Norwegian/English

I am a quite ordinary man

I am a quite ordinary (ethnic) Norwegian. I own a small boat-building company.... I build plastic boats, or rather, cast plastic boats. This I have done now for many years.

Suddenly a welcome change happened. At a boat show some Chinese took interest in my new boat designs, particularly the large cabin cruiser. One of them wrote a contract ... and then it started. I cast the hull in Norway, but produced individual parts in Iceland. Thus I exported many wonderful plastic boats to Shanghai. It went very well. I became a famous boat builder in China, and I must say ... a bit of an ambassador for our country.

But then the catastrophe happened. Several customers complained that the plastic hull started to crack. Could it be the heat down south? Maybe the salt water in China was particularly corrosive. A plastic boat was sent to Norway, at my expense of course. The hull was not to be saved ... the boat looked terrible. It could have ruined me.

But I found a plan: All boats where to be replaced with a new, stronger plastic mixture that could withstand extreme heat. Of course, all replacement boats were deducted from my taxes, as I do have a company.

But there were also some who did not want a new boat ... They wanted money instead. I was almost ruined. My marriage also fell apart, and my wife took everything we owned.

It did not take long before my Chinese wholesaler treated me so condescending that we both decided to leave each other. The Chinese do not like to lose face, especially in financial matters. Now, however, I was up and going with safer boats. Not as elegant in the varnish ... but they were good. I had to find a new dealer in Shanghai.

But my bad reputation entered every room before I did. Finally I found a company named Li AS. The director greeted me welcome. He was interested in my plastic boats. But as he said, "I have spoken to your former dealer. Some of your proceeds need to remain in this firm as a deposit. Li AS cannot bear a bad name… and where do you actually come from? As far away as you live ... anything can happen.” I signed the contract with him and returned to my beloved, safe homeland. Back home, I heard horrific stories of sudden bankruptcies in China. It often paid off.

The next time Mr. Li AS and I met, I mentioned that we should find a safer way to handle the deposit. Mr. Li found a solution. Not far from Hangzhou, 18 hours by car from Shanghai, in Ningbo - he knew of a bank where we could establish a bank box. If someone wanted large sums as a refund for the extra large boats, they should inform us.

After 5 years, the money would be sent back. Then Mr. Li would feel safe. I often used the nights to build all those damaged boats that where to be replaced: approximately 40 large cabin cruisers. After 5 years, no one

had demanded a refund - perhaps due to the good times in the Chinese economy. But Mr. Li wanted to keep some money back. Up at Tientsin there were several broken boats he had heard about. My ex wife sent a letter to the tax authorities. She thought they should require audits of me. So it was done.

I wrote that there had been some detentions due on the broken boats.... but that the tax now was to be paid (five years had passed). Apart from the recent detention, which would be paid after five new years. The tax authorities realized that this was a fair thing and wished me good luck. In short, everything went well. And the good new boats are good PR for little Norway ... up here in the North.

- A short story by Odd Nerdrum

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