When I was out with P and A this Friday, P (who had been to Europe for a month) started complaining about the superficial conversations of Americans. (And yes, P himself is American.) I know what he means. I am also often missing the more analytical discussions that I so often had in Europe. I have however thought that I have been a bit unfortunate with the people I have met (except for P of course!), or that it is just the way you have a conversation here. I.e. that it is not polite to discuss so much and that it should be kept to a more casual level.

Saturday morning, I was having brunch at Le Pain Quotidien, and overheard a couple (that seemed to be on a date) discussing hamburger figures. Except for Ronald McDonald, they managed to name countless more that had been representing various hamburgers during their childhood and adolescent. I tuned out in the middle of a lengthy description of some female cheeseburger character (it isn’t polite to eavesdrop anyway!) and focused instead on my Romanian grammar. About 20 minutes later, I looked up from my book again, and guess what the couple was discussing? Burger meals! If the topic had lasted for 20 minutes, I cannot say, but all of a sudden I agreed with P about the intellectual level of conversations here.

Like I wrote below, it’s been crazy hot here this summer. For weeks, it’s been over 35 degrees Celsius (whatever that is in Farenheight but it’s over 90), and for a few days it was 40 C (around 100 F). It was hot even for me, and though I normally hate AC, I had to take the bus a couple of times (which has AC) because it was too hot to walk. Fortunately, Tesse, Eva-Marie and Julia are Swedish and Swedes don’t complain about warm weather. It is a cultural taboo due to the long winters and the little sunlight we have for so many months. Both Julia and Eva-Marie love the sun to the extent that we were sitting out in the sun and not in the shade even during lunch, and we would always walk on the sunny side of the street. I guess the vitamin D deficiency that I had earlier this year should be alright now. But today, the temperature all of a sudden dropped to 27 Centigrade (81 F) and I actually had to wear a sweater because it felt so cold!

The heat is back! After a few days of little above 30 degrees celsius, or about 85 F, it will again be almost 40 celsius here in DC today (or about 100 F). So most Americans stay indoors in their air conditioned homes. However, last time I went to the doctor (or rather, when I went to the doctor recently for the first time in four years), I found out that I have vitamin D deficiency. And while supplements work, the best thing is of course the body’s own production. Which means being out in the sun more and not necessarily always being covered in sunscreen. Elisa’s doctor told her that vitamin D deficiency has become an epidemic in this country because Americans don’t go out anymore. It is a bit sad, I think. So despite the heat, I am now on my way out for breakfast. I do hope there are seats available in the shade though. And to add to my healthy choices, I will of course have coffee which I read just the other day have so many positive health effects that researchers believe they will make medicine out of some of the substances in a few years. A cup of coffee in the sun – it really isn’t that difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle…

You can find the article about the coffee here (I didn’t manage to link it): http://www.dn.se/livsstil/halsa/en-kopp-kaffe-for-halsan-1.1139332

After coming in early for a videoconference with ministry and EU member state representatives in one of the countries that I work with, I am now back home in my apartment though it is not even noon. The reason? Someone placed a bomb close to my office which shut down the entire block. When I came to the office in the morning, the streets around were already closed down: there were police cars everywhere and I had to enter through the back entrance. And eventually they closed down more streets and the part of the building where I am sitting, and we were sent home to work from there instead. Which works just as well for me, especially since I can work in shorts and t-shirt, and my coffee is a lot better than in my office. The interesting thing is that there is absolutely nothing on-line or on the news about this, so I am not even sure what happened. But at least it doesn’t get boring here!

After coming in early for a videoconference with ministry and EU member state representatives in one of the countries that I work with, I am now back home in my apartment though it is not even noon. The reason? Someone placed a bomb close to my office which shut down the entire block. When I came to the office in the morning, the streets around were already closed down: there were police cars everywhere and I had to enter through the back entrance. And eventually they closed down more streets and the part of the building where I am sitting, and we were sent home to work from there instead. Which works just as well for me, especially since I can work in shorts and t-shirt, and my coffee is a lot better than in my office. The interesting thing is that there is absolutely nothing on-line or on the news about this, so I am not even sure what happened. But at least it doesn’t get boring here!

To celebrate the Swedish National Day, the Swedish Community in DC had organized an evening picnic at the Ambassador’s Residence. Or rather, they had organized with music (Lund’s University Orchestra if I remember correctly) and a lawn, and everyone brought their own food. Both Monika and I were quite busy yesterday so we agreed to just bring pizza, fruit and coffee, and make a quick stop. I am glad I went because it was nice to catch up with some of my Swedish acquaintances here and to get away from my computer for a while, since I sent most of it working.

 DC’s Swedish Community outside the Ambassador’s residence

Our little group

Me (dressed in blue and yellow in honor of the day) and Monika

At some point in the American history, a Japanese representative gave a Japanese cherry tree to the American people. Since then, for a few weeks every year, Washington is covered with pink flowers. It is beautiful and is celebrated with a yearly festival. I haven’t checked out this year’s festival, but I enjoy having lunch in Lafayette Park these days.

Japanese cherry blossom trees in Lafayette Park in front of the White House