Hotel cleaner's clothes

My name is He Bo @ He Bo, my ancestral home is Jiangsu, and I was born in Shanghai. 1972.

In the 1990s, my parents took me to Finland as a visiting scholar. In order to save face, I chose to live abroad. Life in a foreign country was not smooth at first, and there were less than 1000 Chinese in the country, so it was very difficult to carry out the work. 1 1 years later, my life gradually got on the right track, and I married a German student. Until the baby was born, I suddenly got scared and had to say goodbye to Finland, where I had lived for 27 years.

1972, I was born in an intellectual family, and my parents are teachers in Beijing universities. Later, in response to the policy of going to the countryside, I came to work in Anhui. As long as I can remember, my family has lived in a big yard, quiet and peaceful, and there are many small partners.

At that time, there was a shortage of materials, and it was not only money but also tickets. My parents are registered in Beijing, and these bills related to grain and oil are all obtained from Beijing. In order to be useful, I have to turn them into national banknotes and finally into Anhui banknotes. This is the most troublesome thing in my childhood.

Fortunately, everything has two sides. Due to the aura of my parents' relocation to Beijing, the compound where we lived rarely had power cuts and water cuts, which was very rare at that time. Childhood life, carefree, although the family is not rich, but my parents gave me and my sister the best life they could.

The development of the times has brought more opportunities and earth-shaking changes to the life track of our family.

After the reform and opening up, my parents were lucky to get the opportunity to study in Britain as the first batch of international students. After studying abroad for two years, my parents applied for the opportunity to study in Finland as an exchange scholar in early 1990 in order to increase their knowledge. 1995, my father brought us here to study in order to further study and broaden our horizons for my sister and me.

It was popular to go abroad at that time, and many people went abroad to borrow money. It is common for couples to stay at home with their children. Moreover, in people's cognition at that time, those who can stay abroad are capable people, and those who have no ability can't get along and can't go back to China. So that after my parents came back from studying abroad, my sister and I chose to stay in Finland for development.

However, living and working in a foreign country is not easy. When I first arrived in Finland, I seemed to be caught in a "cultural desert". The differences in language, culture and life have brought me a lot of discomfort, and the yearning for home and hometown has made me miserable. At that time, I couldn't hear the local accent, eat Chinese food and make friends, and I felt that my circle had shrunk very small at once.

At that time, the embassy would send us the overseas edition of People's Daily every once in a while. Since there was nothing to read at home, I read the overseas edition of the newspaper over and over again until it was torn to pieces and I could memorize it. I also think here, why not have many Chinese and Chinese circles, like London and Paris, where they can communicate in Chinese.

At that time, it was difficult to buy condiments from China in Finland, such as Chili sauce, mustard tuber and soy sauce, unless you went to the Asian supermarket in Stockholm, Sweden by boat.

For a poor student like me, cooking Chinese food is more difficult than going to heaven. Moreover, people in Finland eat very simply, that is, they bake it or heat it in a microwave oven, so that they get the original flavor and have no concept of cooking at all. Although the school is equipped with a stove, the power is not big, and it is useless except cooking something.

Although my parents are university teachers, the meager salary is not enough for my sister and I to live abroad. Moreover, we also hope to reduce the burden on our families, and we have been working and studying hard during our study abroad.

However, life in a foreign country is like walking in the air, without any protection at your feet, and every step is particularly difficult. I can't find any work on the table, but I can only do some heavy physical work before I integrate into the current environment.

At that time, there were very few Chinese in Finland, only about 1000 people. You can imagine how eye-catching an Asian with black hair and yellow skin is, such as the eyes people gave me when I went to work as a cleaner. I'm not discriminating against you, but those curious eyes can kill you. The pride of being a "favored son" of China college students was shattered instantly.

The days of work-study programs are very hard, but the physical pain is only a small part, and you can get through it by biting your teeth. Spiritual loneliness is the most bitter and difficult. Moreover, at that time, there was no internet, and making phone calls was so expensive that I was depressed for several years.

