May 2006 Archives

It is the last day of May,one month passed so fast again. I did not really realize it but time just passed by.
Tomorrow my friends in Beijing will gether together and go to a restaurant. I hope I can join too but have to wait or watch some photos if some of them take.
Miss home and miss my friends!

The weahter is quite good today,just hope it could be about 10 degrees more. (Now it is about 15 degrees)

I met my friend Lia today again,we met each other about once in a month.Talked about life in Finland and study Finnish language. Quite interesting! It is good that I can have some friends here,I will not feel too lonely and meet someone who has the similar situation,sometimes we could help each other. Anyway survive in a foreign country is not a easy thing.
I will continue programming later,hope today I could program something.

Trying to do some programming,but it is really difficult.Especially like me,not a proffesional programmer and not really study anything of it.First it is diffcult to understand it and second is difficult to find a feeling for it. Do not know much rules and tricks of it,then can not do much things.

I am still interested in it,but need more time to read and practise.

Yesterday we had some really tasty ribs,cooked in swedish style.While it is a typical christmas dish in sweden(as the cooking book said).
We just wanted to try it out. It was really successful,or maybe because there has been a little bit long time we did not eat so much meat(because I do not like the meat smell here).
So today it is kinda losing weight day for me,since yesterday I had eaten so much meat.
If any of you want I could put the reciept in my blog.It is really easy and good.

Day by day,now it is almost half year again. What did I do in this half year? What did I learn?
Sometimes I got very confused that what am I doing here? I keep telling myself that this is good that I have this chance to experience new culture and new enviroment. But except this what did I have more?
I do not want to complain and do not want to give up. The situation I have now is the same as lots of non native people here. Are they feel sad or bad or whatever as I had? So what is the reason that we are here? For a better life or a better chance?
I do not know and I am really trying to find out. Maybe this situation is difficult for people to understand....
Sorry for writing this today but I am really get confused....

This is my sister's little dog,her name is lulu.A good and funny name. But she is so cute!
Hope I can see her one day,I have to go back to China although I wanted very much.
Ok,good day to Lu lu and my sister!

I heard the news that a Finnish band-Lordi won this year's Eurovision. Eurovision is an annual televised song contest,I got to know it since I moved to Finland,because I can not see or get many news about this in China.
Well,this Lordi is a hard rock band and they dressed like monsters from hell.Very special and they sing in English.I can say they are kinda of Finnish national heros since this is in many years that Finland get into the first ten and even now the first one in this contest.

Ha....Finally get rid of the tiredness and get to write my blog. Actually I wanted to write yesterday but something wrong with my blog.
It was a good trip just the weather was not really good.Saturday it was raining all the time and cold. But the amount of tourists is not getting less. After one hour plane,we arrived at Stockholm.Well,travel in the rain can make the city looks different, or maybe more romantic.
We went to Vasa museum which inside is a very big old ship which sank at her first time sailing.It is huge and beautiful,I especially like the statues on the rare of the ship and also the color of the ship. Then not far from this museum we went to Skansen-the open air museum and zoo.It started raining very hard,but we enjoyed walking in the rain and smelled the fresh air....It was an interesting place to be,very relax and can be very close to some of the monkeys. The way that they enjoy sunshine was really funny,looked like they wanted to give the sun a big hug. Well,I also want especially during winter times in Finland. In the evening, we met some friends and had some traditional swedish food,meatball and harsh (diced potatos,onions,bacons...) The night was good just the hotel room was really small and also the bed...

Sunday, the weather was getting better,no rain. We walked to the old city center and visited the palace.So many museums there that one day you can not visit all.I like to be inside the royal palace and see all the furnatures and decorations... From the palace we just walked around and go inside one of the churchs...before we go to the airport,in a market we bought a swedish cooking book.I am not really specialy like swedish food,but it is interesting that visit one place then got some local receipes.
All the trip is good,felt and also heard from friends that there are quite big culture differece between Finalnd and Sweden,even these two countries are so close.

