diff --git a/session.py b/session.py
index e90577a..5886f65 100644
--- a/session.py
+++ b/session.py
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ class Session(YowsupApp):
 		self.logger.debug('received TextMessage' +
 			' '.join(map(str, [
 				_id, _from, to, notify, timestamp,
-				participant, offline, retry, body
+				participant, offline, retry, body.encode("utf-8")
 			]))
 		)
 		buddy = _from.split('@')[0]
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index f6d120c..5e5c571 100644
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def ago(secs):
 	return "%d %s ago" % (diff, period)
 
 def softToUni(message):
-	message = message.decode("utf-8")
+	message = message.encode("utf-8")
 	return e4u.translate(message, reverse=False, **e4u.SOFTBANK_TRANSLATE_PROFILE)
 
 def decodePassword(password):