NY Girl becomes NJ Girl

Okey just a short one on the probably coolest thing that has happened in a while! During the week after hours and hours of speaking to secretaries’ secreraties I got us in touch with the NHL top hockeyteam this season. We will do some sort of promotion for the World Hockey Championship this year in Germany but more on that one later. The important thing is that we went in backstage and with excellent seats to one of the coolest sports I’ve seen live EVER. I mean I have always been into sports, both praciticing myself but also watching (tho lately more watching than practiciing I have to admit), but icehockey never really interested me. Well no folks this has changed! I am still thrilled by the atmosphere, the speed of the game and the excitement! So much fun. So if you ever miss me in the future, you might wanne have a look around the icehockeyrink

And yes I am the most stupid person in the world and didnt take any pictures because the camera was at home and I am not fashionable enough to have a phone that takes pictures…

Birthday Girl

My dear friends.

I am still stunned and speechless! You know or might not know what a big deal the occasion “birthday” is for me and this year, for the first time not being either in Cologne or at home in Sweden, with people I recently met was actually a bit weird. But it turned out to be the best birthday it could possibly have been! It started at midnight with champagne and muffins, lovely presents and just a good laugh! It continued with letters in my inbox at The Webster from all across Europe. An email from a good friend that send me to a bakery where there was the biggest cake waiting that I had ever seen, my colleague Thomas who baked the first cake in his life and so on and so on. Not to mention all the emails and facebook messages and everything – I MISS YOU PEOPLE! One of my favourite proverbs “Friends are like stars – you can’t always see them but they are always there for you” is definitely true! When I get back to Sweden we must have a massive party, I promise!

So with this short note I just would like to say thank you to all of you for making the day to the best possible day ever!

Representative of the State

Swantje and I had the pleasure of representing the country today. No kidding. The two of us were sent to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in behalf of the Consul General himself and were so-called “VIP’s” who carefully hid in the back rows but still were discovered by Russian television. No joke. It was a ver interesting event though and the museum is recommendable, too. Nonetheless because it is at the Battery Park Place, formerly known as the place where we celebrated Midsummer in 2009, but that is a different story… The weather was fantastic and the sunshine just makes me so happy and jumpy and longing for the spring. Another exciting thing that happened was Kritika’s visit, my old co-intern and co-focal point for the UN intern newsletter. She was in town for a wedding and we spent all of the afternoon together talking, walking, shopping etc. You know, girls gotta do what girls gotta do. I tried to buy myself a birthday present, gift wrapped and all, but it was out of stock. Just my luck. Ah well, two bottles of champagne are cold and ready to be drunk meeting the girls in the lobby to start the birtthday festivities “German style” with a glass of champagne at midnight! Lots of Love!

The Weekend – again

Friday afternoon, New York City, Midtown East  FREEZING! Ice cold winds blowing but there was one, maybe a few more, but definitely one grinning as if there was no tomorrow! Well, that was me. I had the afternoon of my life, the warmest welcome I could possibly have imagined and a huge portion of luck, too. Warming up in the UNICEF lobby, I enjoyed the exhibtion “Children of the World” with incredibly beautiful pictures, essays and poems of the world’s brightest people befire heading to DC2 and my old cubicle. It was amazing and soooo good to see everyone. We made plans for the weekend and my birthday and simply had a great laugh just hanging out. But there was not only fun and laughter, there was also serious business as I got the final O.K. for my thesis topic and the necessary contacts to get the process started. The adrenaline kick was great I literally jumped home (which was good against the cold, too ). We spent the evening in the residence drinking wine and chatting as it was Evelyn’s last night. I am very sad she left actually, she was a real star! We went for a walk in the frozen Central Park on Saturday morning before she would have to sit for hours on her plane to Frankfurt. It was a pretty yet spooky atmorsphere as everything was grey and icy. Crazy New Yorkers could enjoy the snow machine for some event coming up in the middle of the Park. Then it was time to say goodbye and as far as I know, Evelyn had a good flight and is now back in snowy Germany!
Those of us left in the City enjoyed Thai cocktails after dinner but unfortunately we never made it to the promised Salsa club which now is definitely on for next weekend! No way I am going to miss this again. Dancing is badly needed!!! Good ending for today’s post I think 

Status of Art.. – Tino Seghal at Guggenheim

Today I got the chance to experience the new exhibition at the Guggenheim. It was the preview, the real thing opens tomorrow. I had not heard much about Tino Seghal before but the experience of his piece was magnificent. According to his gallerist you have to “do the piece”. It is very hard to explain, it is very modern, it is active and involving  simply an experience. There is no catalogue, no photos, no copies. His art is completely sustainable and no waste whatsoever produced. The marketing is amazing and apart from the critics and other invited guests who were present today nobody knows what all of this is about  until public opening tomorrow.

I enjoy modern art very much and I like letting go of the bounderies a little bit as well, open-minded for new creative ideas. But similar to my colleagues I wondered, what the public tomorrow is going to say and how they will react. That concerns mostly the tourists of course who have to stand in line outside for hours, the entrance fee is pretty high and then… Keep your eyes and ears open for revolts outside the Guggenheim tomorrow and the coming days. If you don’t here about anything like that, people will have enjoyed it as much as I did!

Note to self…

…Very good: won the bloody and torturous battle with Mr. Jetlag.

….Not so good: the downside of it; I now had to line up for the showers…

And talking of which, here is November’s New York Times Article on the Webster:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/fashion/05webster.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Living in the 50’s

I promised you a while ago to write about my first impressions of the Webster, the girls residence that I am staying at here in New York City. The place was opened in 1910 in order to give women working or interning in New York a safe, nice, warm and pleasant place to stay. And pretty much nothing has changed since then. It is an old brickstone building with 14 floors in Midtown Manhattan, a few avenues away from the Empire State Building, which welcomes me every morning as soon as I leave the house. The stairs that I preferrably walk down lead into the Lobby, a nice place with the reception and the doorman. It is furnished in beige, light yellow and rose tones, a little lounge where visitors can wait for their friends. Here you can also find an old style library, a big and comfortable living room with a piano (no food and drink allowed in order to preserve the old furniture – I guess) and smaller rooms with no doors to hang out. A TV room is there as well.

Everything looks very noble though not modern and very old-fashioned. In this area and the Dining Room a level below male visitors are allowed. They have to register and are not allowed to stay longer than midnight. Male visitors are not entitled to use the elevators or come to your room if not accompanied by a staff member. So the kiss-goodbye is takingplace outside the residence, and if there were a fence, outside the garden door. Amusing! Two elevators take you to the dorms, small cute little rooms with a single bed, a small washing place, a huge wardrobe, a little desk with make-up mirror, a cupboard and a sort-of-armchair. There’s an in-house phone as well. Showers and restrooms are outside on each floor.

Everything is old-fashioned, in beige and white colours, some rose and pink as well, sometimes green. It really is charming if you think about it. But I truly feel that I am back in the days of the 50’s as in the films of girl’s schools and societal restrictions. As these are all working women, everyone is dressed very neatly and nicely during the week at breakfast time, well polished nails and blow-dried hair and a scent of hairspray and perfume everywhere. And on Friday’s the men of this town, or well, colleagues and friends more or less, are lining up outside in hope to find their beloved one and convince her to run away with him. Okey, totally exaggerating here but I think you get the picture! Talking of pictures, I have the high ambition to upload some tonight!

