(If you’re in China, click here.)

His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden receiving flowers from Ana-Sofia Wu, age 6 at the National Sweden pavilion day. With Deputy Prime Minister Maud Olofsson in the background. Photo: Paul Philip Abrigo Copyright © 2010

Over the past months I’ve been been working as a Press Officer and Photographer for the Swedish Committee for the participation at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, or World’s Fair as I would have called it if I thought it sounded nicer. For the first time in my life, I’ve really and truly begun to understand the otherwise carelessly thrown around keywords intensity, flexibility and commitment. But I also learned the meaning of another word; reward.

Sure, I’ve done some fun things in life which took me places and had me meet fun and unimportant, boring and important, sane and crazy, people and beings, but never ever these many in such a short while. Shaking hands with His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, an endless list of politicians and artists and entrepreneurs (my favourite being Mikael Genberg of the Moon House project) is of course fun and ego-boosting, but I have to say the ordinary, daily meetings with the people of Shanghai, China and planet Earth have been the most rewarding. Look at this article about Buddhist monks visiting the Swedish exhibition for instance, or the Children of Hope.

I don’t know what you heard or read about the Word Expo 2010 in Shanghai, the biggest World Expo in (known) human history and the thrid biggest recurring event on planet, but it is awsome I tell you. And having some of my loved ones and family near, supporting and sharing all this craziness is even a bigger gift. Thanks!

So enough with the big words and epic story telling, I’ll just let part of my work speak for itself: http://www.swedenexpo.cn/en/news/newslist/news_author/10/. And hey, if you happen to swing by Shanghai, the biggest city proper in the world, please consider getting decadent with me and my comrades, til’ then, see you at www.swedenexpo.cn.

PS Don’t miss out on the Swedish Royal Wedding this week

MORE INFO AND PHOTOS ON CHINESE MEDIA: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-03/30/c_13231306_2.htm

MORE PHOTOS ON PUBLIC FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210999&id=548710399&ref=mf

Dear fellow human beings, it’s been a while but things have been quite hectic on my front, to say the least. As I am leaving for Shanghai on the 1^st of April (I know, it’s a joke ), to work at the Swedish Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo, looking for apartments for rent, partying and other craziness has pretty much had me occupied 24/7. Not to mention all the travel preparations. Now, however, I’ve got my flight ticket paid, my 180 day multi-entry visa acquired and the working contract signed. All that’s left is packing my bags, saying my goodbyes to my family and friends and of course trying to somehow survive the separation from my Love. Cheesy, I know.

So in one week I’m leaving for the world’s biggest city, and will stay until November the 6^th if not longer. I usually don’t make a big fuss out of going places since travelling has been in my blood for generations, but this time somehow feels special. Working for at the world’s biggest recurring event (I know the sport ones get more media attention but the World Expo’s are way more important politically, socially, economically and environmentally), is a big deal and hopefully I’ll come out of it alive and with a life filled with new experiences, friends, connections and what not. Please do swing by the Swedish Pavilion if you’re in Shanghai and say hello!

But also, leaving the girl I’ve fallen head over heels for and spent every waking second with since New Year’s Eve is a wholly new and, well, intense, experience to say the least. Honey, you know who you are, and I love you.

Duty calls and I can’t really sit and write much more here, but I do however want to give praise and thanks to this company PC Inspector (or CONVAR, not sure) which offers this miraculous retrieve-lost-and-deleted-files software – for free! Yes, I did throw a wild party last Saturday during which a lot of adorable and dear pictures were taken, but somehow I managed to delete them all. After some denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance and Google:ing however, I did manage to restore 100% of the photos lost. PC Inspector, I love you too.

And oh, on Tuesday I will sing for the Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping ??? (I apologize if Wordpress somehow scrambles the Chinese characters as usual). It’s quite a big deal, too.

I’d love to attach some more photos but this will have to do for now.

Light and love to all of you,

Paul Philip Abrigo

PS. If you want to see a movie or five, go see: The Box, Precious, Avatar 3D, Boondock Saints (and the sequel – Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, which I haven’t seen yet), Hero (again) and well. And if you want to read a book, read JPop by Douglas Coupland. And oh, my African House Snake laid eggs again.

Super Adventure Club Barbershop Quartet

Hey! This post happens to end up between the two Chinese Gig posts – yeah the gigs went really well and the after-parties even better, but more on that later when we’ve got photos, video clips and all that stuff…

The Super Adventure Club Barbershop Quartet on Youtube

Now I just happened to stumble over this youtube clip. There’s me and three of my close buddies competing in the 2009 SNOBS championship (the Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers), mainly in order to qualify for the International Collegiate Championship which in turn would land us a $1500 USD scholarship from the Bank of America. That wad of money would have been mighty handy since we were going to the World Championships in Anaheim, California anyway to compete with our choir zero8 (se related post here). BUT, our dear Tenor had to leave for a Government mission in Africa, and since rules are rules and we weren’t allowed to replace him, we could neither compete nor get the scholarship.  And sadly, it was the last chance for our baritone Simon Rylander (check out his multitrack site here), from the quartet Q-Tones, to compete since the age limit is 25.