At that time, we could only contact China through telephone booths and telephones. At that time, there was no euro, and the currency used by Finns was called Finnish mark. The two coin holes of the telephone booth can be filled with one mark and five marks respectively. We played more and found that people who stuffed five marks in a row could play for more than 30 seconds than people who stuffed 1 five marks.

Make the most phone calls in order to spend the least money. We often change a bag of one-mark coins and keep them in plastic bags.

Although calling can cure me a little, it can only temporarily alleviate my loneliness in a foreign country. If you want to live here, you need to blend in with the local culture. The most basic thing is to overcome the language barrier.

Finland is a bilingual country, and its languages are Finnish and Swedish respectively, but at the whole social level, 90% of people speak Finnish and few speak Swedish. On the social level, local people will communicate with foreigners in Finnish or English first.

Unfortunately, however, I study in a university in Sweden. Although I can communicate with my teachers in English when I study at school, I still encounter great problems because of my dumb English. I don't understand what they say. I have to consider various grammatical structures in advance to know how to express them. That era has passed.

There were no free materials to study at that time, and I couldn't afford to spend money. In order to improve my English, I went to see many American dramas. Since TV has no video recording function, I regard it as a class and concentrate on watching each episode.

Fortunately, most American dramas are close to life. After a period of training, my English level has improved obviously. In addition, through conscious study at school, my Swedish has also improved a lot.

The progress of language has eased my previous communication barriers. Gradually, I began to make friends and learn a lot of local new things.

I remember once, a friend invited me to his home. After dinner, my friend asked me to take a sauna. In Finland, sauna is a traditional way to entertain guests. What I just didn't expect was that in rural areas, the whole family, regardless of sex, age and age, would be honest with each other in the sauna room. At that time, I was embarrassed and wanted to dig a hole in the ground with my toes.

Sauna is Finland's cultural feature of going global. In rural areas, traditional saunas are built by the lake, the sea or the river.

Finns don't like hot weather When the temperature exceeds 30, they feel unbearable, but they love the experience of "ice and fire". Sauna temperature is very high, generally 80 100. Finns like to jump into the cold lake after staying in the sauna for a long time. Even in winter, dig a hole in the lake and jump directly into the sauna.

My friend said that I have been washing the sauna like this since I was a child, two or three times a week, and the sauna has penetrated into all aspects of local life. Later, I also learned that in addition to the office and the sauna room on the ship, even in the mine, miners will take a sauna more than 200 meters below.

The most amazing thing is that there is a sauna in Helsinki, which is built on the Ferris wheel and can watch the scenery while washing. There is also a sauna in the pod of the ski lift. It is said that when Finns fight, they should build a sauna first and then dig trenches. They don't want to do anything else without a sauna.

In the past few years, I have learned a lot about local customs and cultural characteristics. Finns are mostly friendly. Although I have never encountered discrimination, I still have far less advantages than locals in finding a job.

Fortunately, the development of the Internet has brought more employment opportunities and my life has improved. Through it, I can get to know the domestic situation more conveniently. I remember that the first online Chinese channel I found on Internet radio was called the Voice of West Lake. At that time, I listened to it online almost every day, and this habit lasted for several years.

200 1, I got my first official job, which was to do data-related maintenance for hotels. During this period, due to economic anxiety, I will use the rest of my time to take several jobs. At that time, I often got up at five o'clock in the morning and worked until 1 1 at night.

In order to get to work on time, I bought a CD and played songs regularly every day to wake myself up. Because the CD player has no continuous playback function, it can only be played from the beginning every day. When I heard the beginning of this CD, I felt very uneasy because I had to get up again.

Life at that time made me exhausted and longed for rest. So, in the summer of 2004, I quit all my jobs and rented a car with my friends to travel to northern Europe. Unexpectedly, this trip not only relaxed my body and mind, but also brought me new job opportunities.

It is this travel experience that makes me find that being a tour guide is a good job, which can not only make money, but also communicate with more people and play around. After I came back, I read a lot of relevant recruitment information on the Internet.

