Leaving New York

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

For this time anyway. I am on my way back to DC now, on a Washington Delux bus as alway (I can really recommend them!) My New York stay was way too short this time. It was very cold and there always seems to be more logistics involved in the winter, so it seemed like the days went very fast. My stay ended however with a very nice reunion with four of my friends from high-school. I hadn’t seen them for over three years and it was so nice catching up. We had lunch in the Central Park Boathouse, which was lovely on a cold but clear winter day like this.

For me, I think the winter holiday is over now and it’s time to go back to work and other projects. Luckily, I’m filled up with that New York energy and ready for 2013!

From A Freezing New York

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

Today wasn’t as inspiring as I had hoped, as I spent the entire day writing a job application. Since Jenny’s internet was down, I went to the Midtown Library to work on it, and even though it is one of my favorite places to sit and write in New York, it was a little depressing that the sun was already setting when I exited on East 40th Street at 4:30 pm. The day ended on a good note, though, as I had a coffee at Think Coffee with a friend, and then dinner with a Nordic group at Freeman’s. I can really recommend both places for more health and environmentally conscious eaters. (Freeman’s when it comes to sustainability – didn’t see anything posted at Think Coffee.) Here is a pic of Grand Central Station at dusk:

Blending In

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under Uncategorized

It seems like I’m beginning to blend in here. Someone asked me for directions here in New York today. As you know from earlier posts, this is not unusual for me around Europe and Central Asia, but I can’t remember if it ever happened in New York or with an American asking. But today was the day! Later, when I had written the first entry in the five-year journal that I bought a while back, I realized that I had written it in English. Don’t ask me why, it wasn’t intentional. I’m of course glad to blend in, in New York, but that language mistake made me wonder if perhaps I’ve stayed here too long?

New Year’s Eve

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under Uncategorized

New Year’s Eve was perfect! In Sweden, we celebrate New Year’s with friends in a rather festive manner. Preferably with lots of friends, always with quite fancy food, and dressed up in semi-formal attires. We celebrate the year that passed properly and give the beginning of the year a good start. It’s was a bit of a cultural shock for me to celebrate with people in jeans a few years ago. Or with a group who didn’t want to do dinner that evening. But this year, it was perfect! Jenny (from Norway) had prepared everything and for dinner, we had two different fish courses (one was salmon, freshly smoked on Jenny’s terrace), and rain deer meat with lingonberries, and for desert, brownies with cloudberries and cream. And real champagne at mid-night! There were unfortunately not a lot of fireworks in New York – that’s also an indispensable part of a proper New Year celebration. But I had a really good time with nine people from six different countries. Again, happy nee year to all of you – let’s hope 2013 brings peace and joy and happiness around the world!

Happy New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under Uncategorized

Happy New Year to all of you! From me, running pre-dinner errands in New York.

A Nice Surprise and the President’s Favorite Burgers

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Agriculture and Food, Posts From Washington DC

I had a nice surprise the other day at work when I realized that my colleague had in fact not yet moved to Romania, but is around for another couple of weeks. Great for me, especially since my friend has his mind set on going through DC’s best burger places before moving away from the U.S. Last week, we went to the Daily Grill, which is one of my favorite place this time of the year, and tonight we went to Good Stuff Eatery in Capitol Hill. The latter probably makes some of the best burgers in DC and is President Obama’s favorite hamburger place. It was my first time I was there and I can definitely recommend it (although a plus would have been proper plates and cups instead of the disposable stuff). Plus I had a very nice evening!

God Jul!

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under My life

Merry Christmas to all of you!! After an amazing Christmas dinner, we are now about to have desert and open Christmas gifts. I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas eve too!

Ready for Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under My life

I’m finally getting ready for Christmas! Monika and I baked Christmas buns and cookies for six hours yesterday, and with my apartment decorated and filled with Christmas treats, everything is in order for tomorrow. (We celebrate Christmas Eve in Sweden and not so much Christmas Day.) Tomorrow, I’m going to a Nordics Christmas concert and then I’m having dinner with Monika’s and Willie’s family. Here are some pics from our baking session yesterday and from my very cozy and very Christmasy apartment:

Traditional Swedish saffron buns

Christmas chocolates from Vienna

When I flew back to DC with Lufthansa earlier this month, we all got a Christmas stocking as a present.

On the 16th Street Buses

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under Posts From Washington DC

I just came back from my last ballet class before the holidays. To go to my classes, I usually take the S2 bus outside my building, which runs on 16th Street all the way up to Silver Spring in Maryland, where my dance studio is. 16th Street is apparently the street in the world with the most religions represented in the same street. (Yes, I too see the irony of me living here!) Therefore, the bus is always full with a variety of different church goers every Sunday morning when I take the bus. It’s quite interesting to watch people from all over the world, often dressed up traditional clothes, heading to their particular church. I am, of course, not entirely sure what the difference is, but it seems important to my fellow passengers who get off at different stops according to their Christian affiliation. They often come in larger groups with several families going together and they seem to look forward to their church visits. It is still more common in the U.S. to believe that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time over the last 10,000 years or so” (45 % according to a 2007 Gallup poll) than it is to not belong to a particular religion (some 15%). Perhaps in an attempt to counter balance all the different believes in the street, this this campaign has run on the 16th Street buses these past months.

In Anticipation of Christmas

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Åsa Giertz under My life

I’m slowly but surely starting to get into Christmas mood. It’s a little more difficult here in Washington than in many of the places where I’ve lived because of the climate and the not so dark winter months. Many of the traditions that we have in Sweden around Christmas try to lit up the darkness that defines this season. It’s all about candles! But with temperatures being around 10 degrees and the sun not setting before 5 pm, I do not long for light in the same way and thus tend to forget some traditions that otherwise prepare for Christmas. Also, as I wrote earlier, this has been a hectic fall and it seems like it was just September, so I think I’m having trouble realizing that it’s Christmas.

But I’m getting there! Earlier this week, I went to the Alexandria Harmonizers’ Christmas Concert at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria (my colleague’s husband sings in the choir and the concert was great!!), today I got all the Christmas food (I even found herring at Whole Foods), tomorrow I’m Christmas baking with Monika, and Sunday I’m going caroling up in Maryland with my colleague’s family and their friends. So I should hopefully be in Christmas mood by Monday!

Food and the World

by Åsa Giertz

Author Archives: Åsa Giertz