As many of you know, I have written and published a few books. One of them is called 'Theo of Arabia' and talks about my first year in Saudi Arabia. It is about my journey from Europe over Cairo to Riyadh, and from there to Ar'ar. In this book I describe all my feelings and experiences made in a closed to tourism country. Many people found and find it useful, and it helped them, because they knew what to expect when they moved to Saudi, and others who already lived or live in Saudi, encountered more or less what I describe.
The book is available on Amazon and the link is here (opens in a new window)
Some time ago, I had the idea of presenting it to the public in Guiyang. I looked and asked around to find the right venue, and someone recommended the 'C-Shop'. The 'C-Shop' is a creative space venue in the heart of Guiyang. I WeChated Karen, the co-founder and explained to her my idea. She liked it and asked me to talk to George, the CEO of the C-Shop. She passed on his contact card on WeChat and I presented him my idea. We met a few days later and went through the details. Since it was the first book presentation for him, but not for me, we had a highly creative brainstorm and threw various ideas on the table.
About ten days later, we met again for a rehearsal, the Prova Generale, as my friends from the Symphonic Orchestra call it. Besides George and the two waiters, two of my friends played the audience. One was Gerasimos, the percussionist of the orchestra, and the other one was Mi, a colleague and one of my angels here in Guiyang. All of them gave me some feedback and came up with more ideas, and I started planning the event immediately.
George took some photos of the rehearsal and posted them on WeChat to see if there's any reaction. Many people liked, reposted and commented on the photos. This was a good sign for us. Interest was there. Bruce, George's assistant, published the advertisement a few days after the rehearsal and sent them to me, one in Mandarin and one in English. We posted them on WeChat and watched them being reposted by many people. One of my friends here, Xavier, a Mexican, even suggested to launch a chat group on WeChat to advertise the event and my books. I thought about it, and the following day the 'Book Lovers' group was born. I invited a few dozen people, and they invited many more. The group has currently, after a week of the launch, 133 members and continues to grow. What was to be just advertisement for me and my books, turned into a discussion group. There we talk about novels, poetry, etc. The members are both, foreigners and Chinese, and some don't even live in Guiyang. I came up with the idea of starting a book/reading group, and many people liked it. So, in about a month we will meet for the first time to discuss Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
Yesterday, two weeks after the rehearsal, and a lot of work and effort, was the big night, my big night. We didn't know how many people would come, and estimated about fifty. Even though the invitation asked the people to book a seat, many hadn't realised it and informed me via WeChat, that they would come. Around seventy people attended at the end.
My partner Mi and I, went there earlier to set everything up and to welcome the guests. The atmosphere was very pleasant and cheerful and many people wanted a photo with me. I was surprised to see many Chinese who didn't speak a word of English. Word had spread and they got curious and wanted to witness the event.
After an extended photo session, George welcomed the guests and introduced Mi and me. We started by showing maps of Asia and Europe and Saudi to give the people an idea of where we are, from where to where I travelled and where the book is set. The Chinese are terrible at geography, so this was a must. Then I read various pages and showed many photos. Mi translated everything into Mandarin. The people asked many questions and the event ended after three hours.
We hugged each other with a big smile and beating hearts and congratulated each other to this success. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to go for a beer or two afterwards.
There will be a second presentation of this book, when the Chinese version is out. The translator is currently working on it.
Here are some photos:
The book is available on Amazon and the link is here (opens in a new window)
Some time ago, I had the idea of presenting it to the public in Guiyang. I looked and asked around to find the right venue, and someone recommended the 'C-Shop'. The 'C-Shop' is a creative space venue in the heart of Guiyang. I WeChated Karen, the co-founder and explained to her my idea. She liked it and asked me to talk to George, the CEO of the C-Shop. She passed on his contact card on WeChat and I presented him my idea. We met a few days later and went through the details. Since it was the first book presentation for him, but not for me, we had a highly creative brainstorm and threw various ideas on the table.
About ten days later, we met again for a rehearsal, the Prova Generale, as my friends from the Symphonic Orchestra call it. Besides George and the two waiters, two of my friends played the audience. One was Gerasimos, the percussionist of the orchestra, and the other one was Mi, a colleague and one of my angels here in Guiyang. All of them gave me some feedback and came up with more ideas, and I started planning the event immediately.
George took some photos of the rehearsal and posted them on WeChat to see if there's any reaction. Many people liked, reposted and commented on the photos. This was a good sign for us. Interest was there. Bruce, George's assistant, published the advertisement a few days after the rehearsal and sent them to me, one in Mandarin and one in English. We posted them on WeChat and watched them being reposted by many people. One of my friends here, Xavier, a Mexican, even suggested to launch a chat group on WeChat to advertise the event and my books. I thought about it, and the following day the 'Book Lovers' group was born. I invited a few dozen people, and they invited many more. The group has currently, after a week of the launch, 133 members and continues to grow. What was to be just advertisement for me and my books, turned into a discussion group. There we talk about novels, poetry, etc. The members are both, foreigners and Chinese, and some don't even live in Guiyang. I came up with the idea of starting a book/reading group, and many people liked it. So, in about a month we will meet for the first time to discuss Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
Yesterday, two weeks after the rehearsal, and a lot of work and effort, was the big night, my big night. We didn't know how many people would come, and estimated about fifty. Even though the invitation asked the people to book a seat, many hadn't realised it and informed me via WeChat, that they would come. Around seventy people attended at the end.
My partner Mi and I, went there earlier to set everything up and to welcome the guests. The atmosphere was very pleasant and cheerful and many people wanted a photo with me. I was surprised to see many Chinese who didn't speak a word of English. Word had spread and they got curious and wanted to witness the event.
After an extended photo session, George welcomed the guests and introduced Mi and me. We started by showing maps of Asia and Europe and Saudi to give the people an idea of where we are, from where to where I travelled and where the book is set. The Chinese are terrible at geography, so this was a must. Then I read various pages and showed many photos. Mi translated everything into Mandarin. The people asked many questions and the event ended after three hours.
We hugged each other with a big smile and beating hearts and congratulated each other to this success. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to go for a beer or two afterwards.
There will be a second presentation of this book, when the Chinese version is out. The translator is currently working on it.
Here are some photos:
Rehearsal. Gerasimos and Mi.
Setting up and going through the details for the last time (George and Mi)
Mi
C-Shop gets slowly crowded
With a fan
With another fan
With Tian, friend of Mi
With my neighbour Cathy
With the accountant of my school, Easy.
With two of my pupils, Lilian (left) and Grace (right)
With Grace
With Miss Du, one of the receptionists of the building I live in, and one of my angels in GY.
With Power, a university teacher and owner of a language training school.
George welcoming the guests and introducing us.
Having fun with Mi
Mi's notes.
Presenting the team of the Saudi Mining Polytechnic.
Mi explaining everything in Mandarin
Presentation
Showing places
Audience asking questions
George asking questions
If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.
This is the book I presented.
No comments:
Post a Comment