No sweating it

Some things you take for granted in life. Contact lens solution for example, a variety of such, dental floss, minted, glossy you name it, yeast and deodorant. I had completely forgotten the lack of these items in China. Sure, there is contact lens solution – one kind, obviously not the kind I use and there is dental floss, I think, I haven’t run out yet, but for some reason deodorant is hard to find. I don’t know if the Chinese don’t sweat or if they have some magic traditional ancient herb to use instead but I had completely blocked out that I used to bring it here, back in the day. Therefore, when we knew that we were meeting up with sweet Cory and Joe in Hong Kong in January I took the opportunity and ordered a few items.

As per usual, we partied like rock stars, kids in tow. Great food and delicious wine, beer, sake and Red bull (?) of huge quantities were consumed and we ended our celebration at Aqua where Simon treated us to the best view in Hong Kong and a dessert platter to die for.

Not only was it lovely seeing them again, and their friends, they came equipped like the Santa we never saw on Christmas Eve. Oh the joys of not having to economize with deodorant. Being able to sweep my underarms not only once is a delight, for me and for my surroundings. When visitors brought gifts from home during our years in the states it was a treat, now it becomes a necessity. Because what to do when the yeast sucks and you have a friend you haven’t seen for 15 years coming to town for business? You order 40 packages and invite him to dinner. That’s what you do. IKEA used to be every Swedish expat’s lifeline but sadly, they only sell their own brand these days. IKEA Daim and IKEA bilar? NO thank you very much. Bad decision IKEA, really bad decision.

Now my parents are coming to visit very soon and the list is beginning to take form; candy of course, the salty black liquorice one that only Swedes like and that we therefore do not need to share, contact lens solution – the good kind, pain killers, sea salt, Wettex – a super absorbent kitchen towel and even more yeast which I will use as hostess gifts when (if) we are invited to dinner parties and such. Better than flowers.

Amanda has been home from school since Friday nurturing her cold and she happened to be around when I Skyped my parents to give them the first draft of their shopping list. As always, Amanda gets a little shy and sad when Skyping with people that she misses but after some coaching and probing my mom gets to it and asks her if there is anything special she would like from Sweden (not that she has any emotional or epicurean preferences to Swedish foods, she has never lived there after all).

“Well” she says eventually “a dog, I want a dog.”

O shit, kill me now. When will she understand that as long as we have the crazy cat (who I hope will live forever) there won’t be a dog. But perhaps I should be thankful; when my sister was the same age all she wished for every birthday and Christmas was a live monkey or a live lion.

“Hmmm…” my mom replies after having turned away from the computer so that Amanda won’t see her laughing at her request, “That will be difficult. Will some KEX choklad (Swedish wafer chocolate) do instead?”

“Ok” She happily agrees “Can I go watch TV now?”

Phew, crisis diverted, for this time.