Food, Agriculture and a Teen Adventure

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Agriculture and Food, On Books, Movies, Education, and Conferences

My writing reached a milestone last week when I reached 30,000 words on my teen mystery novel. Or it felt like a milestone somehow because all the advice that I’ve read here in the U.S. on how to write a novel has set 50,000 words as the first target for the end, after which the write should focus on polishing of the text and making the story fuller, etc. So 30,000 words meant that I had written more than half. And now, at 35,000 words, it feels like the story is just moving forward by itself. It’s so fun to write! What the novel is about? Well, not sure how much I should reveal here, but food, agricultural policy, international development, and corporate conspiracy are all ingredients. What else when I’m the author? And my teen heroine has travelled a lot more than I had at the age of 16!

To be continued…

Pleasant Studies

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Books, Movies, Education, and Conferences

Now that summer is here, I’m spending my weekends in part at a community pool a few blocks from me. With my on-going projects and studies, I actually have quite a bit to read, but fortunately it can be done at the poolside. This weekend: Russian grammar and J.K. Rowling’s The Coco’s Nest as mystery literature research.

Another Photo Class

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Books, Movies, Education, and Conferences

As I wrote some time back, one of my goals this year was to learn to take better pictures. It’s not because I necessarily want to be a good photographer, but because I see so much when I travel and meet so many interesting people on my trips, and I want to capture my experiences in a way that makes them justice. So earlier this year, I signed up for an introductory photography class, and this evening, I’m doing the next level of the course: Flash Photography. Hopefully, little by little, the photos on this blog are of higher quality!

Confessions of a Bookaholic

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, On Books, Movies, Education, and Conferences

When it comes to books, I have a bit of a problem: I can’t go into a bookstore without coming out with a book or ten. The other day, I passed by Barnes & Noble on my way home from work, and came out with no less than six books. I told myself that it was in preparation for summer. I’m planning a week-long vacation to South Beach, Miami, with a friend, and a pile of books belong to the most basic packing. Since I’m writing on a mystery novel for teens (with a food theme, of course!), I also came up with the excuse that the mystery novels in my book bag was really research material. But it might be time for me to admit that I probably have a problem…

Summer is Rooftop Season in Washington DC

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, Posts From Washington DC

I’m aware that my blog updates have been poor lately. Or non-existent, in fact. In part, this is a result of an intense work period that made me basically lock myself up in my office for three weeks after I came back from the Dominican Republic. But also because it seemed dull to post writings and photos of my everyday life in Washington DC after my week in the Caribbean paradise. But I guess it’s time to admit that this is my life here and that it doesn’t get more exotic than this, and that if I should keep this blog alive, I have to post non-adventurous posts now and then.

A pleasant discovery once I existed my office in late May was that summer had finally come to the U.S. East Coast. And in Washington DC, that means that people start gathering on rooftops around town. Drinks, BBQs, or just a relaxing afternoon – everything is better on a rooftop with a view! Here is the view from my friend Anna’s rooftop, at the top of Meridian Hill Park in North West DC:

Capitol Hill and Washington Monument

Turning Forty in Country Number Forty

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

So I just turned forty in country number forty for me. Well, at least if I stretch it a bit (and not count Sweden where I was born and grew up). Not my age, that is, but the numbers of countries I’ve been to. A colleague and I recently discussed how one should count the number of countries visited. A stop at an airport is of course a no no. (I have eight of those.) We also agreed that really tiny states such as the principalities and the Vatican don’t really count either, although we made an exception for Monaco. (I have two of these, the Vatican and San Marino, plus Transnistria, Moldova’s break-away region since 20+ years, which isn’t a recognized state although you do need a passport to cross the border.) We also agreed that going by bus or train through a country doesn’t really count unless you stop for coffee or a meal somewhere. And this is where I really bend the rule, because I did have a coffee break at a roadside restaurant some years ago when driving through Kosovo between Macedonia and Montenegro. So technically, I’ve been to more countries than the forty that I count, but I hope that some flexibility can be allowed here to make it even for my birthday!

Where I am? In the Dominican Republic. I always wanted to go to the Caribbean ever since I was a little girl and read adventure books about explorers and pirates, but I’ve never gotten around to go. So what better than to visit the first island that Christopher Columbus set foot on in the Americas? I’m staying in Santo Domingo, which was conquered by the Spanish over 500 years ago, and there is so much history and culture here! Over the next couple of days, I’ll head to the beach and a boat tour to one of the islands. So more pics to come!

Desperately Looking for Signs of Spring

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life, Posts From Washington DC

I was looking for signs of spring this weekend but despite promises of sunny days and decent temperatures, the sun was barely visible behind the clouds and it was windy and quite chilly. A former colleague and I went for a walk down to the National Mall with the hope of finding a pink landscape, but Washington DC’s famous cherry blossom is still not in full bloom. This has been the coldest winter here since I moved to Washington five years ago and it seemed like the rest of DC was as eager as me to see the sun that day. The steps of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial were packed with people as were the rest of the monuments and parks around DC. But today, the weather was grey and rainy again, and temperatures in the range of what we normally have here in December. The cherry blossom peak, last week projects for April 8-12, is now expected around April 15. So I’m still in my winter coat, snapping photos of every little sign of spring that I see.

