Personal reflections

Kristina in the "Mist. Powered by Daniel"
Where there is a stage there's a way!
Trine. Powered by the Anorak.
Expo-girlies with our bad ass guard!


Greetings good people!
My high school career was enjoyed at a multicultural international school in Europe's capital, Brussels (or more precisely right smack bang in the middle of Napoleon's battlefields in Waterloo). Every year we would have what we called "International Day" which gave each country the opportunity to present their country in their very own biased and very subjective way. Brasil would dance like no others and bribe the public with their amazing food and infectiously good tempers, Pakistan would fatten us up with their deliciously crunchy and spicy samosas, Belgium would seduce us with chocolate and finish us off with irresponsible amounts of mouth-watering beer and Norway would parade around in their folk dress, make waffles and try to pull of a dance show (with worse and worse result as the years passed because of the infamous "norwegian stiffness", meaning that Norwegian and dance is like Indians and skiing - not a great success).

As I walked to the bus yesterday I had a sudden bout of deja vu. As people trickled onto the bus, I realized that my new place of work is like working at a very, very long "International Day". The bus was filled up with people in traditional Saudi Arabian robes, white as the new fallen snow, voluptuous African women draped in colors as vibrant as a peacock's feathers, Danes looking cool with their bohemian attitude, white skin and blond hair, Chinese looking...well, Chinese and last but not least the East European gang looking like they were on their way to a, "hey-you!-the-bad-taste-party-from-the-eighties-called-and-wants-their-clothes-back!"-party... (and I say that in the kindest possible way as I am sure they would not chose to wear those uniforms if they had a choice...). Our little gang of tomatoes also add some spice to this concoction of randomly placed people as I have to admit our uniforms makes us stand out just a teency weency bit.. It is quite amazing to be in a place like Expo and have the opportunity to learn so much about different countries, and experience so much culture each day. As the days pass by I really understand the importance of this event, and I really hope that people who come to see this event can fully appreciate the uniqueness of it.

I can also report that there are several first reports of slight cultural mis-communication all over Expo. Some of the main problems seem to be food delivery, problems in customs and general communication between Chinese staff and non-Chinese staff due to the lack of language skills either way. People seem to be handling it quite well non the less, and I am quite amazed that everyone (at least on the surface) has the happy-go-lucky-attitude that this is just how it is, and things will be fine in the end (even if simple tasks take four hours instead of 5mins...). I must admit that I reached a point today where my patience cup was filled to the brim and unfortunately flowed over the edge for just a moment until I was able to control my temper and plaster a fake smile and count to 10. A woman snuck into the pavilion, made a scene when I politely asked her to stand in line and then proceeded to force me into a picture with her while she tried to force my head onto her shoulder so that I would look upon her lovingly. That did not happen... As I calmly asked her not to touch my head and wished her a lovely trip through our pavilion I counted to 10, had a sip of water and reminded myself that situations like this is what I am here to handle. I felt like the most zen and perfectly balanced person for handling the situation in this manner. Props to Tiny-T! (Expo-gang, if you have any similar stories feel free to share them, I am sure all of us will have at least one funny story in the next short while). Having told you this one story, I would also like to inform you that most people are very lovely, curious and fun to interact with, and that the crazy-head lady is by no means representative of the visitors.

Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities, so I should rest up before I face a new day at EXPO 2010!