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Coldness fun Off to Harbin Back in Beijing Snow and New Years To be Chinese or Swedish, that is the question.. Internet blackout My parents came, they saw, we all ate a lot, or - ... post from a while back.. MY PARENTS ARE HERE Take Out Boxes July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 Fortunes Can Be Funny Fortune Cookies  It's Chinese Take Out Time |
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - bleh. I hate this whole baptism by fire thing. I'm desperate to find an apartment in Beijing, because my relatives are just overflowing with goodness towards me, and I don't want to rely on them. I want my own place, my own private space. I feel like I can't even hang out with my Swedish friends, because that would involve going out - gasp! - and coming home late and I am after all staying at their place. Indefinitely, by the looks of it. And all because they're nice to me, so I can't bitch about it either. The 2-room apartment today sucked. The hallway was dark and disgusting and no security at all, and the apartment itself smelled of at least three different kinds of stinky. The worst thing is, it'll probably be rented out tomorrow. The housing market in Beijing makes Stockholm and NY look like backwater villages. I want my own place goddammit!!!!!!! I'm going insane here!!!!!! 2006-08-30 I want to call this a valuable lesson, but it’s kind of hard right now: The first evening, we – my cousin and my two relatives and me – go looking at a 1-room apartment near Beida (Beijing university). It’s 56 sq m, newly renovated and nobody’s lived there yet. The bathroom is almost up to Swedish standards. Amazing. The rent is 2000 RMB (1 RMB is around 1 kr), which is quite cheap for a Beijing apartment of that size and quality at that location. (Which is absolutely insane. That’s around what I pay in Sweden. But Beijing people, as I’ll tell you more about later, are quite rich. Some aren’t though, they’re filthy rich. Quote: “1200 RMB? That won’t even get you a nice dinner!” I almost choked.) It seems fine, it’s owned by an elderly couple who gives us until Saturday to decide. They say lots of big words about trust, them not having other applicants and them being an elderly couple not minding small differences in money, as long as the tenant is satisfactory. The next day we go to Beida to find out about off-campus housing regulations and ask another relative to transfer money to my account right away, and the day after that call the old lady in the afternoon, saying it’s ok and that we can sign the contract by Saturday. And it all goes to hell from here. No. She wants to sign the day after, or it’s no deal. And she wants half a year’s rent pre-paid including a 2000 RMB security deposit, so all in all 14000 RMB straight up at the time of the contract signing. When we explain we don’t have that kind of money right now – which is true – she says she doesn’t trust or believe in contracts, wants the money now and that we’re just making up excuses. After all, I’m from abroad, how can I have so little money with me? If we all “pitch in”, we can come up with the money, after all it’s not a big sum. (yes, that’s what she said.) Idiot hag. Yeah, CSN will definitely make you filthy rich.. not. She’s incredibly rude and seems blinded by the prospect of money; a contract means nothing to her. So I could technically pay her and then thrash her apartment, would that make her happier? As I said; idiot hag. She seems to be terrified of us cheating her and deliberately delaying her time. We get mad at her rudeness. We trusted her to be honest, not looking for alternatives, but clearly she didn’t or she wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to get the money. She’s contacted someone else besides us, despite her outright promises not to. My relative starts calling around all his contacts, cashing in on all his connections. An hour later, we have a possible lead on a 2-room apartment, albeit pricier at 2500 but at a better location. Later, we decide to go over to her alleged apartment and ask her to come downstairs and talk to us. This serves two purposes: One, we can find out if she does live at the address she gave us. Two, we show we’re serious. We call her and she says she’s staying somewhere else. She again demands the money the day after, says we’ve taken up her time for four days (Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday. That’s what, 2,5 days max?), that she didn’t say anything about giving us time til Saturday (thereby lying straight in our faces) and that she had someone else who wanted to pay the entire year’s rent at once in cash (did she ever think if the bills were fake? We sure did, we didn’t want to do that.). Again, more rudeness. We refuse to give in to her increasingly ruder and crazier demands and leave the thing open. Ten minutes later, she calls up basically to get the chance to blow us off, going on and on about cheating a poor old lady (the couple owns three estates in Beijing, I wouldn’t call that poor by any means. She’s not really a lady either. There’s a word that rhymes with itch…), insulting my relative on the receiving end some more. She gives the old b*tch (right! That’s the word! I’m afraid the government will censor my post if I spell it out though.) an earful back. No apartment, end of story, and with this turn of events, it was probably just as well. God, to have to deal with that old hag after all this would be a royal pain. So the search goes on. We’ll be less naïve this time, and not trust anything until it’s signed. If the 2-room apartment we’re going to see tomorrow looks good, we’ll probably take it. Otherwise, we’ll keep looking. I’m going to an agency tomorrow – the apartments are pricier, but there’s less hassle, unless the agency screws you over. As my relative explained to me: “That’s the Chinese for you. We all think everyone else is out to screw us. There’s no trust between people.” And at the same time, both my relatives