Coincidentally, I met the master who led me into the tourism industry. At that time, except for some official or business delegations, few private people traveled to Northern Europe. At that time, Master received orders from many business teams to visit Northern Europe, and she was in urgent need of employment. I handed in my resume. He thinks I have a college background, have been to America, can speak Chinese, have a driver's license and run around northern Europe. He thought I was more experienced, so he hired me.

I don't think it is easy to be a qualified tour guide. When I first joined the tour group, I met many situations. Later, in order to improve their communication skills and professional level, I went to a study class and obtained a professional tour guide certificate, which is regarded as the first batch of Chinese tour guides officially listed in Finland.

During the period, I brought a lot of travel teams. What makes me most happy is that I have the opportunity to meet my compatriots in China to travel here. Familiar language and the same skin color make me feel very kind.

At that time, many domestic tour groups came to Finland. Because most of them have never been to Europe, they only rely on maps and online information to arrange tourists, and they have encountered a lot of troubles during their travels.

Therefore, they asked me for help, and this trust from the people of China made me feel honored. Unexpectedly, because I accidentally planted willow trees in the shade, I accumulated a lot of contacts and resources.

However, the good times did not last long. In 2006, the master's company was transformed, and I lost my job without taking a tour group. The originally full life suddenly became empty, anxious and uneasy.

The pressure of unemployment gave me the idea of starting a business. But it is not easy to start your own company. I looked up a lot of information and studied the relevant laws. Raising funds, renting business premises, buying equipment and instruments, and running various qualifications ... are busy. Fortunately, many things happen and the company runs smoothly.

Interestingly, there are always some unexpected surprises in life. When I was traveling in the company, I happened to know the lovers who will be together in the future.

She is from Hunan. She was studying in Germany at that time. She just joined the Nordic tourism team led by me when she was playing with her mother during the holiday. Similar age and similar background of studying abroad have drawn us into our relationship. Endless * * * topic, let us have a good impression on each other, and gradually come together.

During my love, I will fly to see her every one or two months. Finland and Germany are not far apart. There were many low-cost airlines in Europe at that time. The cheapest time, I only spent 5 euros and bought a plane ticket for three hours. She will also come to see me during the winter and summer vacations. But long-distance love is not easy, and small frictions are common.

Once, after a conflict, I decided to drive to see her in order to make her happy. There is a 24-hour boat ride from Finland to Germany. I set off at six in the morning and took a boat all night. It was almost eight o'clock the next day and I arrived in southern Germany. After disembarking, it took another 6 hours to drive to her city. It was already late at night, so I installed a lot of bottom lights under the car and called her down. She was surprised and happy when she saw it.

I am a person who is not good at words. This is the most romantic expression I can think of. Later, my girlfriend graduated and planned to come to my side. At that time, it took a lot of effort to get her residence permit in Finland, which led to an own goal.

At that time, she could only apply for a work residence permit in the name of the company, but the recruitment in Finland was open and needed to be advertised in the labor department. After the results were sent out, the labor department repeatedly told me that many unemployed people here had received vocational training and had strong working ability. Why don't you confess? Make my head big.

As a last resort, I narrowed down the scope of recruitment conditions, and the conditions became more and more single. I just told the labor department directly that the person I want to recruit is my girlfriend.

After my girlfriend came, she helped me a lot in my career. During this period, we got married and the company developed better and better. However, with the eastward expansion of the European Union, our tour group has encountered many troubles.

Many eastern Europeans come to steal from tourists. It's still a small matter that the tourists lost their wallets. The biggest headache is losing your passport. They must first go to the police station to issue a certificate, reissue a temporary pass at the embassy and take photos. Fortunately, after some tossing, these troubles can be solved one by one in the end.

Over the years, I have witnessed the process of the motherland's prosperity. Domestic tourism groups have changed from official groups and business groups. Now, with the increasing popularity of Santa Claus Village, Northern Lights, Ice and Snow in China, more people are willing to travel to northern Europe, which reflects the rapid development of China.

