New home

I have about two weeks before returning home for good (or let's say for the immeadiate future) but bacause my lease here in Shanghai was due and could not be continued. They, the management company, claim the building is full, which I find hard to believe. But what do I know about anything anyway. So, I needed a new place to stay for 17 days. About. Thus this past Saturday I moved my remaining clothes, DVDs, books, Orchids and other things to a new place. It is about ten minutes walk away from the office, which, thus, doubled the time I need to get to work :o) Well, not really, since most days I need 1h 20 minutes to get to the mill.

But. Why didn't we pick this place two and hald years ago? Why? I 'm sorry, I don't have an answer to your question.

I love the light in this place! It is 30rd floor, and only downside is it only has a shower with bathtub. I do love a bath, but I don't like to climb to the tub for normal shower. Well, the window in the bathroom makes up for it. Light! Light in the bathroom. Me likey.

I immediately started to want one in home, too. Then I remembered we just bought a house with two bathrooms, one shower-room and two wc's and none of them has a window. Well, maybe next time. Which I hope, is never.

Guest room. Might not get any use if the ash keeps flying in the Northern European air space...

I am an excellent photographer, don't you start to argue with that. So this is a sligthly dark shot? I wanted to emphasize the tranquil atmosphere of the bedroom... No? Didn't think so. I love the almost meter wide window sill.

Plus the door men are were courteous, and when ever I have something heavy looking with me they bring it all the way up. I think I can manage here for few weeks...

What I'm not sure how to manage is how to get my 4 suitcases to Finland. I was sort of counting on people coming to China and helping me with them...

Oh for ash's sake!

I have no idea how many people are stranded because of the gigantic ash cloude which erupted from a volcano in Iceland. What I do know, is that your own worries are always closest to your heart. Thus, yesterday I was seriously p****d off at the Eyjafjalla. That's the name of the volcano. Volcano, which has pretty much closed the North European skies for days. No one knows for how long.

My mother-in-law (technicalities aside) was supposed to arrive to Shanghai today. And it would have been a bright, sunny, beautiful day to come. And I know she had waited for it. And I know it is not likely she'll ever come to this part of the world if not now... I have 16 days left. Eyjafjalla, if you know what is best for you, you start to behave right now!

Getting ready...

... to return to Finland.

Btw! If I ever move again, I will definately get a moving company to do it. It was so efficient, easy and headacheless, that it is definately worth the money. Not that I paid this one myself, but still.

Of course there are still the numerous hours of checking what will be taken, what will be tossed and what will be given away. It's not quite as fun as Sex and the City (the movie) made it look like, if you know what I'm saying...

And there was the trouble of deciding which things I will need in the coming eight(!!!) weeks. But now it is all done, and all I can do is to wonder how I get all those things I need in next eight weeks to Finland...

Vacationing

This is such a great great week! Yesterday I flew to Finland, and got to see my family and loved ones again. Today we bought a house, which, believe it or not, I have never seen! This summer I have bought a CAR and a HOUSE without seeing them first. What the heck is the matter with me? Well, I saw the car yesterday, and it was really nice, and the house should be great. J. of course has seen the house, and I have seen a lot of pictures. It is sort of in the woods (20 minutes from the city center). But then again, anything here is, if you compare it to our Shanghai residence, in the midst of buzzling Xu Jia Hui :o) But, it has got its own pond. I'll show you, later.

And the great week just keeps getting better tomorrow, when I head to Madonna concert with a friend. Friday is reserved for recovery and rest. Hopefully it will be a sunny day. Saturday I'm really looking forward to, as we'll get together with a bunch of girls and spend the day and night at a summerhouse by a lake.

And Sunday. Sunday we will move to our new house. Amazing. I am not sure if I can sleep there, though, without the constant banging from the metro construction site. 'Cuase there is no metro constructions site. There is no metro. There might be an owl or two. Or a fox. Because the deal was made already earlier, it was just waiting for me to get here, so we can sign the papers, we get to move so soon.

So there you go, you pretty much know where to find me for the next five days. After that, you can find me sunbathing by my pond :o) Well, not really, as work starts next week, and I have about thousand friends to meet while I am here, so no time for sunbathing.

Good choice

Did you know that as a teenager I thought I wanted to be a doctor when I grow up. A medical doctor. They do valuable work, sometimes even noble. Save human lives in hard conditions. And it is a "good profession" . And they make good money. And I didn't know many things a person could do.

But I never aspired that career. I got a Master's Degree in Accounting and Business Administration instead. Ended up as an auditor. That is SO not what I thought I would become. Even while studying I wasn't one bit of interested in auditing. I didn't really even took the audit related courses. Well, I still wouldn't want to be an external auditor, that's a whole another thing. But hey, good news is, I think it worked out for the best.

Let me tell you why. Firstly, on most days I truly enjoy my work. And still, I learn something new in ever audit. From selling of waste ash to treasury functions, and everything in between. And, my work takes me around the world, and I like that too. Occasionally, I am really really exited about my work.

Which is all swell. But why I really think it worked out for the best is this:

- When I know I have to go give a blood sample, I start to hold my forearms, in the area close to my elbows, to protect the area where they draw the blood. I do it even if I think about blood samples. I am doing it now, too.

- I nearly lost conciousness when a dentist took my wisdom teeth, when hearing the cracking sound of the bone breaking. After the procedure, in home, I was sure I am going to pass out from the blood loss, and J. will not come home before 6 hours later. Don't even get me started how well I handled the eye operation I had last year to correct my sight. The doctor said after the operation she was sure I will pass out in the middle of the thing, so white was my face.

