The 16-year-old clubber

Shouldn't you at least be 18 for this? Or am I an old fart?

Last week I went to a Christmas/mingle/glögg-wine/networking event (take your pick!) and brushed shoulders with a lot of nice people. Since it was Christmas on the theme a lot of people had brought their kids and families. One woman was walking around with her 2 sons: 12 and 16 years old, that politely shook hands with all the guests. I was standing in a group of middle-aged men when the two teenagers came up to us and introduced themselves.

After some small talk it became clear that one of the men I was talking to had a son who went to the same school as Mr 16-year old. In an effort to figure out if they knew each other or not (not by name anyway), the middle-aged man suddenly went:

-Well, OK, maybe you guys are party buddies if nothing else? What clubs do you normally go to?

-Well.. for clubbing I go to Mural. And then sometimes….

-Eh… excuse me, I said. How old are you again?

-Just turned 16.

-And you go… CLUBBING?

-Yeah, of course! Mural’s has the best free flow of booze!

-Eh… right.

I was looking at my fellow group of grown-ups, looking for some kind of moral support. Nothing. They were all busy giving encouraging smiles to the 16-year-old that just admitted he enjoys a free flow of booze on the wknds.

Not until later that night did one man come up to me, put a hand on my shoulder and said:

-Yeah, they grow up faster over here.

-No kidding.

Silence, until I said:

-We weren’t like that when we were sixteen?

-Weren’t we?

-Well I sure did not go clubbing anyway?! And I never experienced anything like “free flow” before I came to China?! As a teenager you don’t know how to handle things like that?!

Polite smiles and silence, until he went:

-Got any kids yourself?

-Nope.

-Good.

城市一对一

OK, so how weird was that, on a scale from 1-10? Something like 11? Or maybe even 15? Yes, of course I’m talking about seeing myself on Chinese television last night! When I first saw my face appear on the screen I almost turned the TV off, as it simply felt so awkward, and I looked so… different (I’m not sure about the “camera adds 10 pounds thing” but it certainly adds something because I sure didn’t quite look like me? Also, my nose looked gigantic in the profile shots –so now I know what all the Chinese people are talking about when they claim that laowais are big-nosed!)

To my great surprise, however, there was no voice over when I spoke and the Chinese characters were in harmony with what I said: so in other words: the film crew must have understood my Mandarin. YAY!

They had been editing the footage quite a bit, however, so I “only” answered three questions, rather than seven that I did on the day of the shoot (we shot for 2,5 hours but the end product was “only” 50 min). However, they definitely took away some of my idiotic answers –thank god for that!

Anyway, towards the end of watching the show I got used to seeing my face on the screen and it felt kind of… fun! I’ve been on a TV show, haha! Would I do it again if I got a chance? Definitely (with some more time to prepare, though!)!

OK, I promise I won’t go on anymore now about this TV thingy. Thanks for all of your comments (you who watched it –can’t believe some of you did –even from Malaysia!). I made a little camera recording of myself when I spoke about Swedish food (yes, for real -I filmed the TV! And yes, I know, I'm a total nerd!), but I cannot find my camera cable today so I night as well spare you, hehe!

Panel discussion debut on Chinese television

Haha, I just love life in China! It never turns out to be the way you thought! Remember how I told you I was going to be in the audience of a TV show? Well, as it turns out, I ended up being in the “Swedish panel” –answering questions in Chinese instead.

The Swedish panel consisted of three guests. When one woman suddenly had to cancel, the TV team (that I had met during our initial meeting) called my colleague and told her that they wanted me to take her spot. I was something between terrified and exhilarated, and said yes. I was then given a script and three questions that I needed to prepare answers for.

The program was being filmed in Changxing, as it was a program about the friendship between the Chinese city Changxing and the Swedish city Kalmar. Changxing is located some 2 hours drive from Shanghai, so it took a while to get there: the TV team sent a bus that they packed with Swedes that they picked up from several different companies.

We arrived one hour late and I was taken straight to a room where a rehearsal was taking place between the Chinese guests and a producer, acting host. Since I could speak Chinese I was allowed to participate and we went through our answers. I soon, however, noticed that one of my questions wasn’t asked and raised the issue with the producer.

-Oh, the questions we gave you are just something we put together. What the host will actually ask you we don’t know. It depends on his mood!

Right.

The host was in fact a minor celebrity host (Ji Xiaojun) from CCTV. I realized this by looking at my Chinese colleague who got rather hysterical when she saw him. Nice.

Going through the program took a while, and then it was suddenly just 20 min before we were going to start shooting. I had neither done my make-up or my hair, nor had I eaten since 11.30am (it was 6pm). Dinner was just being served. I was starting to feel stressed.

I prioritized looking good and threw some rice into my mouth before I headed to the hair & make-up room, which was a large room full of pretty little Chinese girls aka make-up artists. When I stepped in they freaked out. First came a war of giggling, and then no one dared to come up to me. Not until I said to one girl in Chinese that I they didn’t have to be scared of me did a girl work up the courage and started applying thick lawyers of make-up to my skin. I’ve never had TV-make-up on before and I have to say that it’s a kind of special feeling. My workmate who later saw me reacted pretty badly: “my gosh Jonna, what have they done to your face?! Rubbed it in clay?!”

I did my hair myself (simply brushed it, no time for anything else) and then I ran up to the stage and took my spot at the most uncomfortable wooden chair I’ve ever sat on. I then sat there for 2,5 hours, while we shot the program. It was completely over there top with a guy warming up the audience, telling them when to smile, when to clap, and so on. Fortunately it wasn’t being sent live because the team had a lot of difficulties with the sound. All in all we were 6 guests on stage: 3 Chinese and 3 Swedes, + the host and then the mayor of Changxing made an appearance every now and then. There was also a phone interview made from a TV studio in Stockholm.

