Half an hour or so after watching Heat 2 of Melodifestivalen, the annual contest which selects Sweden’s song for the Eurovision Song Contest, I still have the melody of one of the songs stuck in my head. The song, “A Million Years” by Mariette is really very good: it’s memorable, and was performed well. It’s the first song in this year’s finals which I think genuinely has a chance of making it to Eurovision.
The other song which made it directly through to the final was “Good Lovin” by Benjamin Ingrosso. Benjamin was always a shoe-in to make it to the final. With his teenage-girl-friendly good looks, and having previously won Junior Melodifestivalen, he was well-known to the audience, and received a large round of applause. His mother, Pernilla Wahlgren has previously competed in the contest, and his uncle is one of the guys from Swedish House Mafia, so he also comes with a Swedish show-biz royalty background. I thought the song was okay.
Other competitors included Roger Pontare, a Sami singer who competed for Sweden twice in Eurovision, and a couple of other singers/rappers I’d never previously heard of. Ola Salo, who was a member of “The Ark” (they were in Eurovision with “Not The Worrying Kind” was a song-writer for one of the bands.
There were also lots of great showtune numbers in the show, and one of the co-hosts, David Lindgren, even stripped to his shorts. It wasn’t completely gratuitous, as it was part of a tribute to previous Melodifestivalen numbers, and a reference to Viktor and Samir from last year. He joked he had a “pappakrop” (a dad’s body). Yeah, sure. “Pull the other one” and take it from someone who has one, David.
David Lindgren steals the show at Melodifestivalen 2017
I spoke on ABC Radio late tonight from China. As the transcript below explains, the program often features chats with ABC colleagues on their international travel. For my story, there was an added interesting angle: this was my first time travelling overseas as an amputee.
ABC Radio Nightlife Travel
Suzanne: You know, we like to chat to people around the world and people who go travelling around the world, and when any of our ABC colleagues happen to mention they’re going somewhere interesting, we’re always bugging them to chat to us from whatever location they’re in. And so it is that we come to speak tonight to James O’Brien who’s, well, one a very long-standing colleague of ours here at the ABC. He’s in China at the moment, and he’s joining us from China for a chat about what he’s been up to. And particularly as James has acquired a physical disability since the last time he went overseas, so it’s the first time he’s been overseas in this kind of new world that he’s inhabiting. So it’ll be really interesting to find out what that’s been like and what kind of challenges that’s presented. Hey James, welcome.
James: Hi Suzanne. I’m in a place called Wuxi in China. It’s quite a small town. It’s only eight million.
Suzanne: Right, small by Chinese standards.
James: Correct, yeah.
Suzanne: All right, so well I guess tell me why are you in China? What’s inspired you to go there?
James: Look, two years ago I went on an overseas holiday and I came back with an infection which led to a lower right limb amputation. And I’ve always been a great independent traveller. I love travel. I love overseas travel. And so I thought after a couple of years of rehabilitation it was probably time to think about what I could actually do. And I saw an awesome cheap deal to travel to China, and I’m sure lots of people have seen those ads, but I’m doing one of those tours. I chose this one for a couple of reasons: one of which is it’s super cheap. Secondly, because I’ve been to China twice previously, I thought if I go somewhere that is familiar and that I can prepare for, this overseas holiday on a group tour – but by myself, in a sense, as someone now with a physical disability – will be the way to go.
Suzanne: So what did you have to think about James when you were planning the trip that you’d never had to think about before?
James: Okay, so a bunch of stuff that I had to think about. First of all, to do some preparation. So I have a fortnightly session with a physiotherapist, so we’ve been talking about what I would need to prepare for this, and one of which is how many steps I would take every day. So normally I would take maybe seven or eight thousand steps each day. There was one day this week where we did 18,000 steps.
The other thing I needed to think about too was maybe cobblestones and uneven surfaces. So for example today we went into an old town called Suzhou in China which has lots of cobblestones, and also getting on and off boats, so I had to think about those sorts of things. I had to think about going through airport security, due to the fact that I not only have a prosthetic limb but I also, after a fall a few months ago, now have a full hip replacement – so you know, it doesn’t stop there.
