First over-night guest

We have had our first over-night guest and our first dinner at the dining table. Chaia who I worked with in Sydney stopped by on her tour d'US. She decided to make a detour on her way from New York to Delaware and stay the night with us. Much appreciated!
I cooked dinner on the scary cooker - especially so, as I used all burners at once to create a meal consisting of: Mango chicken, chili and garlic chicken and fish with creamed spinach, cheese and chili. It seemed to work - perhaps I will get used to it at some point.
Friday we did a whistle-stop tour of DC and Virginia, exploring some touristy part of DC then having lunch at Founding Farmers. A really nice place in the business district which we tend to go to when we can get a table. We had to compromise and show up for a very early 11:15 - but it is almost impossible to get a table at a decent time there without booking weeks in advance.

However, eating early had one advantage, I had time to giver her an extra state before she extra fast tourist had to move on. We hopped on the metro to Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia and had a quick beer at Murphy's Pub.

Chaia rushed off after that towards the next state on the list. Visit was highly appreciated though. Below today's tracks (bus into tourist area, short walk around the white house, lunch and after-lunch trip to Alexandria).

Launching job search

Today I attended World Bank Global Mobility team's workshop for spouses - Ready to launch!
Amazing what a mixed team of followers. We were 25 all professional spouses from 24 different countries covering 5 continents. All of us looking for a job - because our spouse got a job with the World Bank. As the Bank wants to make sure spouses are happy (as their employees are happier if they do not have to worry about unhappy spouses) they are sponsoring this event hosted by a professional team.
Although several spouses had a background within environment or similar issues the majority had a completely different career history. There was a journalist, a dentist, an accountant, several project managers etc. About 30% men. I met some really interesting people. Eliana, from Bolivia, who sat opposite me had lived in Sweden for 3 years and we shared some experiences. When she told us about herself, she finished with "as soon as I manage to get used to a country - we move again!"
The seminar focused on various exercises and information sessions and is part of a 4-workshop program to land us each a decent job. They covered specifically the DC job-market, DC and US culture, how to manage a dual-career relationship, where both of the couple wants to have a good career but still move around. There were specifics about attitude in interview and how to make your sometimes patchy moving around come to your advantage. They also told us some extremely useful inside information about jobs at the Bank, job grades and career possibilities.
This was very good timing as I have my first job interview tomorrow. I am not that hopeful, but give it my best shot and at least take it as a great learning opportunity. I will be interviewed by three people regarding a job for Amtrak (US railways), responsible for Project Management of passenger systems, mainly WiFi. They must like me a little bit as they want to see me though - but there were many interview slots to choose between, so seems like they are interviewing lots of people.
Now sitting at the Elephant & Castle pub on the corner of 19th and I-street. Lovely evening, currently 33 degrees C. It is supposed to cool down later in the week though.

Last day in Stockholm for a while. I had to come back for my last project meeting with the customer and Alastair to attend World Water Week. It has been two busy weeks but very nice being able to meet up with everyone a final time, as well as enjoying the social events at WWW. Now we do not plan to return until well into 2014.
Last week was hectic catching up with work and packing up the last in the apartment. New tenant moved in as planned. A few dinners as well was great.
Saturday, we decided to go and have dinner at the restaurant where we had our wedding dinner. As soon as we walked in one of the waiters from the dinner walked up and welcomed us back. We got a complimentary drink and he took really good care of us all evening. He also asked for some photos from the dinner and thanked us for the card which the manager had passed around the staff.
This week followed the usual WWW program. Monday evening Mayors welcome and reception at the Stockholm Town Hall. It was nice to be invited and meet some interesting people. Tuesday was Dinner&Dance at Entertainment establishment Hamburger Börs. Very good show. Then I lost Alastair and his mobile had discharged. It took an hour to regroup. How did we manage before mobile phones? Wednesday had drains in apartment fixed, at least on my free evening. Thursday Royal Banquet with the King & Queen of Sweden. We got really nice seats this year.

Now I am sitting at reception at the office waiting for my car battery to charge so that car will start and we can get bags for Washington loaded. This afternoon lunch with ex-neighbors and their dog and tonight dinner in Märsta! Looking forward to both!