Karl's G_p Year: Cultural attaché for Sweden

Ahhh what a weekend. I apologise for the lack of information in the Facebook posts. Too much was going on this week which just completely blew me away. Fair to say I was pretty excited to go to Stockholm for Eurovision. After watching it for years on TV to finally be apart of it was just crazy surreal.

I attended the second Semi Final and had a really good view looking out onto the green room and stage. The TV makes the arena look so large! Or does the arena make the space look small? There was so much love for Australia / Australians / Australians wearing flag capes. So much so that people were calling out and coming up to me. You felt like you were a celebrity**. The contest itself was just first rate. The TV or audio tracks really don't do it justice.

As we were entering the arena my friends and I (wearing our Australian flags) met up with other Aussies. This created a *insert collective noun for a group of Aussies*. Nekmimnit we have news crews from around the world coming up and wanting to interview us. There was so much novelty value in Australians in Sweden. One such crew was from Russian radio who asked one of us to sing Australia's song live on air. After some hesitation, and a feeling of confidence in singing a repetitive chorus, I obliged and was broadcast to adoring fans around the world. There are also dozens of photos circulating around Facebook of us.

For the Grand Final I had purchased tickets to the Tele2 arena to view the final, then the after party which was also in the arena. The voting was the most nerve racking, though it quickly became clear it was a 2 horse race between Australia and Ukraine. Again being there and 'representing' your country was incredibly special.

The experience also made me think about how a lot of people make fun of Eurovision. I completely had a different perspective having been there this year being in and amongst the crowds. Basically I felt bad for ever making fun of contestants/countries because they were definitely competing to win. The countrymen and women that came there and supported were taking it seriously and felt a lot of national pride in their country's song. It goes against the spirit of the event to make fun of them, especially in their own country. The second reason was even if their English wasn't as fluent, they are still able to speak another language that is not their own - already they're better than me for stringing a sentence together! It was food for thought anyway.

Side note: it was great to be reminded by Justin Timberlake why America should never be in Eurovision, he just didn't get it and I thought he was a condescending banana.

Thoughts?

For those looking to go to Stockholm it is the most gorgeous city. Compared to the monstrosity that is London, it was calm and relaxed. For people who were meant to be reserved and not as friendly, the amount of people who would smile and chat was really charming. See also: the power of stereotypes. The amount of park space was just beautiful and I was able to take in the sights at a few of them.

This is also the birthplace of flat pack and fair to say when you're back at home in Richmond, dreaming of IKEA, in Sweden, eating Swedish meatballs... actually being there is like a fairytale dream sequence. Admittedly despite being the biggest IKEA in the world with 4 floors and a circular configuration, they had the smallest cafeteria area that didn't serve mash or fries with their meatballs. They also didn't have lingonberry lemonade. I did however get a serving of brussel sprouts, peas, carrots and wedges. #fibre #silverlining #movementatthestation. As a souvenir I have brought back 2 wooden spoons and a wooden chopping board.

The ABBA Museum was a fantastic addition to the itinerary. All the ABBA memorabilia one could ever want/need is under the one roof. They really were quite an extraordinary band and there was lots of memorabilia from each member. It was really well done and interactive. Also coupled with it was the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. Couldn't believe how much the Swedes have influenced music, think Roxette, Robyn, Max Martin etc.

** celebrity only in Russia