New Blog Address

This is my last post on this site. I recently changed my blog platform and domaine and you can now find me on http://www.asagiertz.com. Hope to see you there! 

Happy Advent!

Traditional Swedish Advent: to light a candle each Sunday for four weeks before Christmas. One of all our traditions that involves candles in this darkest period of the year.

Getting Things Done Weekend

I decided to make this weekend a Getting Things Done Weekend. Or rather, a weekend for getting rid of nagging little tasks. It started quite well yesterday (it was my Friday off) and I managed to cross a bunch of stuff off my to-do lists. And make a few new lists. What’s annoying is when you try to get things done and it doesn’t work. Yesterday, I tried to drop off three shoes at my neighborhood cobbler, but apparently, they only fix heels on the shoes these days. Since I refuse o throw my shoes away just because they need a few stitches, this item is still on my list. But it’s kind of hopeless to try to cut consumption when not even the cobbler can fix shoes anymore!

Before I start with today’s errands, I’m meeting two girls from work for brunch in Capitol Hill. I haven’t been there for a while so thought I’d combine it with a stop at the Eastern Market and produce shopping at their farmers’ market. For me, the best way to get things done is to prepare properly and to combine the errands with fun.

Unexpected Event at Seoul’s International Airport

Just passed this traditionally dressed group on my way to my connecting flight to LA. A reminder that I’m in South Korea. Although the flight is more hours than I care to count, I’m arriving before my departure time because of the time difference. The world is really fascinating!

First Impressions of Ulaanbaatar

So, after about 24 hours if traveling, I finally arrived in Ulaanbaatar Saturday night. Although this week has been filled with meetings to which I’ve mainly gone by car, I had a chance to go out for a walk on Sunday. The part of Ulaanbaatar that I’ve seen is really nice. Apparently, the Russians made a replica of St Petersburg’s main square, so there is a rather grandiose square in the center of the city with an operas and theaters around it. Ulaanbaatar has about 1.2 million inhabitants and it does have a big city feel to it. And it’s diverse history is on display throughout the city: Russian classic architecture is mixed with Soviet Style concrete apartment blocks, ghers (yurts), East Asian decorative structures, and modern office buildings with glass facades. People are extremely mild in their manners and very kind towards one another, in a very different way than I’m used to from elsewhere. Ulaanbaatar’s inhabitants are also more globalized urban than I expected: well dressed (probably an effect of their cashmere and garment industries) and with smart phones, and there are Priuses everywhere (fuel is quite expensive here). The weather is nice, it snowed Monday night and the city turned white. As a Swede who haven’t seem much snow for the past years, I love it of course! Today, we’re going to Northern Mongolia for three days, to meet herders and farmers. It’s almost unreal to be here!

I haven’t had a chance to download photos from my camera but here is the view from the window in my hotel room the morning after the snow:

On My Way to Ulaanbaatar

I realized that I spend quite a lot of time at airports. When I first started traveling a lot for work, I didn’t mind that much. I’ve always loved traveling and airports and train stations have always given me that ticketing feeling that new adventures are out there, within reach. And when I got access to lounges, traveling even felt a little luxurious. These days, hanging out in airport lounges has admittedly lost some of its charm and I find the down time between flights quite borning. I’m not going to mention any names, but some airports don’t even offer free wi-fi! Fortunately, this is not the case here at Incheon International Airport in Seoul, where I’m waiting for my flight to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (and indeed a new adventure). Airports and lounges tend to look similar across the world, but there are small differences that gives a hint of the country outside the airport. Here, small cups with blue patterns and a larger tea selection than coffee offer were reminders of South East Asian traditions. I’m not sure of the origin of the green tea muffin that came with the tea (or, rather, I’m quite sure it’s American), but tasty neverthless!

Off to a Very Exciting Place

After the heat wave last weekend, autumn is finally here. The weather has been grey and rainy for days and days, and I’ve had little motivation to go outside this weekend. Which meant that I once again missed the mingling event at the Ambassador’s residence with the Swedish delegation to the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, but it just wasn’t tempting enough to leave my warm and comfortable apartment!) I’ve been trying to hold on to this summer’s flavor by portioning out the jar of coffee from Café du Monde that I bought when I was with Jonas in New Orleans, but I think it’s time for me to face the fact and full embrace fall. Hence, apple muffin baking and tea shopping is on the agenda today. I should also get used to the cold since on Friday, I’m off to a much colder destination, namely Mongolia! The capital, Ulaanbaatar is allegedly one of the coldest capital in the world, so although it isn’t exactly winter yet, it’s already far below 0 Celsius at night. Fortunately, as I grew up in Sweden, at least I know how to pack for two weeks in cold climate. For some of my colleagues from the Southern hemisphere, this trip will definitely be more of a challenge in this regard. But immensely exciting, nevertheless – truly a once in a lifetime journey!

