Blog Image

SKYNI

The Walls invade Sweden

the blog is about stuff that the wall family does in Sweden and when traveling

Swedish Summer

home Posted on 2011-07-14 17:44

For those in Singapore wondering what Sweden is like in July? Let me put it this way…

It is like having a month of Chinese New Year. Nobody’s working, everyone is on holidays, schools are closed and the city is quiet. People are eating, spending time with family and visiting friends.



Great Britain

home Posted on 2011-07-12 21:03

We (my mom and I) had a great time in London. It was really nice to spend time with my sister Pau Ping and I love her bachelorette pad. It reminded me of my time in the little Wilkie apartment in Singapore.

With the strong backing of the Singapore dollar, we could actually go shopping! Unfortunately, summer clothes are not so useful for me now in Sweden. It is hard to justify buying more summer clothes when I can wear them for only 2 months in a year. And summer clothes are mostly what I brought with me from Singapore.

We have a good time catching up and spending time together. I realised that there are so many things I do not know about my mom – her likes,dislikes and her needs. My mother has dedicated the past 45 years looking after her husband’s and children’s needs. At her current age, it is a little hard to pursue her interests such as sewing and ballroom dancing. When I was a kid, I complained that my mother walked too briskly and it was hard to keep up with her. Now, she trails slowly behind us but urges us to walk ahead of her. As I watch my mother stare out of the window (which happens a lot), I wonder what she is thinking about and what’s on her mind.

I think i am becoming more and more like my mom….but not the sewing and ball dancing bit.



Summer Vacation Begins

home Posted on 2011-07-06 08:29

The kids are off on their 2 month vacation. Jonathan is really looking forward to the Legoland in 2 weeks time.

As for me, I am also looking forward to a weekend trip to London with just my mom, sister and I. I am bringing my mom to London so that she can catch a direct flight home to Singapore.

Time really really flies and she has been here for slightly over 5 weeks. She has been a great help here, specially during the exam period. My mother does not like so much to go out in the crowds, shopping and sightseeing. She prefers to stay at home to cook and clean for us. So, for the past 5 weeks, she has been pampering us with wonderful home cooked food – sambal squid, carrot cake, green bean soup, bo bo cha cha, glutinous rice, chicken rice, fried ho fun, fried bee hoon etc.It has been wonderful…but not so good for my expanding waistline.

The kids really love having her here. The first thing they asked when they came home from school was ‘Where is Po Po?”. It will be hard when they see her leave tomorrow. Jonathan is in denial and said that Po Po can go back to Singapore but she must come back again!



Emotional Coaster Ride

home Posted on 2011-06-30 12:29

The children will begin their summer vacation today. For the next 8 weeks, they will be with us 24 hours. After the summer vacation, Jonathan will start his official school and Linn will go to another childcare which is opposite to Jon’s school. So today marks the last day of school for them in their childcare.

I was really sad today when I dropped them off in school. The kids gave flowers to their teachers and thanked them for taking care of them for the past 10 months. It has been a great 10 months for them and I can see that they have grown very attached to the school. Linn asked why she has to change school when she liked her friends and teachers very much. It was difficult to answer her question. I became very emotional and had to leave before the teachers see my tears.

That is another thing about me. I have become so emotional ever since our move to Sweden. Come end July, we would have been here for 1 year. How would I describe our First Year? Maybe this is not the time for me to make a fair assessment as June has been one of my toughest month. Having to sit for Swedish exams and trying to get my Swedish driving licence (the Singapore licence is not recognised here) are new experiences for me. Perhaps the fact that i have to study and sit for exams, take my driving theory and practical test have made me finally realised that I am basically required to start from scratch all over again. My experiences with exams and driving tests more than 20 years ago have not been exactly great. I am not sure if I really like to do this all over again!

Whenever I feel down and feel like giving up, I just remind myself that I am doing this purely for my kids.



Swedish Midsummer

home Posted on 2011-06-24 19:14

Today is Sweden’s 2nd biggest holiday after Christmas. It is Midsummer Festival and the day with the longest daylight.

We spent the entire day outdoor and celebrated in typical Swedish fashion. We went to the forest and danced around the ‘fertility pole’. It was quite fun and the kids love it.

We had another reason for staying outdoors. Our Russian painters are working overtime painting our house and so we have no choice but to keep the children out.



Summer Parties

home Posted on 2011-06-19 10:55

We rarely go to parties these days but we attended 3 yesterday. (Kids birthday parties are to be excluded)

We (Nicke, the kids, my mom and I) had a great BBQ with my classmates from China in the afternoon. I met them in my Swedish class and we really get along. Nicke was the only non-chinese there. The BBQ was similar to the BBQs we have back in Singapore with many different varieties of BBQ meat….even BBQ chicken gizzard which I really missed.

