Pia:
My name is Pia Jarvi. Jarvi means lake in English. So it's like pia lake. So Pia Yarve and I come from Finland, so that's in our language, the lake. And I came to Shanghai 2016 with my husband and two daughters. And my husband, he had a contract for two and a half years in Shanghai for a American company that works also in Finland, and that's why we came to Shanghai. And this summer 2018, we just came back to Finland.
Steph:
The blog entry you're going to read today is from what month and year?
Pia:
It's from 2016, and I think it's October.
Steph:
October 2016?
Pia:
Yes.
Steph:
And you were here two and a half years, so is that about.
Pia:
I wasn't because my husband, he was there two and a half years. So we came like half a year later. So 2016, summer, in the end of June, we came, the whole family.
Steph:
So this is just a couple of months after you arrived, Is that right? Okay.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
Cool. Well, listeners, you're in for a treat today because Pia is going to read this blog entry first and finish and then in the English translation for us so we can. And talk about it.
Pia:
Yeah. Yes, Sounds great.
Steph:
Our first bilingual.
Pia:
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Steph:
So long.
Pia:
Let's.
Steph:
Let's give you. Let's give your voice a rest for a tiny bit. There's a couple of questions that came to me that I think might. Might do that. So when you were tidying up the English version of this, was there anything meaning wise that you couldn't get across as well in English as you feel like it came across in Finnish?
Pia:
Yeah, there were these kind of cozy name nicknames for food or for like, in Finnish we say fatty. It's like nickname laski.
Steph:
Oh, okay.
Pia:
You cannot find that word in English.
Steph:
Right, right, right, right. Is that similar to. I'm trying to think there's a Japanese word for. Oh, I don't think it's. It's fatty so much. Is it? There's like a meaty, savory flavor that Japanese have that we don't have in English too?
Pia:
Kind of. Yeah, similar. Ha. Okay.
Steph:
Okay. So food one. And is there anything else that struck you that didn't come out in the end?
Pia:
But there was kind of. Maybe there. Maybe there was not so many other things.
Steph:
Yeah, I know you were studying Chinese for part of the time that you were here. Had you started that yet when you wrote this post?
Pia:
Yes, I had. So it's been like almost two months, right? Wow. Yeah. So it was starting in the beginning of September oh, okay. Okay. And this was 26th of October.
Steph:
Right, Right. And did you blog before you went to China, or was your blog mostly.
Pia:
Yes, I did.
Steph:
Okay.
Pia:
Yeah. I started this blog when we knew that we are going to move to Shanghai. So after my husband went there. So that is. And I started it.
Steph:
Oh, okay. Okay. So have you continued the blog since you left China?
Pia:
No, it's just for the China.
Steph:
Why did you want to keep the blog? Was it for friends and family? Or did you. Or was there another purpose or.
Pia:
It was like a diary. I was thinking that I'm going to write a diary so I can remember later what we have done. But I also made it public so everyone could read it. And I was surprised when I came back to Finland. So many people have visited. It was over 13,000 visits in my page.
Steph:
That's wonderful.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah. And people said that it was so interesting to read your blog to understand something more about China.
Steph:
Yeah. Did you have any, like, newspapers or magazines or anybody locally kind of contacting you saying, hey, can you form part of that into an article for us?
Pia:
Yeah, they were interviewing me. It was. Yeah, yeah. Fantastic. Yeah.
Steph:
Well, you're pretty much famous now.
Pia:
Well, not that famous. All right. Not that famous. Luckily not famous.
Steph:
All right.
Pia:
I don't want to be famous.
Steph:
You don't want to be. When I was probably a teenager, I thought fame would be fun. And then I watched, you know, celebrities and what they had to go through. Privacy. And I'm like, okay, I don't mind if I strike it rich at some point, but I'd like to be anonymous and rich or like, known in name but not face.
Pia:
Same with me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Steph:
I mean, that's not happening either, but it's, you know, it's the one I would.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
So whenever you're ready, we could dive into the English version.
