The way that Chinese parents raise their babies seems to be quite different from that in Oslo. (I dare not say from those in western countries now, at least.)

First, in China women usually have to stay at home for at least a whole month after they give birth to their babies. We were told in old days they were even not allowed to take a shower! Of course things have changed a lot nowadays. But even though we were quite shocked when we see young parents took their TINY babies out with them.. (My friends said they were not as old as a month.)

Second, Chinese parents always over cherish their children by looking them as their own belongings. They are always afraid of everything. Parents will easily get nervous when they see their children wear little in cold weather. We can never fail to find good examples in this aspect. While in Oslo, I often see babies wear only thin clothes, they can even swim in the pond with nothing on!

Third, more fathers are seen taking care of children in public, which proves the saying “in Northern Europe women have a very high social standard…” But it is quite a pity that in many countries men neglect their responsibility and importance in raising babies, some Chinese fathers included.

Fourth, recently, another popular topic among us Chinese participants in Oslo is: should Chinese parents continue building the strong family tie with their children or should they set their children totally free as soon as possible? I can not give any opinion in their heated discussion though I am also wondering if I have a child one day, what kind of parent I should be… At least we had better not go to extremes…

Several days have passed, but what happened on the early evening of June 26th, 2008 is still ligering on my mind…
I put my jacket on a clothes shelf in an H&M in Oslo, and tried on a new sweater. Then when I came back, I found my jacket gone, with my purse in it! Can you imagine? the worst thing was all my cards were in the purse? My friends and I searched almost every corner in the shop, but failed. In the end, we had only one choice–to leave our phone number so that the shop assistant could contact us if they found anything.
Luckily enough, later that day, we got their call. It turned out that someone just mistook my jacket to the fitiing room…
It’s really dramatic, and I am not sure what would have happened if I was in another city.
Hope that we can always find the things we have lost…

We can see smiling faces almost everywhere…

We can hardly see tall buildings here in Olso, instead there are more forests, grasslands and houses here. It very natural and environmentally friendly.

We arrived in Oslo, Norway on the evening of June 23rd. It kept raining and it’s pretty cold when we walked out of the airport. The weather here is so different from that of Beijing. Beijing is boiling hot at this time.  It seems that one piece of cloud in Oslo may bring some water, while another may bring sunshine… I am just wonderling what I should wear tomorrow.

the rain in Olso