In the evening, Nicke and I attended my classmates’ (also from Swedish class) party. They were largely from Russia, Iran and Poland. We could only conversed in simple basic Swedish and again, Nicke was the only Swede there.

Lastly, we attended Mats (Nicke’s Swede Friend) very Swedish birthday party. I was the only non-swede there. We got home at 1 am which was actually the first time in many years.

Now, i feel really old, tired and sleepy. I think my party days are really really behind me.



Summer Flowers

home Posted on 2011-06-15 19:00

Photos taken by Linn



Hanging out with PoPo

home Posted on 2011-06-12 20:11

I must say that Po Po has been really really patient with Linn. I kept reminding my mother that she was alot stricter and less patient with me when I was a child. So I wonder if you get more patient as you get older.

I am hoping that Linn is going to catch up on her chinese with my mother. The only words I heard her muttered so far is ‘Bu Yao!” (Don’t want!)



Happiness with Farmor and Mormor

home Posted on 2011-06-12 20:04

The kids were very lucky to spend time with both grandmothers this weekend. We had a great time together!



Gustav Studenten

home Posted on 2011-06-12 20:00

On Friday, we drove to Koping to attend Gustav’s graduation from “Gymnasiet”. It was really great to be part of his family, coming together to celebrate this very special occasion. In Sweden, this marks the start of ádulthood and independence.

I can feel Joakim’s and Maria’s pride and joy for their son. I too shed some tears of joy during the event!

Gratis Gustav and enjoy your university life! We are very happy for you too!



Jonathan finishes Kindergarten

home Posted on 2011-06-12 19:50

My mother and I attended Jonathan’s graduation from his kindergarten last Wednesday. It was really nice. For the first time, Jonathan fully participated in a dance item and he followed the movements, co-ordination and completed the dance together with all his classmates. It really put a smile on my face! In the past, he would just run away and hide.

Here he is with his shadow teacher, Sabrina whom I think has worked really hard on Jonathan in the past 9 months. We owe Jonathan’s good progress to this wonderful lady.



Farm Visit

home Posted on 2011-06-05 14:29

The children love going to the farm. Their favourite for the day is the pony ride. It was fun guiding the ponies around the farm ourselves. I hope my mother liked it too.



Jonathan’s Motor Skills

home Posted on 2011-06-05 14:15

Nicke has been working hard on Jonathan’s motor skills. We encouraged him to climb trees and do all kind of outdoor sports to improve his confidence and exposure to different activities. He is doing ok but still he needs a lot of pushing.

It has been 9 months since Jonathan met his shadow teacher, Sabrina. In a recent discussion, she described Jonathan as a ‘different’ boy since she first met him. Jonathan now speaks Swedish all the time and he is willing to play with other kids. We hope that he will continue to make good progress when he starts official school this August.

Last night, we were really proud of him as he slept alone in the tent outdoors all by himself. He loves camping and he was really excited. He slept soundly in his sleeping bag until the next morning.



Our Giant Rhubarb Plant

home Posted on 2011-06-05 14:04

No prizes for guessing what we will be eating alot this summer…



Summertime Fun

home Posted on 2011-06-04 09:17

showing my mom the glorious swedish summer.



Little Miss Trouble

home Posted on 2011-06-02 07:16

We have been disciplining our little one. We have been telling her if she continues to misbehave, she will not go with us to LegoLand next month. Nichlas and I will bring only Jonathan with us to LegoLand. Jonathan has been only talking about Legoland for the past 2 weeks and I think he is really looking forward to the trip.

But Linn continued to disobey and we finally told her that we have to exclude her from the trip. She whined a little bit but calmly said that if she cannot go to Legoland, she needs me to stay at home with her because she cannot be alone.

!!!



My VIPs

home Posted on 2011-05-31 14:16

My mother and sister are finally here for a visit. It is so great to see them and specially my mother who has travelled all the way from Singapore on her own.



Look out for the Police Princesses

home Posted on 2011-05-27 07:51

Bella and Linn having fun



Linn’s First Theatre

home Posted on 2011-05-27 07:49

My little girl’s first appearance in the school’s theatre and she played an ice cream princess. She was really excited and happy. We are so proud of her.



Nature Walks

home Posted on 2011-05-27 07:45

The kids love to go out into the forests. They do this all the time in their daycare and we sometimes do it during the weekends. Do I like it? It is beautiful but I am usually too busy looking out for the huge ants and other insects as we go along. Now that the warm weather is here, the insects are out in full force making up for lost times.



« PreviousNext »