Now, as for the questions I had to answer… eh…. Well, let’s put it this way. All my preparations and practice was in vain: I didn’t get to answer anything I knew how to answer. Instead, I got questions like:

-So, Little Youna! (the host nicknamed me 小友 “xiao you” because he thought my name was funny), what do you know about the local culture in Changxing? Do you know anything about our traditions!?

And there I was, thinking I was going to speak about Swedish design, Kalmar sightseeing and crystal glassware? I had to improvise, big time! (Well at least I got the audience to laugh twice, without the “audience warmer’s” help. Touchdown).

Although I was really nervous at first I eventually calmed down, and in the end it was kind of fun. I understood everything that was being said, and although my Chinese was probably quite shitty at least the host understood me and we could keep the conversation going. All in all I’m pretty proud of myself!

Afterwards I was interviewed by Changxing’s local news, and I also had to translate for another Swedish guest who was being interviewed. I got a lot of compliments for being able to speak Chinese, and although it was a long (and hungry!) ride back to Shanghai I was filled with happiness when I eventually came home. What a day! And how much fun is life here in China?! You never know what to expect! I love it!

These performers were in the audience. I thought they were so cute so I later asked if I could take a picture with them

Pampering

I’ve had a lovely, relaxed weekend: treadmill running x 2, hot yoga class, swimming (yes, for real, I went to a pool!), massage and facial. I feel like a new person! I was actually so inspired by “living a healthy lifestyle” that I even cooked (something healthy!) for myself this wknd. And that doesn’t happen on a regular basis.

If Shanghai is great for something –it’s for all the pampering you can do here! It obviously wouldn’t be fun if you did it every day (and trust me, I don’t… I tend to forget about all the stuff you can do for your body/skin over here), but when you do it from time to time it’s great: manicure, pedicure, massage, foot treatment, facial…

When I worked for a magazine back in 2007 I sometimes had to do spa reviews and therefore had to try a bunch of strange stuff: try bathing on moist wood for instance? Or slimming massage (what a load of bulls***!)? Or why not a slimming wrap, where they wrap your whole body, except for your boobs (“Because those ones you don’t want to slim, right?!”) in a hot clay and then add plastic foil to that? You can get claustrophobic for less…

Now I feel ready for a new work week: only 3 more working weeks and then… we are off! Although I feel real sad about not seeing my lovely family this Xmas I cannot deny the fact that Sweden’s minus 15-20 degrees, snowstorm + traffic problems does not feel as appealing as Leighton/Cottesloe/Scarboragh beach + 35 degrees in WA…

Fast paced society calls for fast paced actions

Making an appearance on a TV show in Suzhou, June 2009

Two days ago at work, we were contacted by a TV station that wanted to do a 1 hour documentary about a town in Sweden. We invited them in and sat down to discuss the outline of the program, that mainly centred around a panel discussion:

TV team: We obviously need a celebrity for the panel.

Us: Right, what kind of celebrity were you thinking?

TV team: That doesn’t matter. We have know idea of who’s famous in Sweden. You tell us.

Us: Right… eh… so when are you shooting this program?

TV team: On Tuesday!

Us: This Tuesday?! In 5 days?!

TV team: yes. And except for the celebrity on the panel, we would also like some famous Swedes in the audience! Can you get some flown in for us?

Don’t you just love this?! Not even when we said that there was no way a person could get a visa, much less make it to China, within the time frame that they were giving us, did they seemed worried:

TV team: well, we expect you to come up with something for us.

Again, got to love the attitude. Here’s a TV team that’s taking no responsibility what so ever of what they are doing, much less plan their own programs. Think if the same thing would happen in Sweden: a team like that wouldn’t even be able to get a meeting booked: no one would take them seriously!

But over here it’s different, and of course we did our best to help them. Hopefully they will get a celebrity interview by phone on the day of the shoot (because we simply couldn’t go around the visa issue).

As for celebs in the audience –my boss asked me to do a stunt. And how could I decline?!

Feeling arty?

In the mood for some art? The city has a lot to offer...

When in Shanghai, one must check out some of the cities art galleries/museums. Shanghai’s art scene is far from mature, but there’s a lot of things going on, and a lot of potential. Let’s just hope it can grow with time.

One place to check out is Shanghai Art Museum, (上海美术馆) which currently hosts Shanghai Biennale (until Jan 23). Shanghai Art Museum is located in the center of the city (325 Nanjing Xi Lu), covering an area of 18000 square meters. It is an English-style building set up in 1930s, which was originally a race club. The interior is stunning, and when it comes to visitors, there are a lot of seniors (that get free entry to museums in Shanghai –I think that should apply to everyone!) and art students. Admission: 20 rmb.





Another place to check out is the new kid on the block: Rockbund Art Museum: absolutely stunning! Shame that the crowd hasn't found it yet.

The museum have free movie screenings every night, showing everything from Bergman to more recent titles. Admission to the museum is only 15 rmb. Make sure to check it out: Rockbund Art Museum, 20 Huqiu Road, Huangpu District (near the Bund).

There’s also MOCA –Museum of Contemporary Art, a small museum located some 500 m from Shanghai Art Museum i Shanghai n People’s Park. It’s not as impressive as Rockbund or Art Museum, but the interior is neat and nice, and it’s more intimate as the space is quite small. Admission: 20 rmb

To be continued…

Blog interview

Some weeks ago I was interviewed about my blog for Chinatravel.net. With the risk of being too narcissistic, here’s the link to the interview, where you can read about why I came to China, my best (and worst!) travel experiences, and so on.