Snowy day and nervous wait.

It is a snowy day in Luxembourg and the ground is completely white. It looks very nice, but is probably the reason why I am a bit nervous. You see, my bags didn't make the flight to Luxembourg and are apparently still in Paris. It has been three days now and still no bags. I have another shoot tomorrow and need my equipment! Waiting for the call...

Winding things up in Bamako.

An evening extra lesson in a village in Mali.

Winding up things here in Bamako. Making sure I have everything I need and going through the interviews to pick out the most important parts. The two reports, I think, will be quite interesting. I will post them when they are on the air on Euronews "Reporter".


I took a quick swim in the hotel pool just to say I did go swimming before heading to cold and snowy Europe. Last time I was in Mali it was a volcano keeping planes on the ground. But I may make it without problems. The weather seems to be improving, but it may take a while to absorb all the passengers still waiting for their flight.

Not sure what to write about this.

It is hard to believe, but you have to try to convince them not to mutilate their daughters. "It's tradition" they say to cut, in varying levels, the female genitals. "If they aren't cut, they won't find a husband and they won't be able to control their desires later."


Bafla, at left, has cut young girls for over 40 years... about 50 a year. She seems like a nice old lady with no front teeth. She says the profession is part of her caste, that her mother and her grandmother did the same. Her hands are long and thin, but I imagine them holding the small blades she showed me in a dusty shack with a screaming little girl as her mother and other women hold her down. Officially, one in every five girls suffers complications, from infections, hemorrhages, complete blockage or even death. And those are from statistics where people want to talk about it to officials, so I imagine the real number would be higher.

Oumou is Bafla's daughter. She once saw a girl almost bleed to death and is since a starch opponent of the practice. She persuaded other family members not to have their daughters cut. "If you go ahead with it and something happens, you will be responsible", she tells them. Even her mother shows a bit of doubt and said she started to worry something might one day go wrong.


Of the men present during our discussion, 2 were for, 2 against and 2 couldn't decide. That is a better statistic than for the rest of the country. The average is 84% of women are circonsised. In some areas, it is as high as 98%. In the north, the prevalence is much lower.


Will be working more on this story. Will let you know when the report will be on RTL and on Euronews, around February 6th, International Day of Female Genital Mutilation.

Four poor chickens and a goat with nice eyes.

Today took me to a small village about 200 km from the capital, Bamako. I was searching for children with leprosy. Luckily for them, I didn't find any. Any visit to an African village entails first meeting the elders and going through a series of  courtesy speeches. At the left are the village elders. They were very nice, but you have to go through the motions because tradition is very strong. They live 70 km from the paved road and have no clinic or any health support. But the village chief said he was 95 years old, so he must have been doing something right.


It would be interesting to stay longer in such a village, but being accustomed to comforts such as a good bed, might make the going very rough. I think you can get used to anything and it would be a great experience.

After having looked at most of the children in the village, we decided to head back to Bamako and try to get back before dark. But, the village had prepared a meal and we had to politely explain that we really needed to get back. It would have been interesting to stay, but maybe another time. They were very understanding, but didn't want us to go home empty-handed. This poor goat was our present and had to ride in the back of our 4x4 Toyota in a bag with his head sticking out. At every stop, I gave him a scratch on the head and he looked up with his big eyes, maybe knowing what awaited him, maybe not. We also were given 4 chickens which rode on the floor at our feet in the back. They all survived the trip and may already be heading for someone's plate at this hour.

A couple elders and the next generation.

Battle of names, Bamako, Mali

Children selling beignets on a Sunday in Bamako

Back in Bamako for another report on Leprosy for the International Day for the fight against Leprosy at the end of January. Bamako is a friendly place and since I have been coming here for a few years, I have many friends. There are a few very common family names here in Mali. The Djiarras, Coulibaly and Traoré joke that they are the best. "The Coulibaly's are our slaves and eat beans," says a Djiarra. Then a Traoré comes over and says they both are his slaves and only eat potatoes, for example. Then they all explode in a big laugh, shaking each other's hands. When you first come here, one is given a name. I was given the name Djiarra, so I get told I am the slave of the Coulibalys and Traorés. I have got the hang of the game now and tell them they all eat beans. It's great fun!

