Let the Competition Begin

I’m still in LA and I’m still enjoying it! When I went to bed last night, I was extremely tired and my feet were hurting, however, I think that was a sign of an eventful and good day! The day started with team photos in front of Long Beach Performing Arts Center (where parts of the competition is being held). After taking pictures, we filmed some individual introduction videos and then we had a few hours off.

I spent those hours wandering around. I absolutely love to just feel and observe the city! I love Los Angeles (even though I haven’t seen much off it…we’ve mostly seen the hotel and the local shops…but I like the parts I’ve seen)! We ate lunch at Starbucks and then we went to a huge Pharmacy (which is exactly like I imagined a pharmacy would look like in the US). They had all those typical American things (which makes sense…considering the fact that I’m the US…but it’s still pretty awesome)!

At 4 pm, we went back to the hotel to dress-up and get ready for the big opening ceremony! It was finally time to wear my new and beautiful “festdrakt” (national dress) from Sparkjøp! Everybody on the team wore national clothes and we looked so Norwegian (a lot of people from other countries wanted to take pictures with us…which is totally understandable, because we looked stunning!) We walked together to Long Beach Performing Arts Center, where the opening ceremony was held. All the countries had dressed-up in amazing costumes!

We took some team photos (again), lined up and waited. It was really, really hot! We were all wearing wool and the sun was still up…we were tired after a long day and dying from the heat. Nonetheless, we stayed positive, took pictures and shouted cheers (in the shadow). And after waiting for a while, it was time to go on stage and show our costumes to the judges (which all the other countries did as well). During the rest of the evening, there were some performances, dancing, music and some winners were announced (the team-competitions winners from Friday night and the winners of the costumes…unfortunately, we didn’t win…). After all of that, I went back to the hotel and took off my shoes and dress (finally!) …and I fell asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.

The first round of the competition began today (Monday, July 15) and will continue tomorrow! Super exciting! However, I had no performances today (my age group is tomorrow), which means that I’m showing all my monologues tomorrow. I’m performing between 9 am and 1 pm, but I won’t know the specific times until 7 am.

Since I wasn’t competing today, I got to see a lot of other people compete! I saw some dancers, some others actors (in other age groups), some singers and some models, and there was so much talent! A whole lot of talented people, however, there were also some quite interesting and not so good performances…

I’m really trying to experience some American culture when I’m here (which is actually more challenging than you might think, because I’m busy with WCOPA stuff most of the time), therefore we grabbed lunch at Taco Bell. Unfortunately, I must admit that I was really disappointed. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t delicious (maybe not even good). Well, at least I’ve tried it…

I’m planning to take it easy and relax the rest of the evening and then I’ll be ready for tomorrow. I truly hope that I’ll do my best and really enjoy every second (which is the most important, because I’m doing what I love to do!) I need all the prayers I can get!

Like I’ve already mentioned a few times now, you can follow me (@huuscaroline) and the Scandinavian team (@wcopascandinavia, https://www.wcopascandinavia.com/ ) on Social Media for more updates and pictures.