have cashed in every imaginable connection today in the search of an apartment for me, spent time and money on me for three days now, and offered me to stay indefinitely. How do they know I won’t just take advantage of them? Or sponge off of them without paying or anything? They just know. Because we’re related. Inside the Chinese social circle of friends and relatives, everyone trusts everyone. Outside of it, nobody gives a damn about you. That’s how this society keeps going, because the circle will never be broken – you’ll never say no to friends and relatives asking for favors, because you never know when you might need one from them. And they’re the only people you can turn to and rely on to help you should anything happen. I knew it in theory and somewhat in practice before I left, but to see it in real-time practice… yes, I guess it’s a lesson learnt. To be a nice and good person is all good and well, as long as you’re only nice and good to your friends and relatives. If you trust anyone else, you always get screwed. Calls, money transfers, effort, time.. We’ve wasted so much on that old hag – if only we’d known. Yes, lesson learnt indeed. I still want to punch that old hag in the face though. And you guys wonder why I’ve been busy. I’ll keep you updated. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 2006-08-28 I’m now in Beijing. That should be a simple statement of fact, but the thought still gives me a rush of adrenaline every time it passes through my mind. I’m now in Beijing. The plane trip was an experience in itself. Some highlights: - have you guys ever flown with a Fokker 70 (I think that was the model number)? It’s the tiniest plane I’ve ever seen. Seventeen rows. Seventeen! - German is easy to understand when read and – sometimes – heard, but six years’ worth of German studies and I can hardly say a thing. I was able to say “I can speak a little German”, and that almost made me skip. To think, I was if not fluent, then at least able to communicate quite well within my scope of German knowledge once upon a time. For shame. - It wasn’t until I reached the boarding queue for Beijing at Vienna Airport, that I truly realized I was going to China. So many fancily dressed Chinese (middle-aged men on business trips with accompanying wives), but oh how Chinese they were! Walking onboard it felt like entering an apartment courtyard where people all know each other and spend their entire days’ talking and playing cards or mahjong. - Austria Air is pretty good at feeding people. Dinner, breakfast, snacks and plenty of water in between. Why is it that air plane refreshments always include tomato juice, when you don’t see anywhere else, let alone people drinking it? - Watched “Take the Lead”, a feel-good dance movie with Antonio Banderas and a bunch of NY kids in Harlem. He teaches ballroom dancing at a fancy upper-class dance academy, they’re stuck in detention in a crappy NY public school. He makes them learn ballroom dancing in detention and after the initial reluctance they love it. Naturally, they’re good at it as well. Ballroom dancing is loads of fun, and this movie only confirmed it. I want to learn how to swing now. Oh and also: the final tango scene with one girl and two guys – hot hot hot. The girl’s gorgeous, and so are the dance steps. Wow. - The obligatory forms for entering China are very, very similar to those for entering the States. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed similarities between these two countries before, and I have a feeling it won’t be the last. And the most ethereally magical thing ever: I saw a rainbow. And it was round. Can you imagine? Above the clouds, and against a background of a strikingly blue sky and fluffy whiteness is a luminous ring of rainbow. I had heard about such phenomenon, but to actually be able to see it… I’m so lucky. It was beautiful – quite small at first, a small compact glowing ring, that grew larger and larger. After ten minutes, it was large and already less round because of the changing clouds in the background, and after fifteen, it had broken up into smaller pieces. My only wish is that I could’ve shared this wonderful thing with someone, but skipping up and down in my seat proclaiming that round rainbows abounded probably wouldn’t have been very popular. After all, nobody wants a crazy person seated next to them =P As soon as I landed in Beijing I was on my feet, impatient to get to my relatives waiting to pick me up. Walking through customs was interesting, I saw quite a few Chinese in the line for “Foreigners” in front of me, so at least I didn’t feel so alone. I was the only one smiling though, everyone else looked bored. Pffft. Meeting my relatives went smoothly, turned out they’d been waiting at the airport over an hour. That was my first introduction to native Chinese society and culture – two people, whom I’d met once at the most, had agreed to take time off work, wait more than an hour for me and would let me stay at their house for the foreseeable future. All because we were related. When we got to their place, I realized that picking me up at the airport was really their minimum effort. I got a room to myself and new bed sheets – bed sheets that had been a wedding gift for them. Can you imagine? I was absolutely blown away. They’d only been married for a month, and now they were letting me stay with them, and they kept telling me I could stay there all year if I wanted! And meant it too! ------------ It would take too long to say all the nice things they’ve done for me in the span of such a short time, but suffice to say I could probably only pay them back if I took them sightseeing in Sweden for a month, me paying for everything. I haven’t been allowed to pay for anything when we’re out together, and we have been out together almost the entire time since I arrived. My first day, one of them took me sightseeing in the neighbourhood, and went wherever I wanted to go. Yesterday they showed me their workplace and today one of them has been with me all day, spending time, effort and money on stuff I have to do, like register at the police station and things like that. When I have more time (and a place to live), I’ll try to explain all this more adequately, but with so much to write about right now, I’ll save the compare and contrast essays for later. Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - The beginning. 2006 - 08 - 27 My trip to China has officially begun. I’m now sitting in Arlanda Airport, trying to balance my laptop on my – well, lap – while still keeping an eye on my stuff. Yesterday (after that hazy dreadful thing I did in the morning) was a quiet affair, just like any other Saturday with my parents. We had a nice dinner with four dishes and soup, which is a Chinese expression for a fancy meal. It’s cute, considering most fancy restaurant dinners I’ve been to in China have been with 20 dishes or more. My Mom’s cooking is infinitely better though. My Dad was in the middle of doing some serious car mechanic stuff on our Volvo, so he barely ate at all (for him, that is) before heading out again. After dinner, my Mom helped me pack my bag. Remember when I mentioned that I was all done and there was still so much space left over? Yeah, that bit me in the ass. Small assorted stuff that don’t weigh so much separately or take much space mysteriously become one giant heavy pile of stuff in a suitcase. I managed to fit it all in the end, but I exceeded my limit by 7-8 kg. I was really worried that the flight company wouldn’t allow it – usually, it’s no problem but sometimes they’re inanely strict. My hand luggage weighs a ton too, mostly because I have at least 10 copies of all my important documents (and they’re a fair stack) because they want papers papers papers everywhere you go in China. Anyhow, went to bed pretty calm and relaxed. My mind was occupied with all the practical stuff – it was like I was preparing for a task ahead and not the beginning of the adventure I’ve been looking forward to since March. Well, you all know why I’m not in the best of moods right now. This morning was pretty relaxed too – did some last minute packing, had a nice breakfast, hung out with my parents. It felt just like any other day, and it was absolutely wonderful. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, and it’s not often I’m able to have so much quality time with my parents. My eyes occasionally strayed to the blue sky and the fluffy clouds, trying to imprint them into my mind – it’ll be a year before I see a sky like that again. I also skipped a little extra on our lush green lawn, cuz it’ll be a year before I see grass like that as well. On the way to the airport, I also tried to notice the lack of people as well, because – surprise – it’ll be a year before I’ll see so little people again. (I’m not talking about midgets here.) All in all, I did my best to preserve the image of Sweden in my memory, because Beijing will be such a huge contrast. Note: two Chinese guys are cuddling in front of me right now. That’s so cute! Come to think of it, the entire group is made up of the gayest Chinese I’ve ever seen. We had dumplings as well before I left (naturally), so if Austria Air turns out to be crap at feeding me, I’ll definitely stay alive until Beijing. I also have a king-sized Kinapuffar in my hand luggage =D Every time I think about me, a Chinese girl munching on Kinapuffar on my way to China, I have to giggle a little. I feel so yellow! =P (incidentally, “yellow” in Chinese is slang for porn. Heh.) Note two: when my parents and I went for a walk Thursday night, we passed a playground with a bunch of kids. A couple of the more daring ones started calling out “Tjing tjong kines” – a play on how Chinese sounds – which is a childishly derogatory term for Chinese. We stopped, turned, and laughed so loud it almost echoed. Then I bowed low and said in my most respectful voice in Chinese: “You’re all so stupid.” There was a resounding boom of more or less successful imitations, we laughed some more and went on our way. My parents laughed because they didn’t know it was a derogatory term, and I laughed at the silliness of kids, but also in anger. How many times haven’t I been called that, had that jeered in my face and to my back as I passed by? And how many times haven’t I reached the painful conclusion that no matter how many years I spend in Sweden and consider myself a part of the Swedish society, there will always be a few who feel they have the right to judge that I don’t belong? When I was younger, and living in a small village in Skåne (south Sweden, very rural), we were the only foreigners, not to mention the only Chinese, in that entire village. Our neighbour’s kids shot peas at our windows to make us go away. We invited them over for coffee and we became best friends as long as we lived there. (Don’t get me wrong, they were still racist as hell, but they liked us.) We couldn’t invite everyone who wanted us gone over for coffee though. I remember so many times, bicycling home in anger and frustration over some derogatory comment, wanting with all my heart to be a whole person, one nationality, and not some weirdo split up into one Chinese and one Swedish part, which somehow was mixed together at the same time. One of the most common comments was “tjing tjong kines”. It wasn’t until we moved to Stockholm and I enrolled in Engelska Skolan with its 50+ ethnicities, that I gradually began to accept and be proud of who I was, and who I am today. So when those kids shouted after us, I laughed because of the irony: I’m proud of being Chinese and Swedish and I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I’m leaving for China for a year! But I was angry because somewhere deep inside, there’ll always be that frustrated lost girl on the bicycle, feeling small and unable to come up with a clever retort. Odd. It’s been so long since anyone’s said anything racist to me. Saying goodbye to my parents was remarkably painless. I think my parents, and especially