So I had to think about those sorts of things. And for that in particular, I had to consider the size of some of the airports I’d be navigating, as some of the Chinese airports are pretty huge. And so the advice I was given was to ask for wheelchair support at the airport. So I was able to get wheelchair support at check-in at Sydney airport that took me through security, all of those sorts of things, all the way to the plane.
And then I think I also had to have a bit of a deep think for myself in terms of being on a group tour. So one of the things I was worried about was being maybe a bit of a burden. And I know that’s not a very good way to feel about having a disability, but I was worried that I would be slowing down everyone else and that I would be on the trip causing drama for people. So I had to think that really strongly through: whether or not I wanted to do this for myself, but also about the impact I might have on others.
Suzanne: Yeah, and so when you were booking the tour, were there some of those conversations you actually had with the company that you’re going with?
James: Yeah, absolutely. I explained the situation, and then I also explained to the airline I’m flying with. I rang them up and I said, first of all, that I need to get an aisle seat because that’s so much easier for me to get in and out of, and that I would like to have that seat all the way through. And they said, “What sort of disability do you have?” I told them what it was, hilariously, and they said, “Is it permanent?” I said, “Yes, it’s not growing back.” So yeah, I had those conversations all the way through.
Suzanne: Wow, did you find though, once you kind of took the initiative there and did that, James, that you were able to ensure that everything worked smoothly? Or were there some points you arrived at where you thought, “Well, no one’s handled this,” or, “Now I’m in some trouble?”
James: Yeah, but one of the things I also did was a lot of research beforehand about the hotels where we were staying – things like where is the nearest shopping centre, where are the nearest restaurants, all of those sorts of things. So I did more research than I would normally do, just so I knew, for example, where I’m staying tonight there was a shopping centre across the road, so I was able to go over and get a few things earlier tonight, which was good.
There were things that I’ve been very lucky with. So for example, when I have a shower, I generally speaking sit on a plastic chair because taking my prosthetic limb on and off is, you know, it’s hard. And so when I have a shower, I sit down, and then I have to put the limb back on and so on. So, at one of the hotels, for example, I showed them in Chinese characters that I’m an amputee and needed a shower stool, and I was able to get a stool within, you know, half an hour, which was great. But the hotel I’m staying in tonight, they said they just don’t have this at all, so that’s sort of something where I’ll have a shower tomorrow night, fingers crossed.
But then the other thing is too, you know, just keeping an eye out for things. Like, there are lots of things in Australia we see now all the time – there is always a wheelchair ramp, there are always lifts close by, and all those sorts of things. So many of those things don’t actually exist in China to the same extent they do in Australia. So there have been a couple of times when I’ve, you know, had to really go slowly upstairs or downstairs and so on. So there are a few little things, but then there are some things I just didn’t know would happen which are really positive.
So for example, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City – we went there on Wednesday and managed 18,000 steps. It was also quite a warm day, and I found that it was quite hard going, to be honest, but I managed to get through it. But there were three older people on the tour who were able to get wheelchair support. So as part of our group – there were 40 of us in the group – there were three people in wheelchairs, and they paid for that, you know, out of their own money, but that was something which I didn’t know that you could get. Halfway through the day, I thought, “Well, maybe I should have got the wheelchair support,” but you know, in the end, it was fine.
Suzanne: You did your 18,000 steps! So James, let’s now talk about some of the things you’ve seen, because I know there’s a great big Dragon Boat Festival on at the moment. Tell us about that and what you’ve seen of it.
James: Okay, so it’s a national holiday here in China at the moment. It’s the Dragon Boat Festival. And look, I’ve seen Dragon Boat races and all that sort of stuff in Sydney, but I didn’t even actually know what the Dragon Boat story is. So the Dragon Boat story is this, and it’s really interesting: a couple of thousand years ago, there was a Chinese poet who was feeling quite disillusioned about the government at the time, and who threw himself in the river and committed suicide. And so what the Dragon Boat Festival reenacts is a search for his body. And what they also do for this holiday is that they eat sticky rice. So they throw the sticky rice into the water so that the fish will eat it and not his body. So it’s a really – look, I didn’t know that story before.