FYI there was also an article in the New York Times about this beautiful tenement:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/fashion/05webster.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Monday mornin’

Good evening everyone, well at least I assume that it is evenig for most of you reading this blog.

I just finished mf first week at work and will be of to my supervisor’s birthday celebrations in a few minutes. The alst few days of last week and the weekend have been very nice indeed. I managed to finally win over Mr. Jetlag and slept sufficiently. Work was very interesting as always, I get to write speaches and participate in different represantative events. The weeknd was more relaxed and easygoing and for me a walk down memory lane.. Financial District, Tribeca and SOHO as old time favourites and the Village as my biggest love of alll were paid a visit. Basically, I kept strolling around for the whole day and the sun was shining.. it couldn’t have been better. On Sunday I got the chance to participate in a guided tour of the Metropolitan Opera, also a favourite! We got to go backstage and have a look at the dressing rooms and the different workshops design, scenery and so on. So I already got a glimpse of what I will be seeing during the next weeks (preferrably Carmen, La Bohème (with Ana Netrebko!!!) and Simon Boccanegra (with Placido Domingo!!!) ). That’s for now, birthday reception waiting!

Day 5 – day of emotional contrasts

What a day! I was on my best behaviour all day because I was in the best mood I could possibly be in. The sunshine and work and the view (reminds me, I gotta post some photos anytime soon!), my first meeting with all colleagues, the damn exciting work we gonna do (still secret but I’ll let you know eventually), New York diplomatic society lunch (which I had no idea about and was totally taken aback) and to finish off a brill’ day: Calico Jack’s! Gosh, all former UN interns will know what I’m on about. NOTHING has changed and honestly who would want it to? And I think it is very important to now officically mention those three who made Calicos to what it was in the summer and who, even if I honestly have no clue why, never made it into this blog namewise: widely known as “the Irish guys”, Anto and Mick and of course Jamie! I am really ashamed of the fact that you guys never made it here even if we had a great time altogether from the start!

This time, German interns were introduced to the 3 bucks margharitas and we discussed diplomacy and the life of a diplomat. Being the only single gal in this god damn place they said it was pretty easy for me to become a diplomat.. but is it? I mean, relations are not only with your partner as such, but with friends and family, too! Now, I have had plans in this direction for a long time and I still believe that it would be the right way for me to go as I find the job interesting, I easily adapt to new situations and languages and I am sure that I would be able to make the best out of it even if I end up in Moldavia for while (no offense). But why on earth am I more likely to be able to do it just because I happen to be single? I don’t want to be single forever if there is anything I can do about it. I am willing to compromise if it is needed. But I also want to fulfill a part of my dream and in that case would need someone to be with who shares this, or make the decision not to become a diplomat knowing that you might not be able to have it all! As easy as that. It is a matter of making a choice and as long as you can live your choice or I can live with MY choice,  I will be fine! I know what I get myself into, I know the deal. But the fact of being single has nothing to do with it. Can you imagine how angry I was?

So in order to get the good spirit of this morning back, I keep telling myself what is really important: good friends who are there for you, whereever you are, a home to come back to whereever it is, and the ability to listen to your heart, your stomach and sometimes your brain in order to do the right thing!

Day 5 Worldrecord comin’ up

This morning I officially broke the world record in speed-eating  category: breakfast; seated.

Real breakfast: cup of coffee, orange juice, youghurt with granula, quarter of tiny melon within less than 10 minutes and I made it to office before 9! However, the little muffin I saved for my coffee break. I think that still counts, because the coffee break is going to be much nicer that way. I had an excuse though for being late to breakfast. I slept. Honestly, that is a perfect excuse, because I haven’t slept properly for weeks as it seems.

I also had still the chance to enjoy sunrise behind the Empire State Building which is in sight as soon as I leave the house. I could actually have used my sunglasses, but those didn’t fit in the bag, the muffin was in the way!

Big old smiley sunshine-face today, don’t know why, really  but life’s good! I wish you all a lovely afternoon!

Day 3 – First Day at work

9.15 – after a 40 minute walk through waking-up Manhattan and past DC2 and Em’s place without bursting into tears (but cloooose!!) I arrived at the German House, a skyscarper at the UN Plaza. It was a fantastic start! My second supervisor showed me around, she is in charge of all the interns and just lovely! She is so adorable and makes you feel welcome right away! After showing me around and introducing me to some colleagues, she dropped me of at my real supervisor’s office and we had our first meeting. I’ll be in charge of several cultural events in the city, do the follow up, organize and so on and so forth. He is very nice, too and it definitely felt like this was going to be really good! I have my office on the 13th floor and a great view over the Upper East Side. I share it with two guys who seem to be ok.

12 – We had lunch with one of the younger diplomats who told us about the ups and downs of the work. I felt that he was really honest which was great. At that lunch I met a girl who lives in the Residence, too and we felt like two of a kind. She speaks even quicker than me, can you imagine!

Time went on and I worked on my first tasks before heading home, having dinner and calling it a night. I was sooo tired but it was a good night’s sleep! Mr. Jetlag is still bothering me, such a pain! But hey, it makes me updating the blog so you got something to read during lunch break or afternoon coffee and not in the middle of the night! Day 4 is starting so I better get goin’! Have a great day everyone!

Note to self Day 3

Change way to work in order to prevent financial ruin!

New York Part II – Day 1 & 2

I got a few minutes now before I head to work, so I just wanted to give you a little hint about what was going on!

Saturday morning went pretty quickly and all of a sudden did I find myself at Cologne Centralstation together with Katharina. We frowned in one of our favourite hobbies (drinking coffee) and talked about everything. Last time I saw her despite New Years was in New York and I couldn’t quite belive that is was time to go back.

The ICE took me with highspeed to Frankfurt (from all precedent train rides that was for sure the coolest one!). I checked in my bags and got checked myself from top to toe including underwear. I had no idea people would hide bombs.. anyway. At the security check I met two other ladies with the same destination and we got on really well immediately. They were going for a film premier at the MoMa on Wednesday and I got invited, too. This trip was aldready fantastic!

We had a laugh the entire trip and the 8 hours to New York felt like roughly ten minutes. Immigration was ok, shuttle bus was ok and at 10pm I found myself back in the 50’s. The Girls Residence I am staying in is like a throw back in time. Those of you who have seen Mona Lisas Smile or Strike! will know exactly what I mean.

I met two other girls on the shuttlebus who lived close by and decided to go for a drink later on. Mercury Bar on 9th is a safe card, and it was a great as always. Who needs to sleep in the city that never sleeps?

Well, I did. The entire Sunday I spent in the Residence, half working, half sleeping and enjoyed my first meals in the Dining Room. It was raining all day, too, which kind of made it the ultimate day to just hang out. I had a little walk arount to get some essentials (umbrella for example). And now it’s Monday, I’ve had my breakfast and will be off to work in a few minutes. Exciting times coming up, I can sense it.

And as it isn’t raining today, I’ll walk to work and take in the New York morning!

On the road.. in the air.. again!

Guess what, it is time to start the blog again! The bags are packed and as always too heavy, the wardrobe is almost empty, the shoe stand likewise, and off I go again. This blog is, as most of you know, about me stepping out of my box and looking around. This time, the box is Helsingborg, but the city is the same as just a few months ago: New York City, baby. Seems like I have some unfinished business over there. Just look at the blog entries, I stopped writing at Day 56 or something? Well, there were 70 in total..busy weeks the last two, that’s for sure and obviously -”leaving New York? Never easy!”,  but we will catch up on this later.