And also there was a lot of controversy about the name of our quartet, seeing as the “Super Adventure Club” also was the name of a highly unetchical, fictional club in the tv-show South Park. We were even talked about on the Barbershop news-site Youbarbershop.com (uh-oh can’t find the link to the actual article right now but it was a big deal back then). So we got this really angry letter from the president of SNOBS informing us that we’d either have to change our name or not compete. We changed it to the Adventure Club (meh), but since our tenor had to leave anyway it feels kind of like a loss.

Anyhow, here’s the clip: The Super Adventure Club Barbershop Quartet on Youtube

Enjoy, hear from ya soon! Comments appreciated!

Love,

Paul

In other news: I seriously need to praise La Neta, my new absolute favourite dining place in all of Stockholm. Will upload pics as soon as I get any. Authentic Mexican food, it’s insane, my mouth waters as I write this… Yum!

Tomorrow, Friday, I’ll sing at and possibly host the Konfucius Institute’s celebration of the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) at Kulturhuset. I hope it goes well despite the condition of my cough ridden throat and lungs. After that I’ll rehearse all Saturday for the gig at the Chinese Embassy on Sunday, and then babysit my adorable nephews on Saturday, can’t wait!

Be good to each other!

As the temperature went up a few degrees, rendering the previously white snow-covered streets of Stockholm an everyday realist gray, so did my calendar pages shift from an otherwise clear white to a cluttered black. It’s been a hectic few days with choir rehearsals, other music stuff, social activities and most important – the first training session for us Guides at the Swedish Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Held at the Ministry of Finance, training and lectures were given on topics ranging from National Branding and Public Diplomacy to Sustainable Cities and inventive prowess. It was very interesting to finally get a grasp of the main ideas, concepts and visions about to be brought forth at Sweden’s participation at the expo. It was really nice meeting with representatives from Official Partners and Sponsors and the Swedish Government, but personally the real delight came from meeting more than half of my soon-to-be fellow co-workers!

I do not know exactly what it is, but there is a certain “air” about all twenty-six of us guides participating in the training which, at least to me, feels like we’re all somehow linked through our personalities and characteristics and whatnot. Being drafted out of more than 700 applicants would suggest this as well, and could be the reason why I feel so akin with the other guides. I can honestly say that leaving for choir rehearsal after two intense days of lectures, team building activities (dinners, bowling, unofficial bar attending) and socializing, I already started missing my new pals! I can’t wait to meet the bunch who is already in Shanghai!

In other news, since the Chinese New Year (the Spring Festival) is coming up soon, I’ve been asked by both the Chinese Embassy and the Konfucius Institute to perform during their respective galas. This time I’ll be singing “Tongzhuo de ni” instead of the good old “Wo de Zhongguo xin” (sorry, can’t write Chinese characters in Wordpress for some reason, but the two songs could be translated into “Your desk-mate” and “My Chinese heart”, both old hits). The Konfucius Institute one will be held at Kulturhuset in Stockholm, and it’s not all clear yet but I might also be the host for the entire thing. Yikes.

Here’s a video clip of my singing “Wo de Zhongguo xin” at the celebration of the Chinese National Day in October at Konserthuset in Stockholm, thanks again to my friend Jack Edgren for backing me up on guitar on such short notice! Read more about it here.

Well that’s all I guess! Time to rest, try and get well from this mean cold and to finish the delicious Semla which is right next to the laptop, begging for me to devour it…! Also here are some photos taken during the World Expo Training.

Love,

Paul

Chinese Girl Running

Hellu again!

So I’m stuck at home with this mean cold, thus not really bothering with doing anything much but editing and uploading photos. Which is a good thing. The pile of unedited photos is just growing. I read somewhere that your ‘first ten thousand photographs are your worst’ (Henri Cartier-Bresson) and over the two years I’ve had together with my Nikon D40 I must have taken at least 100 000 photos so yay me…! I guess it’s time for a new camera. Oh well, I just love it together with my new Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens, get one, now!

So here’s a couple of new albums. The first one is called Populus Romanus and has the photos of the people of Rome, photos I didn’t feel fit in at the Rome 2010 album, since that one was more about expressing my love towards the city herself, not flocked by summer tourists. The second one is actually containing photos from the summer of 2009, when I went with all the other Chinese Bridge 2009 (??? hanyuqiao) scolarship holders to Changsha (??) in Hunan province (??), China. You can read about it in this post. Anyway, this album contains more scenic and ‘artistic’ photos, I guess, compared to my Facebook social Hanyuqiao album.

In other news, I saw the Darjeeling Limited, again, to my and my fellow viewer’s great delight. I really, REALLY love it. I might see it over and over again. I simply love Wes Anderson’s work. And I know I’m a bit slow with this, but the Vampire Weekend band released a new cd, it’s called Contra and it is simply amazing (iTunes link here). Been listening to it all day. You should as well.

That is all. Love,

P

PS. Apparently Wordpress or this theme or whatever does not like Chinese characters. That sucks. Oh well. DS.