Orange, black, and yellow. German flags are stuck onto the side mirrors of almost every BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Volkswagen - the FIFA season is here and Germans aren’t shy to show some appreciation for their football players at all. I can gurantee that almost every chocolatier has a World Cup special edition, or a huge black and white chocolate ball on their windows. The party has just started and here I am, breathing the airs of Munich, the last leg before gearing up for Cannes.

One thing that surprised me the most is the ubiquity of nice cars in this country. The state of Bavaria (where Munich and Frankfurt are situated in) are the home to the aforementioned 4 car brands – 80% of the German taxis, tourbuses, and even garbage trucks are Mercedes! Imagine that in Canada? All of our transportations would be glazed with tree logs, diamonds, and maple syrup. Well, speaking of embracing national treasures that is.

It’s been nice in Munich. The weather has been very English, with sporadic rains every other hour. I did some sightseeing educational travels around the city and this is the beauty of Europe… you can experience the commercial and medieval gems within so much vicinity. Many of you have also commented on my Flickr photos, I’ve already organized them into sets (varied by cities) so take a look at the new collection of Canon shots.

A couple of days ago, I was contacted (along with everyone else) via email by one of our Academy tutors, Clive Challis, who heads up the Advertising course at  Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London. Clive wrote us a very entertaining letter welcoming and explaining the few bits of the excitement of Cannes - ”Get some sleep. Now.” He also told everyone to make a 5-minute video about themselves for showing on our first meeting. What an interesting way to break the ice, I’m sure everyone’s slaving away on making their first flash the most fascinating impression, after all, we’re all great products – it’s a matter of how we sell ourselves. I’ve also thought about the whole “Screw videos, let’s go with powerpoint” idea and just talk, lively about myself. But we all know that it would probably take 4 hours before I completely shut up so, I better brush up my artwork to get it ready for display on Sunday.

I fly into Nice tomorrow and I’m sure my eye will cling dearly to my laptop as I dish away all the last-minute touches.

So that was Clive’s project for us. Another figure that will be very important during our week at the Academy is our other tutor, Rick Boyko. Rick is the former Chief Creative Officer and Co-President of Ogilvy & Mather North America, and has been the director of the VCU Adcenter (possibly the hippest ad school right now) since 2003. Both Clive and Rick will be by our sides everyday as we race through the clocks to see and experience the fresh during the festival together.

Needless to say, I’m too very excited to meet and work with both tutors, to whom I’ve heard excellent reviews from. As well, the other 36 students at the Academy – I actually got in touch with my room-mate during the Academy; her name is Lydia, she has just graduated Brown University with concentrations in Media and French. Lydia hopes to study in Paris for her Master’s program, right after the summer. I’m so exhilarated to meet Lydia and share a cozy room with a Toronto-born American

By the way, some updates with the nightly events in Cannes:

The first night there (Sunday), an opening Gala will be hosted. This is the first large meet & greet party for everyone that’s attending Cannes.

The next day, a cocktail party will be hosted to welcome the Roger Hatchuel Academy students as well as the many company sponsors, many important figures from DraftFCB will also be present as they’re the sponsor of the entire Academy.

On the thursday, the Globe and Mail will throw its traditional Canadian Reception Dinner for all the Canadian Cannes delegates. I’m dying to meet the Globe team and thank them for the most generous support they’ve given to me on this trip.

And lastly, on the last Saturday, a closing gala will be hosted and this is when everyone will just go nuts, either over awards, soccer, or just excessive French alcohol.

Lots to expect, update, and document. But now, allow me to pack my life away and I’ll write some a bit later.

Running, running, running,

Jia.

Hiii all, I’m still alive. Just overwhelmed  by the travels I’ve been taken recently. Currently abusing the lobby wi-fi at the Holiday Inn in downtown Frankfurt – or should i catch the germans and pronounce it Bankfurt (yes, and lots of good looking bankers.)

For those who’re out of the loop, I’ve just flown into the beautiful continent of Europe and in a short week, I’ve already conquered… oh geez, germany, france, belgium, luxembourg, netherlands, and in two days, i dive into Italy. While I was playing on the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris (like a comfortable tourist), I spotted the Publicis HQ as well as an OgilvyOne. I WENT NUTS. They were right next to the golden flagshops of LV and Cartier, and even better, you are within breaths of the Arc de Triomphe. I was exhilarated. The glam of the ad business has never failed to impress. I felt my future in front of me, within so much reach. Hope, hope, hope. Good day.

I had been kept away from the Internet and after checking the spammed boxes of mail - there had been more speakers confirmed at Cannes! Ben Stiller talks about creativity with Yahoo!, Yoko Ono arranges one of her famous “Happening” with Grey, WPP Founder Sir Martin Sorrell discusses with Unilever’s new CMO… BEAUTY. Jeff Goodby will also  speak exclusively with the Young Lions Attendees at Cannes. I’m so excited to meet Jeff, he’s such a fascinating figure – co-founder of the successful San-Fran based agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. His father is a Wharton graduate and mother, an Italian painter; what a perfect mix for the business. Jeff himself also graduated from Harvard. Very legitimate for an ad man, haha. 

Another great news: there’s a coveted internship offered by DraftFCB for the 38 selected kids at the Roger Hatchuel Academy. Draft is the sponsor of the RHA and I remember watching the promo vid Draft Barcelona created.. back in grade 10 and i fell in LOVE with this shop. Please take a minute to watch the video here. I like like like very much.

I’ve been taking tons of photos and I promise to add more materials onto Flickr once I “stablize”, ie. stay in one piece and one place for more than 24 hours. I’ve also finished handcrafting my 250 business cards, very efficient with my use of time… laboring it all away while taking long-distance tour buses by the European countrylines (while everyone else snoozed their lives away).

MOREOVER, a Chinese blog is being prepared right now and will make its appearance as soon as I get a chance. Hope everyone’s been well and I’m gonna go get some sleep for Austria tomorrow.

Take care froggies.

Jia