So yeah, it’s time to get back to the city of cities.

Basic facts:

Frankfurt – JFK 16.1., 6 weeks internship at General Consulate, Newark – Frankfurt 6.3.

I can already feel it, this time is different. The anxiety, the nerves, the fear, the roommate, the workplace, the flight company, just not the same..  Not only am I not going straight form my box (taking a little detour passed Cologne), I am also flying Lufthansa and am worried about whether the  films on the plan will be dubbed (god forbid!). Which is basically my single worry. I am pretty cool for a change, which probably is due to the fact, that I know my way around now. I know the workplace, I know the colleagues, I know what my room will look like. All the concerns I had in May are gone, this time, I’ll go to NYC to enjoy. Of course I enjoyed the trip last time, too and it’s gonna hit me hard that Em and Hel won’t be around, but still this time, it’s gonna be different. I’m coming back, I’m not coming to stay, but I’m gonna live NY-life from a more local perspective. I managed to squeeze all the touristy stuff into the last trip so this time, I’ll just go back to my favourite bookstore in Greenwich Village,  enjoy stand-up in the East Village, grab a coffee and rice pudding in SOHO and so on and so on. I’m definitely going find some new places, cause hey -after all it’s New York, but I promised myself to take it easy. I’m looking forward to work. I hope to get back in touch with my New Yorker friends to make sure I’m gonna speak some English. Meet new people from interesting places. Hopefully, I’ll be visiting Kässy in Montreal. Obviously I gotta do my research for my thesis… did I say taking it easy? Hm, easy for my thinking anyway. I’m gonna take good care of myself, relax and rewind for a while. And you all are coming along, by reading this. Because in fact, not being able to share my life with you is cutting my soul into pieces. Be sure that wherever I am, I’m taking you good people with me!

Lots of Love from somewhere in between road and air,

Hannah

Day 56 – quickly sharing

Hey guys, before posting all about the fantastic weekend I would like to share a link to my recently uploaded pictures with you! Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Honii87/PicturesTakenByOthers

Day 52 – Friday, I’m in love!

My dear friends and followers and family and everything else starting with an f!

Another week has passed without me posting a blogpost and I am truly sorry for that! Though I have to say that my excuses are good.. Maybe not for the weekend, which was pretty relaxed (another night in the Park, this time 14,5 hours from 22.30h to 13.00h the next day and  a day at the beach), but the rest of the week was just packed with work! Monday I spent 10 hours in the office. Afterwards Kritika and I joined our good friend Eva for a glass of wine in a piano bar over the roofs of Manhattan (very much needed as office was crazy…)  and literally just fell into my bed afterwards. Tuesday was basically the same, apart from the fact that we tried to listen to the New York Philharmonic in the Park but as 63.000 others tried to do the same thing we ran off earlier and escaped home to a more quiet and relaxed night (we keep on underestimating the population of this city and the overall percentage of culturally interested people). Wednesday Night I spent with Heli and Emelie and then with Emelie, Kritika and Eva in one of the coolest bars for some serious chatting and girly-business. The Bar is basically a ship that sunk a few years ago and was under water for a long time. They dug it up and restored it and it is now a great venue! Yesterday, that is Thursday, I helped Emelie to plan her birthday which is today. We checked out the restaurant she had picked and I made sure that we had tables reserved at the bar where everyone is going to afterwards! So excited! So yes, basically I am waiting now for the ok of today and the very much longed for weekend after a very busy busy week in order to go to Ems place, get dressed and all, and then enjoy the nights of New York!!!

All my love from the best place in the world!

Day 46 – could time just please stop flying?

I mean honestly, we all should stay down to earth and I now pledge time to do the same thing! Day 46 already? In 3, 5 weeks I will be on my way home. Not that I am not looking forward to coming home so very, very much (I miss you guys!!!!) but already?? It doesn’t feel like 7 weeks in fantastic New York, I have far from done everything I wanted to do; there are still so many fantastic people to meet and what not so please, please time make a little more room! We just cancelled our trip to Washington and Boston, because there is no way we can afford to be away for two whole weekends. The past two weeks have been very busy at work. This week I spent an average of 10 hours in the office everyday so needless to say that I was knackered every day after work. So the weekends are the time for fun and enjoyment and all the cool stuff. This Sunday Kritika and I will head to the beach, that’s for sure! Tonight it is time for me to meet my roots – German consulate is inviting its friends to join them for beer and schnitzel. So yes, in order for me to be pleased and happy and fully satisfied by the 3^rd of August I want time to slow down and relax a little bit. I appreciate it!

Day 43 – will they ever survive?

I just got back from the American Ballet Theater. Em and I went to see Romeo and Juliet at the Metropolitan Opera within the complex of the Lincoln Center. And guess what, I sat there crying. Again. Shouldnt I know by now, that they will never end up together and live happily ever after? After having read the story a hundred times and having seen all these different performances, either ballet or theater, I really should know better. But still I sit there crying as it is the most beautiful story ever written and adding it all up, this was probably the most beautiful choreography I have seen so far! And even f they will never make it to happily ever after, the feeling that this story provides, remains in our hearts and is one of the most valuable emotions we have.

Day 41 – loooooong weekend and Shakespeare in the Park!

A New York tradition I was going to make mine – Shakespeare in the Park. For over 40 years has the New York Public Theater set up Shakespeare Plays in the Delacorte Theater Central Park – for free! I had read about this already back home and was determined to go. This years show – 12th Night or What you want – has already been running for a few weeks and it was a great success according to the 5 big papers in this town, including the Times. Anne Hathaway, Academy Award nominee, is in it and I always liked her, too. Enough pro’s anyway to try and get a ticket. Needless to say that tickets are raaaather difficult to get hold of. In every guidebook it says that you will have to line up very early in the morning to stand a chance to get a ticket, as it is a New York tradition and incredibly popular. Every ticket is for free if you line up and wait until 1pm to pick it up.

A big cultural event accessible to everyone? Well, to those who have patience anyway! Being the big Shakespeare lover that I am it was quite obvious that I would have that patience. Nagging on my dear friends to come and join me in the park for the past weeks didnt really help so I went during the week to see whether I could sneak in and give it a try. Doreen had done it for Hamlet and was lucky but both times I got there it was incredibly crowded. The good weather and the amazing reviews did their job. I knew I would have to be in the park at at least 4am to even have a minimum chance to get tickets and this weekend I would give it a try, with or without companions! None of the girls felt the temptation so I decided to go alone. During my breakfast with newly found friends form the German Mission I mentioned my little adventure and they immediately wanted to come along! I was thrilled! Me and my partners in crime decided to meet at 4am after the fireworks and the following party in the park, blankets and food in our bags. 

It was still dark when we met and we werent even the first ones to arrive. We walked past along the already formed line and built our little camp on the first free spot. The atmosphere was exciting, it was really quiet in the park and we kept whispering as there were people sleeping right next to us. Others had brought air matrasses and cushions and everything, slightly more advanced than our little camp. The first 4 hours until eight went really quickly as we had a lot to talk about. I slept for a little while but the sun rose rather quickly and we were to enjoy a beautiful morning in Central Park!

We were surprised how easy going and well mannered everyone was. No one tried to sneak in or the like, everyone went to the back of the line, paying their respects to those who had been there way earlier! At first we thought it would be about a hundred people before us but as it got lighter we counted (“Is this a man or a cooling box?”) and actually came 48, 49, and 50 for the three of us! Tickets guaranteed! 

