Laura the ballerina

My dream came true yesterday! With much anticipation, I gathered my ballet shoes and CD player and headed across campus to one of the buildings. I climbed the five flights of stairs, hoping for the best. I rounded the corner and arrived at the dance studio, randomly nestled between classrooms.

I swung the door open and stepped into the large room. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed so much space since I’ve come to China. The whole place was mine! I shut the doors and closed the hall windows so nobody would peer in. My greatest fear was that some student would discover me and a whole crowd would appear.

The studio left a lot to be desired, but I was content. Maybe next time I’ll take a picture for you. The floor was fake hardwood and it had a coat of dust and dirt. (I had to be careful not to slip). The walls were lined with tall mirrors that were warped with age, and I could barely see through them, they had so many hand prints all over them. I stood along the wall and outside windows holding onto the steel ballet barre, which wasn’t very smooth on the surface. The windows along the wall were open, and they overlooked the busy alley ways below. It was an awesome environment to dance in.

The CD player played some ballet music and I warmed up at the barre. I was so incredibly happy, especially at first. I danced in my make-shift ballet outfit—just a leotard and tights are too scandalous for the traditional country of China. Instead, I wore stretchy pants and a short sleeved shirt. After a few minutes I realized how horribly out of shape I am. Climbing stairs all day long around here doesn’t mean you retain muscles everywhere else. Eating fried food (pretty much the only food choice) doesn’t exactly help my ballet skills either.

A few times I wanted to give up and go home. Just last spring I was still dancing beautifully and now I was really disappointed. But I tried not to let that disappointment get to me. The Father provided that studio in an amazing way and I was thankful. Every Monday I will return to the grimy studio to dance and I’ll improve. It is a great outlet for me to express myself, especially when I am surrounded daily by so many stresses while not having any personal space.

On another note, we leave in 2 days for Zhengzhou. I’m pretty excited, although I’m not looking forward to riding on the train’s cramped hard seats overnight. But it will be fun to go somewhere else and see another team. Besides, I’m sure I’ll get a good blog entry out of the little adventure!

We also have to prepare for traveling to Thailand in January for our conference. Since everybody in China (one-sixth of the world’s population) is off at the same time for Spring Festival, we have to book our travel early. Before we go to Thailand, we will also be able to travel to some other places in China on the train if we want to. Trains are much cheaper than in America. For example, our trip 10 hours north to Zhengzhou is $20. January would be a good time to visit me in China, too, if you wanted to!