Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been a whirlwind tour from teaching small children in China to getting kicked out of a hotel in Shanghai because the French president booked the whole place out, to in a surreal twist finding myself in Townsville, Australia, begging my grandmother to survive a massive heart attack.
China was fascinating but weird - it's like it's talking itself into the 21st century but haven't quite got the hang of it. You can't get banknotes higher than 100 RMB because they believe that will curb inflation, and mum and I never quite solved the mystery of the rubbish bin on the Great Wall itself which says 'Don't Call On Thunder Storm Days'. Evidently, that particular piece of wisdom was well and truly lost in translation. But I'm so glad I got to see it in-depth, the way you only can if you are living there (in my case, vicariously through my mum, but I got an up-close look).
One of my favourite parts was the giant Buddha outside Wuxi. Mum couldn't believe I liked it, since it was constructed a mere ten years ago and is blatantly a tourist exercise, complete with a veritable boulevard of merchandise stalls leading up to Buddha's feet. But I thought it was great. I'm considering conversion to Buddhism - or at least a renewed interest in meditation - despite the fact a certain friend of mine doesn't deem it 'hardcore' enough. He obviously hasn't seen the Chinese merchandise sellers when they whiff a sale.
When we got the call that my grandmother was ill, we got straight on a plane to Australia. I have never seen my nana sick let alone in a hospital with oxygen tubes hanging off her. Four generations were there to drag her through however - including my cousin's four-year-old daughter Mia. Mia, her angelic looks betraying her mischievous nature and tendency to proclaim loudly that fat people are sitting at the next table in Sizzler, became my number one fan. She even gave me some handmade drawings. 'I wanted to draw you some good ones, but I don't like these very much,' she said. 'But you can have them anyway'. I am still trying to convince her brother to try the Chinese delicacy mum discovered to her horror at a market stall - pig noses on a stick (seriously).
The only other news is that I have quit my job at the corporation, and will be moving into a small digital design agency. It's all part of my new three-fold plan: 1. Move into the film industry/a more creative role 2. Move back to Sweden and 3. Maybe do a stint in New York first.
If all that fails, maybe I can start an authentic pig-nose-on-a-stick restaurant.
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