Pia:
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 Many happenings and tours over the course of the week. So many things have happened and there have been all kinds of nice things. Mostly last Wednesday, I got a possibility to watch part of Ella's Hobbit exercises at school. The story was presented at the schoolyard in different places so that everyone would have the opportunity to add improvisation to their own acting. The students took the situation and everyone saw that they really enjoyed their work. On Thursday, I and my friend Mariot went to visit the nearby Chinese Venice. The entire day of the trip was rainy and gray, but in the meantime, the rain ceased completely. We had umbrellas and raincoats, so the equipment was Appropriate Tongli is about one hour's drive west of Shanghai. On the outskirts of Suzhou city. There is an old town that was built a thousand years ago. The houses were shallow whitewashed stone houses with narrow walks on the edges. We bought tickets to the gondola which we got through channels around the city. The breaches were at the time low enough that the driver had to squat down at one junction. At the jets, a boat was attached to the quay with edges on which cormorant looking birds were catched. Birds are trained to catch fishes from the river. As we passed the spot, the birds were very calm and lazy. They were having a rest. We tasted local specialties. Sauce with spice sauce and fried rice and vegetable omelette. Special dish meat with lots of fat did not really inspire, so we focused on other foods. We visited several places of interest, but we did not understand anything. They had Chinese texts and pictures on the walls and we did not find out what they were presenting. However, we got many holes in our tickets. The old town had an entrance fee and the tickets had to be displaced in different places. We found our way to the most famous garden, which was worth seeing. The place awaited the peace and it was very beautiful and tidy. Time stopped for a while. On Friday I went with my daughter Lotta after starting to Ikea to eat and shop. Salmon and smashed potatoes as well as meatballs tasted like homemade as well as soft ice cream. We also found gingerbread cookies that we bought in several boxes at Ella School. On the upcoming Saturday is Food Fair where every country can sell their own delicacies like the proceeds go to school. We are traveling with Juha just then, so I cannot bake cakes or other Finnish delicacies. On the other hand, I certainly do not want to bake because our microwave oven oven combination is not a suitable place for baking. We once tried to eat pizza in the oven, but we stopped experimenting quickly because of smoke. She has melted the oven. After that I have not even tried to put other than cooked ready meals and warm sandwiches in the oven. On Saturday we met Mariut and her husband Pekka in the fabric market. There are many layers of tapestry and clothing design boutiques and clothes stores. Clocks for the Independence Day were planned for Juha and Becca and evening dresses for women. Mariot had already tried on for a dress and it still had to be prepared. Before the party, I went to the canning fabric store where together with the seller we were wondering what kind of fabric would fit in my goal. I had searched for a few dress options online. We Then decided to choose the raw silk fabric. What the seller estimated that was required 8 meters of my costume. So I bought the fabric and the seller directed me to one of the custom sewers. He felt the pattern too complicated to sew, so we moved to the next. He assured me that he could do the same type of dress, so there was contentment and joyfully he met me front and back. In addition, I left him one model of my dresses to check the dimensions it tests to go on Saturday to try out the dress. In the next blog post I tell you what happened after the closed market we went to eat Korean barbecue in the restaurant. There was in the middle of a table a grill plate where raw food was measured. The disk warmed slowly, but when it was hot it was really effective. Korean food is popular here and uses high quality raw materials. On Sunday, Yuha rose almost at night and went to push to run half marathon. He challenged his co worker to run in the summer. Now it was time to challenge. Both were well received so a proud service team welcomed them home. Four of us went to the center to meet Juha's friends and boss who had arrived in the morning from Finland. It was a delight to be welcomed when they gave us finished chocolate and rye bread. And rye bread is eaten by Sperry fortunately, and it remains well in the cold. We went together to eat at Sintendi and it's very popular area with lots of restaurants and luxury stores. On Monday we continued to study and study again. China is in my opinion a truly fascinating language. Besides, we have a great learning group and an encouraging teacher. Good experiences inspire the studies even when learning seems almost impossible. We have learned lessons in this week which are countless. The book has its own metric as well as very different things and there is only a fraction of that. In addition, we have learned the comparison. When we first say the word that is compared, then