goodbye suzhou, hello shanghai!

So just a quick update before we leave the Suzhou Convention Center.  Last night was our third and last preview in Suzhou.  It was our quietest audience yet.  The crowds are so strange here.  People chat during the show, smoke, and use their cell phones.  Last night during "Teacher's Argument" someone got a call and apparently it was too important to pass up to they just had their conversation right there in the second row, while we sang.  Luckily it's a loud song (: Despite all this, they are always extremely appreciative at the end of the show.  I think they really enjoy the finale and the fact that half the cast comes out into the audience.  We've gone out for encore bows all three nights. Hahaha and the first night, they brought out this gigantic fern flower bow pot thing and placed it right in front of Caroline for the entirety of the bows.  It was hilarious.  We now have designated flower movers, in case it happens again.
So last night after our show, our Suzhou sponsors took us out for "a drink".  This of course, after a long, freezing cold trek through the back alleys of Suzhou, turned into an 8 course meal at a restaurant.  They brought out the weirdest things.  Needless to say, I tried countless unknown amounts of meat (ehhhhlll) all with heads still attached.  Donkey, Pork, a Chicken that literally looked like they boiled one of those fake plastic yellow skinned chickens, Squid, some kind of amazing whole fish, an unknown soup substance that smelled disturbingly like a goat pen, some random animals' stomach lining,  a mishmash of some kinda of rubbery spiney seafood dish (pictures to follow) and spicy potato chips with some kinda of tomato raspberry sauce.  They also tried to get us all wasted on some kind of Suzhou special sauce.  It actually smelled and tasted like death.  They succeeded with I'd say a good 65% of us.  Me not included, I couldn't get the motor oil past my lips. Any, long story short, it was a successful, fun, and experimental night.  My first authentic Chinese experience I'd say.
Then, we came back to the hotel with beer and chocolate and danced to Christmas Carols.
Some sad news, it seems like we won't be going out on our second leg of the tour to South Korea.  It's a really big bummer. I cried.  Apparently we had a sketchy backer and things went awry.  But! These things happen, and we're in China for another month and we're having a great time and the show is amazing, and we are all so so so proud of it! So no biggie. Everything happens for a reason.
Alright. I have to pack and then run to our favorite bakery for one last coffee in Suzzy! Hope all is well with you all and you are all safely tunneling through the snow!