It is great to always come back to the same place. I have seen children grow up here and they always remember me and come running when I arrive. Myriam is one little girl I have filmed since she was even littler. She is the daughter of Amadou Coulibaly, president of an association of former lepers. Here she looks like she is demonstrating a bit of independence behind the wheel of her dad's small truck as the neighborhood boys watch.

From Barcelona to Luxembourg

Leaving sunny and warm Barcelona for cold snowy Luxembourg. I like both kinds of weather, so it isn't so bad. On top of the deck of clouds coming in to Luxembourg there is a magnificent sunset. Those lucky pilots get to see the sun almost every working day, just dipping down into the rain and snow at the beginning and end of their journey. Today's Luxair pilot did a great job as we sank down into the blowing snow and foggy conditions at Luxembourg's airport for a perfect landing in probably minimum conditions.


I am reading an autobiography of Peter Arnett "Live from the Battlefield". He began is illustrious career with the Associated Press in the Saigon bureau in 1962. He describes the pressure on the Vietnam press corps... that their information is unpatriotic, that their stories make the US government look bad and put their servicemen at risk. Then I think about the headlines of today, almost 40 years later, with the same accusations being used against Wikileaks. Given what we know about military action in the Vietnam War, I wonder what people will be saying about Wikileaks 40 years from now.

Barcelona, Spain

Left rainy and cold Luxembourg for the sunny, 20 degree weather of Barcelona. My first impressions weren't the best because in the metro I saw a bunch of kids trying to pickpocket tourists, reaching into their backpack. The older german lady didn't notice anything and luckily the little boy saw me staring at him and he gave up. Their trick is to grab what they can and shoot out the door as it closes before you can react. The lady never knew she was being attacked.

But when I got into the city my impression got better. It is a very nice evening, with mild temperatures. The streets are filled with people from all over the world... Bangladeshis selling small wirling toys, street artists from everywhere in the most imaginative costumes inviting people to pose for pictures with them.

My colleague is stuck in Paris as the airport is closed due to snow. I will start the shoot in a cheese factory tomorrow and he has sent me information on the subject and interview questions. So I should be able to get that done and hopefully he will make it for the second half of the shoot!

I don't have any pictures for this because my camera ceased to work in Korea. I sent it back and Panasonic says I dropped it, wants to charge me 60 Euros for looking at it although it is still under garantee and I swear I never dropped it. There aren't even any scratches on it! I need another little camera like that and am tempted to not buy Panasonic again because of this, but they probably have the best little camera on the market. What to do??

Snowing in Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki Cathedral with Christmas tree.

After a weekend in Luxembourg, I've completely changed climates to the quick path to winter. The first snow fell on Helsinki the day of our arrival. The taxi driver said it wasn't yet "real" snow because it was a bit wet. We are here to film an opera star, Renee Fleming, who we met yesterday for an interview (Programme Musica on Euronews the first of December). The concert is this evening and we filmed the city most of the day today. But there is very little daytime now and the sun only makes sporadic apparitions. In the architecture, you can see both scandinavian and slavic influence. At times, I feel like I'm in St. Petersburg and others firmly planted in Scandinavia. I guess it's this mix that makes Finland.

On our first day here, we had reindeer soup and swordfish, both of which were delicious and kept us warm for filming. I wanted to get a shot of the sea as water is a big part of Finland. The country is really a bit of land around thousands of lakes. This bird was resting, huddled against the wind at the port of Helsinki where the big tourist cruise ships dock.

G20 Summit, Seoul, Korea

The first day of the summit, we got to witness what may be interesting new tactics in crowd control... intense staring. As we were in front of the entrance to the G20, a young man dressed in a nice suit walks up to the stairs and pulls out a big protest sign. Somehow he got by security, maybe being so well-dressed. He was immediately surrounded by five police to hide his message. I got this shot just at the beginning before they had a chance to close in on him. He was protesting a development project. He stood stoically as the police surrounded him, but not touching him. One man, I think also from the police, but in civil clothes, yelled at him to leave and that he shouldn't be there.