the reference word be is added, then the word to be compared, then the adjective number add on. For example, he's shorter than I would say in the following I the paragon b he long. Isn't it easy? Besides, there is a risk that everything will be misunderstood. Today I consider as a group leader to share the evaluation form for everyone where one could put his own judgment of on the lesson. Fortunately, the form was in English, so we all knew how to fill them. On Tuesday I attended a Shanghai visit by the Finns. I went to the metropolis. At the meeting place in front of the temple of Jing', an there were already a few Finns waiting and after a while there were 10 of us. After paying the entrance fee, we moved to the temple area. It is a Buddhist temple that has been carefully restored. There was going to be some kind of celebration. Beside the worshippers, there was a large number of Buddhist monks in their yellow coats and nuns in their black coats. The maidens were also wearing red wedding dresses. The smell of smoke made it difficult to breathe as well as the sound of the coins that people tried to throw into a huge prayer tower. According to our guide in the temple, a monk resided in the 1930s who ruled the temple with iron grip, being at the same time the leader of the place and the well known gangster. At the edge of the yard, the retired people crafted some kind of decorations and monks walked in the yard with their mobas in their hands. From the temple, we moved across the street to a beautiful park where we had been with Mari before. She is the second organizer for these walking tours. So we got to know the place with two guys. There were water carved characters on the corridor painted by the by an old man. He painted patterns on stone tiles and people dodged them. Our group saw a cheerful pensioner who was eager to talk to us. It turned out he was spending time with the other pensioners in the park. Retired people in the park Many dances in the middle of the region of music Our new acquaintance knew a lot of things in Finland and he was able to speak very fluent English. We continued our journey to the backyard of the park where we paid 3 Yuan to get into the small park area. We wandered around looking at beautiful plantings and fish ponds and in the middle of which was sound bathing a long haired boss or a small turtle. We went back to the big area. When we were in front of us, we found a man with a violin case. He inquired enthusiastically from where we came from. After hearing about Finland, he immediately mentioned Sibelius, our national composure, and also added Mozart and Beethoven. He took the violin from the case and played for us a short release of Mozart. So we had a very diverse excursion. Next time we'll probably visit Shanghai's old quarter, if it's still there. There is a huge building boom here and old toll houses are being demolished under the sky scrapers. This week autumn has continued to come. Rain has been abundant and temperatures downward. Next week, temperatures of less than 20 degrees have been promised. You should be able to dig up the rackets. Until now I have survived short sleeves, shirt and shorts or dresses and sandals. The end. Sorry, it was not perfectly. No, no, no.
Steph:
That was. That was fantastic. The first thing I want to Ask you is, are you usually this busy? Because that's a lot of activity happening.
Pia:
Yes, I am. This was not the busiest time. Yeah. But of course, it's also the period that I was writing about. It was like two or four, two or three weeks. Okay. Like, not so many things in a day. Still one day.
Steph:
Yeah, still quite a bit. A lot. Quite a lot of. During.
Pia:
I'm kind of restless person.
Steph:
I, like, ran out of space.
Pia:
It's like.
Steph:
But I had to go onto a second page. I was like, okay.
Pia:
Oh, great. Got it. Sorry. Yeah.
Steph:
That's fantastic. I think that a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful representation of the kind of the honeymoon period when you first get to a place and like, everything, it was great because you were describing not just what you were doing, but the things that you were seeing and hearing and feeling, the people you were talking to. And I think it's a beautiful moment in time, really.
Pia:
Oh, great. Thank you. Yeah.
Steph:
But I also want to ask you, is there anything you remember from that time period, those two weeks or so that. That's not in there that you remember happening?
Pia:
Of course, there was many things, personal things, because I wrote this blog, like, public.
Steph:
Sure.
Pia:
So of course I wrote only specific things. Nothing about problems at the school or loneliness and homesickness and like that. So.
Steph:
Yeah, yeah.
Pia:
My privacy.
Steph:
Of course. Of course. Totally understand that. Because people's like, honeymoon period, when they first move to a new country varies in length. Some people get a few days, a few weeks, few months. Some people never get. Now, I think everybody eventually goes to a grounded place. Right.
Pia:
So how.
Steph:
How long do you think your honeymoon period where you thought everything was amazing, how long do you think that was for you?
Pia:
Two years.
Steph:
Two years.
Pia:
So the whole time?
Steph:
Well, that's pretty fantastic.
