Nung ho from Shanghai to everyone in Fiji and the Pacific. We are now half way through Expo 2010 and we have received over 3
million visitors to the Pacific Pavilion.

It’s unbelievable and we’re all so delighted about this as some other Pavilions from developed countries are just going over their 1 millionth visitor. The reason we are able to accommodate so many people is that we have a free-flow system and do not have huge screens with high tech visuals to hold the visitors for certain periods at a time. People enter and wander through at their leisure or just sit and ‘shoot the breeze’ with family and friends – and even have lunch in the Pacific Pavilion as its either very hot and dry or raining heavily.

The Pacific Pavilion is a cool and welcoming respite to all and now that we have entertainment and tourism presentations by Pacific country representatives, there’s an even bigger attraction, and a great marketing strategy for the region thanks to Andrew Nihopara of South Pacific Tourism Organisation who designed it. National days for countries are now happening at Expo and Kiribati was on parade on July 12 when Commissioner General Tarataaki Teannaki led a delegation from Tarawa to Shanghai and was hosted by the Chinese government and Expo authorities, and honoured for the day.

It was a moving ceremony for the small island nation to be recognised by the largest country in the world. Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Cooks, Marshalls and Federated States of Micronesia follow in the next month.

For those of us who are staying right through the period of Expo, you can imagine how our lives have changed over the months – the food for instance, way of life and the walking especially!

Back home most of us only had short distances to walk or the car was just outside ready to take us exactly where we wanted to go. Here, Expo shuttle buses are your only means of transport and staff have to walk to wherever they want to go as the buses
only run around the ring road that surrounds the Pavilions.

But it’s a wonderful walk with international Pavilions along the way, food stalls and courts, souvenir shops, outdoor entertainment and thousands of people everywhere.

Needless to say I have noticed many of our staff have lost weight since arriving in April and this has also resulted in a better health situation overall as sickness has not been a problem at all despite the Pacific participants having access to excellent health facilities under our terms of employment.

Just over half a dozen participants have required medical attention out of the 64 staff and 58 volunteers employed at the Pavilion so that says something about the change in life style for Pasifikans in Shanghai.

Speaking of change of lifestyle, food has become one of the major causes of loss of weight. Even though KFC is the preferred choice of menu for lunch and dinner and anytime in between for many of our Pacific family members, the distance to walk to get it defrays the fat value of the poor dead chook with its coat of many breadcrumbs, spices and oil.

The delightful and delicious Shanghai cuisine takes backseat to the popularity of the Colonel’s special recipe. But there are a few of us who just love the excellent variety of food from all around the world here at Expo. Food from Vietnam, Turkey, Danish, and African, Singaoprean, all provinces of China, Indian, Indonesian – you name it, it’s all here. There’s also magnificent fruit and vegetables available – juicy sweet watermelons and lychees, large Chinese guavas that just melt in your mouth (can you imagine that?) – except for the seeds of course – cherries and nashi pears.

And while it’s exciting to taste these treats from around the world, some of us just can’t help resorting to the humble meat pie at the Australian Pavilion, breaded fish and chips with a few prawns thrown in with salad and the homemade style hamburgers with no frills, just the lettuce, onion, tomato, beef patty and the sauce.

Please don’t feel “vomituous” (a former favourite word of the publisher!) at my ramblings about the not so healthy food mentioned above, but when you’re a long way from home for a long period and the food choices are richly sauced and spiced, the plain old pie with sauce is like a miracle – even if the little buggers cost us F$6 each and the fish and chips cost us F$18, we’re almost home when we indulge in that fare!

The constant supply of tinned tuna is also keeping some of us sane, and how delicious is that – the simple things in life, while not free, can still be like paradise.

Enough of food, but how about that other famous member of the food chain, who, I must say is lucky to be languishing in his aquarium in Western Germany and not in the Pacific – Paul the oracle octopus!

Dear Paul, you would have been a delicious smoked meal for a typical family in the Pacific, so count your lucky tentacles, all eight of them, that you brilliantly predicted the winners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and seven World Cup matches before that. Now you are ready to retire.

Expo, not wanting to be overshadowed by a mere octopus, has made you a good luck symbol and generated ‘Paul fever’ in Shanghai. Crowds have been lining up outside one of the Pavilions nearby ours for over an hour to get an octopus stamp which was designed on the last day of the World Cup.

Not to be outdone, Shanghai’s Changfeng Park aquarium is hoping to raise a Chinese octopus to also make predictions.

Just as amazing is some of the English that is spoken among our staff and Expo personnel and we hope to also bring you some samples of the Chinglish we have been experiencing, especially among the service staff.

Our favourite would be the friendly bus driver who, proud of his English knowledge, would say “Get inside’ when you stopped the bus to get on, and then say “Get out” when you have reached your destination!

Have a great month. Until September, zai jian from the Pacific Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010.