Simon Lindberg: Easter

What comes around goes around. As happy as I was to have a day off on President's Day, it doesn't quite make up for not having a single day off for Easter. This makes me think of how nice it is to be an employee in Sweden. Even though we are one of the most secularized countries in the world, we sure know how to celebrate religious holidays. Or maybe there is a religion in Sweden based on the lesser known eleventh commandment, "Thou shalt not work too much." At least, that's the religion I used as the reason I needed two days off last week.

Most Americans look baffled when I tell them about the five or six weeks of vacation we get each year. Not to mention the look on the faces of moms when I tell them that paternity leave in Sweden is longer than maternity leave in the US (which reminds me, I have to become a dad sometime somehow).

Fortunately, the weather was decent on my days off. Thursday we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and spent some time strolling around Brooklyn Heights before walking down the hill to have lunch at the River Café under the bridge. We began Friday with breakfast at Balthazar and ended up walking through Little Italy and Chinatown, where I'd never been before. Actually that's not strictly true because when my two friends were here we walked through Chinatown at four in the morning and one of them kept talking about how his mom wouldn't approve. He'll be 31 next week.

Anyways, as the names suggest, Little Italy is really little and Chinatown is like a small town. In the middle of Chinatown there is this little park called Columbus Park and when you walk in there you could just as well be in Beijing (I imagine). There were lots of old Asians watching lots of other old Asians playing cards.

Friday night, we went to West Village for dinner. Even though my cousin who lives in Los Angeles tells me that there are no good Mexican restaurants in New York we took our chances and were rewarded with a great meal at El Mercadito. Before dinner we had a drink in an almost empty restaurant where there was a band playing some lovely jazz. A woman sitting next to us leaned over and asked where we were from. I said Sweden and she said, "Sweden? I'm from Queens, New York City, high five!" Then we struck up a nice little conversation and I guess that whole episode wouldn't have happened in Stockholm so I'll chalk it up to one of those things that are better here than back home. But I still think Sweden's eleventh commandment tips the balance, so I won't mind coming home soon.