Pia:
It was kind of. It was kind of different honeymoon period, but in the beginning, everything was kind of new and fascinating. But after that, when I got deeper in the culture and the ideas of China and Chinese people and their attitude on other people, and usually when all the people I met, they were very friendly and they were very nice people, so that's why it kind of deepened. But I was all the time in love with China.
Steph:
Oh, my God. Guys, is there a chance that you guys might come back?
Pia:
Not if. If. No, no, not. Not that. This time. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. My husband should change the work. Working place and company if he'd like to come back. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. But you never know. Never know, Right.
Steph:
Exactly. Exactly. So is there anything from rereading this either when you first selected it started talking about this or now. Is there anything that jumps out to you that kind of surprises you that you don't remember writing about?
Pia:
I kind of remember everything quite well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nothing special that I didn't remember. Okay. Those were kind of, you know, meaning those were kind of big things at that time. So that's why I remember them quite well.
Steph:
You mentioned at one point time stopped for a while during one of the activities. I think it was when you were in the park, but I don't remember exactly.
Pia:
It was at the Tongli town. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Steph:
Oh, so do you. Many moments like that when you were in China?
Pia:
Usually when we went to a park. So there it was very silent and very peaceful. So maybe in the parks. Yes. And at home at 12 o' clock when everyone were sleeping.
Steph:
I tell you, I agree with you more. I live on a major street in Shanghai and because it's kind of an early city.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
At like 10 or 11 at night, I can look outside and it's really quiet. And then 5:00 clock in the morning, I can look outside and it's really quiet and I can kind of pretend that it's not hectic, you know?
Pia:
Yeah, like. Yeah, that's what you got. Wait. Yeah, yeah, Sounds good.
Steph:
Yeah, like it's not the whole day. It's not the whole time. I just woke up early.
Pia:
No, no. Yeah. And of course, because we were living very high in our, in our house. Yeah. 28th floor. So it was kind of 100 meters from the ground.
Steph:
Right.
Pia:
So it was so high. So it was kind of isolated.
Steph:
Right.
Pia:
So we had balcony when I was sitting there, so I, I saw the airport at home and I was like breathing the air like it was our own, own planet, our own world there.
Steph:
Yeah, yeah. We went from a second story in the French Concession in what felt like a tent. We could feel here and.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
Experience everything. Second story to 13th floor and it's just night and day.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
And I, I really prefer living on a lower floor except here.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
Because the, the, the, the peacefulness is pretty nice, I have to say.
Pia:
Yeah. Yes, it is.
Steph:
Are you still continuing with studying Chinese?
Pia:
Yes. Next week we are going to start with the Chinese lessons. We found one lady here in our city that she is very happy to help us with that language. Nice. How. Yes, I know.
Steph:
You were doing intensive classes here, weren't you? Was it like five days a week?
Pia:
Yes.
Steph:
Brave, brave woman.
Pia:
But I can tell you my brain didn't accept everything.
Steph:
Oh, oh, yeah. I'm in the middle of studying for HSK3 and I found stuff in the HSK1 book last night that I had missed.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
The, the four times I've been over it and I just kind of went, it's, it's super clear right now. And yet the first, second, third, fourth time I just completely missed it. Like pretty big time dependent stuff. And I just completely. And that's not even the current I'm studying for. That was just review.
Pia:
Yeah. So. Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Yeah.
Steph:
There's quite a mountain.
Pia:
It is, it is. Yeah.
Steph:
Did you end up taking any of the HSKs while you're here or will you take any in the future?
Pia:
No, I didn't. No, I didn't. But I could have done HSK4.
Steph:
Whoa.
Pia:
Wow. Yeah. But I didn't want to like stress, stress, stress with this. I was so busy. Yeah. So I, I didn't have time to concentrate on making some tests. So.
Steph:
So if we compare this kind of entry with all of these things over like a 2 week ish period to the rest of the blog, the other two years, is. Is it similar to the other entries?
Pia:
It's kind of similar, yes. Yes. Yeah.
Steph:
Are there any differences?
Pia:
There are differences because we were living in, during summertime we were living in Finland. So it was kind of. Yeah. Telling more about Finnish life and what we had here in Finland, but kind of same telling about our life, everyday life. Okay. Shanghai.
