Wednesdays - the good and the not so good

Wednesdays - are different days. They start very early (due to time zone diff with Europe) with conference calls at 5 am and 6 am and usually a few more after that. The good thing is then I can finish early and go for lunch in the city and take the afternoon off.

This time we went to Founding Farmers which is really nice, but you have to book in advance. Even if you arrive early there is usually a very long queue. They serve great food in a nice setting in the middle of the Business District. I specifically like their Lobster Mac'n'cheese.
It is funny, I rarely venture outside the Business district - actually rarely outside the borders of Washington Circle, DuPont Circle, Pennsylvania Avenue and Farragut Park, but I realized yesterday that I have lived in DC for 4 months but do not have a Hurricane glass. So after lunch I ventured into the "Scary Tourist" part to find Hard Rock Cafe. It was not the best of Hurricanes - really they do not measure things very well. The one in Maui had too much amaretto - this was just way too sweet.

I really have not noticed the Scary Tourist part of town previously, but it is there. Tacky stands selling T-shirts and mug and open-top buses etc. Perhaps if I get a visitor I will go there again - otherwise not sure why...
The rest of the afternoon was spent using the INTRA-net at the World Bank. I am allowed access if I am in one of the buildings so can check out all the job adverts that are not advertised externally.

Finally - Wednesdays ends with Beer Club. It was started by the male spouses, but now everyone is welcome (i.e. female spouses and staff). It is a nice initiative and you get to share experiences and can discuss daily issues for a couple of hours in a nice pub.

Coming home, new BBQ has been delivered and was waiting on the porch. 1st BBQ on Sunday - let me know if you like to come. You will need to bring your own chair as furniture has not arrived yet.

Lunch and Expat wife syndrome

After my usual work with Swedenland & the Baltics - this morning started early early around 2am by a phone call from someone who did not know or remeber where I live - but tomorrow I get to sleep all the way until 5am - great - I decided to take a walk and have lunch somewhere between here and Friendship Heights. I found a nice Thai restaurant with tables outside.

However, moving that way inevitably made me listen to 3-ladies-who-lunch. The main conversation was about how much to spend on nails. I cut mine once a week or so, and that seems to work. They were talking several $100 for someone else to deal with them, and expressed a preference for toenails painted white. Not exactly what you need to hear whilst eating, but also a completely not my style.

Anyhow - after a nice meal of crispy duck with pineapple I continued to Friendship Heights in search of light bulbs & Dinner ingredients (no - I am not a desperate house-wife - I always cook dinner - Alastair deals with other things). What do I run in to? More Expat wives - one even speaking Swedish with her daughter, not thinking anyone would understand... The shops around there are all "Expat wife" scenery, expensive, exclusive, boring... but there is a bus station in the middle - can't believe any of them (except the Swedes) will take a bus anywhere. However there is a nice Chinese Restaurant, Whole Foods and a Wine Bar.

Moving into the house

I now own a piece of the U.S. We received the keys to our new house on 38th Street NW on Saturday evening. Then we had spent most of Saturday packing the first load in our U-HAUL with stuff from the apartment. Fortunately we are only moving 4 blocks, so we did not wrap things very carefully, just shoved it in boxes.

Sunday we did a few more trips and then it was only the big furniture left. We had booked a removal service for the sofa, bed, chest of drawers etc. Booking it was a nightmare. We prepaid 2 hours through a special offer, but when we wanted to book it they said minimum 3 hours and wanted to charge much more than the stipulated "extra hour cost" was. I complained to Amazon Local, who supplied the deal and after that they agreed to come, but warned us the time was too short to move anything.

Well, after 6 minutes the living room was empty and 10 minutes later it was all in the van. I rode with them up to the house, they unloaded each item in the correct room and carried up the mattress as well. All done and gone in 45 minutes. 

Now we have a few days to sort everything out until the load from Sweden arrives. The ship has arrived in Baltimore so just need customs clearance and delivery. We hope they will get it done this week, as Alastair is in Lima next week, but it may take too long.

Spouse Kick-off

I have been asked to attend the WBFN (World Bank Family Network) Introduction coffee morning a few times, kindly but after the latest phone call I felt I should at least show up.

