I woke up last Saturday afternoon feeling exhausted —but also with a night of fun and a lifetime of memories.
Before flying thousands of miles from Hong Kong to Finland, my knowledge about this European country was limited. It was not a surprise that I had not heard of the Flow Festival at the time.
And then, Friday night came. I arrived at the venue as big as the Victoria Park in Hong Kong (anyone from Hong Kong would know) and was amazed that so many stages were set up for the bands to perform at the same time.
It is not very common to see large outdoor music concerts in Hong Kong, so for me the Flow Festival was a real eye-opener. I don’t know much about music, not to mention Finnish music. But no one needs to really know about music to be part of the Festival. It is an event where people have some drinks and spend probably the best and wildest night ever after a year of working their heads off.
It is meaningless to talk about music through words because music is meant to be listened, not read. So I won’t go into details on how the crowd went crazy when Alicia Keys came on the stage and put on the gig of my life. Neither will I write about how the cool Finnish rock bands torn the stage apart.
Let’s just say that when I woke up next morning feeling tired, I still remember that it was a night of great music and a lifetime of memories.
“Oh yeah. Last night was fun,” I said to myself on my bed the next day.
I once read on a travel show in which a well-known traveler said that it is not the food you eat or the scenery you see that determines how fun the trip is. It is the people you meet.
I feel very fortunate to be representing my country, China, in this Foreign Correspondents’ Program. How many times in life does it happen when you can meet 18 other people/ journalists from 18 other countries in a program packed with fun, excitement, and knowledge? One week is gone already and three more weeks to go but I am already missing this beautiful country.
Finland, you will always have a place in my heart.