Steph:
So you were in Shanghai for about a year, six, seven, eight months and then you went back to Finland for the summer.
Pia:
Yeah, kind of nine months.
Steph:
Nine months.
Pia:
Yeah. Or 10. So we were hearing in first summer. I think we were here in Finland two months and last summer or two year. One year ago summer. So we were one month or five.
Steph:
Weeks here after that summer between living in China. After that summer in Finland. Did you bring anything specific back to China that you didn't have that first nine or 10 months?
Pia:
Just the food.
Steph:
Oh, okay. For example.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ry. Yes. Cheese, rye bread and some licorice candies and Finnish chocolate and Finnish coffee. Coffee in Finland is definitely their own taste. So we drank time. We drank Finnish coffee in Shanghai. At home here.
Steph:
Yeah. What is Finnish coffee like? Because I know China's very espresso based, so it's very dark coffee. What's the.
Pia:
Yeah, it's kind of a middle roasted. Mm. Yeah.
Steph:
Lovely.
Pia:
It's not that. Yeah, I, I like the taste. So.
Steph:
Yeah. So I, I had to laugh when you were talking about not wanting to bake and the, the pizza Fiasco.
Pia:
Yeah, me too. Yeah.
Steph:
My only saving grace is that they don't generally have fire detectors in the apartments, so that's the only good thing about it.
Pia:
Yeah. Yeah.
Steph:
But I.
Pia:
We have. Yeah.
Steph:
Oh, do you.
Pia:
Oh, okay. We had. Yes. Oh, yeah. Not noisy after that. Yeah.
Steph:
Oh, no. Oh, no. Our air purifiers go crazy when I. I cook because it always ends up burning. But it.
Pia:
Yeah. Yeah.
Steph:
Okay. So far, we don't have an oven. We just have a toaster oven right now. So there's only so much. But what's. What's the worst cooking fiasco that happened?
Pia:
It was this trying to bake in this one, like, microwave. That was the worst. Yeah.
Steph:
Oh, no. Did it end up being edible at all?
Pia:
No, just nothing to eat after that. Yes. Oh, man.
Steph:
I have a woman on my WeChat who does American desserts, which are very, very oven focused. And I often wonder when I see her posts. I don't order because I don't. I feel like there's enough around me in Shanghai, but for some reason I'm still following her anyway. But I stare at the dessert and I wonder how she cooks these here.
Pia:
But in some. Some apartments, they have the real oven. I know my. My friends, there were two families who had the real oven. Yeah.
Steph:
But it's the combination of the right oven, the right ingredients, the right kind of chocolates. Because I'm assuming it would have chocolate if it's dessert.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
You know, all those things at the same time.
Pia:
That's true. Yeah. So true. That's so true. I agree with you. Yeah.
Steph:
We have a few different ways that you can feedback. So if you go to stephpuccio.weebly.com contact let me do that a little slower. S T E P H F U c c I o.w e e b l y.com contact, you'll see all kinds of ways you can contact me and let me know what you think of this podcast. I have email WeChat. If you're in China or have used WeChat before and are still signed up. Twitter, LinkedIn, and my new favorite thing is Speak Pipe. Over on the right hand side of that page, you'll be able to leave a sound recording, basically a voice message. You just hit the start recording button that's in bright orange. And once you preview it and decide that you want to send that message, you press send and I receive an email with. With the voice message. I can also respond in a voice message there as well. It's a really, really cool feature. I can't believe they have this available for free, but until they get smarter about that, I'm going to take advantage of it because it is such a cool feature. Thank you so much. I appreciate all of your input. The places that you mentioned in this post, did you go back to any of them?
Pia:
Yeah, to the Qingan Temple. Because we had some visitors from Finland like three or four times. So we wanted them to see the main attractions, but the Tongli water town, so we didn't go there.
Steph:
Sure, sure, sure. And the fabric market or.
Pia:
Yeah, that's true. Yeah, we went there too. Yeah. Okay. Because our friends wanted to buy the scarves and some liners and like that, so.
Steph:
But when you first decided to come here with your family, what was going through your. Your heads? Were you. What were you thinking?
