Year End Sticky Issue

It has been a year. I still remember what it was like vividly. Coming here was full of excitement, anticipation and a little bit of apprehension. Once I’m here, finding my way around things was a mix of struggle, growing realization, and sometimes frustrations. As time passed, things get easier and familiar. Aha moments came in droves. I start to see and get to know things that I missed or were not aware of in the beginning. Exciting adventures awaits.

Learning the language opens up a whole new world. Although I still have problems forming sentences to speak, I find myself quite able to recognize a lot of words now. I’ve been very eager to pick up the free papers in the morning and find out what’s going on around me. I may not understand an article completely, but most of the time I get a general idea of what it’s about. It’s very satisfying to be able to know from an article that housing prices are falling, even though I can’t make out whether the writer is advising us to start buying now or wait for further declines. The other day I was waiting for my bus when a man across the street asked when is the bus due to arrive. I replied after a quick check on my watch. As I can see the bus in the distance, I also told him that it’s here. He thanked me and quickly crossed the street. While standing in line for my turn to board the bus, I realized that I’ve communicated with the man in his language. The bus driver must’ve wondered about the big smile on that Asian guy’s face.

Sharon joined me in February 2008. In the days leading up to her arrival, I remember feeling very excited. We’ve been staying together for 10 months now and I’m very thankful we don’t have a lot of problems living together. We seem to have adjusted well to each other. I still feel excited to wake up beside her everyday. It brightens up my day to see her in a new sleeping posture. Often, she’s in “deep thoughts”, with her head resting against the back of her hand. Sometimes, I wake up startled in the middle of the night after being slapped in my face but when I turn to look, I see pouty lips. Or the time I heard the sound of faint farting in quick succession, but in the dead of night I can’t be sure whether it was her, or me. Sure, her snoring can be quite disturbing as well at times, but love is blind, or deaf, or mute.

One thing though, after being with her for so many years, I’ve learned to accept that there’s no such thing as undivided love. I can only hope I get the bigger slice of the pie. She gets excited whenever she sees “someone” that looks like her other love. I feel jealous whenever she speaks about “him”. I always wonder whether she speaks about me in the same way to other people. The other day she told me how while chatting with her mum using the webcam, “he” jumped up onto the chair and look into the screen as if “he” is trying to look at her. She’s also very proud that “he” has perfected the art of snatching food from the dining table. Can someone please share with me how proud she is to tell you I can finish 3 plates of rice in one sitting? Has she ever told you how she misses hugging and grooming me? Did she ever say that she’s going to surprise me with my dream bike or that new camera? I tried to convince her that shih-tzu is a two-timing bastard, to no success. I mean, in my wife’s absence, he’s been seeking affections from other women in the house. He has been sleeping around. But the wife just wouldn’t listen. Love makes her blind. I don’t care anymore, as long as I get my “chee cheong fun”, “siu yuk” and other goodies.

This year we’ll be attending a string of Christmas parties together. We’ve never done that before. We’re disappointed that there’s no white Christmas again this year. Stockholm, traditionally a cold place, hasn’t experienced white Christmas for a few consecutive years already. No exception this year. Many who came here before us many years ago told of -15 deg in winter where all the rivers and lakes froze. These days, at most -5 deg, and only happens occasionally. Effects of global warming, no doubt. Funny thing is, desert country like Jordan and Iraq, and even Las Vegas are experiencing rare snowfall.

The economy downturn dampens festive mood as well. Many people lost their job when companies can’t survive. Some retailers here continue to receive orders and payments from customers and then close down abruptly without delivering goods purchased. This left a bitter taste for many. Naturally, I’m worried as well even though I try not to think about it since there’s nothing I can do if company decides I’m no longer needed. What I need to do is to do my job well so that there’s no reason to make me redundant. But then again, being a foreigner, I guess I’m on top of the list if there’s any retrenchment exercise. Especially when national unemployment rate is projected to climb within the next 2 years, companies will be under pressure to appease locals by getting rid of foreigners first. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Nevetheless, there’s always ups and downs in life. There’s no running away, might as well keep the spirit up, learn to adjust and adapt. Besides, we already got our Christmas present this year…

Merry Christmas, everyone!