The lone protester yelled back that this is not North Korea and he has the democratic right to protest. The police got very close to him, probably 20cm from his face and stared at him without even blinking. I wonder if this is what they have trained for. I could sense the protester losing his stature as he began to blink rapidly. After maybe 15-20 minutes, more police came and with a bit of a push and shove, the protester finally got in a police car on his own. I don't know what happened to him. But he must have known what he was doing, because he was media savy enough to know that with not much else happening yet, he would get air. And he did as I saw another maybe 10 cameras filming the incident.

The big protest was in the afternoon with some 10,000 demonstrators. It too, went smoothly and there were many foreign speakers. There were also probably more police controlling the situation as they met at the main train station and marched through the streets. When they arrived at a police barrage, there was a slight scuffle, but nothing serious. 

Today, much of the action is inside the G20 site with press conferences and live shots. At right, a friend, Elmy Lung from Xinhua News Agency does her live shot. I don't know how many televisions have filmed me editing on my laptop. Brazilian TV ask me to say hello in Luxembourgish! I have even met a couple of friends I haven't seen in a long time! So even if the leaders don't agree on anything, I've had fun!

Press Dinner, History and Fuel Cell Cars.

In the days leading up to the G20, a series of Press Tours have been organised to introduce journalists to high tech, eco-friendly or historical Seoul. We chose historical. If it hadn't been for the tour, we might not have found such interesting places, visiting palaces with our own tour guide and the old district of Bukchon where old traditional houses are subsidised by the city to conserve its history. People actually live here, but the ones we met seem to have made restoration and art their livelihoods. Since the effort to preserve these houses began, prices have skyrocketed. Our guide estimated the price of a three-room, one-storey house at over one million dollars!


I may have found a bit of interesting trivia as to why coffee is so popular in Korea. It may not be the reason, but it is a cool explanation.

In the 19th Century King Kujong was living at the Russian delegations quarters, seeking refuge from the Japanese colonialists after they assassinated his wife. There, he was introduced to coffee and when he finally came back to power he brought the new drink into the lives of all Koreans. Today, cafés are absolutely all over the place in an Asia where tea is the most popular drink on the table.

There are some 10,000 journalists accredited to the G20 and Seoul is really pulling out the red carpet to impress them. What impressed me was the new 4x4 fuel cell vehicles used to pick up some journalists. I didn't get to ride in one, but one colleague who did said she didn't even realise the car was anything different until reading the writing on the side of the vehicle. The vehicles are silent and emit only water. When the driver turns the motor off, it makes a sound like a space craft's air-tight seal releasing. Sounds very cool! As I was watching the car come to a stop, I caught a glimpse of an electric moped speeding by, just the noise of its tires on the asphalt. Maybe a futuristic moment with clean, eco-friendly vehicles everywhere!

Dinner, vacuums and toilet paper.

Tried a different culinary experience this evening. After shooting at the Lantern Festival, we dropped in a restaurant where you cook your own meal right on the table. There are these metal vacuums hung over each table to evacuate the smoke, but you leave smelling like your dinner anyway. This guy at the right takes on the duties of chef while his girlfriend is probably checking her e-mails. It's a Monday evening in Seoul!

They put everything raw on the table and you take the pinchers and scissors to cut the pork in pieces which you wrap in a lettuce leaf with rice, kimchi (very spicy fermented cabbage) and garlic. Yumm!! It really wasn't bad all mixed together although I don't really like the ingredients by themselves. 


Smoking is forbidden almost everywhere in Korea, but in these restaurants, many seem to be smoking because the smoke is sucked up in the vacuums and it doesn't smell smokey there.

Last bit of interesting tidbits... Here at the left you see innovative napkins... toilet paper hung on the wall. Pretty handy, I guess.

24-hour Seoul

Seoul is a mega-city and its population seems to work hard. They play hard, too. Seoul is a 24-hour city as we have explored for our report on nightlife in Seoul for Euronews. All day, there are historical parades around the palace and small events happening for tourists. The lantern festival illuminates the night sky as families, couples and tourists walk along a river taking pictures of the big lanterns reflecting on the water. There was even an impromptu flute concert under a bridge.

We get to do a lot of interesting things to be able to show what is available to do at night. We do it all in one night... theatre, concerts, plays! Just a little, in and out. We saw the first production of "Billy Elliot" in Asia and not in English. They were so nice, they invited us back just to come and see the whole production on Sunday. We saw "En Attendant Godot" also in Korean.

