LOS ANGELES (Nettavisen): – It’s a bit cold here now. I have become a “local trophy”, 100 percent. There is no one who thinks I am Norwegian here, at least, says Markus Bailey with a laugh to Nettavisen’s journalists in the studio of the company PortalOne.
Wearing dark jeans, there is little to indicate that it is just under 30 degrees Celsius in the famous film city – which in the last six months has become the popular 29-year-old’s home.
And there is no doubt that he is embracing his new life.
– I have started to get a good bearing on horoscopes. I feel it’s a good sign that you’re well on your way to Los Angeles life. Now I know I’m rising to the aquarius moon. It has something to say for how I am as a person – I have heard, he laughs.
– Do not think it’s good for you
We meet Bailey on a Tuesday in the movie city, and after work he goes on a quiz. Because it’s not just horoscopes he is currently working on. He has also acquired a brand new, weekly hobby.
– I have started going on an English quiz. Which is maybe a little weird when you’re in Los Angeles. But I do that every week, go on the “British quiz on Tuesdays”. There are lots of Brits, some Norwegians, some Swedes and a couple of Americans. It’s cool, he answers questions about what he does when he’s not working.
Also read: Postponed medical check-up – then came the shock message
– There has also been a lot of drag brunch. It’s a lot of fun, absolutely beautiful. I would recommend it to everyone. Come to LA and go to brunch with drag queens – it’s a lot of fun, Bailey adds.
One typical US thing, however, he stays far away:
– I have been invited to SoulCycle, but I do not dare. It looks like a cult. I do not think it’s good for you.
In other words, Markus Bailey has not exactly been bitten by the spinning bacillus and threw himself into the popular training trend that a number of celebrities use. Nor has he been Pilates-saved, as he envisioned before leaving.
– I thought I was going to be such a Pilates guy and get really fit, but that … I’ve gotten bigger, I, Bailey laughs.
Grows as a human being
As mentioned, Bailey has lived in Los Angeles for just over seven months now, and makes no secret of the fact that he misses Norway.
– I miss everything that is at home very much, and I always think that I want to go home again. It’s a lot of fun to be here, but I just … Brown cheese, sort of. I miss friends and family. And brown cheese, the 29-year-old tells honestly and continues:
– And this is going to sound strange, but you are doing so well in Norway. It’s weird to be in a country you have a picture of that is so fat and beautiful, and see the huge differences over here, how cheap the world can be sometimes. It has been an eye opener. So I miss safe Norway – it’s so nice and safe.
–
As a permanent resident of Los Angeles, Markus Bailey has really got to see the big differences between rich and poor up close.
–
–
– There are such big differences here. And that’s fine with people. I think that is strange, he says to Nettavisen.
–
–
–
–
–
However, he thinks he benefits from getting a “reality check”.
– I think I grow very much as a human being by living here. I think Los Angeles puts things in perspective, and that’s fine. I’m happy to see how things can be, so I appreciate more how good we are at home in Norway, he says.
– Los Angeles is absolutely beautiful, and it’s sunny over here almost all the time. But everything else is better in Oslo. From an urban and human perspective, Oslo is a beautiful city. Fy søren, how beautiful Oslo is. I’ve become really patriotic. I’m listening to Odd Nordstoga, sort of. I did not do it before, laughs Bailey.
Watch the video below to hear how Bailey is being yelled at by random people on the streets of Los Angeles:
– Tight with distance
Markus Bailey lives on 60 square meters which according to him costs far too much in Los Angeles. When he moved, his girlfriend first joined, but she has since moved back home to Norway due to work. Thus, the two are now in a distance relationship.
– But it’s fine, we are good at Snapchat. I’m really bad at social media, and am not very good at following the phone, but now I watch it all the time.
– It’s hard with distance, of course, but we’re very happy. We talk a lot together, so there has been no problem. But it is clear that you want a hug at times, and you can not, says Bailey about the living situation.
When he’s not at a quiz, drag brunch or talking to his girlfriend, it’s PortalOne who gets all the attention of Bailey. The goal is for them to become the largest in the world in their field.
– When you think of film and TV, you think of Netflix. So when you think of hybrid games, you should think of PortalOne. It will be a platform where all hybrid games come together, says Bailey, and explains the whole concept as a mixture of TV and gaming.
– Gets completely noia
PortalOne has grown enormously in recent years, and has a number of well-known names on the investor list. Among others, Justin Bieber’s (28) manager, Scooter Braun (40), has invested money.
Also read: Ikea removed advertising with plugs for Cezinando
As the face of PortalOne, Bailey has during the time in Los Angeles met several of the investors in the studio.
– Scooter Braun is a cool type. Both he and Arielle Zuckerberg, Mark’s sister, have stopped by. So there have been some big names here. I feel like the jerk of the times when I stand with them. It’s very strange, but at the same time very cool, says Bailey, and remembers when Bieber’s manager stopped by:
– He was here and watched an episode just to see how we did. He was really cool and came up with great tips.
–
Scooter Braun is best known as the manager of the singing star Justin Bieber, but he is also an investor in the Norwegian company Portal One.
–
–
–
–
As Portal One’s face on the outside, Bailey himself has met the celebrity manager, and the two had a somewhat unexpected topic of conversation.
–
–
– He said that McDonalds in Norway was so good, which is an interesting thing to bring from Norway. That’s what you remember, sort of, laughs Bailey.
–
–
–
–
–
But even though there is a good atmosphere when big names like Scooter Braun come to the studio, Bailey does not hide that he gets a little extra nervous when he has to greet them.
– If I have to be brutally honest, I get completely noia. Because when Scooter Braun and Arielle Zuckerberg stop by … Well, there are Instagram posts from Forbes that just: “Here comes PortalOne”. And then I get really stressed by all that “hype”. But then it’s just to really deliver, then, says Bailey.
Initially, the 29-year-old will live in Los Angeles for a year, before he looks at what happens after that. One thing he is quite sure of, however, is what he will do when he returns.
– The first thing I will do is go down to the fountain on Youngstorget. And there I’ll just sit for a while and listen to Karpe songs. There has been a lot going on in Karpe over here, he smiles.
–
