Afternoon - The interviewing process

I'm a bit peeved tonight, my camera is playing up again, same gain problem that Canon Australia have tried to fix three times, and Canon Spain two times. And I have just been stuffed around by a travel agent who said he wanted to do an interview, arranged a meeting a 4pm, then arranged to meet at 5pm, then 5.30pm, then told me he couldn't do it. It's funny, because as I headed to meet him the first time (at 4pm) my intuition told me I was wasting my time...maybe I'm starting to get good at this game, experienced from months on the road.

To find a suitable person to interview is quite a process. I have learnt in the past that it is usually best not to place all your eggs in one basket, and to have several people organised to interview, as some always seem to get last minute nerves and pull out.

Generally it is also best not to allow commercial interests to get in the way of things. On occasions, as today with the travel agent, I offered free advertising on my site in exchange for an interview. This doesnt always lead to interviews with people who are necessarily passionate about where they live.

I have also learnt, that if someone lets you down, for example, doesnt make an appointment, it is best to immediately start looking for someone else to interview. I am not interested in luke warm interviews, I want passionate people, they don't have to be rich, or famous, or beautiful, like most who fill our screens. No one I interview gets paid, if I am lucky, I find people who are happy to share information about their culture, life and home town.

I am starting to get a little concerned, nearly a week, and no suitable interview...in a city of 5 million! I have approached many people, from cyclo riders, motorbike guides, book sellers, shop keepers, hotel staff, even a street prostitute!! But no one has had that spark, that passion for place. All around Pham Ngu Lao backpacker quarter seem to have 'tourist fatigue' They have their one line sprout, to sell their wares, but no real interest in anything I say. You see their eyes glaze over when I say 'travel video'

Anyway, I still have a few possible interviewees to check out tomorrow, but I really must leave Ho Chi Minh City, Saturday morning, if I am to get my eight Vietnam stories (locations).

It's all a learning experience, it dont always go to plan, man. Just makes me more and more determined to find a solution. Time for a life affirming quote:

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotion, spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never tasted victory or defeat.”

President Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Fisherman, girls on motorcycles and 'he who works alone'!

Last night I met up with a Spanish guy and a Vietnamese girl I contacted through HospitalityClub, I also shared a beer with a French Film crew I met on the plane over here. I found out things about filming in Vietnam that I maybe didn't need to know. My task here, to get eight stories around Vietnam, will prove extremely difficult, for a number of reasons I prefer not to discuss here. I have already nearly spent a week in Ho Chi Minh City without finding a story, but I do have a couple of leads, a tour guide, a filmmaker and a video artist, later today I should have more of an idea where things will go.

While in Ireland, I met a fisherman in Dingle, one of the Flannery Clan, I asked him what he liked about being a fisherman. He said , "You got to hate it to love it" I asked him what he meant and he said, " When I've been out to sea for a week longer than expected, experienced rough seas, but still managed to find a catch of fish...I hate every moment of it till I see the lights of the home fire burning and enter the safety of the harbour"

I have the same love/hate relationship with filmmaking. Trying to find a story, trying to put that story together, can be an excruciatingly painful and stressful experience. I have no one to lay the blame on if things go wrong. Every decision, right or wrong, is mine alone. And filming in strange and foreign lands, throwing cultural differences into the mix, adds another spice to the recipe, which needs to be tasted and experienced, in order not to ruin the flavour.

Last night I also had my best travel experience in Vietnam so far. I was sitting in a park, across the road from a well known club on Pham Ngu Lao Road, in the heart of the backpackers district, having a bit of a giggle watching the tourists interact with the local prostitutes, when I met a local girl who worked in a shoe shop. She offered to take me for a ride on her motorcycle. So under full moon, on the usually busy streets of H.C.M City, we cruised, breathing in the fresh night air. She took me into parts of H.C.M. City I have never seen before, we crossed the Saigon River, and then we returned, hardly a word was spoken (she spoke limited english) and no money exchanged hands, just an act of friendship, a local person showing me their city. This is what I love about travel, not the guide book 'must see' locations, but meeting local people and getting an insight into their life.

Ok, Ok, I offered to take her out to dinner tonight, and she accepted. But to find out what happens next...you will have to wait for my next blog entry...he he.

Vietnam Blog

Wednesday 6th December

Been in Ho Chi Minh City since Saturday. Took the weekend off to acclimatize to my new environ and organise a few little details, like where I will visit in Vietnam.

I have approached a few people with regard to doing an interview about living in Ho Chi Minh, but as yet haven't found a suitable participant. Thinking of maybe interviewing a tour guide, and taking a trip down to the Mekong Delta.

It has been great arriving in a country where the Australian dollar is worth something, in Europe I was losing out $5 AUD = 3 Euro, so I have been making a few much needed purchases.

The amount of scooters on the road in H.C.M.City is crazy, you have to see it to believe it. One of the fun things I have done since being over here is hire a scooter and brave the busy roads. Once on the road you realize there is some order to the chaos, but the fumes!! I believe Honda have produced a Hydrogen Scooter, but I can't seem to find it available for purchase on their website. Imagine the health benefits if such a scooter replaced all the current fossil fuel scooters?