my Mom, held onto the fact that we’d see each other over Christmas (the fact that I will probably be in the middle of cramming for my exams in mid-January didn’t faze the one bit), and it would only be a couple of months left. I had gotten used to the everyday life with my parents so much, I didn’t really comprehend I was going to leave them for a whole year. It wasn’t until one minute after we’d said goodbye and I was heading towards security that I began feeling teary-eyed. I wanted to go back and hug them one last time. Fortunately, I’d forgotten my small pair of scissors in my pencil case, and I had to run back and hand it to my parents (sometimes small miracles do happen), so I could indeed hug them one last time. Then my year abroad in China officially begun. Heading towards adventure… And last, but not least, quote from another memorable conversation with my parents: (discussing religion and me asking whether they’ve ever been religious) My Dad: “I do believe in one thing. Food! Food is food, food is good. I call it foodism.” Sunday, August 27, 2006 - tomorrow. again. uh, yeah, going to China tomorrow. Somehow I imagined I'd be skippier on this particular post. It's just that I vaguely recall something happening today that spoiled my good mood.. hmm... Alright, so I'm not good with sarcasm. (sometimes. Sometimes I think I kick ass.) I do look forward to China though. Problem is, I still can't believe it's happening. I'm going on a trip tomorrow, that's all I know right now. F-cking exam. Take care y'all, ok? Don't let my bad mood drag you down. Addendum: I also realized that I won't see my teddybear Jayne for a whole year. How can I fall asleep without hugging something? I've had him since I was 17, dammit. (yes, I was teddybear-less throughout my childhood and fine with it) I'll probably never be a tax lawyer. I'm too devastated to cry right now. I did receive one of the nicest compliments ever though, today. So maybe I'm not hopeless. Maybe I'll find a job in Burger King instead of McDonald's. Wohoo. Saturday, August 26, 2006 - tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Oh. My. God. My exam’s tomorrow. Holy. Shit. I leave for China the day after. Friday, August 25, 2006 - Länkdags Har skummat igenom svd.se och dn.se för första gången på flera dagar. Det här är något av det jag hittade. De flesta vet ni säkert, men ändå =) Den här filmen vill jag se. En filmatisering av Flickan och Skulden, kanske? Det kanske skulle kunna få fler människor att uppmärksamma det här på fler sätt än genom stora kvällstidningsrubriker. Frågan är om jag vill läsa den här boken.. en jurist som skriver om Stureplanbrats. Hmm. Detta uttalande får stå för sig själv. ” - Jag anser att vi ska värna om våra svenska traditioner, det är väl inte rasistiskt. Jag tror att vi i framtiden kan få nya svenskar som dömer i enlighet med sina traditioner som till exempel sharialagar och det är ett samhälle jag inte vill ha där talibaner får bestämma. Men jag är inte rasist, jag känner flera invandrare.” Och så säger de att kineser är otroligt traditionella av sig. Thursday, August 24, 2006 - year year year Turned my old phone on for the first time in almost a week and had received 6 texts, compared to none the week I actually had the phone on, lol. One fun thing about going abroad is postponing things in terms of years (at least one year). One text was from a friend who’s been borrowing some of my books for a year – we’d joked about me wanting them back at least before I went to China, but he’ll just have to hold on to them one more year. A couple of others from friends, and one from a guy I met and helped out once last summer who now wanted to have a coffee with me one year later. Eh? Still, it’s not often you can take a valid rain check for a year. Random observation: why is there so much white trash in banks during the day? Sure, I did see old people and occasional businessmen and women as well, but every single one my age had bad dye-jobs, five layers of make-up and interesting piercings. One of them even came with her dad, who was proper and well-dressed, but she had hair so white-blond it looked like an extension of her skin colour, up until her roots of course. OK, that was mean. But true, nonetheless. And I’m hungry and cranky and have had an upset stomach for almost a week, and getting seriously stressed about my exam. Oh, and me leaving for China for a year. Gahh. The word “year” has featured way too prominently in this post. Random fun involving parents: John Mellencamp’s ”Jack and Diane” playing on my computer. My Dad: I like this song! (This from someone who doesn’t know Elvis and only listens to 70s – 80s Chinese music, the music played in their youth. To their credit, they have heard about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and ABBA.) ---- Me telling my parents about a Chinese friend who now has a boyfriend, but doesn’t seem to be too serious about it. My Mom: “You can’t change boyfriends all the time!” Me raising an eyebrow – “..?” My Dad: “Yeah, Chinese guys could murder you if you break up with them. And Chinese girlfriends can commit suicide over guys.” My eyebrow remaining raised. Me: “Uh... I’m not really into Chinese guys.” My Dad: “Why not? Most of them are very nice.” My Mom: “You have such high demands! I’m sure Grandma will talk to you about this.” (My Grandma has, in fact, already talked to me about this on the phone. "Your demands are too high! You only want smart people!" Hmm. That sounds familiar..) This is a conversation that could only happen in my family. In short, my parents are awesome =D Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - Hookers and parties So Saturday was a real fun day. Come to think of it, every time I’ve left the house these past weeks, it’s been for something fun. Don’t get me wrong, tax law is still my passion, but there’s something to be said for wandering around Gamla Stan eating ice cream and soliciting an 18th century hooker. This week has been the Culture Festival in Stockholm, an ambitious project that aims at bringing high culture out to the streets. Most of it is free as well, which is really a nice touch. They’ve had concerts and night clubs the entire week, opera performances, really interesting lectures about Swedish history, theater performances and various other activities. I wasn’t interested in any of that though. I wanted to find myself a hooker. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Before any of you decide to never talk to me again… yesterday was 18th century day in Gamla Stan, and Alexandra’s theater group had been hired to walk around Gamla Stan as 18th century characters and interact with people. No matter how people reacted, they’d stay in character, behaving as if they were truly Swedes from the 18th century. There was an aristocrat, a policeman, a thieving laundry woman, a poor ill-treated servant, a Navy officer, and uh, a prostitute. Guess three times which one Alex played =D.  The tagline: “One riksdaler for men, two riksdaler for women, three riksdaler and I’ll do whatever you want.” (Riksdaler was the currency at that time.) (This picture took - I kid you not - 25 minutes to upload. You guys better appreciate it. Or you can raise your eyebrows at the unbelievable stupidity of trying to upload a 1,78 MB pic on a 46 k dial-up modem.) She wasn’t very cheap either, because apparently one riksdaler is quite a hefty sum, around 1000 kr today or so. In those times, the prostitutes were divided into better and worse classes (wonder who had the task of classifying them…), but the price evidently suggested she was of the better sort. It was really fun seeing her sashaying up to bewildered tourists, displaying the goods, as it were, (helped along with large wads of tissue paper, but hey, we can’t all have natural heaving bosoms) and trying to stay in character in English. Not altogether easy I tell you – I tried to inquire discreetly for her company in 18th century Swedish, but ended up sounding very crude and modern. I did get to slap her ass for 1 kr though =D Anyway, there’s nothing quite like soliciting a 18th century lady – and I use the term loosely – in broad daylight amongst all the tourists in Gamla stan. Good fun. After that I went back home to have a family dinner with my parents and my cousin and his girlfriend, which was very nice as well. She’s going to study in Europe this coming year and I’m leaving for China, so we had dumplings. It’s a traditional Chinese custom to eat dumplings before someone’s departure: they’re rounded and will therefore help you to roll to your destination. Conversely, it’s a custom to eat noodles when someone comes home: the noodles will bind your legs and make you stay. We’re a quite modern Chinese family, but this is one of the traditions we always honor if possible. After the dinner, I got a ride in to Stockholm City for a moving-in party near Odenplan. On that note, on the way there: there’s nothing quite as creepy as walking past a group of ten drunken guys on an otherwise deserted street, feeling their eyes on you the entire time. One of them slurred a hi and me, being the too-friendly idiot that I sometimes am, reflexively said hi back. This inspired catcalls and whoops and high-fives amongst themselves, and me wishing I was wearing a potato sack. Ugh. The party was great fun though, the apartment was small but really nicely renovated and very well-planned. The best thing was meeting old friends and acquaintances from high school, several with whom I’d lost touch, and it was generally a fun atmosphere. Some parties just click – the people get along well, nobody’s in a hurry to go clubbing (and consequently break up a good pre-party) and people are nicely inebriated but not completely drunk. The best times I’ve had are really pre-parties or after-parties, and I’m much more partial to those than clubbing. Good clubbing is a bonus, but you can’t beat a good house party. Maybe I’m growing old... or growing up. Heh. Right. But it was definitely awesome to catch up on old times with my best friend in high school and several other good friends, and it was quite funny to see their reaction to my China news. I felt really calm about it, but I think it’s because I haven’t realized it yet. I’ll probably stand all bewildered in Beijing Airport come Monday, wondering what I’m doing there. In other news, I’ve started packing for China. So far, I’m bringing fall clothes and about 10 boxes of chocolate (great gifts for both social and business relations – that sounded stuffy), and that’s pretty much it. I thought I’d have to leave half the stuff I need behind, but I’m pretty much done and it’s only around 13-14 kg so far. Even including five pairs of shoes, I still have plenty of room. I must be forgetting something. Suggestions? Music: Firefly - The Ballad of Serenity (because I'm wearing my Firefly shirt) Sunday, August 20, 2006 - A great day I've had such a fun day today. Thank you, you all know who you are! I'll blog about the highlights later, but just thought I'd try to transfer the huge smile on my face to cyberspace. Oh, and best quote of the day (and there was some fierce competition, mainly from the same source): "I'm nice and proper and well, slutty" It wasn't so much the quote itself but the way it was said, like it was something completely natural and logical. When said like that, it made perfect sense. Music: Liz Phair - H.W.C. (Believe me, it fits today's theme) Saturday, August 19, 2006 - Busy busy So this week was supposed to be a quiet week of studying, occasionally meeting friends, and preparing for my trip. My last week of repose before really getting busy with going to China and my exam. That’s when I got a call about an unexpected couple of days of work, so for the past few days I’ve been working during the day and studying during the night. I vaguely recall some sleep time in-between as well. I love it! People often see me as a disciplined person, but there’s a trick behind it. See, I’m never more efficient than when