For those who know me well - it is not really my thing. To begin with - I do not drink coffee and absolutely hate the smell of it in a crowded conference room. Then, I don't really mix with "spouses". I can't see that I have that much in common with wives that follows their husband around the world taking care of the kiddies and goes to coffee mornings. And, finally - they expect me to show up at 10am ETS, which is prime working hours in Europe (and I am still doing my old job remotely).

However, I did make the effort. Brought my own bottle of coke, wifi -password (so I could check work mail) and tried to look interested. As I have been around for 4 months I already know quite a bit about DC living and being a " World Bank Spouse", but was hoping to get a question or two in at some point.

The meeting started off as expected. Several people were late (including presenters) - no meeting etiquette here. Most were female spouses, but a few men had made it and several brought their kids! Presentation was mainly focused on what had been sent out as introduction material previously and what could be read at the website. They tried to promote volunteering for various groups and in general spending your spare time helping out with organizing activities. However, after the first 90 minutes it got more interesting. A lady from HR came to talk about their program helping spouses get work and how we go about applying for jobs in the World Bank Intranet! How to get an access pass that gets me into all World Bank offices in DC including IFC and IMF without having to be escorted (I have one) and using the World Bank WiFi, library and computers.

Then this American lady (who just returned from France and Switzerland - so still was considered new) asked about Social Networking, on-line discussion forums and similar practical issues. That brought up the fact that there is a knowledge exchange forum which I think will be very interesting once I get access. So all-in-all it was a useful couple of hours and I quite enjoyed the finale.

Blog Re-start!

For those who remember I used to write the OZ-Adventure Blog a few years ago when I lived in Sydney.
After a (too long) spell in Sweden I am now on the next Adventure. 3 years in Washington DC.

You are welcome to follow and comment on my daily life, ups & downs as well as all the trips around we are planning to make.

Cheers,
Sissi

Older single women seeking men

Yesterday my neighbour rang me in the middle of a customer meeting, to invite me for drinks at her place together with some other women that live in the building. I eventually arrived about 1 hour later than the rest, and by then they had finished several bottles of champagne between them. It turned out to be 5 older women between 65 and 92. Almost all they could talk about was how hard it was to find suitable single men. Most of them were widowed a long time, and every time their daughters had a date, they would ask them to check if he had a suitable father for them. It was really amusing.
This sort of shows that we women really should go out with younger men, rather than, as we usually do, older ones. At least if we do not want to end up deserted at old age ;-)

Hunter Valley

My friend Chaia invited me to go tho Hunter Vally this weekend. As Hunter Valley is one of the major wine district in Australia and the main activity normally travelling around the Vineyards, wine tasting, I was easily persuaded. I signed up to stay with her friends in a small cottage at a vineyard and was looking forward to a weekend of sampling delicious beverages.
How wrong I can be!
The main event for the weekend was running! There were 4 categories, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k and 6.25k. It was just to choose. Having not done much running in the past 18 years I had to go for the 6.25k one, but even that is not easy being terribly unfit. We did have some fun first. Friday evening we drove up from Sydney, had dinner in a pub and then watched cricket and drank beer at the cottage. On Saturday we fit in 3 vineyards before registering for our races. There were 7 of us staying at the cottage and we had 2 x Marathon, 2 x half marathon, 2 x 10k and me at 6.25, so a fair mix. In the evening we carbo-loaded with pasta and beer and watched more cricket. A very nice day!
So Sunday, race day... I had found my old running shoes, bought a pair of shorts and was lent a "Woodstock Runners" singlet. We headed up early as the Marathon runners started at 8.00 am. Then they all took off at various times in the morning until it was my turn at 10.00. I set off way too fast, so when I came to the first hill there was nothing left. I walked up the hill and then set up at a more moderate speed for an unfit Sissi, around 8 min/km. I kept this average speed. Running probably at 6 min/km and walking up the hills. When I came to the last hill I was overtaken by Brendan, who was just finishing his Marathon! But, I finished in 49 min, 41st place out of 71 and although I hurt in many places now - it felt quite good. May well go with them again...