A little preview and a few happy guides:)

The Swiss Pavilion has mounted a proper ski lift on their roof. How cool is that?!?

This is our neighbor across the street - Ireland. Rumor has it that there is supposed to be an Irish pub within the vicinity, but this has not yet been confirmed..

The Norwegian Expo gang hard at work. In this picture we have the lovely Anne Christine, the very very nice Cecilie and mounting the sculpture is the wonderfully calm and collected Jeanette. Behind Jeanette is the exuberant Tine:)

Silence Before the Exp(o)losion

Good afternoon friends, foes, family and others!

Today was a wonderful day. We were not sardines on our way to work this morning. We did not have the "pleasure" of smelling our neighbors bodily odors or walk twice as far due to zig zag- patterning through the tumultuous crowds. The ""soft"" (two quotation marks, due to the ridiculous irony of the understated word "soft") opening is over and the Expo site is yet again deserted anticipating the upcoming explosive opening.

We decided after a very hard day's work (tasting gourmet food at our pavilions restaurant) to stroll through the Expo site and check out what was going on in different parts of the world. After hearing about others success stories about making contacts with employees from other pavilions and thereby gaining free entrance, we decided it was a great idea to try the same thing. So we attempted to make friends with, and gain entrance to the following pavilions: China, Hong Kong, Macao, Oman, Qatar, New Zealand, Indonesia, North Korea, Iran, Marocco, UAE and the very obvious merged pavillion of Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Maldives, Kyrgyzstan and Timor Leste. It was not a success. We are starting to think we may not be as cute and charming as we have been lead to believe by the photographing Chinese in the past few days. We did however manage to get ourselves a private tour of an unopened new German restaurant. Score 1 for Team T;)

Our our new life with paparazzi and constant media attention continued today. Ten of us lucky guides stayed behind after work to make a welcome promo for the Norwegian Pavilion, filmed by the Expo Bureau. This film will be aired all through China in the upcoming week. Watch out for us on CCTV. It will be a good laugh, as we sound like a robotic kindergarten class.

Over og ut knut,
T-squared,/T-bag and T-bone/the two Ts
aka Trine and Tori

p.s. The guides of the week, Esten and Forrest, were announced today. Congratulations to them! Tomorrow we will hopefully get to post an interview with these honorable laddies. Ladies get ready to swoon;);)

"Guide of the Week"

Team spirit is roaring at the Norwegian pavilion these days as we are getting riled up to meet the crowds May 1st. We are a group of 40 enthusiastic (and beautiful, intelligent, fantastic, entertaining and just generally wonderful) guides with backgrounds from different corners of the academic and actual world. This means that everyone has something different they can offer to the pavilion. Some people speak both Norwegian and Chinese fluently (am so totally NOT jealous of these people...), some have studied business and will have intelligent comments to offer the VIPS, some people have a naturally high energy level that is VERY infectious, and some people have blond hair... Tori and I have therefore decided that every week we will bestow upon two lucky guides (or more if there are more people who does something remarkable) the honorable title of "Guide of the Week". We will post their picture, and hopefully a video interview (if our technical abilities lets us do this) and some nice words about why we think they deserve this mention.

We were supposed to reveal the first honorable mention yesterday, but as things are a tad chaotic at team Norway we didn't get the opportunity yesterday. I will give a little hint as to what the key word that describes this weeks mentions is and that is "enthusiasm". So watch this space for the big reveal!
Peace out,
T to the R to the I to the N to the E

Norwegians EXPOsing themselves

Here comes a little update from blogger number two, who has been a bit absent so far!

As you all know, the Norwegian guides have been in training for the last two weeks, with many interesting experiences and encounters. We have become familiar with all the films and other details in the pavilion, discussed cross-cultural communication and differences, become

proficient in first-aid and CPR (NB: some of us are only able to save children), as well as visited and learnt from our fellow nordic pavilions (these visits we will write more about soon). This week, Iceland also invited all the nordic guides to a reception at their pavilion. Th

is great initiative, which included free drinks and snacks, almost made us forgive Iceland for all the damage their stupid volcano has caused. At least it helped a lot;) We had such a good time mingling with all the nordic crew, looking forward to getting to know everyone better!

