Once upon a time there was bboy who made his paycheck by traveling to other countries to judge, teach and give out good wibes. Most of the time this lifestyle was glamourous but once...
When these travel invitations come you automatically set your self into a position where you think Wow these might be something good or something really bad. This might be a turning point of my carrier. Or this might be one of them trips that you feel "yeah" at first and when you are there you want to change your profession :D Well this trip was more then just that..
First of i got my visa 2 days before departure for this country. Visa was a express one so it ended up costing 150 euros. Which is Ok because the organization would pay me back at same time they pay my fee for judging and teaching.
Q: how can you trust that they pay you.
A: Well when these invitations pops up in your email you automatically trust these people. Maybe im "blessed" with blue eyes because i always want to feel like we bboys and Hip Hop cultural people are united. So we dont really make deals as in contracts on paper. We are not talking about thousands of Euros here. And we are not talking about big companies with big bosses and so on. Well sometimes these jams are really professionally done and everything needs to be done on paper especially in Asia. Which is cool.
So yeah the person mailing me was a promoters "assistant" that i have been working with before.
And the last time was really Ok. Everything is cool and im looking forward for this event and trip.
One of the reasons for me to go on this trip was that im a fan of this countries bboys and bgirls. No one is so original with moves and tricks. Mind blowing every time. So strong too. Im guessing its the milk out there or something. And also because of the money. I have been out of this dance for a while because of my injury. 4 months of no working. This is my job people. Injuries can be a bitch but has its good sides too, well thats another story ill get back to later. But as i was saying this trip was perfect for my situation right now. Plus the place??? where is that?? what is that?? i was really interested to find out.
After coming out of the Airport i was expecting the promoter to stand with a BBOY ATA paper in his/her hand and giving me big Welcome speech like they usually do. Hahah lil did i know:D. First of all the airport was the craziest i have ever seen. Thought it was really funny, but in a good way. You really understood that you were in a small city. Well coming out of the airport i see many people trying to catch a taxi or a bus and everyone was having a direction to go. Not me. I was looking for that paper that said BBOY ATA on. After 10 minutes i was alone outside and it was at least +40 dry heat outside. Well after a good 35 minutes outside without water and without local money i realized that there is no one coming to get me to the hotel from here. Well i had to call the "assistant". She tells me "ouh you are there??? Ok, i will get someone to get you from there" witch is cool. After another 30 minutes 2 young bboys and one girl comes and picks me up finally. Off to the Hotel..
Q: How is it, do people always pick you up from the airport???
A: Well yes. It depends. If i go to a country were i do not speak the language and so on its kinda mandatory to get a guest as secure as possible. I mean i am not 3 years old i can take care of my self but as a guest you are supposed to be picked up from the airport. If nothing else been planned.
Anyways arriving to the Hotel i see my friends( the other judges). There is friend from Denmark, from France and from moskow. Also a Dj from France. With many locals affiliated with the event. Im happy and feel good about being at a place i can rest and lay my hat down.
Every one is Dying to get food. After a long plane ride you want to refill your system with sum good food and drinks. Little did i know. We get the food and its really not that much. Its appetizers with sum drinks. Im thinking "ouh its cool, we gonna eat a lot here anyway". Still hungry but i feel Ok.
We go out to the jam. As soon as we come out of the bus a lot of bboys and bgirls jump up from their seats and greet us. They take pictures and wants to say hello. Feel so crazy every time this happens. They look at you and just hope that you are a nice enough to speak with them. It means the world for them.
Q: So you are like a superstar???
A: Well the Scene that im in is very small. This Hip Hop dance we do and the culture we live is about skills and style. For these people im famous because ive been in youtube clips and done sum big battles and worked my way up to the hall of fame. But to me im glad people recognize my work and looks up to me and like it or not its flattering to have people come up to you and say "wow you are my biggest hero, you changed my life". Its just what you do with it. For sum countries i feel like i have have it so much easier to practice my skills and travel and everything, then most of the people. I mean looking at it from a health perspective. Finland right now as the number one country to live in the world the health care is so good compare to ghettos around the globe. And thats just one example. I think you get my point. Some of these people dont have anything. Yes breaking and dancing in general is free, but its still sum of the experience you need to get better costs a lot of money. Well its common sense.
So every time you see these people giving them a lil time and a take photo with them gives them inspiration to go on for a long time. And its also for respect. People just want to show their respect and giving it back makes it what this culture is about. I have worked very hard for this, but i have also been very lucky.
So the first day is mostly qualifications to the next days to come. There are many categories at this event.
There was a toprock, footwork, crew, 1 vs 1 competition .( Different categories with in the dance) . Also for the french guy to judge new style and house. So you can imagine a lot of people showed up to compete. And all of the people payed to get to compete.
Right now the hunger is getting the best of us. The day has been very long and we only ate the appetizers. Wow. And getting a bottle of water was a battle sometimes. So we are still keeping everything inside as in hunger and a lil bit of anger. The jam takes a lil break and we ask for food.
I think we asked food for like 4-7 times and every time some one said 10 minutes. We asked for sum beers because it was a festival area and they told us that they are not going to buy us alcohol. Witch is 100 precent understandable. We got our beers from other people while waiting for the food. Little did i know when they said because we are judges we can not drink alcohol at all. Our purpose was not to get super drunk just to get sum to relax. Well anyways its all good. We continued to judge and when the competition was done we finally got sum food. After 3 hours of " Ok, 10 more minutes ".
The food is basic pork meat on a stick and bread. So called festival food. Understandable. But water was no where near at that time. Everything was cool but not for the people that did not eat meat. After a long day like that just bread aint gonna do it. You feel me?.
Well we cleared out that everything came with a delay because we asked around for food and drinks from 4 different people with in the organization. Understandable. And we came to a deal that we only ask from the "assistant" because she is in charge for us. Which we understand and respect.
