We always knew she had a dramatic flair...

For the past 2 months, Alice has been involved in play practice at her school.  Monday, Tuesday and Friday afternoons she stayed after school.  We are so fortunate in that there is now a bus (a NEW bus complete with the school logo on it!) for the kids with activities.  No longer does our driver have to make the extra trips into town to get her (a 2-hour round trip).

It took some getting used to, but now I kind of like that buses here look like caterpillars with antennae on the front.  Those review mirrors situated as they are allow for some pretty narrow passages.

But, back to Alice. 

 This weekend, the play "Backstage" was presented.  Alice played an "aging ingenue.  Oh, she was full of drama!  Self-centered.  Haughty. Clueless.  She spent quite awhile on the stage floor, in a series of dramatic faints.  Alice said it was quite the trick, learning to faint and fall without bruising important body parts.

(And I'm in the market for a nice pocket-sized camera as my camera is not up to the job!)

Alice didn't care for her "snazzy" dress.  The sleeves were itchy, and she had to wear hoops under the skirt. But it certainly added to her style!   And just for posterity's sake, that is her dad's arm as he handed her flowers.  Let it be noted.

 One of the really fun parts of the play was the age of most of the performers.  Tianjin Int. School does two plays a year, and because of the popularity of volleyball, most high schoolers opt to play on the volleyball team and do the spring play.  Since Alice has little experience, she decided to try out for this play, even though it would be mostly middle-school students (there ended up being one other high school student--Alice's best friend).  The middle school kids were SO cute!  And did a great job!   It's always a challenge learning lines and perfecting delivery, and when English isn't even your native language it can be daunting.  Sometimes it was a little hard to understand some of the Korean kids' lines.  But more often, the accent made it even better.

 For the Friday night performance, several friends from TEDA drove in with us.  And several of the Kennedy Center teachers that we know from church braved crossing the town by subway, bus and taxi.  They were smart--they brought along a couple of the Taiwanese youth from church who could help along the way. So Alice had quite the fan club in attendance. She had a great time, made a lot of friends, and got to let that dramatic self flow free.  

Way to go, Alice!