I am working on a new website about our life in Sweden. The address is www.freewebs.com/realitywatch! It has both English and Swedish language settings. Please visit.

 

Maybe I should announce the news first: My wife and I are expecting a baby!

She is 18 weeks pregnant, but I haven't told anybody until recently since we wanted to make sure everything is fine first.

 

This afternoon we went to the hospital to do the ultra sound examination.

I didn't think much about it this morning, cause there were other things to take care of that kind of absorbed me, among other things the computer didn't work and required some serious tweaking. However, we managed to be at the hospital well ahead of time, something very unusual when it comes to us. I brought the phone book which has a map section at the back, and then we drove through the pouring rain to the other side of Gothenburg where the hospital is located. After that, endless walks through corridors and plenty of people we had to ask for directions.

 

When we had finally made it to the waiting room for the ultra sound scan, that's when nervousness set in. My God, I am going to see my child for the first time! What is he or she going to look like? What is the little bug going to think about me? Then I had to remind myself he can't see me, but it still felt like we were about to meet in person. There was simply no way to prepare myself for this.

 

The nurse came out through the staff's room where she'd been having lunch with her colleagues and entered room 2. She messed around in there for a few minutes and then opened the door pronouncing my wife's name with a blatant lack of insight into Chinese pronunciation.

We followed her into the room where all the equipment was turned on, and the computer screens were showing pictures of happy babies. After some confusion about how the nurse wanted Amanda to lie on the bed, she put the little thing on Amanda's stomach and instantly a grey lump surrounded by black appeared on the screen. I was terrified that the baby would look like that - a meatball! I was so relieved when the nurse zoomed in and we could see a little human being in there. It was very elusive. As soon as we caught a glimpse of it it swam away to the other side of the uterus, but we managed to get some really cute pictures.

 

In one picture, we could see two teeny weeny hands moving a little, and in another one we saw the baby's legs. But the most interesting picture was that of the head. The little mouth was constantly opening and closing and the nurse explained that it was drinking. Then we got a glimpse of the baby's face from the front. It looked exactly like a little alien with two big cavities where eyes were, and a little mouth.

 

I felt very touched by seeing this little thing in there. When we were driving home was I afraid we would have a car accident that would hurt the little thing in there or its mother, and I thought to myself, from now on we should always take the tram when we go somewhere.

 

Ah my little baby. Welcome to this world.

I got back to China on September 3 and was met by my loving wife at the airport. She came there to pick me up in her uncle's taxi, so I got the chance to practice my Chinese with him as soon as I set foot on Fuzhounese soil. The number of conversation topics that I can handle in mandarin has not grown much since the day I came to Fuzhou for the first time. I am still very happy if I manage to understand what people say after I ask how their day has been, or if they have been busy lately. But Amanda doesn't give up, and sometimes she says, with a sharp look on her face: "Talk!" It helps.

 

The other morning I got a phone call from a Chinese guy who seemed to have dialed the wrong number, something that happens quite often, but then this guy mentioned my wife's name, so I handed to phone to her and went to work at the computer. Two minutes later she came running in through the door with a wide smile on her face. I got a hug and a kiss and started wondering what I had done to deserve this treatment. Then she revealed it: She had been granted a Swedish residence permit. This was wonderful news and we were both so happy we didn't know where to go or what to do, so we just laughed for a while and said "Wow", "Amazing", "Fantastic". Afterwards, Amanda started her news agency in the bedrom and called practically everyone in her phonebook to share the news. It was great to see her so happy. We were really surprised to get the news so soon, as we expected it to take at least 6 months.

 

Now we are preparing to go to Sweden and there are loads of things to take care of. For instance, we need a huge suitcase for my little wife, or rather for her stuff:) I guess she will desperately miss pickled vegetables when living in Sweden, so it is a good idea to bring a bunch.