So that’s happening today. There were huge crowds; we were in a city called Suzhou earlier today, and the crowds were pretty intense. It was pretty much like any Australian sort of public holiday. You know, lots of people out, eating all sorts of things. It lacked the level of alcohol consumption that I think we often have with our holidays here. But you know, there’s some great food. I had some Shanghai dumplings for lunch, and you know, so it’s a really great festival. It’s a three-day festival, and basically, all it means is that, you know, government departments are closed, some of the bigger shops, some of the small shops are closed. But at the supermarket, at the shopping centre near where I’m staying tonight, everything was open, and it was huge.
Suzanne: Now James, you mentioned you’d been to China a couple of times before. We’re talking to James O’Brien, who’s one of my colleagues here at the ABC. Has it changed a lot from the couple of times that you’ve been there before?
James: Yeah, a couple of things are quite different, just for me as someone living now with a physical disability. So I walked the Great Wall of China twice before, and you know, when I was a youngster I could get up the hill and, you know, do all sorts of crazy things and go through various forts and so on. I just couldn’t do that this time because it’s just physically so much harder for me – for instance, at the Great Wall, there were lots of steps I couldn’t manage this time, but it was still a terrific experience.
So, you know, being a little bit older, I just took a more sanguine attitude towards things, to say, “Well, I can’t do that anymore. What can I do?” And I can do the smaller things, and there’s great pleasure in the small things, I think. So for example, I had one young guy, an Australian guy actually, say, “Hey mate, you’re fantastic, that’s so good that you’re doing this.” And I said to him, “The best thing is you take it more slowly and you see a lot more.” So I think that’s a really interesting thing about the times before when I’ve been here. Taking it more slowly, you see a little bit more, which is good. And also you chat to more people along the way than if I was trying to run to the top of the hill, you know, in some sort of race with everyone else.
The other really interesting thing is money. So for example, it was very much a cash society when I was last here in 2014, and it’s now very much a cashless society. So for example, I think I might have paid cash maybe once in the last few days because I couldn’t use my Alipay. So Alipay is an app, and there’s also a WeChat app, and you link your credit card to them and you just pay through scanning. Look, it’s not dissimilar from tap-and-go, but that’s a significant change here.
The other really significant change I think I’ve seen is electric vehicles everywhere. So you know, 10 years ago there were lots of cars, diesel, pollution, noise, and so on. So some of the cities we’ve been to over the last few days have been rather quiet because it’s all electric vehicles.
Suzanne: Wow, because we know China’s making a lot of them, James.
James: Yeah, we know China’s making a lot of them, but they’re driving them too. Yeah, I also noticed, I mean, so far we’ve been to Wuxi, Suzhou, and Beijing, and there are fewer bicycles and more motorbikes, is an observation I would make. And also lots of flash cars too.
Suzanne: James, thanks so much for joining us from China to tell us a bit about your trip and just, I guess, the experience of getting out there in a kind of very different phase of life. Does this give you more confidence that you’ll go travelling more overseas in the future again?
James: Absolutely. And there have been two other people on the trip, two women who are in their late 70s, and, to be honest, they have physical health problems themselves. They’re both quite overweight with limited mobility and so on, and they’ve been really quite inspiring. For instance, I was chatting to them today, and they’ve plotted out travel for the next two or three years. So yes, it gives me confidence that I can do it, that I won’t be a burden on other people. But it’s really important just to research and to talk to people and to get some sense of what you’re getting yourself involved in.
Suzanne: Well James, we will hear more when we see you in the office again, but thanks so much for sharing a bit of your story with our listeners tonight.
Even though it wasn’t the case physically, mentally I had my “arms crossed” for the first fifteen minutes of the play, “44 Sex Acts In One Week”.
On a whim, I responded to a tweet that had praised the play for its innovation and humour.
It was a Sunday afternoon, I had a NSW entertainment voucher up my sleeve, and with no other plans, I bought a ticket, and made my way to the Seymour Centre.
At the heart of the play is the story of a struggling journalist who has to write a review of a new sex tips book. And when I say “review”, I mean she attempts to complete all of the sex acts covered in the book.
As she’s not in a relationship, she ends up convincing a co-worker to assist.
The reason I sat there with my “arms folded mentally” was because it started off a bit “Millenial”. By a good ten years, I was probably the oldest person in the audience. With its use of contemporary music, a bit of audience interaction, and a gimmicky set, it was most certainly not a “lovely middle-class night at the theatre”.