Like my fellow blogger Trine expressed in the last post, the crowds at this week´s so-called "soft opening" have already been intense. Today, the Norwegian pavilion hosted a private party, with all us guides present. It was originally supposed to have been open to the public in the afternoon, but because the exhibition is still not quite ready, our team leader notified the expo bureau that we would not be open after all. This message was apparently not passed on to the information desks and volunteers, so there was a hefty amount of slightly annoyed visitors surrounding the pavilion, demanding an explanation. To calm down the crowds, we were sent out to talk to the people, to explain why we have not been able to open just yet. An extremely effective crowd-pleaser was quickly discovered: Posing for pictures with the Chinese visitors. Once this trend was started, it was hard to stop it, there was a constant queue of Chinese waiting to have their picture taken with all the blonde, redheaded and other exotic Norwegians. Some became extremely good at this posing, and only took short breaks to go to the bathroom, grab a quick bite to eat, or calm down their sunburn. Special props to fellow guides Tine and Liv here; This captivating duo did an amazing job at charming the visitors, with their evolving poses and ideas throughout the day. I sincerely believe that the Norwegian pavilion would get excellent reviews from today, despite of the fact that it was not even open..!

So we now know of a backup if all else fails in the pavillon! I know I will be practicing my smile and pose from now on;) I´m curious to know how many blogs and homes around China will have pictures of someone from our crew. On the other hand, I´m also starting to worry about our rising self-esteem from all this attention. We must remember that when wandering around Frognerparken back home in Oslo, people will generally not be proclaiming our extreme beauty, nor will they be looking to have their picture taken with us. How will we handle that?! Like we say in Norwegian, "Den tid den sorg!"

One last note before I sign off: Trine and I have decided today that each week, exposingshanghai.blogspot.com will award a few guides at the Norwegian Pavillion the extremely honorable title "Guide of the week". This title will be given to someone who has stood out, or contributed with something special to the group. Suggestions welcome from everyone! This week however, the decision has already been made. Tomorrow we will reveal who the chosen ones are, stay put:)

XOXO Tori aka T-bone

Experiencing the Chinese population

This past week has been what is referred to as "soft opening" at Expo. That means that only about half the expected amount of visitors once May 1. comes and goes, are let in to the site. "Soft" sounds like a pretty friendly and non-intimidating word, but as anyone who has had any relations with China knows, things are not really always as one might imagine. Getting to work today was like trying to fight your way through a pack of wild horses let lose on Manhattan at the same times as the New York Marathon was jogging through town. This is not exactly a good sign as in only a little over one week the wild horses and the marathon runners will double.. Oh dear.. At the same time as there is people plus going on, the bus system is still working under the organizational code I described yesterday... Lets just hope things will get better once everything gets started.

Another observation is that the Expo bureau seem to have forgotten that people may want to rest once in a while, and so they have not put up nearly enough benches. The Norwegian pavilion seems to have been turned into a picnic site, but I suppose that is quite cosy. It might turn into a bit of an issue once the whole queing system needs to get up and go though. Although with the very talented and beautiful guides the Norwegian pavilion has been so lucky to recruit, I'm sure it won't be a problem at all;)

Todays little curiosity observed was that many Chinese still do not understand what the heck is going on with those strange white peoples hair! I am slowly realising that easing into a life with civilian paparazzi is just something my blond hair has to get used to. I am actually a little surprised at this because Shanghai is so international and anywhere you go you can see "whities" (aka white people). There are obviously quite a few out-of-towners coming to see the exhibition so me and my blond hair are hoping and expecting to meet quite a few different Chinese the next half year.
L8R
Trine:)

The "rumor mill"

One of the great privileges of working at the Expo is the access to all the rumors that fly around. Some of them true, and some of them not so true.. In this post I will give you the chance to take part in the rumor mill that grinds everyday amusing most parties involved. I want to make very clear though that the following list of statments are only HEARSAY and as of today, have not been confirmed. As the expo moves along we may refer back to the "rumor mill" in order to verify or repudiate the statements.