Next stop, a concert of Worldbeat, a Korean percussion group. They were fantastic. At the end of the concert, they led the whole audience out to a courtyard and had everyone clapping and dancing. Then they took pictures with everyone, including your's truly.

Cafés, yellow lines and Green Food Zones

With friends at one of the 2000 café chains in Seoul.

Seoul must be on a permanent caffeine fix because there are cafés every 10 meters! Most are big chains, but mostly Korean. Some seem to be individual because the themes vary. Some can have big couches or books all around. I have even read about a cat café, full of cats and a Charlie Brown café. But the people don't seem so wired. Although, I have read that Korea has one of the longest work weeks in the world, not official work hours, but those actually worked.


Another interesting find is that almost all the sidewalks have a raised yellow band going down the middle. It changed texture at a crosswalk. I haven't got to the bottom of this, but I suspect it is for the blind. Maybe raised lines can guide a cane or you can even feel the difference walking on them with shoes. I haven't seen but one handicapped person in Seoul, but the city seems well-equipped to help them get around without difficulties.

Seoul is very clean and has a good no smoking law. Even some streets and parks are smoke-free. This sign below was on a street near a school and meant that all restaurants had healthy food with no harmful preservatives.

Séoul, Korea

The city is really gearing up for the G20. Skyscrapers become giant billboards with the G20 logo. This is the biggest international event in South Korea since the Olympic Games in 1988. People are very proud about hosting the big event and television ads tell people that each and every Korean is an ambassador for the country when meeting foreign visitors.


Some 50.000 police and army are to be deployed in the city to guarantee the safety of VIP visitors and to ease the inconvenience of the event on local people.

Officials talk about the G20 as a chance for South Korea to be on the world stage and to be better known. They say there is much more to Korea than cars, televisions and technology. One big problem is when people outside of Korea hear "Korea" they think of the brutal dictatorship in the north. It seems that South Korea is doing all it can to give a positive image to the world for Korea while the north does everything it can to give Korea a bad name.

With all the security measures, we haven't been bothered by police or soldiers and they don't seem to mind at all that I film them. We have been bothered by commercial security men near the G20 site, but, Sunglim, our minder was able to explain to them what we were doing and we were able to film in the end.

Seoul, Korea

Just over those mountains lies North Korea.

A beautiful day in Seoul! And a great day to shoot GVs (General Views). Our purpose today was to get some shots of G20 preparations, police, G20 banners, etc. It wasn't too hard, because they are all over the place. Everyone here is so polite, even the police. Sometimes it is not easy to film police because it can be illegal in some countries. Here, they excuse themselves for stepping into your shot! When they know they are being filmed, they just go about their business and don't bother me at all. In fact, everyone is like that. It makes my job very easy.

If only all police were so nice!

In the evening, we had an interview with a senior inspector of the G20 Security Planning Team. We were expecting an older man and a rather dry interview. We were waiting in a big room for the senior inspector to arrive and in comes a young, attractive woman, all smiles. She was everything we didn't expect. Friendly, funny and Joo-Young Kim spoke English very well. She opted to do the interview in Korean because she was worried about making any mistakes. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but she came across as very confident and competent.

View from the roof of my hotel.

Séoul, Korea

Arrived this morning at five local time in the South Korean capital. The flight was good and the transfer in Munich went smoothly. Munich was quite different from Frankfort airport. People actually smile and everything is modern and well organised. You don't have to walk kilometers to change gates and I didn't encounter any lines.

View from my "apartment".

Munich was so nice, my suitcase decided to stay an extra day. I arrived 30 minutes early in Seoul and went to the baggage conveyor belt to see a sign slide by with my name on it asking me to contact Lufthansa staff. They were at a small mobile stand next to the belt. Very efficient, they explained that for some reason my suitcase was still in Munich and would arrive tomorrow. They gave me 100,000 Won (about 65 euros or 90 dollars) to buy things I might need! But what I need is mostly the tripod in my suitcase for shooting tomorrow morning. They said they would try to get my bag to the hotel by 9 in the morning tomorrow.