Photography

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life

As I wrote in a few posts back, my year got off to a good start in terms of ticking off the goals I set for this year. I signed up for Russian classes and went to Florida for a weekend in January, which took care of two of my bubbles on the 2014 mind map. Another one of my goals for this year is to improve my photography. As I think I wrote earlier, I recently bought a Canon G15, which my photographer friend, Anna Thorbjörnsson recommended me to start with and which has more functions than a compact camera without being too complicated. I used a similar camera when I was in Central Asia last year and although there is still much to wish for in the quality of my pictures, I recently submitted a few to two photo competitions at my work. And believe it or not but one of my photos was actually selected as one of four to be displayed at a conference on urban inclusion this week! It actually turned out quite well when they enlarged it into a poster. A good motivation for me to work more on my photography! Here is the original, from a market in Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

I’m especially happy that this photo was selected given my believe in integrating rural with urban. Food markets are a good example of where rural and urban meet. Here, both are mutually dependent: the rural inhabitants need food markets for economic opportunities and the urban inhabitants need the food markets to maintain good health and high quality of life. Well-designed cities can ensure the interest of both.

2014

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Åsa Giertz under My life

So a new year, a new start in everyone’s mind. This is of course a little late, but this year, it seems like most blogs are lagging behind on this topic. Perhaps because everyone had such lovely Christmas holiday just like me? Or maybe because 2013 wasn’t too bad of a year for most people (and indeed the world) and then we don’t feel like you have to push for things to happen?

Over the holiday, I did, however, think a bit about what where I am in life and how I’d like me and my life to progress. Even though every day is a good day to set new goals, New Years is of course a good time since it has a given time period for completing what we set our minds on. As always, I have lots and lots of ideas, and not all of it necessarily gets done. But throwing out ideas gives me a smorgasbord (or smörgåsbord) to pick from, and in fairness, a lot of it does get done. I didn’t have so many new ideas this year. Most of my goals have to do with reinforcing habits or completing already started projects. Outside of work, my books are in the center – it’s time to finish them! The year is also the year when Andreas’ and my long-time plan of going to Scotland finally will be realized (we started dreaming about it on our last trip to San Francisco back in 2011 and the other day, we finally set a tentative date). A few other trips are also in planning, including to Montreal, Charleston and the Niagara Falls. But I think that my most important goals for this year really are those that aim at me growing as a person. Not just to be better at thing or learning new skills, but to be better. Last year, after the summer, I decided to try to do at least one good deed or contribute to the better of this world every day, and although I didn’t really manage this fully, I will definitely continue to aim for this this year. I will also remember to be grateful for what I have. I often get a sense of gratitude over things, but it is good to remind oneself of this at least once a day. This was also something I started last year but I will try to do it even more often in 2014. And although the years has barely started, I can already tick off two of my plans for this year: going to Florida and studying Russian. Visiting Anna’s sister in West Palm Beach this weekend was my planned Florida trip and this week, I’m starting my Russia classes at work. So I’m off to a good start!

Here is what my mind map for 2014 looked like. It’s in Swedish and divided between Work, Courses & Studies, Personal Travels, Projects, Blog, and Me. For of the branches in the Work (jobb) category stand for different countries and a region. So it will be an interesting year for me at work and I am bound to see a lot. As for the rest, it’s a little cluttered but I have a lot to look forward to – let’s see how much I get done!

Wonderful Christmas!

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Åsa Giertz under My life

I love Christmas! Or Yuletide, rather. Influenced by Northern European folklore, Dickens, and Hollywood movies, it is to me a magical time of the year. Possible because it is the time where we in the Northern hemisphere bring in lights and color into the darkest and coldest part of the year. Everything is glowing and pretty, we eat good food and dress up to match the beautiful decorations around us. Angels and wights surround us, bringing us as closer than ever to fairytale (maybe with the exception of Halloween). Perhaps also because Christmas is a time that we spend with our close ones, it reminds us of what really matters. It is also a time of giving, inviting, and sharing, which I think makes everyone feel good. It’s the ending of the year and a time to recuperate, summarize the past and reevaluate what is important. And then, when the New Year comes a few days after, we can bring all this with us into the next year.

This year, I actually worked most of the holiday. In Sweden we celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, but my work had a half day on December 24, and so I worked then. But the rest of e holiday was filled with nice gatherings: dinner and brunches with lovely food, and I invited friends over one evening for Swedish glögg (mulled wine) and ginger bread cookies. For some reason, I didn’t want Christmas to end this year. Maybe because it was so cozy? Here is my favorite Christmas decoration this year, at the New York City Library.

I actually met Mayor Vincent Gray of Washington DC when buying my last gifts at Macy’s the day before Christmas Eve. I let him pass me in line!

Food and the World

by Åsa Giertz

Category Archives: My life