On August 15, I set foot on Swedish soil again. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for a guy who still considers himself a Chinese citizen. Seeing Sweden again after such a long time is an interesting experience. Looking at it with "Chinese" eyes, I noticed a few funny things:

1. The Swedes' appearance of innocence and trust in each other. When going to the bar to have a beer with a friend, the bartender took one glance at me and said: "How old are you?" I replied: "24". "All right", said the bartender rummaging in the fridge to find the brand I'd ordered. "I trust you." (In Sweden, there is an age limit for buying alcoholic drinks.)

2. The concern for others. When buying groceries in a supermarket shortly after my arrival, we asked the check-out girl in passing whether there was a restaurant nearby, upon which she paused the checking out of the groceries, leaned back and started to think intensely, totally forgetting about the 10 people standing in line behind us. After pondering the question, she came to the conclusion that this was not the case. She even bothered to say "I'm sorry", and this instantly led us to reply: "It doesn't matter".

3. The lack of people. The apartment where we live in Fuzhou is situated on the campus of a university accommodating some 30,000 students, so looking out the window at any given time of the day you will see a number of people on their way to class, to the dormitories, to the library, etc. My first night in Sweden was spent in our summer house in the countryside, and waking up the next morning I peeked out through the old window pane just to see a squirrel racing across the yard, startled by my movements. After that, not much happened. I think it is possible to spend a whole day in the countryside near our summer house without seeing a single person.

 

However, I had a good time seeing my family, old friends and acquaintances. The first week was really busy with a cousin/second cousin reunion, crayfish party, lunch and dinner with the grandparents, in addition to visiting a few of my old classmates. Now there is only one week left before I return and I am looking forward to seeing my wife again soon. 老婆, 我很想你.

 

I updated the photo section with an album from my first days in Sweden. Enjoy!

It's been awhile since I published anything here now. Many things have happened in mine and my wife's life since then. The most important thing is that we have moved to a superb apartment with 2 air conditioners, a living room, a bedroom, an office and a kitchen plus bathroom on the fourth floor of the building where FAFU's foreign teachers live. FAFU stands for Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University and this is where I will be working from now on. My wife will eventually resign from her demanding position as EA for IEN-start Institute and take up an easier job, but I also hope she will get enough time to relax and study more Swedish as our moving to Sweden is getting closer.

We went to Guangzhou last Monday to personally hand in a few lousy papers that we could just as well have sent by mail, but the consulate insisted that we go there and hand them over to them with our bare hands. For us, it meant 32 hours in a shoe box on wheels that was shaking so violently our butts sometimes lifted from the bunks (oh, I am talking about a so-called sleeping bus). Actually, the person who invented the word "sleeping bus" must have gotten something wrong; no regular human being feels like sleeping in a bunk the size of a wardrobe drawer, covered by a blanket that may have been washed the week before, in an odor like that of a pig farm. That is what you get when you squeeze 36 (or more) Chinese, mostly migrant workers, and a laowai into a bus filled with three rows of bunks in two levels. If a guy with smelly feet takes his shoes off, protests will be heard, and if the smell is suffocating - believe it or not - he could be asked by the staff to tie red plastic bags around his feet. And I shouldn't mention the bathroom in case some of you are about to have dinner. In one word: it sucks. Hmm.. Anyway, it is the economical alternative to flying, but next time we have to go there we pray that we will have enough money to take the airplane.

 

Now let's forget about the trip for awhile. The reason we are going through all this trouble is that we want to start our new life in Sweden.

 

I want to say once and for all how grateful I am for Amanda - my wife. She is the one who brings me inspiration to plan for the future, who gives me a reason to be happy when things look bad, and who is always present in my thoughts.

 

She has a frank way of speaking, and often speaks her mind, but always with a smile on her face.

She is not very tall, but her heart is big and full of compassion.

She is determined and always reaches her goal.

She is cute and makes me want to hug her every time I see her.

She likes to sit in my lap, where she is always embraced with love.

 

I will miss you to death when I go back to visit my family.