I have moved my blog to

http://shanghaisigrid.typepad.com/blog

it’s operatedin english, not blocked in China and doesn’t have lots of ads!

While waiting for the boat to Nesodden I went to the Development house in Oslo.

They have lots of games illustrating poverty and the Millenium Development Goals.

I tried the wheel of fortune

And, just as in real life, I was very very lucky:

There are so many bloggers that post pictures of their outfit EVERY DAY pretty much… and for some reason they are the most popular blogs, sooo I figured, hey! let me follow this trend too!

todays outfit:

Men’s black sweater from HM, pants from the fake market (brand: Jinou…I tink it is meant to be Juicy). Socks 100 % whool from HM. sweeet.

This outfit is great because its warm and cosey, suitable for studying and writing essays in bed. It can also double up as a pyjamas for those who are jet lagged and doze off infront of their computer every 15 minutes. Just roll over and you are ready for some sleep.

If running down to the convenience store spice up the outfit with a pair of highheels and you will fit right in with the rest of Shanghais stylists.

Underwear is optional.

To all those fashion bloggers out there, you know that the way you dress is stupid and inconvenient. As the commedian Johan Glanz said, Sweden/Norway is a country as cold as ”a bloody polarbear’s asshole”.

Most of us want to dress accordingly.

You know it’s cold when there is ice on the fjord

Akerbrygge in Oslo, steam coming from the fjord.

Border between Sweden and Norway

Who has walked here?

Came back to Shanghai yesterday morning and it was actually SNOWING!

But the temperature was around 0 degrees so it melted away when it touched the ground.

The customs officials confiscated all my cheese that I had brought with me from Norway () as a labrador had picked out my bag at the arrivals hall…trust a labrado to find food…darn it!

Came home, slept like a rock for 3-4 hours in the afternoon (bad idea but there was no way ever I would be able to stay awake). Woke up and realised that almost all my plants are dead or looking very very sad!

Miscommunication has left them to fend for themselves during the holiday.

Then landlord came and picked up the next two months rent. He had (of course) some comments on the state of the house. Sarah, the chair you have in your room may cause scratches to the floor. He recommends putting a carpet under it.

Also, the desk chair was not standing straight in the centre of the desk, that had to be fixed. as it was too much to the left.

Other than that I think there were no major issues.

I finally pulled myself together and Campbell and I went for dinner at Gintei all you can eat sushi…mmmmm…

Went to bed again at 10-11 and woke up at 1.30 am.

Yup…then I just laid there in bed in the darkness until 7 am when I made Campbell breakfast in bed as an excuse to wake him up.

It was soooooooooooooo boring just laying there in the dark ”trying” to sleep. So much easier to stay awake when tired than sleeping when you are not.

Fell asleep again around 9 am, woke up at 12… not feeling too energetic. Haven’t written anything on my politics essay today, just done some research for my thesis and sending out emails securing some more interviews etc.

Bex is coming in a couple of hours, yay…must stay awake! She got a job in Shanghai so finally she will be moving into town.

PS my bum still hurts from sitting still on that bloody boring KLM flight for 10 hours….maybe I should go to the anus hospital.

Did you know that the word ”credit” is derrived from the latin word ”Credo” which means ”I believe”.

Credo was used to describe the bond of trust between lender and borrower of money, i.e. that the lender believed that the borrower would repay the loan.

Also do you know where the word ”bank” comes from? It was derrived from the italian word ”banco” meaning bench. This is because the first lenders in Italy would conduct their businesses of lending money sitting on benches outside their houses in the Jewish ghettos.

The largest money coin in the world, Swedish and made of copper, weighing …can’t remember but think it was around 20 kgs.

Quite a heavy load to carry around in your pocket. Perhaps something for South African’s to think about? Would be rather hard to rob someone and run off with the money if it weighed this much….

I say money coin because some Canadian bank made a gold coin that is larger, however, it is strictly speaking not a real coin as it can’t count as money whereas the Swedish coin once upon a time was in fact legal tender.

The coin can be seen here in Stockholm.

Time for a cliche:

Wow time has passed fast. The year has just gone by like a snap!

So in order not to just feel like this year has vanished I think it’s time to write down what happened and relive those moments

Last year I travelled to a couple of new (and old) places.

First off being Australia to see Steinar and Annelise. I had the best weekend ever at Noosa with them, touched an elephant for the first time (and my first ambulance ride too!) and went shopping for a wedding dress

Next, my trip went to Xiamen with Campbell, and I loved loved loved Xiamen!

And shortly after I travelled with ”Roots and Shoots” to Inner Mongolia to plant trees against desertification.

2009 was a year of reunion and I had loads of visits.

Bex moved to Shanghai…well Nanqiao close to Shanghai. Funny how she had to move to China to see me again since our time in Swaziland haha

First Silje came to visit me in Shanghai, then Firoz came shortly after

Soon after that my cousin Ida and my brother Asbjörn came to Shanghai and we went to Beijing, where we met up with Julie

(Kungfu on the wall)

During the summer holidays, Cara came to Sweden and Norway!

And we had a high school reunion outside Göteborg meeting people for the first time in 5 years

Oh and Heather (my classmate from UCT) called me one day saying she was in Beijing and wanted to come over to Shanghai and see me.

That was a happy surprise!

Emma and Heather på HuaiHai lu

And of course the main event of the summer was Steinar and Annelises wedding in Greece!

And that was quite a reunion too. Not that often that me and my girls are gathered together. I think this is the second time in 6 years.

I think it was the bestest wedding ever, had so much fun, so much dancing and so much good food.