Tag Archives: mother in law

Crazy Euopean People, Mom in Law

Adventures of my mother in law

11 Comments

Few days ago my mother in law arrived for her three-month visit. Usually there shouldn’t be much to write about yet as it takes few days until her crazy stuff begins but this time she outdid herself. It already started at the airport here in Finland. I believe she just can’t wait to give me material to write about.

The day started pretty normal except that her flight was suddenly one hour early but this didn’t cause us any sweat as we live only 15-20min away from the airport. We managed to arrive just few minutes after the plane landed so we were in no hurry as it takes some time for the passengers to leave the plane and get their luggage. So we waited in the arrival hall, waited a bit more and waited even longer until we stayed there for over one hour. All the time we saw other Chinese passengers from the same flight passing us by but no sign of mother in law. We called some friends who are working at the airport to check the gate and the luggage claim but they could only tell us that there were no Chinese people left in those places and that the sign for the flight from Chongqing was gone as well from the luggage claim.

2012-09-28-415
Mother in law with her daughter in the 90’s

What had happened to my beloved mother in law? We knew she boarded the flight as she had sent a message before shutting off her phone in the plane and the Helsinki airport is pretty tiny so there are not really many places for her to hide from us and our friends. We went to the information center and made some calls but still nothing. On the way back to the arrival hall we saw a group of people, a very emotional mother in law in company with a not so happy looking border guard and a smiling translator.

The border guard and the translator told us then what all went from after she had left the plane. Apparently she did not go through the passport control but through the transfer area where she ended up in the middle of the airport again. After she got some advice from other people she found her way finally back to the passport control but there a new dilemma started. Sure she had her passport and flight tickets but they also wanted to see her invitation letter which she received from us so she could even get the visa. After much discussion in some special room for passport and visa problems the border guard told her “If we don’t find your daughter in the arrival hall we have to send you back”, wow, very nice, I wonder how he would feel if his mother is in a foreign country and is suddenly forced to show some papers no one even knew before to have with them at the airport…

Mother in law at our wedding (don't we just look creepy with blurred faces?)
Mother in law at our wedding (don’t we just look creepy with blurred faces?)

All ended well, they found us/ we found them and mother in law was allowed to pick up her luggage and leave the airport to come with us. Now we have a full apartment, the noise level is constantly high that I don’t even dare to concentrate on any kind of task which requires my head and hopefully our baby will be born in one of these days.

 

Now I hope that the next posting will be about our baby to be born or it will be about further adventures of my mom in law.

Crazy Family, Mom in Law

How have you been lately?

2 Comments

The closer mom in law’s arrival day for her next visit gets, the more my wife gets frustrated. Not so much by the fact that she will have to endure her own mother for three months, oh no, it’s the calls and messages she receives from her mom. It goes even that far that my wife tries to ignore the calls at some days or not even looking at the messages and the reason is very simple: She knows exactly what her mother will ask her again.

Let me give you an example of a normal conversation those two are having

Mother in law: “You are everyday home, why you don’t call me?”
Wife: “Because there is nothing new to talk about, you ask me the same things over and over again every single day!”
MIL: “I see, so how have you been lately?”
W: “Exactly this mom!! You just asked me the same yesterday and the day before yesterday and all those days before! You think I wouldn’t tell you if really something would happen here?”
MIL: “I see, but what should I bring with me? I have no winter clothes yet, what winter clothes do I need?”
W: “Again mom! I know already for half-year that you don’t have winter clothes and we will buy everything necessary here, so stop it.”
MIL: “Are you sure? What should I bring for my grandson?”
W: “…”

And the conversation goes on …  surprisingly even though my wife loathes those calls they can take several hours a day.

I am especially amused by the part of winter clothes which comes up in every call. Not just because of the constant repetition of it but more because I know how much mom in law loves shopping (soon she might be a shopaholic). So each time she asks her daughter she tries to get something like a “permission” to go on a winter clothing shopping frenzy. Granted, she needs winter clothes but for the short time until we buy clothes together, she will get some stuff from us.

Mother in law in Stockholm with Royal Guard
Mother in law in Stockholm with Royal Guard

Do you have similar stories about calling your mom or family?

Crazy Family, Dad in Law, Mom in Law

Eating with the family

4 Comments

One thing, most likely the most important thing I have learned so far, comes to eating out with my Asian family.

It is a matter of sitting on the table. It is of utmost importance to sit as far as possible away from your mom in law and any other older female relative. You may wonder why would I do such terrible thing and avoid those people. The answer is simple: SURVIVAL!

The thing is, when eating out, no matter how often you said already that you are done and full, and no matter how full your plate is, you mom in law and other older female relatives will always put new food on your plate. They may say things like “Oh try this” or “You didn’t have enough of this yet” or “Even I ate more” or “There are more dishes coming”.

During my first visit in China I made the terrible mistake to try to finish everything on my plate, and sometimes table (as I have learned to do so by my own parents) but the food never ended until I felt always so sick that I couldn’t move anymore and was some pounds heavier after China.

My strategy is simple nowadays, as most table are round in the restaurant when eating with many people, I position myself between my wife and my dad in law or any other person I can trust not to force feed me.

Another thing is, somehow no matter how thin some Chinese may appear, they all can eat more than you could even imagine. I do not know how they do it, but sometimes it appears that they can eat at least 50% of their own body weight, and that 4-5 times a day!

 

Anyone else out there with strategies when eating with Asian families?