From the windows of my world

My daughter in China

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since my last entry I know. I started a new position at work and it consumes me. I work 10 hour days and only get paid for 8, but I do this because you have to shine these days to try and keep a job. It is not required of me by my employer, but I do it anyway. Things have been rather calm here and uneventful to say the least. I work and sleep so theres not much to write about on a daily basis. This week I heard from my daughter who lives in China so I have something to talk about.

This is my daughters 5th year in China and she has decided not to renew her contract after this year.  She finally wants to come home and try to make a life here in Florida. This was my Christmas present this year from her and it was the best one I could have gotten.  I love to tell of her journeys but I would rather see her and share them with her from home.

This year has been hard for her. Upon her return from the summer break she had a new teacher living at the school in the apartment below hers. He was very bad. He drank allot and would threaten the others in the building and even told her and others he would rape them and the school did not want to do anything about it. At first she would just hide in her apartment afraid to leave, then he went on a rampage and started breaking furniture in the hallway and beating down another teachers apartment door.  My daughter and the other teacher packed up their things and went to a hotel. They contacted the administration of the school and told them they would not return until something was done about the man. The police did not want to get involved due to it being a private school or so the administration said. Two days later three other families moved out of the school because of this teacher. The company my daughter works for finally came through and got the school to pay their hotel bills and food bills until they got rid of the man causing all the problems. They told the school they would cancel all contracts with them if they did not get him off campus.  They told my daughter and the others they would send him to another school in China but ended up canceling his contract and sending him back to the states for rehab. He has since re-applied for a position with the company again and they are considering him again.

There was another small earthquake this year at Thanksgiving.  Thankfully it was only a 5.2 and did not do to much damage to the already damaged building and homes. It did scare her and everyone again and made all the memories of the last one come back to light.

She is on her winter break now and sent me a message the other day that she was going on an interview for an internship with a film studio. It would be for two months while she is on break. Well she got the job and started the job yesterday. I will share with you the e-mail from her because she writes with so much feeling I would rather put it in her words:

Well, they didn't waste any time!

As soon as I came in for my appointment, I was first treated to a tour of the facilities. The animation area, or "renderfarm" was packed with desks and computers, and people chugging away at whatever scene they were animating. It was fascinating to watch how quickly they draw! (which makes sense, since the parent company of the studio is called IDF Global, or IDrawFast...) I got to step inside the green screen room, which was really cool. I hope to watch them film something there in the future! Aside from the Studio head, I met the Director of film and tv production, the head of film and TV research, Conceptual artists, Character supervisors, marketing folks, and a host of other, very interesting people.

As I was awaiting some interviews with various people, I was informed that the meeting that was supposed to end 10 minutes ago would continue on through lunch, and beyond. Such is life in a film studio, I guess! So, my tour guide, Francois from South Africa, introduced me to one of the concept artists who is working on a film, currently in pre-production, about an interesting true story that took place during WW2. We talked about my creative background, and my love for research and all things dramaturgical, Well, they wasted no time in setting me up at a computer workstation, got me into the servers, and put me to work doing research into hairstyles, uniforms, jewelry, and everything else from this time period!! I was so excited that they put me to work from day one on this project!

After the 4 hour meeting ended, I got to sit down with the director of Film and TV Production and the Head of Film and TV Research. We talked about my interests, and (Thank heavens I brought one) asked to see my acting resume!! We talked about what upcoming projects are in development (One, shhhhhh..... featuring Hugh Jackman!!!!) and what I could do to help right now. Since they are mostly still in the planning stages, I am ever so needed in the research department for the moment! So, I will get to do what I love to do... Dramaturgy!!!! We also discussed another project (Sci-fi!!) that I will begin working on tomorrow: like preparing research and character profiles, and all the beginning stages of this project. I was told I would be the point of contact for the project for the time being!!! I have been here ten minutes, and I'm already getting more responsibility than I thought I would!! ( I also get the pleasure of working a full-time schedule... 9am-6pm... So I am going to be tired!)

What a way to start off your first day!

I am so proud of my daughter, she is so talented and deserves to be given this chance to prove herself and be happy in all she does. I wish the best of luck to her even if it means she gets the job on a permanent basis and does not come back this summer. Adding this to her portfolio is a once in a lifetime opportunity and they do not come around often. I want her to be her best and do what makes her the wonderful, beautiful person she is.

Update 7-21-2010:  My daughter got the job with Green Leaf Studios in China as a Senior Rearcher or something along those lines full time now and has moved to Chengdu. She will not be coming home this year after all. I wish her the best of luck in her new adventure and I know she will do well.  The Chineese government now wants her to produce her College Degree and Diploma to get her visa renewed it was not required before when she was teaching for them for 5 years. Unbelievable!