The play also started off using the conceit of an “old fashioned radio play” which, to be honest, kinda annoyed me with its over-simplification of the genre. I kept thinking to myself, “No, that’s not a radio play. The narrator would never have that degree of interaction”, I thought. But then I moved on.
After a while, I loosened up and really began to enjoy the play. Despite the improbable plot, the characters were believable and likeable. The text had a lot of honesty and some great moments of humour. Committing the various sex acts using fruits and vegetables was very, very funny. The cast performed well together, interacting well.
Like most plays, it was probably 10 minutes too long, and towards the end, I kinda lost a bit of interest.
But overall, I thought it was a good play, well acted and directed, and I enjoyed it very much.
I’m one of those people who often walks around singing my favourite song, even at work.
According to those who’ve told me, it’s quite refreshing and usually brings a smile to their face.
Others, of course, probably think I’m just crazy.
But music has always been an important part of my life. And as I traveled over the last few weeks, I had a musical soundtrack to accompany me.
My favourite songs, the ones which accompanied me, were ones I heard/saw in real life and then got stuck in my head.
These were my five favourites… (in no particular order)
Keep On Walking – Salem Al Fakir
First, and foremost, I LOVE this song from Salem Al Fakir from Melodifestivalen. It’s a great song, and provided me with a great soundtrack as I walked around Stockholm.
I was aiming for the sky and ended up flat on the ground But once again the sun is rising I better keep on walking…
Since arriving back, it’s remained my favourite song.
The video clip also features the fantastic Swedish comedian, Björn Gustafsson
Manboy – Eric Saade
Also from Melodifestivalen was this very catchy song. It was a favourite to win for a while, but never quite made it.
Manboy, manboy, you can call me manboy….
It it gets a little repetitive after a while for you, skip up to the final 30 seconds for the “shower scene”.
Unstoppable – Ola
One final songs from Melodifestivalen has been this one… Unstoppable (the return of Natalie) by Ola Svensson.
Håll Om Mig – Nanne
This song was featured in Melodifestivalen a few years ago. I loved seeing it LIVE, and especially when the audience sang along. Magic moment.
Stockholm By Morning – Sarah Dawn Finer
And finally, a sentimental favourite. I saw Sarah Dawn Finer perform live, and I love this song, mostly for the lyrical content, and her wonderful performance.
From LA to New York To London to our front door Soon I’ll be in your arms Where I belong, babe Stockholm by morning It’s just a million miles When I’m away from your smile But it won’t be long ‘Til I’ll be home in your arms Stockholm by morning
“This is our first taste of bushfire weather in ages”, I noted to my friend Pat as we walked to have breakfast at a nearby cafe this morning.
For the last few years we’ve had mostly fairly mild summers in Sydney, but there was a hint of the “bad old days” in the outside temperature today.
And as much as I try to be eco-friendly in all that I do, I actually turned the air conditioner on for a little while this morning to to give the apartment a bit of a “cold blast”. It seems to have worked.
Pat was only here overnight, before heading down the coast today. Lucky buggar.
We haven’t been to “The First Drop Cafe” for ages, but were instantly reminded about how good it is. The service was friendly, firm and fast. The meals were good. I loved my “Ricotta Breakfast”. The juice and coffee were also good. And it’s located in a really nice spot on the corner of Telopea and Baptist Streets, Redfern. About as good as it gets, really…
I’ve nothing much else to report. I guess I just wanted to try out the new interface for WordPress, more than anything :) It’s good.
You might as well be the first to know: I’m not coming back. I made the momentous decision today while having lunch seated by the river in the small Czech town of Český Krumlov. Although it’s even more of a tourist town than Prague, it’s absolutely beautiful. I think it’s one of those places where you could come for a holiday, decide to stay for a while, and then suddenly realise twenty years has passed.
I know this sounds sacreligious, but to be honest, I was getting a little bored with Prague. Although I’d found one or two good non-touristy spots, the “Gothic Disneyland” character of the place (as I read somewhere describe it), and the complete and utter devotion to tourism was getting a little boring.