Shoes Off for an Evening

I got an e-mail from my dance studio this afternoon saying that it was closed for repairs this evening. So instead of sweating in my favorite ballet class tonight, I ended up having a relaxing evening at home in front of the tv. Quite nice, actually. Indian summer is definitely over now and it was cool outside when I left the office. So a perfect evening to stay in with a cup of tea. And there is always class tomorrow!

Indian Sunmer Weekend

We had Indian Summer in Washington DC this weekend and since I wasn’t entirely ready for fall, I enjoyed every minute of it. It wasn’t Indian Summer by definition (aparently, a frost should have struck prior to the heat wave for it to be real Indian Summer), but it was around 30 centigrades for three days and I wore my favorite summer dress for what was probably the last time this year. The DC:ites complained, of course, and turned up the air conditioning, but I stayed out as much as possible in the sun.

My time in the sun was, of course, in the company of a book and I can recommend this one. It’s called Expats, by Chris Pavone and I picked it up in a book store at Frankfurt Airport without ever having heard about it. Expats about an American couple (he a programmer, she former CIA) that moves from Washington DC to Luxembourg, where they meet another couple who aren’t who they say they are. And so the story takes off. The plot is quite captivating, but the best part is definitely the description of European capitals, today’s Europeans in the borderless EU, and the expat environment. It’s evident that Pavone is highly familiar with the environments that he depicts in the book. For me, who’s been moving around in these environments for the past 15 years, the book was very entertaining, but I think it would be a fun story for anyone to read. If nothing else, it gives a good insight into everyday life of international professionals on temporary work permits.

A Great Weekend Followed by An Ordinary Month

Sorry for not dedicating time to update my blog lately! It’s not because of lack of inspiration, nor because I don’t have anything to write about; I have just been very busy lately. As always after summer and vacation, I came back to work filled with energy and inspiration, and I decided to seize the moment and get into new routines. These included allocating time for writing and for additional dance classes in my weekly schedule, and with 10 hours a day in the office, I just haven’t gotten around to write blog posts these past weeks. I will try to do better!

Except for allocating more time for dancing and writing, one of my goals for this fall is to travel more during weekends. I already wrote about my lovely and very lazy weekend in Ocean City, which was a result of this idea. The weekend after was Labor Day weekend, which meant Monday off for everyone except today’s real laborer (i.e. those in retail, food service, and maintenance workers). So I got on a bus Friday afternoon and went up to New York for three days. It’s not exactly a secret how much I love New York, and I had a great stay as always. Since Ms. Jenny and Elisa have both left the city, I don’t have any really close friends in New York anymore, so in order to not test the patience of my remaining friends there (I already stayed at their place back in March) I got a room at an inn in Chelsea instead. Convenient for the price and perfectly located in the middle of Manhattan and by the L train out to Williamsburg, where I spent every evening doing dinners and going out with my friends (ate at Diner for the first time – can recommend it!). During the days, I did what I always do in New York: spent a lot of time just walking around, sitting in parks, browsing bookstores, and going museums (we spent an afternoon at the Metropolitan this time). In other words: nothing new, but never old!

After my weekend in New York, September just kind of passed by. Summer lingered for another week or so, but the air is chillier since a few weeks and the trees are to shifting colors. I cleaned out summer last weekend, which meant putting away sandals and summer dresses, making my bed with the duvet and putting the blanket on the sofa, bringing in seasonal flowers and stocking up with tea. And slowly, slowly, I am getting into autumn mood. My routines are settling in – it’s ordinary but not boring – and the next few weeks will probably remain the same. I have a very exciting trip coming up in less than three weeks and I don’t think I will go anywhere before then. So although I will try to post more frequently, I’m afraid there won’t much interesting going on in my life before late October.  In the meantime, here are some pics from my weekend in New York:

Williamsburg Bridge // The High Line // Wonderful Pianist in Washington Square Park // Sockerbit – Swedish Candy Store in Greenwich Village // My favorite hangout, Bryant Park