At 1pm is was finally time to pack things together, stand up and form a tight line because now strange people started to show up and give it a try to sneak in. But the security guards had a good eye and made that it was only those who had waited the whole night. And only a few minutes later we had our tickets in our hands. 9 hours of caping were over and we were to head home in oder to meet up again 6 hours later for the big show! 

Coming back to the theater and actually having a ticket in the evening was a strange but good feeling! So many people were still in standby and hoping to get in (at least 300 or 400) whilst we had been brave and sacrificed our beauty sleep! We had great seats as well and all of us were feeling the butterflies of excitement in the stomach when the play was about to start… Would it be as good? Would it live up to our expectations? what if not? Was it worth waiting for?

The answer to all this: yes, yes, and YES! It was soooo worth waiting and camping for! Anne Hathaway and the whole ensemble were just fantastic! It was the most amazing night fo outdoors theater and the ensemble did their best to make it the most fabulous New York Night one could imagine! 

Something like Shakespeare in the Park is the true New York experience and I am so glad I got the chance to experience it!

Day 38, 39, 40, 41 – the looooong weekend (or the weekend of little sleep)!

OH! MY! GOD! Having become partly americanized that’s the only thing I can say right now! This was one of the most amazing weekends ever! Kicking off with wednesday, after all “little saturday” in swedish, I went with Kritika for  dinner on the Upper West Side after having tried to get tickets for Shakespeare in the Park just randomly after work. No luck though, the lines were CRAZY and we had no patience. Thursday we went to China and back (visit to the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN, which raised more questions than it actually answered any). In the evening, it was birthday party time. What started rather slow ended up in a major pub crawl with the whole gang and it was soooo nice. We actually went to Coyote Ugly, the pub that inspired the film, and were only slightly amazed (or shocked?) by clientele as well as the staff… After only 4 hours of sleep I went to Broadway on friday morning in order to meet Carla and get student rush tickets for West Side Story. They had told us on monday at the Box office that this would be possible and as we had Friday off from work, because of the upcoming July 4th, we were so exicted to be able to go and see one of the most amazing shows ever! But no, they had fooled us or provided us with missinformation. I was so upset! I had seen that the show was on and dreaming of going to that one even long before I even knew I would be going to New York. But making the very best out of it, I spent the day with Emelie and we walked our way to Guggenheim and back, which was great and met up with the others (Heli, two finnish girls, mattias from Sweden and David from England) for dinner in China Town! What an experience! Saturday was lazy! I met up with two girls from the German Mission and had breakfast in their beaauuuutiful place in Greenwich Village. Afterwards I went back home to meet up with the others at Pony Bar (the one righ underneath my place) and go and get a spot at the pier for the 4th of July fireworks! We had a blast and enjoyed the impressing fireworks. Though I have to say that Koelner Lichter, with the music and all, might even be more my cup of tea. Even if the fireworks were amazing, 5 boats all along the Hudson River, it was not as good as the whole experience on the Rhine. Sorry New York.

The looooong weekend or the weekend of little sleep will be continued in the next post

Day 37 – quick update

New York most certainly is the place where you can do anything at any time. I guess there are other places too, but for now, NYC truly is the city that never sleeps. We have a lot of work at the moment that keeps us busy and awake, and also the cultural and social events never tend to ceize. The weekend I spend once again with the lovely ladies, the Saturday even in Connecticut in a town called Westport, on what is called jUNe Day. This special day is organised for UN staff since 1965 and is a lovely tradition. We had the chance to participate in different sports (stupid me forgot my bikini) or simply to lie down at the beach and sleep (which is what I did instead). Sunday we went for brunch and enjoyed the Gay Pride March afterwards. It was an amazing experience. It was of course on Christopher Street and takes place because of what is called here the Stonewall Riots. In Cologne however, we call it Christopher Street Day. Learned something there yes!

Em, Mats and me finished the day with a long walk. And by Sunday night, all of a sudden, it was halftime! Now Ive been in NY for 5 weeks and I have another 5 weeks to go. CRAZY how time flies by! But I have to say with all my heart that I love New York and I love my work! Despite the little sleep I get it is a fantastic experience, and I figure that I can still sleep when I get home!

Oh I said the city never sleeps? Well, that is infact not true. New York definitely sleeps on mondays! Carla and I made the frustrating experience of walking along Broadway and up to Central Park, assuming that there would be something going on, because obviously, we are in New York and there is always something going on. But.. not on mondays! No show, no nothing and we had to go home without any cultural treatment apart from the good company. So from now on I will schedule my sleep-in or rather sleep-out for Monday nights. Just as the rest of New York. I might after all turn into a true New Yorker. I guess I have another 5 weeks to figure that out!

Day 31 – Are we making history – or just a fool of ourselves?

From June 24 until June 26 there is a high level conference on the World Financial Crisis and its impact on development here in the UN headquarters in New York. Before we started our internship we were told about this conference and all the security measures taken because of this as it is a high level conference with all the important heads of state participating. The conference started yesterday and everything so far went smoothly. The discussions I think will contribute to further action and also provide the General Assembly in autumn with necessary material to decide upon. However, the “high level” – label of this conference is questionable. Yesterday, when the heads of state made their statements, they were all talking about how the developing countries were dragged into the financial crisis and how they are suffering the most, even though they are not responsible for it. Which of course is true. But all these countries, some of them representing the poorest of the poor, were crying out for help and none of the big guys, who actually have the power to change something, were there. The G8 had only sent delegations, in some cases a minister, but thats it. No Sarkozy, no Merkel, no Obama for that matter (and he just had a 3 hour journey at the maximum). Were they too afraid of taking responsibility for irresponsible actions in the financial sector? Do they not care enough for the impact of their own mistakes?

This conference is supposed to write history. Which I truly think it could. But if the bullying partners in this crisis do not show up for counseling, how are we then supposed to solve the problem? Standing here and scream out loud into the empty, big, wide open, will not make history, it will make a fool of ourselves!

Day 28, 29, 30 – work it, baby!

Hey everyone out there! It is the middle of the week, again, and three days of work in the office have gone by without any exciting details to tell. Monday night I spent with Kritika, Emelie, Jose, and Matthias. The initial plan was to go and se Anna Ternheim play, finally, but when we got to the pub where she was going to have her concert, all the tickets were gone. The alternative was a Stand up Comedy thing in some random bar on the Lower East Side, which was entertaining but of course not Anna Ternheim. I wanted to see her for ages now so I was really disappointed! Tuesday night I spent at home, enjoying my book and a glass of wine with the new cat! Serengeti, Doreen’s old cat, died in cancer last week and now we have a new cutie living with us! I little grey male cat who resembles good Nero Corleone from top till toe, apart form the fact that he is grey and not black, of course! I so want to have a cat when I get  a proper apartment someday!

And tonight I went for dinner with Emelie in the Thai place around the corner. We had some girly chat,  which was nice, and got to know each other a lot better, which I think was fantastic! Aaaaaaand my personally designed shoes arrived today! Soooo coool! I am annoyingly proud of them!

Check out the photos of the weekend and the shoes (of course) on: http://picasaweb.google.com/Honii87

Have a great night and a fabulous end of the week everyone!

