A New York state of mind....

To say that New York and I had a slow start is a massive exaggeration. In fact we were so slow that one could not even tell if we were moving. I came for the Social Commission at the UN, I did not know anybody, I hate big cities - and NY seems to be the biggest of all, noisy, crowded, busy on a 24 hour basis - and for the Austrian Permanent Mission to the UN I was just one more delegate who comes for a short while, needs a delegate badge, brags at home that he or she does UN business and vanishes again for good. And as for me: I had not developed a daily routine, I had nobody to hang out with and I was brand-new in a complicated job.

But then the Mission found out that somehow I liked what I was doing and that I was obviously quite good at it. So they wanted me to switch to the Ad Hoc Committee for the negotiation of a UN-convention for persons with disabilities. And this is when our relation picked up speed. Suddenly there were people I was working together with, places to go, things to do, and even workplace was not dull and dreary anymore.

I guess one can say that I had the time of my life - with the only inconvenience that NY was not home, and that it was quite far away from home. 10 hrs flight away actually, oh boy. But for a while it was good fun, and even though we worked long hours we also had excellent times. Here at the SEA in Brooklyn....

In the conference room...

Partying with the Finnish gang after we finally DID the convention....

And after a while I even enjoyed the UN basements and the negotiations and learned to appreciate the privilege to work and breathe at this very special place.

This is the view from the EU coordination. Who has ever had a workplace like this?

And suddenly, before you actually realize it, you are in this very special New York State of mind and the city becomes this glittering, mysterious adventure you have heard and read about and which you actually had expected when you came...