Astana, Kazakhstan

Sunset from Luxembourg to Vienna

Central Asia isn’t far away in the sense that the flight is only 5 hours. That means you don’t really have time to sleep after eating the meal. So the night is very short. We arrive just before six in the morning.

Astana is still dark at six in the morning. The airport works well and we are outside quickly. Outside it is cold, probably almost freezing with a wind blowing off the steppes that will stop your breath.

The first day was supposed to be a day of rest, but the Prime Minister wants us to do his interview this morning. So we go to the hotel, take a shower and have less than an hour to rest a bit before heading out again. Prime Minister Karim Massimov speaks good English and we do the interview in English. We should have done the interview in Russian since it is one of Euronews’s official languages, But the journalist doesn’t understand Russian and that makes it difficult for him to do the interview. Going through an interpreter takes a lot of time… time that the Prime Minister doesn’t have.

Since we’re up, we continue with a second big interview with Timur Koulibaev, Chairman of Kazenergy.  He can also speak good English, but prefers to do the interview in Russian. So I record the translation and then we work with a translator to get a precise wording of what he said.

Finally, when it is dark again, we are able to head back to the hotel. By 10 at night we are in bed for an intense sleep before the next busy day.

Luxembourg

A day of getting papers ready and sending out bills. Have to do that sort of thing too...if not, you don't get paid! But it is a rainy cool day in Luxembourg, so not so bad to have to do paperwork.


Have to print out tickets for the next trip to Astana, Kazakhstan. Don't really have to pack much because I just got back home yesterday night. Just have to change clothes and bring some warm things because it is cold in Astana... expecting snow maybe by the end of the week.


The flight is via Vienna on Sunday and should be fairly easy. It isn't as long as the one to Seoul. I rarely go through Vienna so don't know it so well. I already have a visa for Kazakhstan because I have a year-long visa. We are still working out the shoot. The Prime Minister wants us to interview him on Monday morning. We only arrive at six in the morning having travelled all night. But that is ok. But it is harder for my colleague who has to ask the questions because he won't be so fresh.


But, looking forward to going back to Astana. It is a great city and having been there a few times already, I have a few friends there!

Airport lounge, Seoul, Korea

View from the lounge at Incheon Airport.

Breakfast of French Toast, coffee and fruits and then off to the airport. The taxi which I picked up in the street was just by hazard a "Foreigners only" taxi. I think that means just that the driver speaks foreign languages. He was a very nice retired tailor. He had travelled all over Asia looking for materials to make his clothes. I noticed he was very well dressed with sharp creases on his sleeves. He spoke good English, a little Chinese and a little Japanese. There were stickers on the windows announcing the G20 meeting. He said he usually drove for US soldiers at the base in Seoul. I didn't even notice the base as it is behind high walls. The radio he had tuned in was Armed Forces Radio, so I listened to a travel publicity for servicemen and women to site see in Korea and Asia as well as the latest hits in the US.

What I am looking at right now!

The journalist has all the pictures in his computer and now has the big job of writing and editing the two stories we did. That seems to be the biggest job, because the filming is usually the most fun. Meanwhile, I go back to Luxembourg for two days and then head to Astana, Kazakhstan for the next shoot!

Seoul, Korea

This last day in Korea has been a busy one, getting a few last interviews and shots. I had a scare this afternoon when the camera gave a message "Please restore media". I had to read the manual to try to find out what that was all about. It seems somehow the files (images) on the memory card were in some way damaged and had to be restored. I hesitated to do it, so just switched cards to finish shooting. When I go to the hotel, I made a copy of the damaged card and then did the restore operation which worked perfectly and all the images were there. I will have to read more to find out what actually happened.


We are going through the interviews in Korean to pick out the interesting parts and get those translated word for word. It is a long process as well. Then we will finally get something to eat!


I got news today Euronews wants me to come back here at the end of October for 20 days to do reports leading up to the G20 to be held here in November. So that will be a lot of fun because I will also have some days off to discover the city... sit in cafés and watch people! I can't wait! I do a lot of travelling, but mostly just a few days at a time. It will be nice to stay here a bit, maybe learn a few words of Korean!

Design Week in Seoul, Korea

Even a Starbucks mobile café!

Japanese room. The shiny black is water over pebbles.

Another long day in Design. The event is held at the 1988 Olympic stadium here in Seoul. There is everything from building materials to furniture to Iphone holders. It has been a beautiful day which means good pictures! Design Week attracts some 2 million visitors from all over the world. Today there were a lot of school classes. The kids are always very polite and ask "Hello, what is your name?" That is usually about all they know, but a few can speak pretty good English. A few little boys even asked us for autographs and were so thrilled when we signed their little notepads!

Hagwons in Séoul, Korea

We start the day working on a story about Hagwons. Hagwons are private schools in Korea. 80% of children go to these schools after regular school and therefore have very long days. The girl we followed got home at 21:30. It was an exceptional day, but the rhythm is still very difficult.

The reception at the IP Boutique Hotel.

On one hand, the debate is whether children should have time to play, in other words, time to create, to be children. Or should they study hard to get that extra competitive edge to succeed in life. On the other hand, the debate goes further saying that the Hagwon system is harming the public school system in that students are bored (or tired?) in regular school because they already covered the subjects in Hagwons. It is such a sensitive subject here that after trying with 6-7 Hagwons, no director wants to give us an interview.

My room on the 10th floor.

Parents are the force behind insisting their children get the best education possible, but it seems it is a question of "a time for everything". 11 and 12 year olds studying 12 hours a day can't be all that good for their overall development. But, extra study can help those with weaknesses and interest those with particular talents.


Tomorrow we start the report on Design Week, with the idea of how to make a mega city like Seoul and others more human, more liveable. Already our hotel is very design!!

KLM Lounge, Schiphol airport, Amsterdam

Schiphol is the best airport in Europe if not in the world. The walk between terminals isn't long and the personnel is always friendly. As opposed to Frankfort airport where smiles are almost non-existant, here at Schiphol, even the police smile and wish you a good trip when checking your passport. My last trip through here in July with my nephews, the security personnel even joked with my nephews making them feel more at ease going through the controls.


I will be taking China Southern Airways to Beijing now. I have never flown them and am excited because... well, some of you already know about my odd collection... I will hopefully get a new sick sack, or barf bag, for my collection!


Oh, one other great advantage to having a frequent flyer card: At the passport control today, there was a huge line, but absolutely no one at the line reserved for card-holding members. So I just brisked through!


Next stop: Beijing; arrival tomorrow afternoon!