Day 26 & 27 A weekend in the rain

RAIN is probably the word of the stay in New York so far. It hasnt rained as much in the city since god knows how long (the new yorkers dont so he must know..) and it rained so much yesterday taht I actually considered buying a pair of rubber boots to keep my poor sandalled feet dry. The day yesterday I spent with Emelia and Kritika in the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) and along 5th avenue. Me and Kritika even went to a typical American diner before heading to the movies. There really wasnt anything else to do. No free film festivals or outdoor theatre plays, as it rained so much that it actually flooded the streets at certain points. We watched Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks whilst the others laughed at (or with?) Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. Very relaxing and laid back night. Today the same little crowd walked their way through Soho (which by the way stands for SOuth of HOusten Street) and to Greenwich Village where we went for dinner in a cosy little place. I had mussels (yuuuuuummmie) but now my stomach feels weird so I wonder if one of the little mussels maybe was sick… :S? Never eat anything that carries its house, you never know when it cleaned last time..

Day 25 – the Swedish holiday à la New York!

The play on thursday truly was a treat! So delightful! And if I hadnt been secretly in love with Rupert Everett (yeeees I know he is gay, but I dont care) already before I went to the theatre I would surely be now! It was amazing and a good start into what would be a weekend to remember!

On friday I had the chance to go to the German House for a day. This is the little skyscraper close to the UN where the German Consulate and the German Mission to the United Nations work. They had invited me over for a day to get to know the everyday tasks within the foreign service and in order to get to know a few of their interns etc. It was a brilliant day and a fantastic experience. I have been flirting with joining the foreign service for a long time and it is now more clear to me than ever that this might be the way to go! 

After work I met up with Heli and Emelie to go over to Ems place and get ready for the party. True to IKEA advertising, there would be a big midsummer’s party in Battery Park, organized by the Swedish Consulate General. It was amazing! Soooooo many people, and mainly Swedish people as well, a midsummer pole, music, singing, dancing – tradition at its best! And all with the Statue of Liberty right in the background. We were even lucky with the weather. After a week of rain the sun came out just in time for the celebrations! Em and I shared some köttbullar and some hering with knäckebröd, we got flowers to prepare for our hair and so on and so on! It was amazing! When it started to get dark we went off to Union Square for the Swedish Midsummer Party in Union Square Ballroom. It was a party sponsored by Björn Borg and Kopparberg, which included free give-aways and free cider..  They also played Swedish music (ABBA, Hellström, GES… you name it) and it was all in all a fantastic party! Which might explain why I now have to start my saturday with very little voice after very little sleep..

Day 24 – a new adventure

Tonight, I challenge my horizon. I will do something I have never done before. I will go to the theatre (yes, haha, I know I have done that before…) but all by myself! As none of the others neither had the money or the time to come along tonight I decided to go anyway. Which is a big decision for someone like me. Those of you who have known me for a long time and even those who havent known me quite as long, still know how dreadful I think doing something alone is. If I have any chance I will avoid doing something on my own as much as possible. In a situation like today when the others had other important things to do (laundry, homework, boyfriends) I would have waited until next week and go with them instead. 

My plan however for the night was to do something fun, maybe watch a movie with Rupert Everett and just relax, until I heard from Kritika, who went to the theatre yesterday with a bunch of interns, that they had managed to get student rush tickets for a Broadway Show and went to see a play, soooo hilarious, with this famous British actor, called Rupert Everett. Do I know him? 

I thought I would fall my chair. No way I was going to sit at home and watch a movie if I can go and see one of my favourite actors live on stage! 

So even though I find the thought dreadful to go to the theatre on my own, as half the experience for me usually is about the company, I will get ready in a second, cook some good food before I leave and enjoy Mr. Everett life on stage. Every day there is a new horizon to reach and today this will be my horizon, to go to the theatre just with myself. Which is quite good company after all, I would say!

Day 24 – The magic of a blue plastic card

No, I am not talking of what the French refer to as a “carte bleue” which is basically a credit card. I am talking of the Ground Pass for the UN.  With this magic blue card you have access all area, at least once you are inside the building and through the security checks.

Hm, maybe not access to the 38th floor either. A guy called Ban Ki Moon lives there and does not want to be disturbed. His security officer will lead you back to the Lobby by your hand and tell you never to go there again. But you get around and inside interesting rooms and corridors and for those who cannot identify the tiny little word “intern” on the blue card you seem to be damn important. Which we are, of course.

But it also a step towards what we have referred to as “living the brand” during the last course of marketing in the masters.

As soon as I leave the house, the magic blue card has effects on how people treat me. To the guys promoting the guided tours on Broadway I am clearly not a tourist but someone on her way to work, they wont bother me. That of course is a good thing. Others will treat me with more respect when they see the UN sign or even congratulate me on working for this organization. But it also makes me behave more cautiosly because whatever I do, will be reflected on the UN. How I behave, what I say and in what way I say it. Too loud, too friendly, too bitchy, it will all influence the way the people I meet think about the UN.  I mean, I always treat people nicely, I am not being rude or misbehaving on purpose or anything, you know me. But you become a lot more aware of your behavior.  It is a huge responsibility and somehow even a burden. The task of diplomacy surely is a challenge, because you are not just yourself, you are the UN, or whatever country you are representing.

The magic of the little blue plastic card does not only mean “all access” for me to go wherever I want, but also “all access” to people to judge whatever they want.

Day 20 – sunshine, finally!

Today was finally the day when the sun decided to join us again. The past week has been terrible, with rain and thunder and everything else you dont want during the summer months. I spent my afternoon in a really nice cafe just two blocks up 10th avenue and enjoyed huge coffees and homemade biscotti. Beautiful! I got some work done as well, for the Företagsteam job back home in Helsingborg. Im such a good girl sometimes, without praising myself too much . Afterwards I went for a stroll around the piers which was great and sat by the river with my book (Paulo Coelho “The Zahir” – READ IT!!!!) and enjoyed the beautiful weather together with the New Yorkers! Now I will go and grab some food and go to sleep. Work starting early tomorrow!  Hope you all had a great weekend yourself! Lots of Love, Hannah

 

P.S.: pictures are to be found just right here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Honii87

Day 18, 19, 20

Wow, what a weekend! The concert was definitely a trip! I got there at 5.50 and already people were queueing (this word is correctly spelled this way. haha) around the block! But all of us (Emelie, Carla, Heli, Conny, and Kritika) got in and enjoyed a 30 minutes concert with the Black Eyed Peas! What a start of the day. We went for breakfast afterwards and were at work at around 8.30am. At lunchtime we had the chance to go to a Security Council meeting which I hope all of you have heard about. We were there when the members of the SC agreed on sanctions against North Korea. It was exciting really, but at the same time not at all as big a thing as you would expect it to be. Head of State or not, these people are just human beings in the end. 

I was at work until 5.30 and made my way home by 6. In the evening, Emelie, Heli, Conny and a girl called Lauren came around by my place for a few drinks, clothes and make up in order to get ready for what was going to be a fantastic friday night! We went to a place called Brass Monkey in the Meatpacking District. The only sad thing is that someone stole my phone and my make-up.. not that I would understand why on earth someone would want to have this stupid old phone, but never mind. Maybe I wont be able to get my 917 number back, and that sucks big time! Hopefully I will be able to unlock the phone in order to use it back home but well, we will see about all that.

