pink snow

hello people. I thought about visiting yen-linh 5 days in Saigon in the end of traveling through Vietnam. This happend about 3 month ago and now I worked here, made friends, tried so many different dishes, came closer to the culture and know exactly 6 sentences and the numbers from 0 to 10 in Vietnamese. I am amazed. I am happy to made the experience to stay longer in one country. It shows you much more than rushing through. Thats why my new way of traveling is also affecting my future traveling which starts tomorrow. I will leave to Cambodia and Laos, maybe Thailand, heading to china to cross it from the west (Yunnan province) to the east (close to shanghai). Find work there and learn about the culture again. Cambodia, Laos and Thailand just gonna be impressions how it could be, but not expecting to know the countries well. The language skills will be challenged much more in case of China. Learning Chinese and see how it goes. Actually I wanted to write a lot about Vietnam and my experiences in this entry. But its hard to summarize a feeling and so many experiences in a couple of sentences.

Thanks to flower guy, yen-linh, thi, abbie, hoa, duy, minh, quyen, tina, jakob, thai, martin, chris, vy, tex and all the people I forgot to name here who support me and gave me strength, fun, advices and what ever what was important to me in those 3 month.

Relating to the question from a lot of guys when I return to Germany: I don’t know. I really don’t know. I know that I miss speaking my language and know which way of talking works and what doesn’t work. The more you are away from home, the more you realize your culture background. And I can tell you for sure that I couldn’t say before I left Germany what Germans are all about. So, I am also getting closer to my country, myself and the world. Makes me feel connected to something, which is nice. But on the other side there is so much more to see. haha.
so, good bye and see you again. where ever, when ever.

florian

photography again

hello. Since 2 days I am not working for rebranded anymore and something tells me that is so far the last time I worked as a designer. I had a good time with my working colleagues and I am actually happy about the fact I did this job. First of all to realize again that graphic design is dead so far. Nice though I have some good new friends through my work. Thanks boys and girls.

Well as you can see I uploaded some new pictures on my flickr account. But I can tell you as well that I am working on a new pflock.com. Exciting. So back to the pictures on flickr. Most of them I took when some people from the acwp organisation showed as around and introduced us (yenlinh and me) to several projects and kids. It was amazing and gave me a new kick, doing photojournalism again. When we visited the school I felt 100 years back in time and when I saw a man holding his psychatric sick wife on a long iron chain. So I felt another 100 years thrown back. It was amazing to see the country side of Vietnam. I stay since 3 month now in Vietnam but never saw stuff like this. I am pretty sure what I saw is not really unique in Vietnam.

The day before we visited all these projects I spend almost the whole day in the bloom restaurant, took pictures of these young guys and I tell you we had good fun together. The target in this project was to get the young people more self confident and more secure in what they’re doing and saying. And I think I hit the spot somehow. I am not 100% sure about the selection, so it takes a little more time to publish the stuff here in my blog.

So now I am free again from work. Have some projects by the side, want to go to Malaysia and see a little of more of Saigon. Inside Saigon. Try to get some stories (i.e whats going on his hospitals in Saigon) and see what happens. In the end of this month I travel to Cambodia with some buddies. After I come back I think its kinda time to carry on. Lao, china, India. I will see what is waiting for me out there.
For myself: I feel good, really good. I am just happy with my way of life, happy with my decisions and happy with what I am doing. Sounds good doesn’t it.

hello saigon, hello germany, hello world.

Yes. I am still here and I didn’t forget there is a blog millions of people read everyday. I am working still for rebranded and do packaging design, illustration. I hang out a lot with my friends, mostly Vietnamese people. I do my best to learn the language, but it seems to be a non-profit relationship. Vietnamese doesn’t like me and I don’t get the pronunciation. I went out to a real club. The first time after 8 month after New York. I enjoyed myself, dancing with Americans, Vietnamese, Germans, gays, straights, old, young, the world. I live my life as it is. No more expectations how it should be, what I miss, what I regret, what I desire to do. Still, photography is a big thing, but right now, I am working in this company. And its a good thing. I come close to Vietnamese organization structures, the language, the people, the family life and even closer to Vietnamese food. YAM.

You guys know these AHA-effects. I have a lot of them the past days, and its a feeling of being unbelievable happy with my life and the situations around me. To understand that to be worried and angry and to dislike things makes me uncomfortable and unhappy. It doesn’t mean that I am not planning anything anymore, it doesn’t mean, I don’t expect anything anymore. Its more the way how much effort you put in these things. So, I come totally to a point, where I am relaxed and chilled. Even with stress, hectically traffic situations and heat, heat and heat again.

Most of the things I experience is not really worth or possible to tell. I realize that certain attitudes are changing, its the a way of life that changes. Some people recognized this already, other people don’t. In the end, I am happy with myself and what I am doing.

So, thanks to all the people and especially Yen-Linh, who shows me a lot how to come down and relax.
Another 4-6 weeks here for me in Vietnam, before I carry on traveling. Its weird though: the imagination of packing my backpack and walking around the world again.

A lot of things are repeating here. Its more about changes in my personality instead of my everyday life. When I travel again, there is more to tell.

Photography is coming soon again. I am looking forward to the time I have my camera again. But right now, I do something else. So, be patient.