The hotel is great! It is a resident hotel with kitchenette, separate bedroom and living room with big widescreen TV. A pretty cool pad for the next 3 weeks!!

Just wanted to add a pic of the toilet. That's because if you never experienced toilets in Japan or Korea, you're in for a treat. I am no expert (who do you ask for toilet advice?), so don't know what all it can do! But here is a pic of the bar that is alongside the toilet which makes noises when you sit down and is even heated!

Education in far away places

What is school like when you live in the mountains of Columbia or on an isolated island or in the desert? This is Learning World from Euronews. I filmed the part in Indonesia!

http://www.euronews.net/2010/10/11/education-in-far-away-places/

Los Angeles, California

Cultural melting pot in LA.

Today we are trying to pick up some more shots of the city. LA is dead on the weekend, but it might also be the weather that keeps people inside. We filmed the tourist sites with the stars embedded in the sidewalk and Hollywood.

What are all the pillows for? 7 of them!!

Los Angeles, California

The LA Philharmonic, a full house.

The story is a portrait of Gustavo Dudamel an orchestre conductor. He is from Venezuela and is now a very famous conductor at the LA Philharmonica. He first conducted an orchestre at the age of 16 and is now only 29. He is the product of and now a benefactor of a program to help poorer city children to get interested in school through music and the arts. He is known for his energy and enthusiasm both in life and conducting. I always enjoy talking with people who are pasionate about what they do and Gustavo certainly is that.

West Hollywood

Filming musical artists is not easy. We are limited in what we can film and how much of the music we can use in the report. And all that is strictly controlled. But here in LA it borders on the insane. Apparently unions control everything and don’t allow us to film in the lobby and even exteriors of the building are difficult. On the streets of LA and some other big cities, you can't film using a tripod. This comes from maybe a misinterpretation of a law that calls for film crews to get authorisation to film because they have many people, trucks and equipment and block traffic. Somehow we fall into that catagory even though we are just one or two people. Even setting up a small tripod on an empty sidewalk becomes illegal and a big hassle when you try to get a few steady pictures of the city.

View outside my hotel room.. a wet, empty downtown.

The weather hasn’t cooperated with us. Not typical LA weather, it is cool and rainy with low clouds hiding the tops of the skyscrapers. Ah, worked with another cameraman, Andrew Mungai who is Kenyan and who has been here in LA for a little over a year. We even have a couple of common acquaintances. Our sound engineer is Olivier Virmont, a French guy living in San Diego, born and raised in Senegal. Another very international crew.

Los Angeles, California

A very talkative departure. In the business lounge (not flying business, just have a frequent flyer card that lets me use the lounges), for the first time, I meet people I know. A friend working for the association of banks in Luxembourg is flying to Zurich for a meeting and then to Santiago, Chile for a conference. Another friend, a doctor and cancer researcher is going to a biotech meeting in Shanghai, China. The world is moving ! Both fly almost as much as I do. The researcher said he would be in Seoul, Korea the same time as I will. He even has some interesting projects that might be good for a report. Have to talk to him about that in Korea!

It’s amazing how many people are in the air at any given moment.

Now I’m in the business lounge at Frankfort and the flight leaving just before mine is going to Narita airport in Tokyo… the same flight I took just a few weeks ago. Out the window I see the Airbus A380, probably the same I took. Today, I think it will be a normal 777 or A340.

Video de Khan Shatir à Astana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQbZSvhH2Bg

Astana and back to Luxembourg

The Mosque in Astana.

Got some sleep and at the airport on time. Because we had changed the date on our tickets and they had some computer problems at check-in, we had to wait almost an hour and a half. But they were nice about it and we finally got our boarding cards. The customs and passport control asked how we liked Kazakhstan and I told them how much I love Kazakhstan. They were very happy and laughed.

That was the end of smiles since we arrived in Frankfort airport where smiles are forbidden. The flight was fine because for the first time in a long time, there were many empty seats. I was able to stretch out along 3 seats and got some good sleep.

A big commercial center near our first hotel.

I have never figured out why they make a special police control of passports when you exit the plane, since everyone is going to passport control anyway. It just wastes everyone’s time. Anyone know why they do that? I have only seen it at Paris and Frankfort airports.

