then?  If I could talk directly to these people, either as a group or as individually, what then could I accomplish?

The emcee finishes and the party begins.  But I haven't had dinner.  I'm not feeling like partying so much.  I should party because I need to meet some people, but I'm tired, so I go eat.  After dinner, I take the subway home, and I think I see a familiar face walking by.

"Jimbo?"  It's the girl from the show, the one who joined at the last moment.  "Hi how are you?"

She's with her mom, and they are both leaving from the party. 

"Nide tiao wu hen hao!" she says.  I know what this means: Your dance very good.

Wow this is a stroke of luck.  I was just thinking after the show, if I only knew how to speak Chinese, think of what I could accomplish out here.  So I break out some of the little which I know.

"Wo jiao nide haizi wudao, ni jiao wo Zhong Guo Hua.  Keyi ma?"  I say.

"Hai keyi," she says. 

Then she asks me, "Ni shi nali ren?"

"Wo shi Mei Guo Ren."

"Mei Guo nali?"

"Jiu Jin San." I say.

"Jiu Jin Shan" she corrects me.

"Dui. Jiu Jin Shan.  Xie xie."

This is the right teacher for me.  I confirm with her daughter that she is serious about the dance-for-language training exchange.  She says yes, she is.

So that was Sunday.