In love,

Florian

SAIGON II | SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

such a cool term, that’s why I used it here. Ha. Nothing happend for about 2 weeks besides of making contacts and collecting phone numbers. All of a sudden it started. 4 jobs in 2 days. In the end I decided for the following situation:

From monday to friday I gonna work for Rebranded as a packing designer. Yes I didn’t want to do design anymore, if I ever was a designer anyways. I chated to the CD Jacob to have an overview what’s going on in Saigon. And 3 days later I signed the contract. I really like the stuff those guys are doing and I have the feeling I can catch up some more tricks and improve my skills in graphic design and illustration. That’s why I decided finally for the job.

I had to shootings as well already. Its a nice feeling to be THE photographer, but I will see if I get happy with those “getty-images-style-shots”. I gonna buy some lightning equipement for myself to try around and concentrate more on private shootings, like the one in Hue I wrote in my last entry.

I live in a house with 3 girls now. hihi. Its a huge giant big house and is actually to big for my understanding for living. I thought about moving again, but you get used to things and to lazy. I am not going to post pictures of this house. Its just too big.

So, everything is good here and I feel about learning more again. And that’s what I need for sure. Its so strange to seddle down again, even its for a uncertain time. You stay somewhere and sleep more than 2 weeks in the same bed. weird. Sometimes I have to do something crazy and unusual to compensate the recurrence in Saigon. Doesn’t work so far. But I am working on it. It gives me actually an impression how its going to be back in germany … when I am coming back anyway. hihi.

vietnam, saigon

Hallo Leute, since I travelled through Viet Nam unbelievable fast like Nemo when he tries to see his friends in Sydney again, I arrived a week ago in Sai Gon (South). On my way down I was quite shocked how the tourism branch took over every single attraction and every single town. Of course their are lots of places to see without tourism, but its either hard to get there on your own or there is nothing to stay, to eat and to talk. While last issue is more a matter of fact that I don’t speak any vietnamese at all.

Since I am staying in Saigon with YenLinh, a good friend I studied with, I decided to stay longer to see more of Viet Nam from the inside. And closer looks to the inside take usually longer. So I rented a motorbike, get my self a phonenumber and searching since than for a job as illustrator and photographer. The need for such is actually big. Is more the kind of photography I am doing that people don’t agree with. Or lets better say, the vietnamese advertisement branch is not ready for it yet. It seems to be that I am going to do more freelance work and do the photoghraphy beside for myself for example for the project I am doing with Yenlinh.

The project we are doing is a combination of getting more of peoples attention about children and youth in Viet Nam and a Restaurant calls Bloom in Hue. This restaurant is founded by Benjamin Lee, a japanese guy, who opened the restaurant for giving youth in Hue a perspective in work experience and a stronger hold in life and get them away from the streets. This project goes hand in hand with the ACWP. A foundation to support children without parents. The pictures I am going to do are strongly related to the children and youth, working in this restaurant. We want to have this children coming more out of theirselves and give them a stronger personality.

I look forward to this project a lot. First of all, because its social work and I like to help this country instead of just earning the money I get from illuistration and have a convient life. Secondly, its my first real documentary photo report. So I am doing exactly what I really want to do. The organisation is planning everything now, so I don’t think its gonna be far in future and I will be proud of it to show my work, so you can easily spread out the stuff and tell more people about this organisation and the restaurant. Its even in the lonley planet already.

For myself I am searching for schools to learn vietnamese now and enjoy my life here for a while. YES. Some people recognized already that I uploaded some new pictures on my flickr account. I do have lots of opportunities to edit my work, so more pictures are following soon.

Thanks for reading and kisses to all.

guangxi and enter into vietnam

yes. the far east is what i thought it is sopposed to be: new faces, languages i don’t speak and food i never tried before in my life. Its great. After heading from Hong Kong to Guilin, a lovley city north of guangxi province i met some great people. Even if you ask chinese people only for the way or a specific place you can become friends for life in a second. Great. For all you facebook junkies, china is a place to collect as many contacts as you want and add them in fb. But to find people who speak just a little english is rarly to find. Even though you don’t see a lot of foreigners I was lucky enough again to meet somebody from the states who studies chinese for 8 years and lives in Nanjing and we travelled together for a while. I had a great time. Thanks again.

From Guilin I did a two day trip to Yangshuo and climped up the steep mountains to have a great view. Even it was pretty foggy or smoggy or both I still enjoyed the view. Awesome bro. Can’t stop saying it, hehe. I went back to Guilin and did a day trip to the rice terraces of Longsheng. Unbelievable how human beeings can change they enivornment. From boring hills into rice terraces steps. Amazing.

I took the train with my lovely travel mate Shawnee to Nanning and watched locals doing social dances in the streets to relax and enjoy. Even if chinese people have kind of a serious understanding of fun, they are defnitly able to laugh. You just need a closer look. But I also could tell you about outside stages where children perfmored all they power and ability on drums and nobody clapped their hands. Weird. In germany or elsewhere they would at least clap just because they are some children performing to give them some engourage on th stage.

From Nanning I head to Hanoi and even when I am just a couple of hours here: I love it. I love it. I love it. Tomorrow I will take a bike and smash myself into the traffic of hanoi to explore the city. Yes. Yes. Thanks for reading carefully my blog and comment your your thoughts.

In love, florian