Saturday we spent all day in a cafe, talking and enjoying each others company before heading for dinner in the Village. We were 7 people for dinner, with two interns I hadn’t met before, which was nice. And now it is sunday again, I still feel a bit lazy and taking things slowly, but it has been such an exciting week. And next week wont be any less exciting. I will be at the German Consolate for a whole Day and we will get a chance to meet Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on tuesday. That should be good

Hoping to hear from you guys very soon! All the best, Hannah

Day 15, 16, 17 quick note

Hey everyone! The last few days have been pretty random days at the office, apart from getting the chance to watch the annual meeting of UNICEF in the Economic and Social Council which was great and very interesting, and the publication of this years first intern newsletter. Me and Kritika are responsible for that one and we had good fun preparing it with our committee and were very proud to publish it yesterday. If you want to have a look, check out the newsletterblog on newslettercommittee.wordpress.com! So far, we only got good remarks, people enjoyed it so I hope we will be able to publish one every week. And I guess now you are wondering why on earth I already am awake. Not that it is surprising those of you who know me well, early morning bird as I am, but 4.45 am on a weekday is weird even for me, unless there is a very good reason to do so. Well, today there is. Every friday, apparently, there is free concerts of famous bands at the Rockefeller Center at 7am. To get tickets, be there by 6am. So in a few minutes I am off to watch the Black Eyed Peas for less than nothing apart from a short nights sleep. Not too bad, ey!

Have a great day and a great weekend all of you!

Day 15 Gotham is sinking

This was the heaviest rain I ever had to walk through, dear lord. It was just pouring down this morning when I left the house. I quickly considered to take a cab but that is similar to financial suicide at 8am in the morning as the traffic simply doesn’t allow anyone to go to work who chose a cab. The subway is an option of course but when I had walked to three blocks towards Times Square I was already soaked so that I had not made any difference what so ever. So off I walked all my way along 45th Street towards the United Nations hiding under my umbrella and imagining the hot cup of coffee at the office.

And even if ‘Gotham’ seems to go under today, we should stick with the doorman at the Marriot Hotel on Times Square who said, true to form:
Good Morning, Miss. Have a great day!

Day 14 A normal Day in Manhattan

Sunday was filled with walking! We had the guided tour on the Lower East Side, which was great and afterwards I went up 5th Avenue along the park to meet up with Heli from Finland, Emelie from Sweden and Sophie from France. We explored the hidden spots of the Upper East Side. Afterwards I met up with Carla in the Park with the intention of watching that french documentary that had its US premier yesterday night, also in Central Park. But destiny had other plans. We happened to pass a crazy party with people of roller skates, hoolahoops, and of all ages and with every possible style! All were rocking the park! It is so hard to describe as I have never seen anything like it in my life. Because of that we missed the other interns at the meeting spot and none of us had written down where in Central Park we were supposed to go.. and this park is big.. no film for us then. Instead, we found a cute little Thai Restaurant (cheap!) but great food and enjoyed our evening with discussing world politics.. again.. ! Adding to this I have to say that I am shocked by the European Election and so few people voting and so many voting for right wing parties! This is really scary! 

Today I managed to walk the way all over to work in less than 30 minutes. I think I have finally picked up the pace of the true New Yorkers, at least when it comes to walking. A little help was probably my little ipod with some good music speeding up my pace and my mood! I love being one of the first in the office. It is still quiet and not as busy and even noisy as with everyone around. But I still think that everyone is just great, extremely friendly and nice! Work itself is still ok, I am now working on initiating a new publication which should be interesting. My supervisor will propose my suggestion to the Director later so this better be good With these lines I will go out for another walk around the block before saying good night  

Important!

Day 11, 12, 13 culturally cruising around town!

Hey everyone! 

I hope you had a good weekend so far and that you are enjoying Election Day back in Europe! I assume you all have voted? I already did this before I left Sweden and I am really curious about the outcome. It will show, whether or not the communication across boarders from Brussels to the rest of Europe has worked, at least a little, or if we still have a very long way to go!

My past days included lots of rain! Friday was terrible, we got completely soaked on our way to the cafeteria for lunch and had to attend a meeting afterwards.. After work, we went for a glance to the Delegates Lounge, which sounds a lot more fancy that it actually is. We did not stay long and preferred hanging out with a bunch of other interns in a pub in the East Village. Yesterday, me and my fellow intern Kritika from India got tickets for the NYC Ballet in the Lincoln Center! New York might be expensive in many ways, but the student discounts are phenomenal! We payed 15 (!!!!) Dollars for a ticket which usually would have cost us 80! So lucky! And what I had no clue about: the theatre is the one where they shot “Center Stage”. I know, its a silly girly movie, but I have always loved it, so I got a little extra happy when I saw the place. After we had picked up the tickets, Kritika, Carla and I did something terrible for Manhattan people. We went to Brooklyn. Shame on us, but there was a really interesting Muslim Market we just had to go to! Overall there is this Muslim Voices Festival going on in the City during the whole week. Even the Empire State Building is lit up green now, representing the color of Islam. It was a fantastic multicultural experience, not only because of Brooklyn with its diverse neighborhood, but also because of the many different faces of the Islam, that all were represented and which we usually are bound to miss out. 

The Brooklyn Museum was free yesterday and there was a fantastic band playing that I just had to listen to. I saved the exhibition for a rainy day and just sat in the mezzanine and enjoyed some really good music! And all this before going to the ballet! Talking of being culturally interested. 

Today is going to be similar. We will meet at ten to join a free walking tour around the East Village. Afterwards, China Town is tempting us with a Street Festival and tonight it is the US premiere of a French Film for free in Central Park.

 So many options, so little time. This city truly never sleeps!

Day 9 & 10 Big, bigger, not manageable?

Good evening . 

This is going to be a really short post, Hannah is tired and her feet hurt. 

I had to wear the high heels for office today as the other pair needed to be fixed (noticed the heels were down yersterday) and with all the walking involved.. ooouuuch! I still walk to work in my flipflops and change shoes in a street cafe on the corner of 2nd av and 44th, just like the new yorkers do. All these lovely tailored suits and flips, its hilarious! I will take a picture at some point, I promise. Work is a lot of computer research which is fun but getting a bit tiring. We had staff meeting with the whole Department today, which was good and a little reception afterwards. I still love the fact that I get to speak all four languages everyday, including some extensive listening to conversations in Spanish. Tomorrow, I will attend a meeting on behalf of my supervisors. Its on communication strategies for an upcoming project, so this is truly study-related! Looking forward to it a lot as you can imagine! We intended to go to a conference on the international court of justice and the 6 year evaluation of the criminal court but it was jam-packed, no chance to even get a place standing. 

You see, things are busy but good! We go to different places for afterwork every evening to talk through things with the other interns, which is very useful. The whole work and the UN itself are so complex and even though we are getting a great insight now, there is still fascinating new and bigger things coming up everyday! By discussing it with the others there is at least a chance to digest it all. I always need to distract myself a little and just stroll around before I actually can go home and relax. But I keep thinking about the fact, that there is so much going on in here, I mean within the UN, that hardly anyone knows about. The whole thing is HUGE and I start to understand, why things take time and why they have to take the time they need. Still I wonder, if the UN or any other comparable bigger organization are simply to big to be effective?

Day 7 & 8 – United Nations Internship Program

Wow. That would actually be sufficient as a comment for the past two days. I am sooo exhausted. It really has been tough and it will be tough the next 9 weeks as well but I already know that it is going to be worth it! 

