A New Layout

As you can see, I have updated the layout of the blog. I’m not very happy with it, but I already spent a couple of hours on it, and have probably gone through two thirds of wordpress’ themes, so this will have to do for now. Bare with me for a few days! The header, by the way, is from when I was in Kazakhstan last spring. The cows were really curious when we stopped by and walked up to us from across the field, and after, my interpreter told me that she was so moved by their behavior that she considered becoming a vegetarian.

Blending In

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?

20130102-001819.jpg

New Year’s Eve

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!

20130102-000006.jpg

Washington with a Hangover

The day after here in Washington DC. Since Mitt Romney took his time before he made the traditional congratulation call to the President and delivered his concession speech, we were all up late last night waiting for Obama’s victory speech. And with late, I mean until past 2 in the morning. So when I got on a very late bus this morning around 9:45, it was packed with people going to work. According to my colleagues, all the garages down town were unusually full because people seemed to have taken their car to work. The speech was worth it of course! He is a true inspiration, President Barack Obama, and an immensely good speaker. A little different from our European politicians…. (though I’m of course very glad they refrain from ending their speeches with a God bless..!) I have great hopes for another four years with Obama as president. Hopefully, the pieces he put in place during his first term will stabilize and be complimented with more reforms, which together will provide a solid foundation for the future. Though when I scrolled down the Washington Post today, below the articles on the U.S. election there was an article about the militants who shot Ms. Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by Talibans for standing up for girls’ right to education), and all of a sudden the U.S. elections seemed so unimportant. Obama’s victory speech is worth watching though:

Washington is Celebrating

We are all very happy here tonight in Washing DC!! Four more years with the Obama family in the house down the street feels comforting! DC is overwhelmingly democratic, I think 92 percent voted for Obama in the last election, and so the city is out celebrating right now. For you who were with me in Paris and Rome during the World Cup in football in 1998 and 2006, and remember the celebrations out in the cities after the French and the Italian teams won, this is similar. Only, it’s for politics! I hear people cheering and honking the horns in their cars in the street outside my apartment. The Democrats did fairly well in the Congress, and most importantly, women’s issues were at stake and people took a stand in several states. As for the Republicans, all I can say is that they seem to have missed that more people than white men with property have the right to vote these days!

And I Survived the Storm

I’m still here! Hurricane Sandy came and went, and left disaster in its path. Washington DC was less affected than surrounding areas and NYC, but everything shut down completely for 1.5 days and the winds bought down a lot trees. Suburbia was flooded and had power cuts. Today was quiet as government offices, public transport and most other work places were still closed. Tomorrow, the East Cost will start repairing the damage. Its almost unreal that two days of winds can cause such disaster, but given our habits and their impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, I guess we just have to get used to it. Or?

20121031-001045.jpg

Ballet Abstinence

One of the many great things with my stay up in New York was that I had the opportunity to take ballet classes for Finis Jhung at the Ailey Extension. I came across his instruction DVDs about two years ago and even though I’ve danced for so many years and for so many different teachers in different countries, I learned a lot from his methods. Taking classes for him was fantastic: a little intimidating at first but it quickly gave results. I did, however, also manage to catch a cold while up in New York, so I haven’t been able to dance in over a week and am by now suffering from serious ballet abstinence! In The Happiness Project, Gretchen Ruben writes that it is good to do things that we enjoyed doing as children and I think she is right. Given how much energy I get from dancing, I just can’t believe I stayed away from ballet for over ten years! Sadly enough, I don’t think I’m the only adult who has given up things I really love only to do things that I don’t enjoy at all, just because it is expected.

20120729-141947.jpg
Newly acquired point shoes ready to be broken in.

A Connection Point

A good thing with both New York and Washington is that so many people that I know pass through at one point or another. As some of you know, I have several friends and acquaintances from Rome and Chisinau that now live in here in NY and in DC. Not so surprising perhaps with all the International Organizations that are located in respective city, but comforting nevertheless for someone who moves around a lot to not always have to leave people for good when relocating to a new place.

But both cities are also good because people fly through or come for shorter stays like holiday or training. Today, I met up with a friend from Moldova whom I hadn’t seen in five years. Kristine was on her way back home after a few weeks stay in Russia and with a few days stop here in NY, we had a chance to meet up. It was great seeing her again and I hope it won’t be another five years until next time we meet!

20120712-233855.jpg

A Good Start of the Day

I once went to a party in DC where two guests, who were originally from New York, agreed that although they both preferred Washington, the street performers in the capital are like a joke compared to those in New York. Without going into details about the differences in quality (or rather the sad state of the performances in DC), I can only confirm that the performers NY play in a different league. Some of the musicians and dancers in the subway here are amazing! This morning, I listen one of the best saxophonists I’ve ever heard while waiting for the subway. The
music was so beautiful that it literally gripped my heart and sent a warm wave trough my body. Quite a good start of the day!

20120712-230936.jpg