Tomorrow I will be travelling to Sweden for 2 days,I need to prepare things today about where to go and where to eat. I have friends there in stockholm,maybe I will meet them to have dinner or do something else together.
Hope the weather will be good for those 2 days,although I check the weather report it will rain....

Ok,when I am back I will write more about my trip and some pictures also.

I went to Ateneum Museum today with my classmates again. We went there today because the teacher said that today is a free entrance day.So why not? I have never been there although I never expect very much...
Well,it is not that big and the paintings to my opinion are ok.I am not good at art things,but some of the paintings there gave me the feeling that it is not beautiful or either meaningful.Maybe that is one of the reason the finnish painters are not very famous.We saw some famous russian painters' painting,the russian girl in my class was very excited to see that.Else was ok and not much people in the musuem,except us there are some old people.....
Still go to an art museum is a good thing for me,get more knowledges about art. But the most happiest thing is that after the musuem I went to eat sushi with a janpanese girl.I hope we can become friends,because I like to have friends whom come from different culture...

What will you do if you get million euros? That is a good question which I did in today's class. Some of my classmate wanted to buy apartment and travel around the world. Some wanted to help the poor children or old people...

I want to travel to the moon once and from there look at the earth,it must be very exciting and beautiful. And also I want to make my own film,since I moved to a totally different culture place and met so many different countries people,I think my story and their stories are very interesting and worth to make them into movies.Well,not hollywood type of movie,just to tell normal peoples' life,how they feel about the culture shock,how they try to survive in a foreign country...
Ok,I am waiting for my milloin euros now...

May is really a good month,that I know lots of people was born in this month.A spring month full of flowers and warmth.
My dear cousin Zhu bo ( we always call each other sister),today is her birthday! Happy birthday to her. And my little niece who is in Japan now,although she will not understand me now,but soon will be her birthday(she will be 8yo),Happy birthday to her also!

Also some other friends who has birthday in this month,happy birthday and have a really happy life!

Just having about 1 week good weather,now it is rain,rain,rain....
But it is not always rain,it is just showering and sometimes with sunshine,not see any rainbows...

Always like to see rainbow,so colorful,it should be seven different colors in the rainbow,but normally I just can see 2 or 3 different colors.

Hope tomorrow it will not rain but sunshine all the day even I can not see the rainbow.

Today is the Mother's Day,wish evey mother has a happy day!

Actually in China there is no mother's day,it came to China not long ago,but mainly has more commercial effects,not really a holiday.Like Christmas in China...
Any way now I am in a place where people celebrate it.Mother is great but difficult to be understood sometimes.Just like my mother sometimes said" you will not understand mother until you become a mother yourself."
Ok,happy mother's day to all the great mothers!

There are survey from IMD(Swizerland's International Institute for Management Development) states about the competitiveness of about 60 countries. In year 2006 the first 20 countries and places are:
USA,HongKong,Singapore,Iceland,Denmark,Australia,Canada,Switzerland,Luxembourg,Finland,
Ireland,Norway,Austria,Sweden,Netherlands,Bavaria,Japan,Tai wan,China,Estonia.
This rank shows that Finland went down from the sixth a year ago to the tenth. And also this year lots of big companies in Finland have to lay off workers,like in Nokia and UPM....
But interesting thing is that in the first 20 countries, the nordic countries are all inside.Maybe the coldness helps the competitiveness...

I went to the helsinki city museum today with my teacher and classmates again. Well,they are different classmates than the last time I went to the finnish history museum. I am just thinking that through all these classes I have met so many different people from different countries.

About the museum,we just mainly visited the old house of education history. It is about finnish education history,there are old classrooms and things that they used in the old time for teaching.Quite interesting,since I have never been in a chinese one or other countries,this is the first one.But this one is rather small and there is no one besides us...

Yesterday I visited some very cute website with all kinds of cute pictures.But most of them are animals.This reminded me of my "panda".She is a white rabbit with black ear,black eyes and some black spots on her back,so I called her panda. She is so lovely and I think sometimes she thinks she is not a rabbit since she wanted to have breakfast with me and she liked very much to be with people....She also did some bad things like bite the telephone wire then I could not make phone call;bite the thread on the clothes;eat some of my green plant....
Beacause I have to move to Finland,I gave her to some friend....But last year I heard that she is dead with reason unkown.
So if I have the chance to have another one,I will never give her/him away.