The day started yesterday at 9am with all the interns meeting up in the Visitors Lobby and getting registered by the Officials. Afterwards we were installed in Conference Room 1, a HUGE conference room with our own microphones and interpreter booths and headphones etc. and we received a very warm welcome of the Internship officer. The day was packed with information on security (what to do when the building is hit by an airplane…) but also inspiring speeches such as the former assistant to Kofi Annan and officer of external communications, Gillian Sorensen. She told us the necessary traits of character needed to be able to work and fulfill your task at the UN: be an idealist but realistic. In other words, you need to have your goals and dreams but be realistic about the diplomatic and bureaucratic efforts to be made to reach this dream. We had lunch at the UN Plaza cafeteria with what seems the whole population of the world present, both in terms of person and food, and with a beautiful view over Brooklyn and East Side Manhattan. The afternoon was also packed with information and signing up for committees and different social events. It was all in all very welcoming! Some of us, those with last names starting with A and B, were lucky to get their ground passes already so we looked official for the drinks reception that was to come afterwards (organized by the spring interns in a bar close to the UN). The Ground Pass enables you to access into all UN areas and the whole international territory, apart form a certain floor where a guy called Ban Ki Moon usually hangs out, as well as it offers discounts at for example the Museum of Modern Art (thank god i didn make it there last weekend ).  I spent the night with a couple of the other interns, enjoying to speak any language I ever learned and discussing peace keeping operations as well as sightseeing tours in Queens. 

Today was the actual first day in my office, which was great too, but at least just as tough! I have my own office space in an open office, next to a fellow intern called Kritika who is from India. Our supervisor Abi is just great and really nice. She gave us a little tour around and it felt as if it was going to be a relaxing first day, until had to start a research for a particular paper due at 12am.. Me and Kritika had lunch with the “Mexican Maffia”, our Mexican colleague and his friends, and in the afternoon we had a staff briefing. That was really nice, everyone is very relaxed and outgoing, and we definitely felt welcome. Three of the staff started as interns as well, which allowed me and Kritika to dream for a little while.. maybe, maybe one day.. who knows..

We finished around 6pm and went to meet some other interns to share our experiences and whether or not the first day lived up to our expectations. There is already a little crowd that is getting on very well, including me, Carla from Australia, Heli from Finland, and Ingrid from Amsterdam. But there is always at least 10 other interns around and all from different countries! 

These strong intercultural bonds might just as well be our start for peacekeeping operations! 

Peace and love and good nightt

Day 6 – the night before the weeks..

Okey here we go.. it just another couple of hours until I need to leave the house and go to work. This afternoon I gave up the assignment and walked all the way to the UN to see how long it will take. You dont wanne be late on your first day, right. It takes about 40 minutes to walk so I should be fine leaving the house around 8. Met 18 of the other new interns at Bryant Park today, lovely spot, good to hang out. Couldnt be bothered though to cook tonight so I went past the cheeap Chinese place around the corner and guess who I met – Doreen so the both of us headed home and had candle light dinner with chinese take out and a Budweiser, true to form. Time to go to bed now, let tomorrow come and the show begin..

Day 6 – inside outside hemtenta

I guess I am speaking for everyone in my class if I say that the last course we had also was the worst. I mean we learned interesting things but both the first written exam and now the assignment are ridiculous. Especially the assignment. Jeez. I spent half the night and all of today writing it as it needs to be sent in until Tuesday. It is definitely not the best I’ve ever done but I use NY as an excuse. Punishment enough to stay in all day when it is the most beautiful weather out there. But I felt that I rather get it done now, somehow, and so that I can throw away all the papers later to get room for more.. well shoes. Or good books for that matter

Day 5 – How do you know you live in the coolest city in the world?

No 3: people are actually standing in line in order to be seated at the place where you are about to eat brunch, whilst other places around are empty.

No 2: theres a HUGE park in the middle of the city, providing you with he ultimate spot to rest and digest the delicious brunch

No 1: The US president decides to watch a play in your neighbourhood.

Okey, yes, it was a fabulous day!

Day 4 Shoppin’ it up + Day 5 morning Upper West Siiiiiide

Hey everyone!

Yesterday was finally a successful day business attire-wise. After one frustrating shopping tour after the other in the city where you are supposed to get everything I finally had a chat with a shop assistant in a real cheap store called Old Navy, about what I was looking for: Business attire, dresscode business casual, and rather on a budget. I also told her that I look ridiculous in the 200 Dollar stuff by Calvin Klein and Company and that I wouldnt buy it even though it is on sale and brand. She added that business stuff is rather difficult to find right now (I wasnt being stupid then!!!) as it isnt the season, people rather want to buy Bikinis and nice skirts and dresses (YES, me too!!!! But I got that job forcing me to buy boring clothes and boring shoes!). I already felt better knowing that even in the city where you can get literally everything, things can be hard to get. This woman just made my day! She gave me directions for different stores including one (“Next to Victoria’s Secrets between Broadway on 5th” – “Oh that I know”) called Ann Taylor LOFT. And this is where it all turned well! They didnt have the trousers and blazer thing, “sweetheart, its summer!” but plenty of cardigans, which according to the internet are allowed in business casual, and dresses and scarfs and you name it! Wonderful quality, reasonable prizetags and a bit of sale (2 for 1). I was in heaven. In there a shop assistant came up and pretty much got 4 outfits sorted for me. It was an investment I could live with, as I really got value for my hard-earned City Gross money! Value for money also in terms of big pile of clothes for money. Topped it all up with some shoes, 4 inches heels, oh yeah! 

Weather yesterday was still freaky, grey, moisty, and no sun BUT this morning I finally woke up and the SUN was shining! And this on a day where I am gonna meet other interns for brunch on the Upper West Side! This just can be a fabulous day!

Hope you are all good and enjoying the last days of May! Hope to hear form you guys soon!

Hugs and kisses

P.S. I promise to do some translations / posts in German soon!

Day 3

Dont worry this is just going to be a short post. Today I went to the New York Public Library to study. This went well for like an hour but totally lost concentration plus that it was bloody freezing in there. Weather is rainy and boring so aircondition is not really needed just yet. I decided to walk all the way up 5th Avenue towards Central Park to distract myself. Which went very well. Just felt the longing for being rich and famous and that the prize tag in armani had been Swedish Crowns instead of US Dollar. Overheard an interesting conversation at Prada where to shop assistants were gossiping about some VIP customer. Unfortunately I never really quite got to know who they were talking about. One interesting detail: Its a lady desperately trying to get pregnant. Aaaaaha. When I had walked up all the way to Central Park I went along the South Side of the Park to the Time Warner Building (shopping mall) looking for a business suit. After all, work is starting on monday. But I have to say I look ridiculous in a suit. In other words I still havent go anything to wear for work. Ouch. Ah well, I am in the country of all possibilities right? Its just a question of how much you are prepared to pay…

Short version

The last to posts were so long so I will give you the most important bullet points in this overview:

Where I have been: West Midtown, Times Square, Broadway, Flatiron Building, Empire State Building, 5th Avenue, New York Public Library, Barnes and Nobles, Financial District, City Hall, Ground Zero, Tribute Center, Trinity Church, Wall Street, Tiffanys on Wall Street, Staten Island, Staten Island Ferry, Greenwich Village (Christopher Street, Bleecker Street and surroundings).

Insights: Sex and the City has not yet been to be found, discussing world politics out of a worldwide angle is my mission and my reason for being here and its fantastic!

