It’s been two months since my last post – two very hectic months. Now, on what feels like the longest flight ever, I do have plenty of time. So what has the past months been like?

NYC

In the end of September we traveled over the pond with tickets to Springsteen and E-Street band’s final concerts at Giant Stadium. That my birthday fell in the same week didn’t hurt either… :)

I love New York. Every time I visit I wish I could stay longer. Had a great birthday dinner in Brooklyn with friends, strolled the streets of Manhattan and smiled at the sun up on High Line Park. Enjoyed Central Park as ever, and a rainy day at the Met. Ate very well and a few tall drinks. Had the usual stop, well two, at B&H, but managed to stay away from the big purchases. That said, all in all, we did our best to help the US economy with a healthy shopping spree. It was so great to take full week off in the autumn. Not done that since the late eighties. Scary.

The two concerts were great. Amazing atmosphere. It was nice to experience Bruce in his backyard before the old stadium was torn down. I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore fan, liked his music before the shows, but now I catch myself humming his songs more often than not. Curious that.

Seoul

Arrived home from NYC on a Monday evening, had a quick meeting at the office on Tuesday morning before heading back to the airport and the flight to Seoul with my boss. Three continents in two days, not advisable, not surprisingly it turned into a jet lag rollercoaster. Had a great time though. Met with our Korean partners for a few days. Very busy schedule.  Didn’t even find the time to take a single picture before we continued on to Beijing.

Beijing

It had been almost six months since I’d visited our team in Beijing. It was great to be back and to spend some time with them. It was the first time in the office not being directly in charge. A bit weird, but I still think of the studio as one of my babies.
It still amazes me how fast the city develops. Even when I visited more frequently I saw changes. With a half-year break it was just amazing. The area around our studio is completely transformed. Only three years ago I drove over an empty, bumpy field (the taxi made a wrong turn and decided to take a short cut over the grass – which turned out to be more rocks and potholes than anything). Now, at least ten skyscrapers were in construction on the same lot. Luckily, the little green oasis we have around our studios is still there, just surrounded by concrete.

The only bummer with this visit was that I didn’t find the time to visit 798. It was my boss’ first visit to the Far East, so we opted for the usual suspects instead. Unfortunately, we arrived at the Forbidden City ten minutes too late. It closed earlier due to the 60-year celebration. Tiananmen Square was packed with, I would guess, at least 200.000 people. Its on days like that you get an idea of the share number of the Chinese. We did get to see the “Egg”, the music hall, which was a first for me as well and I was very happy that we managed to stop by my favorite café in Houhai for a Tsing Tao. The planned trip to the Great Wall went down the drain too, but we did visit the “bird’s nest” and “water cube” at night.

San Francisco

I spent ten days at home, before flying out again. This time I traveled to the West Coast and San Francisco, another favorite city. The weather was perfect, warm, and sunny. Waking up to a cup of tea at Samovar in Yerba Buena Gardens, having a great Sunday brunch at Mama’s and strolling along the Embarcadero was a great way to start ten busy days. I did of course burn my nose…

Los Angeles

After a few days in the Bay Area we turned south to Los Angeles, to more meetings, dinners and more fun. Good drinks and company at Philippe and Roger Room. Gazing out over the Pacific in spare moments in Santa Monica. A pre-Halloween bash at the Hollywood cemetery was OK, didn’t bring any costumes on our trip which made us stand out quite a bit. So when we the following day were invited to Heidi and Seal’s Halloween party at Voyeur, we had to find something good. I ended up as an undead renaissance something…

Seattle and London

The day after we continued up to Seattle. Stayed at the 1000. Brilliant hotel, you should try next time you visit. I’ll book it again for sure. It was a quick stop in the Pacific Northwest before we headed back east the following day, across the Atlantic to London. I must like cities, because this is another favorite.

Home

Coming back to Oslo was nice, even though November is the saddest month of the year. A joyous time of cold, dark, and wet, occasionally white, quickly turning into wet, cold sleet. After two weeks without much sunlight I found myself back on an airplane, and my first visit to Busan in Korea.

Busan

Speaking at ICON/G-Star, meetings, dinners and walking the show floor. A five-day visit. I managed to squeeze in a free day, on Saturday, taking a taxi to unknown destinations. I like it that way. Stepping out of a cab, not knowing what I’ll see or experience. My trusted friend, Nikon and I on yet another adventure.

I found myself in what I believe is a national coastal park area. All signs are in Korean only and all around me were locals. I saw a group of people walking over to a booth buying tickets. I followed their example, and before I knew it I’m on the kiddy-train. Driving 5km/h along the footpath… It was fun for 300 meters, where I jumped off and walked down to a pebble beach. And to my surprise I see someone I’d wanted to meet since I read an article in National Geographic Magazine years ago; the pearl diving grandmothers. Amazing women.

Stumbling along on the large pebbles I was almost blinded by the brilliant, incredible flat, white sunlight. Enjoying the gentle sound of waves until it was suddenly drowned by the weirdest, kitschy, Korean electro pop music I ever heard. As a perfect score in a Wes Anderson flick it blasted out from a tourist boat on the other side of the beach. What happened next is hard to describe. Standing there listening to that music, shielding my eyes I saw silhouettes of a crowd of old, small, Korean seniors rushing – on slow motion – down a hill to catch the boat. Such a surreal experience, and I loved it.

The walk around the peninsula was quite pleasant. After three hours I continued my journey into the unknown city. Stopped at different markets before heading back to the hotel to pack my bags, and an early night sleep before the long flight home the morning after. Or so I thought. Damn you, jet lag. In bed, wide-awake I counted down the hours till I had to get up. At 5:00 I finally submerged into dreamless sleep, giving me a full hour…

In transit

I’m arriving in Frankfurt in a few hours, just one more flight left before I’m home. The journey will take me 23 hours door to door. Knowing that I don’t sleep on airplanes I figured that by the time I’m diving into bed I will have slept only one out of past 47 hours. I’m so looking forward to get to my bed.