Pia:
Well, well, we have. We decided to come to China after my husband got this expat contract because we, we had been living in, in North Carolina for one year and after that I kind of recognized that it's possible to survive in other countries than in Finland.
Steph:
To be clear, you're saying that North Carolina broke, got you ready for China.
Pia:
Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, so true. So funny about it. That's really true. Yeah, I. Yeah, yeah. We visited my sister and her family in Taiwan, 1991. And then we of course got. You used to Chinese culture and Chinese people and like this. So we knew something about the Chinese people and Chinese culture, so it was not that unfamiliar to us. And then we had read about Shanghai many times and my husband, he had business trips to Shanghai many times before we moved there.
Steph:
Right.
Pia:
So that's why we had a kind of opinion already when we decided to move to Shanghai.
Steph:
Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. I was gonna say because when you were talking about the gentleman in the park that was talking to you, you seemed very open to whatever he was talking to you about. And some people, some people can be put off by the bluntness that can exist in China sometimes, and it didn't seem like that phased you at all.
Pia:
That's true. Yeah. Yeah. But I also feel like regarding your first question is like when people talk about China, so they really kind of, they, they have, they have not been able to focus on what kind of country is the China. Because you also say about things in Europe, but you are not saying things about Europe. You are saying about Finland or Italy or Germany or France, but China is bigger than Europe. So it makes me sometimes quite angry because people say like in China, they do like this in China. Have this because I feel that Shanghai is so small part of China, though. There are so many people living and it's so different, like, from Beijing or from Xi' an or other places I've visited. So it's. I think it's not fair for the Chinese people that we always talk about China like one country.
Steph:
Yeah, I could not agree.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah. I think we should talk about the areas or the cities are, like, more specific.
Steph:
And I feel like a lot of the stuff that ends up in the media are the things that people do badly, you know, not. Not the things that go well or the innovations or the creativity that does exist. I feel like it's all of. Well, this person, like, threw themselves in front of a car today. Okay, you know what? There's stupid people in every country, of.
Pia:
Course, but in every culture that's not.
Steph:
Unique here or anywhere that's. That exists everywhere. So, yeah, I feel like they. They kind of like focus on the negative when they could be seeing so much, so many other things that do exist here.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah. I like in compared Shanghai to our city here in Coco, because this is small city. Here are only like 50,000 people. But I was more scared walking in the evening here than in Shanghai. And people, they do not believe that. Yeah, yeah. So that's. That's the really funny thing. Yeah. But of course you cannot. You cannot know about these things before you have visited China or Shanghai or.
Steph:
Even though you had traveled to Chinese places before moving to Shanghai. Was there anything that surprised you the first few months?
Pia:
Yes, that everything was in order. Like the metro. Metro were perfect. Taxis were driving to the place he wanted. And like, you could shop, you could eat, you could do whatever, you could put your rubbish to the corridor. And it was. Vanished away. Like everything was like working. And it was like, Shanghai is so huge city and it was like everything was working there. So, of course, surprising was for me, like, in Finland, the bureaucracy is very clear. The rules are clear. Mm. But like. Like in Shanghai, if something was not working, so they had many kind of ways to resolve the problem, solve the problem. And for us, it was. First it looked like it's. They are not doing anything or it's too complicated. But then I understood that there are so many people that they have. They have to put away all the kind of possibilities for risks.
Steph:
Sure.
Pia:
And that's why the way to the goal was kind of longer, but it worked. So it was like the result was satisfying. Yeah.
Steph:
No, I agree. It's impressive to watch China grow. Well, being in the height, like they just started a high speed train to, from Shanghai to Hong Kong.
Pia:
Yeah, I, I read about that. Yes. Yeah.
Steph:
Eight hours, which is just phenomenal. I wish it was six, but I'm glad it's eight.
Pia:
Yeah, eight is great.
Steph:
Yeah, eight is fantastic.
Pia:
And yeah, yeah.
Steph:
But just, I mean just watching the high speed network grow, watching the metro even just grow.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
And watching the different policies now there's a lot more people like staff members in the metros.
Pia:
I don't know if this will laugh.
Steph:
But they're, they're trying to get people used to getting off the train, like having them get off the metros before people storm onto the metros because.
