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!
Category Archives: My life
Ready for Christmas
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.
In Anticipation of Christmas
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!
In an Empty Washington DC
After a very hectic first day back in DC with twelve hours of work on Thursday, it’s been really slow here. I have a report to finish before Christmas, but it doesn’t require weekend work, and both Mr M and Monika were away this weekend so admittedly, it’s been a little boring. I should probably try to make some new friends, but it seems like every time I meet someone nice, he or she moves away. A really nice colleague of mine just moved to Romania and another is moving to Austria after Christmas – it’s a hopeless city!
Instead, I went down to pretty and super Christmasy Georgetown yesterday to look for Christmas gifts. They closed down their Barnes and Noble there a while back, so I hadn’t been there since this summer. I found a couple of things, but I have to say the walk there and back is a lot nicer than the actual shopping!
Today, I took out my book, after not having written much on it since September or so (because of my dissertation), but even though I actually enjoyed reading what I’ve written so far, I didn’t really find the inspiration to write. I guess most authors go through less productive days. Hopefully, I’ll get back into it soon and can finish it in not too long. Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution for 2013? Now I’m watching Downton Abbey’s Christmas Special to get some Christmas spirit, which is going a lot better than the book. Can’t wait for next weekend!
Writing at Java House
Short Stop to Clean the Stairs in Stockholm
On my way back from Montenegro, I managed to stop by Stockholm for a few days. I didn’t really plan it, but it coincided with my cleaning week in my apartment building. I have a small apartment in Stockholm and in order to keep the costs down, we share the responsibilities for maintenance of the building, including the cleaning of the stairs. And last week was my week. Lucky me! Stockholm was also hit by unusually heavy snowfalls in early December, and even though it was very cozy with all the snow, the stairs in my building were a mess. I felt very Downton Abbey! But it was great to have a few days in my little place, to spend time with my friends, indulge in Swedish Christmas buns, and to speak Swedish. I was only there fore three days, so unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see everyone that I wanted to, but better than nothing for sure. Even if I had to spend a couple of hours cleaning the stairs!
A Glimpse of Bono
There was a celebrity visiting the World Bank today. An awesome celebrity! I am normally not a fan of celebrities trying to save the world but there are exceptions, and Bono is probably the best. I have been to several U2 concerts, but these days, I tend to think of him more as a poverty elimination advocator than as a rock star. So I couldn’t resist the opportunity to go and listen to what he had to say. It was mostly a pep talk, but all I can say is that getting a pep talk from Bono is great! (Even though I couldn’t see much because I was so far back…) The event was part of the discussion What Will It Take to End Poverty? I think everyone, at least in the development sector, knows what is needed, and what we agreed once more today in this event was that a lot more can be done. It is NOT OK that 1.3 million people still live on less than 1.25 dollars per day and that 870 million people are chronically undernourished! Things are certainly improving, but not fast enough for all those individuals around the world who still don’t have access to clean water, enough food, healthcare, or education.
The Accidental American?
Despite hundreds of requests from the Democratic party filling up my inbox over these past months, I have of course not been able to donate even a dollar to the election campaign. Why? Because I’m not an American citizen. Foreigners are not allowed to donate directly to campaigns of course. And even though I wouldn’t have minded participating in DC politics, I am definitely not American yet. Or am I? Believe it or not, but I just got called for jury duty! That thing that people always complain about in tv series!! I would have loved it, though – it seems so exciting!! However, as a foreigner I’m not allowed to do that either. I don’t plan to stay here in the U.S. forever, but I’m wondering how long it is possible to live in a country without being able to participate in civic duties and be part of the democracy?
Sunny Saturday
Today was indeed much warmer, and gave the opportunity to outdoor lunch with a book at a cafe in Silver Spring after my dance class. The climate is so much nicer here in Washington than in Stockholm, Chisinau, and even Paris (when we don’t have extreme weather events that is) but I’m wondering if I’m not better suited for life closer to the equator… A coffee and a book in the sun is great, though, even if the jacket is on!
I just finished Lena Einhorn’s “Siri” about Siri von Essen, August Strinberg’s first wife. Despite my Swedish literature teacher’s attempts to spark my enthusiasm for Strindberg by spending a disproportional number of classes his work, I was never a fan of Strindberg. And I can’t say that this has changed after having read this book – he was a terribly unsympathetic and self absorbed person! Siri, however, seems to have been a very interesting person: an early champion for women’s rights and a lot less traditional even than many women in my surrounding today. I wouldn’t mind learning more about her.
Who Wants Winter??
This past week have been a little slow. I thought first that perhaps it was a post dissertation dip, i.e. that mental fall that often comes after a period of stress, when the adrenaline level goes down. But then I realized that it’s the season. Turning back the clock last weekend coincided with a sharp drop in temperatures to almost freezing levels, and after two days, I remembered how much I detest cold weather and darkness. I can’t really describe it, it makes me tense and irritated, and unmotivated to do anything that requires outdoor logistics. Fortunately, it is too early for winter here in DC and the temperature has been rising again since yesterday. I still miss summer and especially not having to dress warm, but I tried to make the most of the season today when the sun finally came out, and went for a walk, bought pretty autumn colored flowers, and made apple pies. This weekend, temperatures will be just below 20 C, so hopefully some of my motivation will come back. And if not, I’m really glad I got that Netflix subscription!!
First Position
One thing that is cool about having moved around between different countries and cities is that you become familiar with so many places. I watched this amazing documentary, First Position, yesterday, about kids and adolescents with a passion for ballet trying to make it as dancers. And even though I am not exactly a ballerina, I have actually taken ballet classes at two of the studies in the movie: the Maryland Youth Ballet here in Washington, and the Ailey Extension in New York. The movie is very touching and I really recommend it, also for you who don’t dance.