cabbage everywhere

Today was quite relaxing, and finished up with a free dinner, which is always lovely. I didn't sleep well last night, so I elected to take a half day today. We're allowed to have one free day a week, so I took half of today to catch up on my sleep. We ate lunch at the BFA restaurant and then returned to class.

Our guest today was director Liu Giang (I don't have my notes with me so I probably messed that up horribly). She directed Ox Hide 1 and 2. Her insights into film making were very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed asking her about a woman's place in the film industry in China. She said that women held the same position as men in the film industry here, and that she has never run into any difficulties being a woman in the industry, which was quite interesting. She also commented that men were more focused on their work, which in my opinion is a statement that sorely needs to be changed. 

After she left James Tweedie came and gave us a short debriefing about her films in relation to others. We then went out to dinner, coincidentally at the same restaurant that Di, Tara, Shelly, and I went for lunch to last Wednesday. It was very good, and conversation was great. I taught Di and Shelly how to count to five in Greek, and also how to say "thank you very much" and "hello." They taught me "good night," "watch your step," and how to count to five in Chinese. I'm learning slowly!

I'm in an internet cafe right now so I can update my Kindle and get some more books for tomorrow. We're going to a village that I can never remember the name of. It's an artist's community and there will be two film screenings and Q&A's with the directors afterwards.