my schedule’s full, I’m almost stressed to tears, and I barely have time to eat and sleep. Wacky hours help too, such as studying till 6 AM, sleeping till 12 AM, wake up stressed out because half the day’s gone, repeat. (I’ve been really good these past weeks though, sleeping around 2 AM and getting up around 8 AM.) So in addition to working and making some extra money, I have also studied nearly as much as I would’ve without working. All this makes me feel productive, which makes me want to study more, and it just becomes a hectic, rewarding cycle. I guess you could say I create the right conditions for me to become disciplined. Of course, none of this would be possible without my trusty caffeine pills, which I know sounds really scary but is really healthy. If I didn’t have those, the coffee I would have to drink would probably burn a hole in my stomach. Hey, I can’t help that if given the opportunity, I sleep like a baby, as in at least 11 hrs per night. The people I work with also happen to be the best ever. Lawyers are by default highly competitive, intelligent people with a certain mindset, and when you stick a bunch of them together, problems can occur. I’ve sometimes thought that Law would be the best profession in the world if it weren’t for all the lawyers. Mind you, I still think it’s the best profession in the world, but some things surrounding it could be better. These lawyers are smart, focused and ambitious, but they’re also relaxed, fun and easy-going. And everyone’s so incredibly nice! I feel really lucky for getting this opportunity, and I’m really, really going to make the most of it. OK, enough gushing. Had to be done. They’re awesome and I’ve had such a good time this week, even though I haven’t slept more than 6 hours per night since Sunday. I’m really gearing up for China now. Mentally, that is; physically, I haven’t even packed yet. But I’m trying to fully comprehend the fact that I’m going to be on my own for a whole year in a strange and foreign country, and what that will entail. I think it’s interesting how my expectations differ from those of other exchange students. Most people have sky-high expectations and wonderful images in their head, and can’t wait to experience all the amazing things that await them. I’m much more realistic. My parents’ warnings are certainly a significant reason, because they’ve lived there most of their lives and are worried already about me being alone there for a year. Another reason are my own, albeit limited, experiences with PRC (People’s Republic of China) Chinese, which gives me an idea of how completely different the culture and customs are. The third reason is my own memories of the huge contrast in environment and living standards compared to the West, but I’ll probably be a little stunned when I get there anyway. Sure, you can remember and imagine a city with 12 million people, traffic noises day and night and distinct odors here and there, but it’s another thing altogether to be smack in the middle of it. So I’ve heard a lot of cautioning from my parents lately, about everything from the food to traffic to personal safety. I asked my Mom a while ago why she only talked about the negative things, and her answer made perfect sense: she doesn’t need to tell me about the positive things, because I’ll discover them by myself. It’s true, whereas the opposite would be decidedly less pleasant. I’m aware that I’ll probably still get disappointed and experience a few nasty surprises, but hopefully they won’t be as many now. And this way, all the positive things will be even better. So please understand: I’m thrilled to death and incredibly excited about going to China. It still feels a little unreal, but I’m convinced I’m going to have an amazing year. And you guys know me – I’ll be jumping up and down with excitement over everything and anything, despite my somewhat sober attitude at the moment. I just want to be as prepared as possible. I also had sushi dinner with Mathilda Tuesday, which was awesome. We went to our friends’ sushi place, and she spoke some Chinese with them. She might think her Chinese is rusty, but her pronounciation is really flawless. I’m convinced it’s because of all the singing she does and for those of you in Sweden and Uppsala this fall, if you see anything with the word artymoves on it, don’t miss it. I can’t recall ever seeing a better live performance and the music’s so good too. (I know this turned into an ad, but I’m saying all of this for free. They’re just that good.) Me motioning “13” by putting up ten and then three fingers half a meter from Mathilda’s face – Mathilda: “12?” Later, after explaining that she’s effectively blind without her contacts – Mathilda: “You look really good!” Me: “Yeah, but that’s cuz you’re blind.” Music: Liz Phair - Extraordinary Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - Zai jian Uppsala Full of delicious cheese cake and slightly queasy from the cholera vaccine I just drank, I figure now is a good time to reflect upon my day. I said goodbye to Uppsala today. I went there to take care of the last stuff with my apartment, and to meet my friend Saga, who’s recently come home from one semester abroad in Australia. When we last met, before she left, we thought it would be 1,5 years before we saw each other again, but she came home earlier than expected so we had a chance to say goodbye again before I depart for China. I drove to Uppsala, and was halfway past my old neighbourhood Döbelnsgatan when I realized I wouldn’t see this town again for at least a year. When a thought like that crosses your mind, it’s like you’re suddenly hyper-sensitive. I noticed all the characteristics of Uppsala around me – the bicyclers, the grand old buildings, the smartly dressed students and the narrow streets. Before summer I was getting tired of the town, having lived here for three years and all. But after only a few months’ absence, I was once again struck by the beauty of Uppsala. Of course, it certainly helped that it was a