HERE WE GO:
1) The Aussie pavilion is flipping kangaroo burgers...
2) On the first day og "soft opening" there were several fights, and several pavilions were damaged by crazy visitors on a rampage. The British pavilion was especially targeted...
3) Iceland has a former "miss world, or universe contestant" working for them...
4) Lithuania are lagging faaaaaar behind in their contruction. Will they finish on time?? Who knows...
5) The Saudi Arabian pavilion is the most expensive visiting pavilion...
6) Norway will be hosting a confirmation and a baptism on Sunday (not actually a rumor, but a fact, although interesting non the less)...
7) The bus system at expo is under the organizational spirit of luck and random...
8) Chinese ain't so savvy at standing in line... (note to self: must learn some martial arts for days when I am in charge of the line)
9) Yesterday Expo was pretty much closed because Chinese leaders were enjoying some VIP time around the Chinese pavilion... What about letting us know so we can get to work on time??
10) The finish uniform is apparently a cross between robot and bad style? I have to admit, I am looking forward to seeing them in this get up:) (especially since their pavilion is incredible)

I think ten rumors may be enough for tonight, but the moment I collect some more juicy gossip I will post them ASAP. I should also report that most of the pavilions are pretty impressive already even though they are not totally ready. I am very excited about getting started in our very own "green lung", or the "big tree" (even though the pavilion is actually made up of 15 trees..) as it is known.
Signing off,
Trine :)

Shanghai is being "EXPO"sed...

So today was a bit of a training day for the Norwegian crew. We were introduced to all the cool elements that will be on display in our beautiful green oasis, but as the expo-site is a bit of a work in progress we were caged in meeting room nr 2 in the Expo Village. Because of this I have no report on the site today, but I do have a few other general observations that are quite prevalent in the city at the moment.

Firstly we have the gradual appearance of the up-to-date taxi's - all equipped with SEAT BELTS both in the front AND in the back! Incredible! The taxi drivers are immensely proud of their newly acquired taxi, and you immediately make a friend for life when you enthusiastically proclaim in rusty Chinese that you simply love their new taxi! You sometimes even get an almost indecipherable "Than ooo" (to those of you not familiar with "chinglish", this means "thank you"), and perhaps even a, "helloooh, solly and wehcome" in no particular order. When you are so lucky as to be handed these phrases you quickly understand that you have to reply with a hasty yet fake, "WOW! Your english is sooo good!". And so the taxi ride goes.

Another wonderful thing about the Expo is the invention of the Magical Number (not really the name, but to a lost foreigner, this is exactly what it is)minted towards foreigners in trouble. You can call this number if you are traipsing the street lost without the faintest idea of where you are or perhaps in a taxi-gone-wild, or just wondering where that restaurant you have no idea where is but really want to eat at is. The efficient and polite Chinese angel on the other side of the phone really saves your day/night/taxi ride when you think that all hope is lost. Two thumbs up for this invention.

Tomorrow I will be spending a few hours at the Norwegian Pavilion providing raw muscle strength (wow! did they choose the wrong person to help with manual labor), so I'll have some more updates about the progress at the site.
Trine:)

Progress at the Expo

Good afternoon to everyone!
Today was the second day we were able to spend some time at the expo site. Yesterday was the first day our security passes gave us access to the site, and I have to admit I am thoroughly impressed. Many of the buildings are not really close to being finished, but for the most part the buildings are erect and there is just the "small" matter of design, lighting, electricity, painting and anything else that can fall under the umbrella category of interior design to be completed. I am quite sure everyone will finish on time non the less. After walking through the expo site there are a few pavilions that have already made an imprint in my mind. England with its cactus-like structure, the Netherlands with its mini-town, and Spain with its eclectic wooden-sheet building are some of the first pavilions I want to take a look at and tell you about.

Of course I have to be a good Norwegian guide and promote my own pavilion. It is BEAUTIFUL. Some words that come to mind are clean, pure, Norwegian, creative and representative. There are so many details the architects and the designers have thought of. I will not go into too much detail at this point in time as I am not entirely sure what is confidential and what is not, but I assure you, when the doors open I will definitely go through the Norwegian pavilion in detail. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We will try to give you as accurate of an answer as we can.

Trine:)