2010 -The year that went by

It’s been an amazing year. When 2009 was coming to an end, my friend Malin and I promised ourselves that 2010 was going to be a good one. And that turned out to be a true promise.

I started this year in Sweden, with all of my closest friends that I haven’t celebrated new years with since… 2002! Yeah, I actually haven’t been home during NY since then. Mad.

Celebrating NY with friends

Back in China I went from Suzhou to Shanghai to find a flat. I was kind of in a hurry since I was supposed to start my new job on Jan 11. Eventually I found a perfect crib, moved in, and got settled, the day before my first day at work.

February came with a business trip to Stockholm. Freezing, but beautiful Stockholm. I almost slipped on the roads, became a "celeb" on a plane with a Chinese performance troupe, and longed for Shanghai.

Stockholm

March was a busy month, gearing up for a big fashion project, as well as the World Expo. Then at the end came Easter, and I got the brilliant idea that we should go to Inner Mongolia. Don’t ask me what I was thinking, but anyway, off we went.

Hohhot

Back in Shanghai (now April) it was work, work, work: Ann-Sofie Back at Shanghai Fashion Week, Expo hysteria, and then, BAM: The World Expo opened.

Ann-Sofie Back at SFW
After-show talk with Daniel Glasman

May was Expo Month De Luxe. I met the minister of trade, the Swedish King and our (at that time) deputy prime minister.

Opening of the Swedish pavilion at the World Expo, Minister of Trade Ewa Björling
The King of Sweden

June was moderator month. I first acted Chinese translator (to a Chinese guy who spoke English –just to make it a bit more interesting) at a Nordic film event, and then, some week later, I dressed up to be a princess host at an event that celebrated the marriage of Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria. Nerve-racking but fun! But I never blogged about it, as I decided to take a blog break.

Moderating in Chinese
Princess host -also in Chinese

July came with a well-deserved break. Off I went to Finland, a country that was experiencing the warmest summer yet….

Relaxing in Finland

And in August we went to Sweden, hung out with friends and family and paid a short visit to the island Ven, and another one to Göteborg.

Biking with friends on Ven island
The classic crayfish party
A visit to beautiful Göteborg (here in Haga).

Back in Shanghai I made a blog comeback, and then life went on with more Expo and more events, combined with a quick work trip to Stockholm, and then another one to Berlin. Time passed faster than a Chinese bullet train. And I got a chance to visit my hometown again, where a new nephew had been born…

Catching up with friends in Sweden
Welcoming new baobao Malou to the family

Then came October with event madness: Odeur at Shanghai Fashion Week, Jazz Festival with Nils Landgren and the Funk Unit, dress dramas, The Swedish Crown Princess and her hubby in town, and then, finally, the closing of the world Expo.

Odeur
Backstage at Odeur
Nils Landgren at Shanghai Jazz Festival

November was filled with catching up and recovering, and then we squeezed in a wknd in Suzhou in order to catch up with our old friends and city. Not a place we miss, to tell the least. I also met a famous artist and his mean wife.

Suzhou visit

And that brings us to December, that has been a busy month at work with a TV stunt, a different, but fun, Chirstmas, and that will end with a trip to Australia.

Seeing myself on web TV -weird!

I can only hope that 2011 will be as good as this year (can you make the same promise to yourself twice?). At least I will start it at one of the best places on earth.