lovely late summer day, sunny and slightly breezy. The castle was as pink as always, and the students sitting on the stairs of Carolina Rediviva somehow epitomized the spirit of Uppsala for me. I kept driving on cobblestone streets past the University building, turning and then heading for Ekonomikum and my apartment. I’ve bicycled countless times on each of the streets that I saw, but when I thought about not seeing those streets for a year, I suddenly wanted to do it all over again. (But then I’d probably get tired after a while and start complaining about Carolinabacken. As it should be.) So many memories! I parked and strolled down Sysslomansgatan to the vaccination clinic, past the ICA grocery store I always shopped in (I’d never shop at Konsum!), past my local video rental store, and then, in all its parking house glory: V-Dala. The people are the best ever, but in my humble opinion, that is precisely why we’ve been blessed with such an atrocious building. If we’d had the Snerkes building, people wouldn’t want to join the other nations. (Yes, I’m a bit nationalistic on this issue. Heh. That was bad – but you laughed too. Well, you chuckled at least. Ok, you definitely smiled. The corners of your mouth turned up very distinctly.) After the vaccination I strolled around in the town center, pausing on one of the bridges to admire the view of the river and the Cathedral. The river was filled with lily pads and the occasional traffic sign, but I didn’t see any bikes. Oh well, you can’t have it all. The Cathedral is truly beautiful. I’m blessed to have been able to live and study in a town like this. I have of course thought this on numerous occasions, but really: I’m blessed. And not only is the town itself beautiful, with pretty old buildings, parks and cozy little streets, the student life is uniquely wonderful as well. What more could you ask for? So for those of you returning to Uppsala: stop on one of the bridges some day and take an extra look at the Cathedral for me. I’m going to miss my town. “… I Domkyrkans skugga, i staden som en gång var världens nav.” I read that line somewhere once, and that’s Uppsala for me. But I'll see it again - after all, that's what goodbye in Chinese literally means. Sunday, August 13, 2006 - My Sunday morning Highlights of my morning: (And remember, all of this is said in English with a slight Chinese accent) My Dad on going downstairs to vacuum – “I have seven steps of stairs. On each step I will stop one minute and consider my decision for the next step, and collect sufficient data before making my decision.” After ten minutes of decision-making, my Mom attempts to push him down the stairs. (it’s not as bad as it sounds, it’s like a six-year old trying to budge a sturdy grown-up) I intervene, which leads to: “I have a Red Guard! I have a guard in a red T-shirt, and that is a Red Guard. Who has a Red Guard? Chairman Mao!” This is followed by him impersonating Chairman Mao for ten minutes, giving a rousing Communist speech in English. It’s the year 1966, the glorious Culture Revolution is about to begin, etc etc. Though I’m pretty sure Chairman Mao never said “I am the god of gods”, at least not publicly. After ten minutes, my Mom without looking up from tending her flowers: “My orchids are so pretty!” My Dad and I both start laughing at her obliviousness. Finally, my Dad thanks his faithful audience by pretending to be a Swedish TV-show host. Going down the stairs, the final words are: “This is your last opportunity to see my face!” One step later: “This is your last opportunity to see half my face!” One step later: “Really, I’m going!” I love my parents =D Oh, and he vacuumed for about five minutes and is now running around annoying my Mom again. Saturday, August 12, 2006 - nya ABL Två veckor innan tentan får jag reda på att jag ska tentera på nya ABL. Har alla vetat om det här förutom jag? In English: I'm. so. screwed. Friday, August 11, 2006 - Money, Movie and Motorcycle Man, I’ve had an awesome day. Or rather, an awesome evening. Or rather, the last 40 minutes before typing this have been epically awesome. The day was nothing special, woke up, had a mixed breakfast of chips, milk and grapes (yep, I’m getting into my cramming mode) and began studying. Took a few breaks, studied some more, you get the picture. My Mom came home late because she was busy at work, almost 9 PM, and we had a late dinner. First awesomeness after that: A few months ago, I helped my dad file a case against his car dealership. Today, the car dealership agreed to reimburse half the sum we requested. Power to the people! (I jumped around, hands in the air, shouting that for a good fifteen minutes. I even got my Mom to join in. Imagine two short Chinese jumping around, laughing and shouting) It’s a pretty decent sum too, and we may get the other half when the case is settled in court. Power to the people! Or hell, just Power to me! Weeeee! Second awesomeness: going to Alex’s boyfriend’s place for a late movie night. To watch Eurotrip. We were four people in total, and I was quite curious as to what the others would think of it. I’ve watched it enough so I’m chuckling at every single line, but they weren’t as big fans. I guess I have to accept the fact that not everybody thinks it’s the greatest movie of all times. (OK, I don’t either, but it is pretty good. Pretty damn good!) Hee, I’m in a silly mood tonight. The place was amazing anyways, a huge, spacious five-room two-story apartment at one of the best addresses in the city which he shared with several other people. I’m so bummed I’m missing their moving-in party. Alex was wonderful as always and said she’d cheer me up by taking me dancing every single night next week. Now that’s a good friend =D Third and most awesome awesomeness of them all: I got a ride home on her boyfriend Björn’s motorcycle. He was so kind, explaining how I should sit, that I didn’t need to be afraid and that I was to tell him if we were going too fast. Me, I could hardly wait to get onto the