And as lovely as the hostel has been, I was getting a little bored with the “spring break” culture of the place. The place is full of Americans, Canadians (and Australian hangers-on) who spend all of their days sleeping and all of their nights drinking. They’re great kids, and they’re having just the kind of holiday they’d planned, but it’s not really the kind of environment where I want to spend too much time. I did all of that twenty years ago, after all.
The manager of the hostel suggested I should visit here, and with his help, I booked a return bus trip via a local travel agency. I needed his help, because the website remains entirely in Czech, with the exception of international flight bookings.
There was a minor fuck-up with the ticket which means I think I’ve paid for one leg of the trip twice, but the return trip only costs $20 Australian. But why get upset?
It’s funny, isn’t it, how some people on holidays waste a lot of their time with negative energy? I saw a bloke yesterday at the Jewish Cemetery threaten to “get the police” because the attendant hadn’t told him the ticket was an “all-inclusive Jewish Museum experience”. (There were signs EVERYWHERE in several languages, including right in front of him at the ticket office, by the way).
And then today at lunch, I saw a French woman go completely off at the waitress at the restaurant because she didn’t understand her order. “She doesn’t understand my English”, the woman told her supervisor. “Honey, I can barely understand your English”, I thought to myself as I watched the proceedings. But you know, it just seemed like a lot of wasted energy when she could have been enjoying the spectacular view.
Speaking of views, I also saw an American woman go completely off-her-head the other day, as she attempted to take a scenic photograph with one of those bigger-than Ben Hur cameras. Unfortunately for her, people kept walking in front of the camera, prompting her pedestrian-stopping outburst. “Honey, it’s a holiday, not a photographic assignment you’re on”, I mumbled under my breath.
Here in Chesky Krumov you can’t take a bad photograph. It’s one of those places where everything looks good. Even now, at about eight-thirty at night, with the sun behind the horizon, you could take a great landscape shot.
Cesky Krumlov
The cafe I’m seated in has spectacular views over the town. I’m outside sitting on a balcony enjoying the atmosphere. There’s a Spanish couple nearby obviously totally in love. A middle-aged single woman sitting by herself (I hope she doesn’t get the wrong idea) and me. In the background, there’s some 1930s jazz playing softly. And passing by on the river below us is a very boat full of tourists with an opera-singing accordian player :)
My waitress is particularly friendly, though the woman on the front counter gave me a death-stare when I walked in. “May I have a table for one”, I said. “Of course” she replied, with the subtextual message being, “Don’t interrupt me. Can’t you see I’m on Facebook?”.
After dinner, I’m going to head back to my room, give my camera battery a quick charge, and hopefully take some great night-time photographs. And I’m hoping there might be a nice pub where I can chat to my fellow tourists.
In common with Prague, it’s a total tourist town. I don’t know if anyone actually lives here (I’m sure they do), but almost everyone I’ve seen today is a tourist. Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Czech, LOTS of Germans and Austrians, one Australian who asked me to take a photograph and who smiled when I replied, “No worries”, but surprisingly no Americans. Located about two-and-a-half hours from Prague, and presumably not far from the border with Austria, German seems to be widely spoken.
The impression I get is that it’s some kind of holiday resort for a lot of Austrian people. Lots of fathers and sons in kayaks going up and down the river. Lots of older people walking around in their swim-wear (ewwww) with sandals and socks. You get the idea?
And although I think I could stay here for quite some time (maybe twenty years), I do want to return to Prague. Thursday marks the fortieth anniversary of the student uprising of 1968.
There’s an exhibition of photographs at the National Museum I’m keen to see. The Museum, of course, is the building the Russians shot at, believing it was the home of the anti-Russian Czech radio station. They were wrong, as the radio station was actually in a neighbouring building.
The bullet holes have never been cleaned up from the National Museum, as a reminder, I guess. And when I asked a woman at the tourist office the other day if there was anything to actually commemorate the anniversary she said, “I think they are going to pretend to shoot at the museum again”. Excellent!
Back in the hostel, I’ve booked a single room this time. I figure it’s a nice treat for myself before heading off to The Netherlands on Thursday night, when I’ll return to dormitory living.
And of course, the other thing I have to do on Thursday is visit the Australian Embassy, relinquish my citizenship, and apply to live permanently in this beautiful small town.