And when we saw the organizers and everyone drinking we said to our selves that i think its Ok if we have a couple of beers too. Was kinda hard without any local money:).
We head back to the Hotel with jokes like "hey can we go to a drive by mcdonalds" hahah.
Day 2.
After having dreamt the whole night about mcdonalds we got sum lunch at the hotel. Because we were so hungry still from the other day we just decided that we order sum food from the menu and not just eat the appetizers. The food was Ok and the feeling went up a notch. The event was about the same as the day before. Many talented dancers. We started having the same problems again. With water and food and just information. Our bodies was not feeling good. The event went trough and we started getting more angry about the hosting at the event. We are waiting again for hours for the food and when we ask for BASIC stuff we just get the "eye rolling, you demand so much type of body language". Kinda kills the mood if you ask me. Well finally the people tells us that there is food. We jump straight out of the chairs and run into the food. Little did i know. It was the same festival food. Cold pork and bread with a plate with sum ketchup. Crazy. I felt extremely bad for french guy who did not eat meat at all. Bread with ketchup to him again. We were not happy. But they told us everything is closed.We were like OK i guess.
After a while we got so frustrated that we had to have discussion with the assistant in charge. Wow.
She was not happy. We demanded so much and we are causing a problem. I guess so. After getting angry we started getting beer and water. Feels so stupid inside me that we had to get mad to make things work. We had a nice discussion and we were Ok after that. We gave it a change. Well to make things easier we asked if we can get the money for judging now so we can take care of the food and drink thing our selves. They said Ok no problem the money is with you tomorrow morning. We cheered and gave it a smile. The night went like the night before. But with more bread and cold meat inside the system. The mood starts to change.
Day 3.
We wake up and the food is the same. From the menu because we are so damn hungry.
We had a talk with the assistant who is our boss and the one who invited us there. She tells us that the big boss is not really paying for anything that she is paying for everything from her own pocket. Thats crazy we said. She has put a lot of her own money in this festival as in visas and plane tickets for people who did not even make it for sum visa problems. So we felt bad for her. But then again we started to get stressed about our money. So surprise there is no money for us that morning like they promised. Everything starts to fall apart. And the main boss is chilling in the back round not even talking to us. Not even saying hello and not even looking us in the eyes. He had something else to figure out i guess.
Well on our way to the event the traffic got jammed for a minute or two because there was a Lada car straight up on fire. The car was burning so much and the tires was exploding and all the people was running away from the car in fear of an big explosion. That was crazy, i try to get sum pictures here later.
Anyways when we arrive to the event we all agreed that if we do not get the money today we are not judging because we do not trust the big boss with this anymore. Ouh and yeah i forgot to tell you that we skipped lunch this time because we were in a hurry. :O
After a while we got the BIG news. We are not getting any money. Nobody is getting any money. The Djs are not getting any. The dancers are not getting any prize money and the technicians are not getting any money. All hell broke loose. We just said straight that we are not judging. Witch ended up us explaining our situation to the assistant that we can not do this. I can not pay my rent or eat when i come back home. We are keeping our anger inside as much as possible. We were done from behind if you know what i mean. I do not want to get to into this what was said and what was done. We decided to walk to the nearest restaurant what was open even though everything was supposed to be closed.
We ate there in the courtesy of our "boss" the assistant. We finally got sum nice warm food. Was nice.
Of sum reason one of the judges got his money and was asked to go and judge the rest of the event. We other went to the hotel. Ouh and the funny part is that on our way back from the restaurant to the event to catch the bus the security guys decided to empty the French guys pockets and backpack and take his small amount of coins. Wow. This was a great ending to us. Out from the jam, back to the hotel.
Q: You must be very angry??
A: Well to be honest im a lil sad.
Sad that because of the language barrier some of the things got bigger then it was. Trying to explain in english was more like trying to explain in body language. And its no ones fault. its just the way it is. And sum cultural differences makes things harder then it is but they are understandable. But im mad for the people entering the competition.
Paying to enter the competition and not getting any prize money. Yes its not always about money but hey come on. The big boss walking around with his armani shirts getting all the money and kids doing this for the love of it. Give them a break too. Its principals. For sum yea for sum no.
And im mad at the BIG BOSS for being there and never opening his mouth or eyes to us. A lot of other people didnt get payed either but no one really put pressure on this guy. Wonder why?? :O i think everyone can judge by themselves.
Im also sad about the fact that we are being accused for not giving our best at this jam. Not dancing for the people. i quote " You are here paid to dance " which made sense at that time. Or did it??
I can easily go and write to all my friends never ever to go to this country anymore. But i do this instead.
Everyone else can be a judge but still understand that i am not saying i hate the locals or dont ever go to there anymore. No it is a very beautiful country and has a lot to offer. My first trip sum years ago was the best i made this far. So i can not hate the place after this you know. I got more sense then that.
I might be angry now and say " i will think twice before taking another job there"
But lil did i know i should have been more open and understand everyone, right??
This is my point of view. I kept hearing that everyone is blaming everyone and suddenly i cant blame anyone. This just does not make any sense. But then again i am the winner here. I did not hustle anyone.
Well i got to swim in the sea and made new friends. Thanks to my friend from slovenia for keeping me company the last night. Good fella.
I understand if things are not clear in the organization but as long as its fair.
Q: What are you going to do now???
A: Well im going to just forget this situation and make sure it does not hunt me anymore. Im trying to get my rent money from somewhere and buy food with my mastercard. I live in Finland this is not a problem. :O. I learned a lot from this trip and i hope the people reading this will also learn something too.
NO HATE just appreciate and no hard feelings. This is not bigger then life.
Peace and please comment.
Dennis ATA Nylund.