Pia:
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
That's still one behavior that's not the best for.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah.
Steph:
You know, yeah. All that kind of stuff. So they're, they're, they're having people do that and there's just, there's just, there's a lot of change happening all the time and it's just. I also come from a country that's very, very bureaucratic and slow moving and making decisions and it's just, it's impressive to watch decisions being made happening.
Pia:
Yes, yes, that's so true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
Can we go back to Carolina? Because I'm very curious.
Pia:
Yeah.
Steph:
What's the, what, what, what was the thing in Carolina, North Carolina, that, that had. You think, okay, I've overcome this so I can live anywhere.
Pia:
Well, in North Carolina I, I was like our older daughter, she was only three years old and we had only. Well, we had one car. So I had to take my husband to the work and then come back and then we could use the car. And it was amazing because in Finland we didn't have that big roads and lots of vehicles. So I got used to drive a car there and be able to go shopping and I was singing in one choir there and like we had a good living there too. Good life. So. And everything. Although it's a western country like Finland, so it just. Very different from Finland. Yeah, yeah. So after that that's so I, I found out that it's possible to survive. Yeah. And be happy and be happy and be happy about, about their life.
Steph:
Very true, very true.
Pia:
Abroad. Abroad.
Steph:
Do you think it's easier to move to a country that's similar to your home country or to one that's really different?
Pia:
Well, I think that if there are some people who can help you and support you in the new country, so it's easier kind of for you to go to a totally different Culture, because people are not expecting that you understand. And, you know, if you go to the kind of similar culture and country, so people expect that you know everything and you are used to things and you are not.
Steph:
That's so true. Yeah. They do put more things in place in the places, like in Northeast Asia, they assume you don't know the language when you come in. And they do have more people that, like, meet you, show you around, and, like, help you out, get set up. That's really true.
Pia:
Yeah. Yeah. And like in North Carolina, it was for me, although I'm social, so it social person, and I like to be with people. So for me, it was kind of stressing that the kind of culture between politeness and friendship. So it was very hard for me. Like, in Finland, you never give thank you cards or you just say thank you, and it's enough. And in States, it was kind of very, very strict orders, kind of that you are in the circles, social circles, how to act and how to react on other people's gifts or invitations or like that. So in China, if you make a mistake, so it's just because you are White guardian.
Steph:
Right, right, right. I like to say I'm playing the expat card on this one because I just truly don't know what I just did wrong.
Pia:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's so true. Yeah. So that's why. Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow.
Steph:
So what would you say are the things that you miss the most about Shanghai?
Pia:
Shanghai? I miss my friends. I miss Chinese language. I miss Chinese culture. I miss the people who are looking forward in the future, and they are doing things for that. They are not complaining. They are just going forward. So that's something I really miss, because in Finland, people can be really pessimistic and, you know, saying bad things about others and about the culture and politics and everything. So people are not. I feel I was more happier in Shanghai than here. I think that's the reason maybe the atmosphere. Atmosphere, yeah.
Steph:
Yeah. I. I resonate with that. So I agree with you so much on that. I think that's the reason I kept coming back to Asia is that I kept hitting countries that were so booming and. And. And looking forward, and people were excited about what's to come. What's to come. And I'd go back to the US and people be angry about what they lost. And I'm like, I know different cultures are in different states, but it was really hard to be in the downward spiral once you've seen.
Pia:
Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's kind of sad.
Steph:
It is sad. It is sad because part of it, although I'm not going to speak for Finland, I'll speak for the US. Part of it's true. We are, you know, going through the cycle that goes through, but part of the pain of that is in the perspective, not just in the actions or what's happening. It's how you view it and what you expect.
Pia:
And yes, yes, definitely more painful. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yes.
Steph:
Yikes, yikes, yikes. Let's talk about music.
Pia:
Okay.
Steph:
It's interesting because you only touched on music. Let me think. Let me look at my long list of notes. Yeah, you only touched on music just slightly in one spot.
Pia:
Is that right?
Steph:
Oh, wait, can we go back to the very, very beginning? The Ellen Hoffidi thing? I tried to look it up and on Google while you were talking, but I got too engrossed in what you were saying.
