322 East 11th Street Spring 2007

The past weeks have been both dull and exciting. My old friend Freed came to visit, which was great fun. However, my immune system collapsed completely in the aftermath of his visit. The day before this collapse I met Jan Eliasson. He shared his words of wisdom and gave some valuable guidance for future generations of diplomats. Both Daniel and I were very eager to ask for a photo, but since both of us are shy and introvert we did not dare to ask. Then, after being sick for a week, I went curling with the Swedish mission. That was  fun. I was the team captain and the ambassador was in my team, which made my team very popular, since hierarchy means everything. However, our team was a bit of a disappointment and I personally contributed to that disappointment. Ok, that’s all for now. Hope you are all well. I miss predictable Swedish weather…

Foto: KF

This weekend started off with a few after work drinks at the UN and continued with some Marengo-dancing at a party with free drinks. At 11 PM I was fully satisfied in terms of dancing and alcohol and at 11:45 I was sleeping in my bed. After work drinks have their benefits and downsides. After work drinks make you very happy and elated very fast and are in that sense very cost-effective. On the other hand, after work drinks are devious. They hit you without any previous warning and when they hit, they tend to hit decisively. This Friday they hit, but I think I was somewhat prepared. Yesterday we had a Swedish dinner at our intern-colleagues place. After some wine and food we went to the Beauty Bar where you could get a manicure, a drink and hand massage for just $10. An innovative combo I liked, but didn’t try. At the Bar we saw Moby, my first celebrity spotting outside the UN.

My office has the most amazing view. The interns at the Swedish Mission have a corner office on the 46th floor with a perfect view on Empire State and Chrysler Building on the left side and East River on the right side. The office is such a nice place that it has become an addict to my co-intern, roommate and close friend Daniel. Yesterday he worked for about fifteen hours. I don’t know if this is the time to intervene before it is too late. Anyways, next week starts the preparatory meeting for the Commission on Sustainable Development. I am looking forward to that. I have a lot to learn when it comes to more technical environmental issues like energy efficiency and air pollution. Hope it will be fun and not too complicated for someone who hasn’t opened a biology book since ninth grade.

Was I excited to see that Jonathan Richman was playing in New York! Sold out three evenings in a row, the chances of getting a ticket weren’t the best. But then out of nothing came the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl final is an event that makes America stand still for a couple of hours. Families and friends gather to watch this game and the numerous commercial breaks that are a part of this national feast (if you missed the commercials you can actually download them and watch them whenever you want and over and over again). Anyhow, the Super Bowl was my saviour. Since everybody was watching the Super Bowl there were some tickets left for the concert on Sunday. Expectations were high…could a 55 year old man deliver? One thing was sure; the support act could not deliver. For some inscrutable reason Jonathan Richman had invited a ‘Gipsy Kings goes Olsen Brothers’ duo as support act. Two chubby Spaniards were playing flamenco guitar for one hour before Jonathan finally entered the scene. And what an entry it was. Jonathan Richman is not only witty, showy and innovative on CD, his cabaret-pop and outstanding stage performance made this concert one of the top five concerts in my life, and definitely the best one ever on a slow and sleepy Sunday evening. Jonathan turned this Sunday into a memorable one and was as energetic, amusing, naive and multi-talented as expected. He made me long for Springtime in New York and Lesbian Bars…

Moving from Malmö to NYC has caused a continuous feeling of confusion, excitement and something in between. Part of that confusion stems from my new identity as a tie-wearing ‘pretending to be’-diplomat. The transition has so far been fairly smooth, but the tie knot has been a constant issue of concern and doubts. After reading “King Magazine” while sitting in my barber chair in Malmö I had made up my mind; Four in hand is the tie knot to go with. It’s simple, not boring, a bit artistic and both conventional and unconventional at the same time. After trying the four in hand during the first two days at work I realized that something was wrong. I didn’t fit in. I was the only one with a slightly loose, slanting tie knot. Something had to be done. After a google search I changed to a Shelby. I thought this might be it and my expectations were very high… but after about a week of carefully studying every tie knot I came across I started to have doubts. My tie knot was not looking as neat as the other boys. Even Oscar had a better looking tie knot than me. After this second major set back I consulted google again and found Windsor. Windsor was more advanced but seemed to have great potential. After the first try out, I was convinced, this was it. Windsor is the tie that makes you fit in. After two weeks with a Windsor my satisfaction is still overwhelming. I never come to the office without a Windsor and to go back to a more rudimentary tie knot would be unthinkable.