Mislila sam da su Norvežani najbolji muškarci na svetu, ali to nije istina! Pre nego što sam upoznala čoveka koji mi je postao muž, radila sam u fabrici u Bangkoku, a on je živeo u Pataji. Upoznali smo se preko Interneta i na kraju postali par.
I thought Norwegian men were the best men in the world, but that is not true! Before I met the man who became my husband, I worked in a factory in Bangkok, and he lived in Pattaya. We met through the Internet and eventually became a couple.
Posle nekog vremena odlučili smo da se venčamo. Dolazim iz siromašne porodice, tako da je mogućnost da imam muža stranca koji bi mogao da brine o mojoj porodici bio deo mog razloga da se udam za njega.
After a while we decided to get married. I came from a poor family, so having a foreign husband who could take care of my family was part of my reason for marrying him.
Preselili smo se u Norvešku, a ja sam krenula u školu da učim norveški. Bilo je to teško vreme. Nisam imala vozačku dozvolu, pa je muž morao da me vozi u školu, da me čeka i vozi nazad. Trajalo je po sat vremena u oba pravca. Posle nekog vremena preselili smo se bliže, ali on je i dalje insistirao da me vozi u školu. Nije želeo da šetam sama.
We moved to Norway, and I started going to school to learn Norwegian. It was a difficult time. I did not have a driver’s licence, and my husband had to drive me to school, wait for me, and drive back. It was an hour each way. After a while we moved closer, but he still insisted on driving me to school. He did not want me to walk alone.
Otkad sam došla u Norvešku jedva da sam imala novca. Jednom mi je muž dao novac za ručak, ali pošto sam imala tako malo novca, nisam ga potrošila. Moji prijatelji u školi žele da mi pomognu da se zaposlim, ali muž kaže da ne mogu. On ne misli da je posao čistačice prikladan za mene.
I have hardly had any money since I came to Norway. Once, my husband gave me money for lunch, but since I had so little money, I kept it. My friends at school want to help me to get a job, but my husband says I cannot. He does not think working as a cleaner is appropriate for me.
Umesto toga, imao je drugi posao za mene– izgradnju garaže. On je bio šef, a ja sam sve sama radila. Nije mogao mnogo da uradi jer je bio bolestan. Nije mi dao ništa od novca koji je zaradio od izgradnje garaže.
Instead he had another job for me – building a garage. He was the boss and I did everything. He could not do much because he was ill. He did not give me any of the money he made from building the garage.
Jednog dana je rekao da mu je dosadno kada je sam kod kuće, pa je odlučio da treba da nabavimo psa. Nisam želela psa jer sam bila umorna posle škole i morala sam da radim domaće zadatke. Rekao je da će ga on šetati svakog dana, ali na kraju sam ja morala da brinem i o psu i o svom starom mužu.
One day he said he was bored when he was home alone, so he decided we should get a dog. I did not want a dog as I was tired after school and I had homework to do. He said he would walk the dog every day, but in the end I had to take care of both the dog and my old husband.
Ne znam šta će budućnost doneti. Moj plan je da idem u drugu školu, ali muž ne želi da to radim. Planira da se odseli dalje da bi mi otežao. Želim da se oduprem, ali ne znam kako. Nije tako lako živeti u tuđini sa starcem kao mužem kao što sam mislila da će biti.
I do not know what the future will bring. My plan is to go to another school, but my husband does not want me to do that. He is planning to move further away to make it difficult for me. I want to resist, but I do not know how. It is not as easy to live in a foreign country with an old man as a husband as I thought it would be.
Aranya
Sunniva Høiby-Øiset
Jelena Ličina
Marina Matić
Serbo-Croatian
Level 5