Today we have some american friends to visit us.While during the talking,they said they were feeling so much different between the american culture and the finnish one.They are getting nervous when the finnish people stop talking and not making any sound.(while in finland it is pretty normal) But I know that finnish people sometimes just said "oh,americans! talk,talk,talk...."
And one of my classmate is from Belgium and he said to me " ha,the culture is totally different than in Belgium." What? he can say totally different,what about me,someone from far away the east part of the world.
Well,it is said somewhere that the finnish has the snow and ice character. what is it about chinese then? and what is it about your country people then?

Today I saw the neighbor's baby girl while she is awake. So little tiny hands and feet.She is using her big blue eyes keep looking around,it is so different and interesting for her. But she can not show very much feelings yet except she can show that she wants to eat or just did something at the down part.
The new life is so tiny and lovely! I can see the new parents are also quite exciting....
Hope the baby will grow fast and healthy strong.

It is really great weather today! About 25 degrees in the afternoon,feels like summer(finnish summer).
So I think we should not waste it. Just went to bicycle around. Ha! lots of people bicycling,all do not want to waste this good weather.Who knows it will not snow some days later.
Good! Hope all the people are enjoy the good weather and spring time no matter where you are!
Let's bicycling even a parrot knows that!

I was amazed by how many different names they have for bread in Finland.Maybe in other western countries also.But in China,you will not see so many different bread but Toufus.
Maybe beacause the people here use bread as a main dish just like Chinese use rice.But I do not think that we have so many different names of rice...
Anyway it is weekend again! Happy weekend!

On the picture is the famous Finnish rye bread and blue berry.(Do not know if this combination will taste good)

Friend is important for people, but who is your real friend and who is not? You need to find it out by yourself and by things happening around you and your friends.
We all want to have many friends,friends are all different.
Let's try to keep the friendship we have forever!

Today on my way back home,I saw some flowers on the road side.Quite beautiful,lots of different colors,but no butterflies around them.Before I think I do not really like flowers that much,but now I feel happy when I see flowers,no matter they are outside or inside the room.

Do not know why? maybe I become more femini or just because I am getting old....
Not happy when think that I am getting old and become someone's aunti,I prefer just stay as 20-25yo...

Last Sat. my neighbor(a Finnish couple) got a baby girl! But I have not see the baby yet. Just think that there are a new life here again! And especialy so near me,not only can see it,but also I am sure at night I will hear it cry...

In Finnish custom that the baby does not have name yet till it been born. But in China the parents already thought lots of different names and chose each different one for boy and girl.I think in some other countries also the parents will think about the names before the baby been born. Just I know in some part of China,there are old traditions like not giving baby names, then the monsters from the hell can not get it since it does not have a name....
Ok,I would like to meet the little one soon! hope it will not cry too much, just be a good and quiet baby!

It is May now, the spring has started here! And it is a holiday here! ( Good things always gathered together)

For holidays, I think it is depends on the culture much. As this Labor day holiday, in China we call it labor day and we have 7 days vacation. And I heard from my Japanese classmates,they are also called this festival the labor day and have some vacation days. As in Finland,it is called May day, it is not only for working people but also for the students. But in the Netherland, seems there is not really such a holiday,they have the queen's day instead which is normally the 30th,April.
Well,as all these differences.....funny, I have to experience all these things.It is not a bad thing!
This culture differences are also different in the continent.In Asia, I think Chinese culture is quite similar with Japanese and Korean...But when I was in Thailand and Singapore,I felt that there were many differeces than in China or Japan or Korea. In Europe,I think Finnish culture is quite different than in the continental european countries,since here has been more influenced by Russia and Sweden. And Holland,Belgium,Germany are quite similar.... Not sure about Africa and America,since I have never been there,but these places could be very interesting destinations....
Anyway, enjoy this holiday first!