Pia:
What is that Hobbit Is the Lord of the Rings kind of.
Steph:
Okay, okay, okay.
Pia:
Hobbits. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Steph:
I gotcha.
Pia:
I gotcha. Okay. Is it Lord of the Rings or some other fantasy track of.
Steph:
So a track of the Hobbit exercises at school, Is that a musical reference or are they just original?
Pia:
Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. It was kind of drama, grammar, musical thing. Yeah. Exercises during the school day. Yeah. And they were just inviting parents to share the exercises by looking those.
Steph:
Oh, very cool. I know you were involved with the choir when you were here. Can you please remind me of what?
Pia:
That. Yeah, I was, like, volunteering. Well, I was substitute teacher at the island as music teacher and drama teacher. So I was teaching, like, students from 3 years old to 18 years old. Wow.
Steph:
3 years old.
Pia:
Meanwhile, because they were just calling me and can you come next week or can you come tomorrow? I see, I see. That. That was time. By time. By time. But then I was at the Finnish Language School. I was doing a head teacher, but it was kind of seven times for autumn, seven times for springtime, Saturday afternoons. And then I was conducting one strings orchestra at sc and then last spring, so they were asking me to conduct a choir in a Chinese elementary school for English songs. So that was. That was kind of. It was two months I was practicing with them, then we had two big kind of huge concerts with the choir.
Steph:
Right, right.
Pia:
Wow.
Steph:
While you were here, was there any local music, and I don't just mean traditional, but any local music that you started to listen to that you hadn't heard before?
Pia:
Well, during our studies at the university, the Chinese studies. So we could join this kind of music clubs. So I point the Guten. Guten is the. You know, like. What is it in English? I don't know. Do you know what is Guten?
Steph:
No. Can you spell it? I'll look it up.
Pia:
G U, G U, Z, H E, N. Guten.
Steph:
Oh, it's a type of music. What is this? Oh, wow. Is that a harp?
Pia:
Kind of, yes. Kind of.
Steph:
Oh, it says. I've never known how to pronounce this. Z I, T, H, E, R. Apparently, Chinese zitter.
Pia:
Yeah. Yeah. So I was playing that one spring, and I played. This is the Chinese flute from Yunnan Province. Oh, wow. So I was. We had a Hulu club at the university, too, so I played that too. Yeah.
Steph:
Oh, my goodness. I feel very lazy listening to all of the things that you've done in your diwani.
Pia:
You should. No, no, no, no. Don't do that.
Steph:
No. It's wonderful.
Pia:
Yes. It's just me. Yeah. I don't want to sit down. I don't want to sit alone in my home and clean the rooms. I want to go with other people.
Steph:
No, but that's beautiful. I mean, you learned how to play those two instruments on top of everything else that you were doing.
Pia:
Yeah. Wow.
Steph:
Do you have. Do you have a zitter? I still don't know how to say it. Do you have one of those instruments?
Pia:
No. My sister has one, so I can play it, but I don't know how to play it so well. But this flute I have and that I play here. Yeah.
Steph:
That is beautiful. You don't have it nearby, do you?
Pia:
No, sorry. I'm still at school, so I have it at home.
Steph:
I have been known to ask crazy things during the interview. Fair enough.
Pia:
Fair enough.
Steph:
So did you say that your sister lived in Taiwan in 1991 or that she moved there in 1991?
Pia:
No, she was living there. My sister and her family, they were as missionaries for three years.
Steph:
I lived in Tainan in 2003, 2004. Were they in Taipei or a smaller city?
Pia:
They were in Won than. It was near Kaohsiung.
Steph:
Oh, okay.
Pia:
In the South. South. Yeah. Wow. Wow, wow.
Steph:
My goodness. Okay, well, looking back at all of the things you did in that entry, other than needing a rest.
Pia:
Yes. Yes.
Steph:
Any final thoughts on either the entry or on your time in China?
Pia:
I'm so grateful for that time. I'm so grateful for that time, for that period. I got so many good friends as you are, and my point of view changed a lot. So it was not Europe is not the center of the world and not this America either. So it's really interesting to change our own opinions about the world and life and Chinese people and culture and.