Security was very slow with tons of people. I wonder if there has been a change in the searches since the security alert has gone up in Europe.

When you thought I couldn’t say anything more negative about Frankfort’s airport,… I have another gripe. There is no business lounge in the domestic/Schengen area. The only business lounge is in the international area. At both Paris and Amsterdam, there are many lounges.

It’s a beautiful day and I am at terminal B in Frankfort… one good thing is that they have a coffee machine for everyone which is free. One lonely point for Frankfort.

Astana, Kazakhstan

A relaxing morning at the hotel, doing some translation and gym of course. Then we took a bus to the center. It was about 25 eurocents and very comfortable. When you board, a young girl comes up to sell you a ticket. We tell her where we want to go and when we decide to get off early because we want to walk, she even makes sure we know that we haven’t arrived at the stop we requested. The people are all very nice. When I got on the bus, a young man offered to give me his seat. I must be getting old or maybe, as I like to think, the big bandage on my head from stitches made him pity me. But, when I refused and said thank you, he got up anyway for a women who boarded on the next stop.

Spent the day again at Rafé’s coffee shop talking with Constanino and Ainash. There was even a big TV screen there and Euronews was on. When our report came on the air, I made big waving signs with my hands so people would watch and then pointed at Constantino when he came on with his stand-up. People laughed and pointed. It was fun.

Back to the hotel to sleep or try to sleep until 2 when we have to get up to go to the airport.

Astana, Kazakhstan

Khan Shatir Commercial center.

A free day in Astana! It is very rare to have a free day to walk around, sit in a café and observe people. Also, I get a chance to take advantage of the gym at the hotel. All cameramen, if not everyone, have back problems. I should have started a long time ago, but for 2 years now, I go regularly to the gym for back exercises and haven’t had any problem since.

Taxi’s are pretty cheap in Astana and the drivers have always been very nice. This morning we waved down a car. Any car can be a taxi and you just agree on a price when they stop. When the driver found out we worked for Euronews, he said he watched the channel every day. We told him about the report we did and he said he would go home and watch it. When he dropped us off, he thanked us for the nice conversation and said he was happy to meet us. I told him the same!

He dropped us off at Rafé Coffee House near the President’s palace. It’s Ainash’s, our journalist friend’s, favorite place. It is very modern, has internet and if you don’t have a computer, they will lend you one. And not just any computer, it is an Apple Mac Air!

The President's Alley at night.

Then we walk down President’s Alley, the beautiful walkway from the Palace to a big modern shopping center called Khan Shatir. Inside Khan Shatir there are small trains to  see the place, different rides for kids, restaurants and all the namebrand stores. One journalist collegue said he had never seen anything like it, even in Dubai

Astana, Kazakhstan

Tea and cookies with Customs.

Today we are doing a commercial for Kazakhstan’s Standard’s office, filming laboratories. We also filmed the Custom’s laboratory. The Custom’s agents were very nice and very proud of all their very modern equipment to test products. Euronews is very popular here in Kazakhstan and the Customs agents even asked for our autographs! After the shoot, they offered us tea and cookies!

Astana, Kazakhstan

Baiterek in the Fall.

Since we are in Astana, we will do a small story (2:30) for a new programme on Euronews, Learning World. The subject is Bolashak. Bolashak is a State programme to finance studies. Any student can apply and they pay for full university studies anywhere in the world. You have to speak the language of the country where you study as well as Kazak. Most everyone in Kazakhstan is bi-lingual, speaking Kazak, a Turkish language, as well as Russian. I have heard that the best Russian is spoken in Kazakhstan because the intelligensia fled Russia during the Revolution and as the Bolsheviks killed academics in Moscow, those who fled were able to survive here. The Kazaks live between two big powers, China and Russia and have been able to survive with diplomacy.

The main walkway in Astana.

Anyway, back to the study programme. The country is rich with ressources and the goal of Bolashak is to create a highly educated population. After completing their studies, graduates have to come back to Kazakhstan (or work abroad for Kazakhstan) for five years.

We also filmed in Nazerbaev University which is ultra-modern. I didn’t think to take any pictures because I was so involed in filming it. There is a huge open area with palm trees and water. Students can rest, study, sing under the palm trees while it is -40 degrees outside with snow up to the roof!