Highlights from Spring 2021
After Chinese New Year and the traditions we used the last day of the holiday to do a spontaneous road trip in Zhaoqing city along the small dirt roads. We stumbled upon an old port that offered amazing views to a bamboo forest and a river. Wish we could have taken a cruise there!
Last year we launched the Pause Box, a monthly surprise gift box available in China. On March 8th we had our first event to celebrate the International Women’s Day and got our community together for unboxing. Starting a new business has been both inspiring and tiring, it’s a constant balance between businesses and personal life. But what wouldn’t we do for our passions!
Cleaned up our backyard and spent more time there before it would get too hot. Now it’s been three months since the photos were taken and our backyard is again full of sweet potato leaves that our housekeeper planted five years ago and the temperatures have risen to over 30 Celsius making it impossible to spend time here. Unless we fill the splash pool!
This Spring our neighbor found a new streetdog in our village and started feeding her. The neighbor is a huge dog lover, but can’t take a dog as her grandson is allergic. When we noticed the dog was pregnant we decided to give her a home as we didn’t want those puppies to be born outside. Gradually we gained her trust and she gave birth to six puppies! We are giving all the puppies for adoption, our home is a zoo already, but we are keeping the mommy. Now with three cats and two dogs our house is full for sure!
These months saw a lot of networking as well which is a must for any entrepreneur in China. I had the honor to meet the Finnish Ambassador Jarno Syrjälä at the Finnish Business Council dinner. Same person who gave me the permission to visit the yard of Ambassador Residence in Beijing so I could find my roots and shoot this video. I also attended teamwork workshop, education business mixer and organized an entrepreneurs brunch.
In April me and Anna went horse riding and I had my first horse riding lesson in ten years! My muscles were hurting for a week and my wallet even longer, but it was totally worth it! I grew up riding horses rather regularly and going to horse riding camps every Summer, so I hope I can give those same experiences for my daughter as well. This month we also celebrated Alan’s birthday by staying in at the China Hotel and eating tons of seafood.
In May we had a traditional Finnish May 1st picnic with fermented lemonade and donuts. Discussion have also been started to create more Finnish cultural and language activities for the kids. May 9th I celebrated Mother’s Day for the sixth time with silly photos and lunch.
Last but not least I got my first dose of the covid vaccine! A month after the vaccination booking system was opened for all nationals over 18 years old, Guangdong province started another booking system for foreigners living in this area. During the holiday there were many available spots available and I finally got my first shot. In China only Chinese vaccines are available at the moment and after the first dose you wait 28 days for the second one. I was also lucky not to get any side effects as everyone’s body reacts differently to vaccines. I’m proud to make this small step towards ending the pandemic in the world!
Looking back now these three months it’s been an active Spring for sure! Looking forward to seeing what Summer will have in storage for us.
