I warn you in advance, this is going to sound cynical, but this isn’t meant as a rant. I try and make these pages honest, and give at least some honest impression about the many places I get to see. Unfortunately the impressions ports make aren’t always the most positive. In some cases, like Russia, there’s still a definite beauty there that can be polished up and presented, in others…well…here goes.
Over the years I’ve heard many things about China. Mostly about its history – which is fantastic – and its pop culture, which is often times somewhat bizarre. I won’t say I was prepared for “anything” persay (who ever is) but I was prepared for a great deal.
What I wasn’t prepared for – was the allergies.
I’m fortunate enough to have been born in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Most of you have been to Canada, in fact most of you have been to my hometown at one time or another, if you aren’t permanent residents. I’m used to the air there, my system has been raised with an incredibly low pollution (and an incredibly high salt) level – the only time I’m ever ill is when I’m around poor air quality. During the time I lived in the UK, I fought a perpetual cold from the time I touched down in Heathrow to the time I flew out again, I relied on consistent doses of Neocitran and decongestant to get through my various classes, and visited my family by the Merseyside once or twice a month to get a dose of salt air into my sinuses…
Pollution and I don’t get along…and as a singer…well….
I’ve been ill since we docked in China this morning.
The smog here is so thick that you can barely see across the port to the next slip. The performers are almost all staying on the ship, at least those of us that value our singing voices. Stepping out on the open deck means feeling your high range essentially evaporate. We were all sneezing, our eyes are watering, people are getting headaches. Allergy medication on board is disappearing like snow in summer.
The clincher came when I was sitting in the piano bar tonight and Stryker asked me up to sing, since the guests all wanted me to, I didn’t really have a choice, and this was one case where I actually would have been perfectly willing to remain moral support. As it was, I stood there next to the piano and realized that I had no idea whether or not the sandpaper in my throat would let my voice come out properly. This is a petrifying experience for any performer – if you’ve had a bad throat, you know what it’s like to sing over the pain. Worse, you have to look like nothing’s wrong.
I don’t know about this Stryker, China hit my voice hard today
Yeah, it’ll do that, I’m feeling it too. You’ll be fine
And I was fine. I wasn’t my best, but I was…fine.
I’m still extremely excited for China, I’ve never been here before, and I’m thirsty for whatever the culture has to offer. This is a country steeped in history, and it’s not one I’ve ever experienced before…I just wish that I didn’t feel like I was torturing my soprano range by being here…