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/Honii87/HannahWorldwideStepI#

Day 2

And guess what.. There was someone out there! A girl called Carla emailed back, she had just arrived herself and wanted meet new people and so we decided to meet at Macy’s in order to head towards Ground Zero and the Financial District. Turns out it would be three interns from three different continents strolling around New York today, me representing Europe, Carla representing Australia and a girl called Jioanna (I hope this is the way she spells her name…) from South America / Peru! We started chatting right away and had SOO much to talk about. As they are both going to be interns we discussed the ever so problematic dress code, noone quite knows what to wear and all other problems in the world – bigger and smaller. We also managed to get phone numbers on the way so that we would be reachable! I actually got an 917 area code which is what Carrie Bradshaw in the Sex and the City Movie wants back as she has always been “a 917 gal” but all the numbers were taken. Kind of cool still

We walked down to the Flatiron Building again and from there we took the Subway towards Ground Zero. Getting off on City Hall gave you a complete new image of Manhattan! Here is, where part of the money is! Skyscrapers and offices all over the place and completely different set of people. HUGE buildings for offices, well known companies and institutions and everyone business dressed (apart form the shoes, people walk in trainers or flipflops to work where they change into proper shoes). It was either tourists or business people running around there. 

We eventually reached Ground Zero and it was breath taking. I have only seen the towers on pictures and obviously on September 11 when they fell but this big whole must still be horrible for New Yorkers to see. I asked Doreen about it and she said the worst thing was the dust and the smell that was spread all over Manhattan even months after it happened. She hasnt actually been there since. Carla and I went into the Tribute Center which gives you an idea of  how the people of New York, the survivors and family members cope with this trauma. Its is touchy, very emotional and fascinating. For example, there are collections from the debris with for example the shredded window of one of the planes, helmets of firemen and so on. But true to form of UN interns we discussed later the western angle on all of this. It was tragic, yes, lots of people died but in the end it was only more spectacular than for example a terrorist attack in Peru where 3,000 people died. 

From Ground Zero we went to Wall Street past Trinity Church. Here the streets are not formed as blocks but are very narrow and criss-crossing each other. There is a fantastic mixture of old houses from the 18th / 17th century and the fancy skyscrapers. Wall Street itself was funny, especially the sign saying “Financial capital of the world”.. they should have taken them away when Wall Street lead the wold into a financial crisis last year…!

As if we hadnt seen enough we also took the ferry over to Staten Island and passed Liberty on the way, enjoyed sunset over Manhattan from the boat and discovered we were hungry. In order to get a fourth glimpse of Manhattan we decided to head to Greenwich Village for dinner. The best idea ever! I love Greenwich Village! So completely different from the other parts of the city I had seen so far but what a place! Lots of narrow houses, shops and restaurants, very colourful and with a lot of flair! Bleecker Street, Christopher Street and all the little streets around – love on first sight! We decided to eat Mexican and spent the evening talking about the coming internship, the UN as a whole and different political things. 

This is the part I loved the most. We are three very different girls, from very different parts of the world and studying different subjects. We have learned to see the world out of different perspectives simply because we grew up in different environments. But coming here to discuss these things is an enriching challenge for all of us! 

There is no one truth about exploitation of labour, the financial crisis or the question if vegetarinism is a way to stop world hunger, but we all parted last night with a new angle and a new perspective on life and world politics. If I hadnt known it before, I sure know now why I am here! 

 

Day 1

wow. The past two days have been so amazing but couldnt have been more different from one another. I will start at the beginning.

Tuesday morning I woke up really early considering that I hadnt slept for 24 hours the day before and prepared myself for hitting the town. What I hadnt thought of as that Doreen hadnt given me the keys just yet so I had to wait until she woke up. Around elevenish she woke up, we settled the final arrangements and out on Manhattan I was. The plan was to explore my neighbourhood and see what is around. In less than 15 minutes I had passed my local Starbucks and found myself on Times Square – which is my stop for the Subway, too. I continued along Broadway and the Theatres (I HAVE to see a show, preferrably WEST SIDE STORY) and then kept walking up 9th Avenue looking for a bank. Ironically there were plenty before I decided that I needed one but none until 55th Street, isnt it always like that? I walked all the way back to my place for a chat with Doreen. It took me about 2 hours and gave me a lot of insights already. Midtown is a rather fancy area but still it is poverty and homeless people dominating the scenery. Also is this part of the city dirty and pretty torn down at some places. Even 5th Avenue is not spectacular down here. My Sex and the City illusion was killed right away. Doreen and her friend Ed were laughing when I told them about my first thought of what life in New York is like. Ed said that the Sex and the City lifestyle touches about a 1,000 people in a city of 8 million. Talking of putting things into perspetives! Apparently the situation in Midtown, and New York City as a whole, has become a lot better during Giulianis time in office (He was the mayor of New York City from the nineties until about 2002) as he cleared out the streets of the worst hunger and crime. Here in New York people work for their rent, which is about 3/4 if not more of their income. With rents of 3,000 Dollars per 2 bedroom apartment this means you will always have to share with at least one other person, even though you might have a decent job. 

But I have to say that I still like my neighbourhood and Midtown! Its plenty of small restaurants of any kind, Delis and shops und reflecting the diversity of city very well.

After a little chat with Doreen I went back into the buzz of the city and its 24 hour traffic and walked south on Broadway. On the way I passed Macy’s (said to be the biggest department store in the world) and Victoria’s Secret (good to know where that is I thought) and Starbucks Coffees like all the time! There is more Starbucks coffee houses in this place than women in heels! Its crazy! I walked all the way down to 23rd and the amazing Flatiron Building, you know the one that is triangular? And then I walked all the way up 5th Avenue past the Empire State Building, across Times Square and towards home. I was looking for a supermarket to get food in order too cook back home but even though I was running around my “hood” for like an hour I couldnt find anything! And I was getting really really hungry! In the end I gave up and had dinner in a little, affordable Thai Restaurant – all by myself. Those of you who know me well know that this type of day activity also was a test for me. Running around alone all day without actually talking to someone and sharing the experiences? A Nightmare! I felt pretty alone and was in desperate need for a chat!

So when I came home, exhausted and tired and with flat feet I sent a little mail out in the UN interns world wide web and wondered, is there anyone out there who wants to join my adventure in New York?

Welcome to the United States of America, Ms Bauer

Right, here I am! About 5 hours ago I arrived with a classic yellow cab from JFK at the flat! Its on the westside of Midtown Manhattan and my roomie Doreen is just great! She really made me feel at home straight away before we went out for a beer in the neighbourhood. 

By the way its fleet week right now. All sailors in town. Who of you have seen that particular Sex and the City episode ? The plan is now to sleep for a couple of hours and then check out Manhattan tomorrow Oh and its 6 hours time difference to central europe from here.. so about 24h ago I left my fab appartment, Helsingborg, Sweden and no its time to sleep  

Good night

 me at the airport

A first little tryout from Heathrow

Hey everyone! 

Almost all of you have asked me whether I will be blogging about my adventures in New York and I thought I would give it a shot! This way you will be able to follow me in your and my own pace! Exciting, huh  

The blog will be multilingual but I guess mainly in English so have your dictionary at the ready in case you need it! So far I had a safe trip with British Airways from Copenhagen to London Heathrow where it is incredibly warm for being rainy England and crowded as hell! Looking for a bite to eat now before heading west over the Ocean! I am soooo excited! All the best, big hugs and kisses to all of you guys!

Hannah Banana

P.s. Ingela, still havent read your card, arent you proud of my patience ?