motorcycle. I had taken a few short trips on Maria’s before, and loved it. And because he’s just as awesome as Alex, he took the scenic route through the Stockholm night, past night clubs, the royal castle, over several of the bridges that span the inner city and across entire Södermalm. There was a bright full moon, all the glittering city lights were reflected in the water and there were plenty of people afoot, making the most of this wonderful, warm Swedish summer with it’s wonderful, warm summer nights. I’ve always enjoyed summer evenings in Stockholm, walking along the water and admiring the beauty of the city, but experiencing it all on a motorcycle is a whole new experience. We weren’t going fast at all, exactly according to speed limit which meant mostly 30 or 50 km/h, but the rush of air, the way the motorcycle takes the curves, and the entirely different point of view… I thought it wouldn’t be much different from being in a car, but in a car, you have walls around you and a roof over your head, and your view is limited to the windows and mirrors. On a motorcycle, it’s just you and the road. You’re so close to it all – the people, the streets, the sights – but yet you’re in another world as you’re whooshing past them. Someday, somehow, I’m going to have a motorcycle, and I’m going to take a drive in Stockholm city on a night like this. I’m going to feel the engine rumbling underneath me, I’m going to lean in good on the curves, and I’m going to accelerate and hang on as it shoots forward. And hopefully, I can show somebody what I experienced tonight. (Oh man, I can’t wait to tell my Dad. He loves motorcycles.) I’m going to fall asleep with a huge smile on my face tonight. Monday, August 07, 2006 - Sailing Random stuff about China: apparently, the toothpaste is really sweet there, and so are the chips and chocolate. I’m bringing three tubes of toothpaste with me, but I’ll just have to go without Swedish chips and decent chocolate for a year. I doubt I’ll lack snacks though; they’re myriad in China, just completely different. Also, anything Western is expensive as hell – the drinks in bars and clubs are on par with Sweden I’m told (this I’ll have to investigate), whereas Western brands of cosmetics and clothing are much more expensive than here. A pizza costs about the same as here, especially if you go to a cool, fancy place like Pizza Hut, and I remember last time I was in China, a KFC meal cost about 40 kr. Considering that the average monthly salary (in cities) is around 600 – 1000 kr, that’s quite a lot. All this has to be confirmed when I go to China of course, even if it means eating at Pizza Hut and KFC. *sigh* Arizona is still with me in some ways (sound familiar?). I was horrified of bugs before I went there, but after seeing tarantulas, palo verde beetles and tarantula hawks, the Swedish insects are too small and meek to be afraid of. (Though I did get bitten by an ant this weekend, and it actually hurt for quite a while. But Swedish ants are quite large and nasty) I no longer worship the sun, I don’t particularly want to get tanned and I prefer the shade more often. Also, I seem to have developed a higher tolerance for heat. Sweden is having a bit of a heatwave right now with temperatures above 30 C (that’s hot for Sweden), but as my Mom was fanning herself and complaining about the heat, I was completely unperturbed. Figures, the one summer I’m out of the country, and it’s the best summer Sweden’s had in years. And did the Swedish roads and parking lots shrink in the heat or something? They’re so narrow and hard to maneuver in, though I must say it’s nice to be able to walk to places again. Oh, and the milk expires in the blink of an eye, but then again, August is called “rötmånad” (the rotting month). I went sailing with my parents this weekend. There was virtually no wind, so we bobbed to one of our favourite bays in Mälaren and spent the rest of the day swimming, resting and reading, which is about all you can do on a sailing boat. The limited range of activities is actually one of the best things about sailing: without a TV or Internet, you have no choice but to rest and interact with the people on the boat with you. You can’t make too specific plans about going from A to B, because it all depends on the wind. If it isn’t right, there’s nothing you can do, so you might as well relax and kick back. You can’t make any appointments, because you don’t know how the weather will be and how long it’ll take you to get somewhere. And phones seldom work in the middle of nowhere. For me, there’s just something incredibly relaxing about letting go of my usual control of things, the only things of concern being the direction of the wind and how to position the sails. The world consists of only the deep blue sky, the billowing sails, the wind in your hair and the water below. Clichéd but true. I went rowing in our little rowboat as the sun began to set. The water was almost like a mirror, and all was quiet except for the occasional seagull and my mp3. That kind of silence is really quite extraordinary. I can scarcely believe that three weeks from now, I’ll be in one of the busiest cities in the world. I’ll always have people around me – especially if I live in a dorm – and there’ll always be noise from the street; people yelling, cars honking, and the general everyday bustling that is a city populated with 12 million people. It’ll be a year before I experience this kind of silence again, and it’s both exhilarating and a little daunting. Also: there’s nothing quite as delicious as fresh, sun-ripened fruit and vegetables from your own garden, or rather, my parents’ garden. The yellow cherry tomatoes have redefined my entire concept of tomatoes, and the dark red cherries are sweet and tart and perfect. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m going to leave soon or simply because it’s late summer – the most beautiful season in my opinion – but this past week or so has made me fall in love with Sweden all over again. |