I still remember the experience of returning to China from 65438 to 0998. At that time, many people in China did not know the existence of Finland. At a party, my friends were curious about where I studied abroad. A friend asked, is there a windmill in your country? I said Holland, and a friend asked, is there a concentration camp in that place? I said Poland.

In fact, when they first came to Finland, many locals knew nothing about China or Asia. I went to a bar with my friends, and they asked me where I was from. I let them guess. Some say North Korea, some say Japan, and some say South Korea. They went around China, but didn't say anything about China.

And the whole society, basically can't see anything related to China. In the 1990s, only some low-grade clothes in Finland were made in China. Later, UnionPay and online payment spread all over the streets, which was aimed at China tourists.

Many vendors' first words of greeting you changed from "こんにちは" to "Hello", which is also a subtle process.

There will be Chinese-style things in the street, and occasionally you will meet foreigners who can speak Chinese very well. From this, we can feel that such a remote small European country has begun to pay more attention to China.

In addition, Finnair is the first Western European airline to establish direct flights with China. 1988 has a branch from Helsinki, Finland to Beijing, which once became the most important link between Northern Europe and China. Later, with the opening of the domestic market, branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu were added.

It makes me feel happy and proud to witness the development and growth of my motherland in a foreign country, but at that time, I never thought that I would panic about the future because of a hearing.

I have lived in Finland for many years and met too many children in China. Due to the lack of education in domestic culture since childhood, all aspects are mainly western culture, and I don't even want to eat Chinese food. This makes me very anxious, lest my next generation forget their roots.

I have heard the story of a friend's daughter before, and I can't get over it for a long time. Friends and couples are also working hard in Finland, and their daughters were born and went to school in Finland. At first, the couple wanted their children to learn Chinese well. So, I gave my daughter a Chinese class after school, but the child loves to play by nature and told the school teacher about it.

As a result, the teacher accused the couple of violating the Finnish education syllabus and affecting their happy childhood.

Under the protection of the teacher, this girl has the right not to learn Chinese. The girl always got good grades in school, and later she was admitted to the best business school in Finland. But after that, something happened that she regretted.

When she was in business school, she helped the professor of the research group write an article. Seeing that she was from China, the professor said, "You are from China, and we just want to study the China market. There are also many Chinese materials here. Please help me study it. " Smell speech, the girl froze in place.

It turns out that this girl can not only listen and speak Chinese, but also read and write Chinese. At this time, she wanted to blame her parents for not pushing herself, which didn't help.

This matter touched me a lot. I think children can learn any language, which is not difficult. But if you give up a language spoken by 65.438+0.4 billion people, you can learn a Finnish language spoken by only 6 million people in the world. No matter how skilled you are, you can only communicate with 6 million people, which is tantamount to losing watermelon and picking up sesame seeds.

After this incident, I began to consider shifting the focus of Finland's business to China. I hope my children will pay attention to China culture and not forget the cultural heritage of China. Even though he may go to the west to study or further his studies in the future, I still don't want there to be cultural barriers between us.

In addition, China people put filial piety first. My parents are getting older and need our care, and the domestic development is getting better and better, which has strengthened my determination to return to China with my wife and children.

20 13 years, my wife is pregnant. After I sent her back to my hometown in China, I began to live back and forth in China and Finland. I spent most of my time at home with her and flew to Finland for a few months to handle the company's business.

In 20 14, we ushered in the birth of a child. In order to live in China in the future, I began to consciously understand the relevant domestic market and business model, attended friends' parties, learned some wine table culture, and cooperated with a French company to open an office in Shanghai.

Unexpectedly, an epidemic struck and I was stranded in Finland. Although I can't reunite with my wife and children's parents for the time being, I feel indescribable sureness when I see the children growing sturdily in China.

Li Ka-shing once said: "The success of any career can't make up for the failure of educating children." I am convinced. Educating children is a long process, which requires parents to set an example and establish contact with their children, and cultural education in the motherland is even more indispensable.

Oral: He Bo