Crazy Family

The Good and the Bad

35 Comments

This week has been mixed for me. Both very good things and very bad things have happened.

As I have mentioned in my previous article, we had planned to move into our new apartment right away on monday. This did not work out at all. Why? Sure, everything is ready in the apartment except some small furniture but one major thing is missing: THE INTERNET CONNECTION!

 

WP_20141108_002Monday a technician was supposed to arrive and install all needed things for the internet connection (the phone line is 40 years old and there has been never any internet connection thus far) except that….he didn’t come. I called the customer support and they told me that this nice person was actually there but we did not open the door! Wait, what? Our family name is written on TWO name plates for the door bell at the entrance and in BOTH apartments were people waiting for this nice technician. We waited and waited and waited some more for the whole day but it did not help.Through Nathan’s picture you can see how I felt.

 

WP_20141108_004Later on I found out that this technician is not from the company I have the contract with but from the RIVAL company, yes you read right, from the direct competition. The thing is that all these phone lines are owned by one company and the company I have the contract with is renting these lines. So a technician has to come from the owning company, do some magic and voila, internet works through their competitor. Now I think that these people do every small things possible to make the customer of their competitor unsatisfied with the contract and thus doing things like not even doing their supposed job…Once again check Nathan’s picture about my reaction.

 

 

wp_ss_20141108_0001Now to the great thing this week. I have been on a job hunt in Finland for several years and never really got anything. Due to this I did some Freelancing stuff there. Yes, I have been unemployed for a pretty long time and now you may wonder why I still didn’t do more for the blog, but that’s for another time. We moved to Germany with the big hope that I would finally get a proper job. Now we have been here already for two months and I got one rejection after the other but suddenly I got out of nowhere and invitation for an interview at a bank here in my hometown. Right in the beginning I sent them an open application but never heard back from them until now. Long story short: I had my very first German job interview today and as soon as I got back home they called me and asked when I am ready to sign the contract! Now the world is fine again for me and Nathan

 

Next week I will sign the contract and start my work. Not only is the too long waiting period over which caused me too many worrisome times but also I will have a health insurance now for me and my family. The time is over for houseman Timo and the stage opens for the upgraded salarymen Timo. (who still has a crazy Chinese Family

 

P.S. I wrote this article within a few minutes to share some of my disappointment and my luck this week. Furthermore Nathan is doing well, no long time effects have been observed after testing the fluffiness and flexibility of his face

Crazy Euopean People, Crazy Family

Our New Home Part II

29 Comments

It is done! The apartment is now ready for us. It took us just roughly six months to get a facelift for the whole mess in there. With some small amount proud I show these results as it was real hard to manage it this far.

apartmentnew6
The living room with Marimekko curtains (done by my mom)

In April we started the renovation process and in the beginning I still thought it would be just a few weeks of work for us. How naive I have been. It took us already a week to get all the furniture of the previous owner out and another week to literally scrub the dirt from the roof and walls. To add to the horrors of renovating an apartment came the wallpapers, floor, bathroom, kitchen, windows, pipes and in between cleaning, cleaning and cleaning some more. But now we managed it, the DIY Project (okay, 85% done by us the rest by professionals) is finished. Our new home is done and we can move in.

 

Our new home offers us 90m² (968.75 sqf) of living space, which is more than double what we had before in Finland. Finally we have a separated kitchen, an own bedroom and even a room for little Nathan. Luxuries we dreamt of for the past years are now becoming reality.

apartmentnew4
Bedroom with the infamous Ikea wardrobe

Right now I don’t even want to enter any hardware store ever again and with luck I don’t have to do so for some time now. Some furniture is still missing such as the dining table and the TV stand as it was broken when delivered yesterday…

 

I won’t show Nathan’s room yet, as it resembles more a storage room rather than a baby room and we still have some great ideas for it which I will post once it is done (It will be great, really great, at least for small children!). Here are some before and after pictures, I am myself still amazed just how much this apartment changed.

 

Crazy Family, European Mom in Law, Mom in Law

Chinese and Finnish Grandmothers

22 Comments

During the past eight months I was able to see first hand the major differences between a Chinese and a Finnish grandmother. My mother-in-law stayed in the beginning of the year for three months with us to help with our little baby and right now we live already nearly two months in Germany in my parents apartment. Of course here my own mother is also playing a major role when it comes to take care of Nathan.

During all these months I was able to witness many amusing occurrences my both MIL and my mother. Believe it or not but even though both grandmothers couldn’t be more different they still share many similarities.

How to spend the day

WeChatImage635499295127706782While MIL enjoys sleeping into the day, going to dancing class or shopping during midday and leading her dancing group in the evening my mother handles things a bit different. She wakes up sharp 6 am and starts with all kind of housework. When the main work is done it is time for grocery shopping and preparing lunch for the family. Even though this might sound much it is just about 11am by now and you would guess that her productivity would continue as so much of the day is still ahead but no, after lunch and coffee time nothing happens anymore. She loves to watch German soap opera or other useless things on television and thus spends every work day from 2pm till 10pm in her sofa spot to watch TV. On the one hand you have the bit lazy but still sporty Chinese grandmother and on the other hand you have a very work focused but also a TV addicted Finnish grandma.

 

What to eat

When it comes to food my mother is very simple. For breakfast a slice of bread and a cup of coffee, for lunch some quickly prepared German or Finnish food and after that either cake or cookies with coffee. There is no real dinner except perhaps another slice of bread as she stops eating after 6pm. This does not sound like a food lover right? You are right! My mother hates to try out new things, salt and pepper are already exotic spices and going out with her to eat is nearly impossible. My dear mother-in-law is the total opposite. Breakfast is mostly some soup, porridge and whatnot bought from the many vendorseating6 downstairs. Lunch is yet again either bought at one of the street kitchens or eaten in one of the many restaurants in the area. Dinner is the main part of the day and needs much preparation/ calling friends who wants to go out to eat with her. During night-time the occasional instant noodle pack is prepared or some of the leftovers from the eating battles are warmed up again. Yes, she is a food lover. She just loves to try out new things, nothing is too spicy and eating less than three times a day some warm food is a no go. Sometimes I have the feeling that she spends her entire free time with eating and of course she is not gaining any weight…

 

How to take care of Nathan

WP_20141024_045While the one person is overly crazy, wants to carry her grandson non stop and wouldn’t let go, the other person tries to make the child as independent as possible. As so many Chinese grandmas MIL is also totally crazy about her grandson. She would do everything for that little monster (if my wife would let her…). During her three months at our place there were a few fights between her and my wife as she was not allowed to carry the baby around all the time and so on. Here in Germany my mother is the complete opposite. Sure, she enjoys spending time with her grandson and for unknown reasons he has to laugh nearly all the time when he sees her but she also tries that her daughter-in-law is doing most things with the baby. A mix between those two would be perfect!

 

Similarities

You probably wonder now how there can be still any similarities between these two different grannies. It is actually very easy as the main similarities is very plain and simple: They can be so annoying! I can’t really say why but my father has the theory that all women after some certain age become just naturally annoying for their children. My wife is already afraid that Nathan will be as annoyed by her later as she is with her mother and my mother…

IMG_6850_lr-2

Even though they can be really annoying we still love them. They are both people who lived completely different lives but they also try to help their children whenever they can. In the end it does not matter where someone comes from, what background they have, or what weird things they do, because as long as they love their family, what can be bad about them?

 

My crazy Chinese Family I married into…