- When I had a tic in my eye in May, I was sure I had a brain tumour (Google was a great help in arriving to this conclusion). I was nervous for a week and then when the panich grew, I went to see a doctor. Turned out I should be just fine, and the tic disappeared pretty soon after that. When my friend, who actually is an MD, had an epileptic seizure for no obvious reason, she was just bummed she could not drive a car for a while. Other than that, business as usual.

- Last time I was in Finland I went to pick up a dress from a seamstress. She, for some reason, started to depict to me IN DETAIL the blood disease her husband had gotten. The way he is bleeding INTERNALLY. How the blood is not coagulating (hyytyä, in Finnish) at all. How the inside of his mouth becomes black. I was standing there feeling horrible while she was finishing my dress. I couldn't run, but I wanted to.

I tried to concentrate on the sweet, soft ears of my dog. That usually helps for anything. But she kept going on and on about the blood. The skin getting dark brown spots, when he bleeds unders the skin... Oh Lord have mercy. Finally the dress was ready and I had to leave running out of the door. I reclined my car seat and sat there for 15 minutes breathing in and out. In and out. In and out. Then I drove home with an open window for fresh air, but still feeling very wobbly. This is one of the most traumatic events in my life. Ok, at least this year.

- But this might be my personal record. I watched the Simpsons, you know, the CARTOON today. Homer was suffering from heart problems. The heart was shown to pump in an erratic, frantic pace. And then he gets a heart attack. And I get dizzy. And nauseous. I have to lie down for a while. I certainly will not watch the full episode.

Now you see what I mean? It all worked out exactly the way it should.

Illeagal alien

Yep, that's me alright... It so happened that my working permit expired. It was completely expected, since it was a one year permit, and I got it year ago. But between all the changes in our life, travels to Australia and Finland I just didn't spend a second to think about work permit. Thankfully my residence permit is for two years, that I remembered.

I think we have a department in this company who is also supposedly responsible for that sort of matters, but when I mentioned that my permit expired.. errr... three weeks ago, they said that yes, they take care of those, but they didn't have my records. Hmm. If you have noted my records are missing, should you ask about it? Huh?

Anyway, we need to apply for a new permit, soonish, if anyway possible. I hope they will make a new permit altogether, as the photo in the current one looks like I am a Russian violin player from the 1970's. (Don't ask why violin, that's just how it looks.)

So I trusted the people in our company hired to take care of this kind of admin issues will handle it. But they soon came back to me saying that a new healt examination is needed. Oh. No. No no no no. I have not yet recovered from the previous one. And that was more than 13 months ago. No way I am going back there voluntarily. They take my blood, for Pete's sake!

"Can you recheck" I asked. "No one else has needed a healt certificate to renew the permit." "Yes, but it is because your permit has expired." The girl (well, yong-looking admin clerk) said. "I'm sure they will understand if you try." I tried. "No we need the certificate." She repeated. "Well, I am travelling again after one week, and I need my passport then. I don't have time to go to the health check, and then this whole process will take at least month more. Do you want me to work here 2 months without work permit?" I tried to reason her, in which time her superior came, and promised to check, but that propably the health certificate is needed. "You know, we don't have good relationships with that bureau anymore." She referenced to her predecessor, who was let go awhile ago. "We don't want to use that kind of relationship, right?" She now said. Wrong! As long as there is nothing illegal, no money or presents or anything like that, please use good relationships to make things work with the officials.

At which point I decided this important matters cannot be left for these people to take care of it. So, I asked my colleague to call to the bureau and ask if it could be arranged that I don't need this health check. Well, he called someone else (Maybe this former employee of our company who has good relationships with the officials. Maybe.), who then called to the bureau, and what do you know! It is ok, as long as they renew the permit within month from the expiry!

Of course, this all happened today (Monday) so I have not yet seen the results. But the learning of the story is:

1) Now this is important: don't believe the people you work with know what they are doing. They often don't go over their way just to help you...

2) Most things around here can be negotiated. So negotiate!

3) If one wall you blocks you, try the next one.

4) And don't forget: it really is all about the relationships, so try and build them. It might save you from a horrible stress and trauma brought by a blood test and a wasted morning in the Entry-Exit Inspection and Guarantee Bureau.

Trouble in my neighborhood

This is what they are planning to do to me: Open a Godiva Chocolatier less than 50 steps from our front door. Whilst I am alone in China? They have really done their demographics well...

And what would go better with quality chocolate than luxury-brand coffee? Like the famed "Louies vuitton Coffee". You haven't heard of it? I think that just shows you are not keeping up with the world. Ought to be shamed of yourself ;o)

Keepin' up the appearances

My Past Saturday I went jogging. I don't run much outdoors during the winter months, but the spring is here, and the blissful outdoor runs in Australia awakened the need to run outdoors, despite of... everything.


I put on my grey running pants and my new old rose colored Puma sports top and was ready to go. Except that J. said: "You are not going out dressed like that, are you?" "I sure was going to." "Chinese women do not wear pants like that. Shouldn't you at least wear your sweatpants?"

Err... I am going out for a run. To a nearby park. We live in a city where people go out in their pajamas! We live in a city where some of the girls in office wear the so called "come f**k me boots" and skirts that end 30 cm above their knees. IN the office. We live in a city where neon pink sweat pants and golden pumps are a disturbing, but not a rare sight. And I could not go running in my clean, below knee-ending pants and top which doesn't reveal anything more than my arms? I should wear sweat pants for a run when it is +26 degreed warm? Oh. No. No no no no no.

Sometimes I have got to wonder goes on in the head of that man of mine.