Home again and have been for a little more than two weeks...

...and our common "everyday" life is back. The girls and I are probably (me: more than likely) behind in our school/homework but they seem to be taking it in good stride. For me it´s quite a different story, I am superstressed and I´m wondering how in the world I will be able to catch up with all of the (school)hours that were lost while I was in China. It was a lot easier for the girls to do their homework while we were there, they at least knew what they had been assigned. Truthfully they were probably more disciplined than me also. But, then again, they are nightowls and they could work with their homework in the middle of the night while the rest of us were sleeping and then instead they would sleep in a little bit later than the rest of us in the morning. My excuse is that it was more difficult for me to know what to do because I was mailing back and forth with the English faculty to find out if I had been admitted to the course or not. I started out with the Teacher Education for older kids and started the semester with reading Swedish. But, I had been feeling for the longest time that it wasn´t the right age group for me to work with. So, instead I´ve decided to read English and Math this semester so that I can begin the younger age groups Teacher Education Swedish/Math in the spring. Math I need so that I can be admitted to the course, I didn´t study enough Math in H.S and English because I will have to study that anyway during the years that I am studying.

I don´t know how I will be able to manage the Math, but I have some extra help from some friends. The English is OK so far, but I need to learn better how to read phonetic script. As it is today, I (mostly) know how to pronounce the words by ear. That is going to be a challenge for me I think.

Well, signing off for today. See you soon again maybe ( I say maybe because I am not sure if there is enough interest for my blogg. I´ve hardly gotten any comments so therefore I don´t know if it is worth continuing)!

23 sept. - Flygresan hem

Nu har vår semester kommit till sitt slut. Det blev givetvis ett tårfyllt farväl av våra nära och kära där. Alexandra och Matilda tycker att vi i Biörck familjen är väldigt känsliga och gör sig lite lustiga över det. Alexandra skämtade bort det hela genom att "låtsas" snyftande kommentera: "Hejdå mormor, vi ses på flygplatsen!" Det gjorde att vi alla skrattade åt henne genom tårarna.

När vi kom till flygplatsen så gick vi till Starbucks och sedan gick vi och handlade taxfree. Flickorna tyckte vi hade så mycket tid och att det inte skulle vara några problem med att hinna. Faktum var att, efter att ha shoppat det vi skulle, så försvann Alexandra och hennes mormor. Alexandra hävdar att hon sagt att hon sagt att de skulle gå och titta på parfymerna, detta hade i varje fall jag inte hört. Hon sökte inte ögonkontakt innan hon sade det. När Matilda och jag var färdiga gick vi mot gaten. De började ropa att det var sista anropet innan avgång och Matilda sa att hon skulle gå och leta efter de andra. Det hela slutade med att jag stod kvar och fick stå och lyssna efter anrop efter anrop. Säkert en 5-6 gånger. Jag blev så nervös, jag trodde att vi skulle missa flyget. Jag var mäkta irriterad när de verkligen dök upp. Det hade de ingen förståelse för, i alla fall inte mina tonåringar!

Väl hemma tog vi taxi till mammas lägenhet och spenderade natten där innan vi tog tåget till Arvika. På tågstationen blev vi mötta av Aaron och Micke. Det var så kul att bli mött av sin lilleman, jag hade längtat så mycket efter honom! Flickorna gick ut med kompisar direkt efter vi kommit hem och Matildas kompis Maja sov över. Alexandra åkte till Karlstad. ...och Micke bjöd mig på middag. Skönt efter den långa resan!

Sept. 22nd´s agenda - Forbidden City & Summer Palace

On today´s agenda was the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. Eva´s driver Li came and picked us up at 9 a.m. To get ourselves prepared for this outing the girls and I, together with Eva, watched "The Last Emperor"the previous night. We had all seen it before but we wanted to refresh our memories before we were to visit the Forbidden City. Even this day it rained but equipped with umbrellas and an audio guide in English we went from one entrance to another. It stopped raining while we were there. We left, after a couple of hours there, with "our" driver Li to Yashow where we had manicure and pedicure once more and went shopping for the last items on our lists. We ate a quick lunch that we bought at Bocata. In the meantime, driver Li went and picked up mom, Eva & Edda who got to take him in the afternoon while the girls and I hailed a cab, and asked to go to the Summer Palace. Our taxi driver had no idea where he was going. Luckily I was in touch with Eva and she and her driver could direct our taxi driver who had no clue what he was doing. Driver Li got very upset with him for not knowing how to get to one of Beijing´s sites.

During the last 3 days that we were there it was the Chinese Autumn Festival, a holiday for them. Therefore, the Summer Palace was full of Chinese that practically glued themselves to my girls to have pictures taken together with them. Eva, Edda and mom were at a different place in the park and even they, or I should say Edda, was drawing attention to herself. Everyone wanted to touch her and look at her in her baby carriage. It was a little bit tough being in these places on this day because of all the Chinese also visiting. After a lot of difficulty we finally found mom, Eva and Edda. Alexandra had forgotten her cell phone and mine was almost uncharged so the communication between us was a little difficult. But eventually we found each other!

September 21st - Temple of Heaven & Olympic Village

This day it rained abundantly. So, geared up with umbrellas, we started out with the Temple of Heaven where we used an audioguide in English to take us through the various parts.

In the afternoon we went to the Olympic Village, and I wouldn´t be lying, if I said that this was one of the highlights of the trip, especially for the girls who were "all templed out." That night Eva, Edda, Alexandra, Matilda and I went to Modo for dinner. I got to meet lots of Alex and Eva´s friends there. Some that I had seen earlier during our visit and some that I met for the first time. They have some really nice friends!