I am Annemarie. Yesterday– cooking in Copenhagen. Today—risking my life biking up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.

Previously living in Botswana, Bangladesh, India and Tanzania, cooking, biking, driving, raising three children and exploring new cultures, new geographies and looking for opportunities to involve myself in something other than the full time ever expanding mother and housewife-job.

For me, the way of getting out there was to make myself available as a person and as a resource. Today, the term networking is often used, but really I would say it is a matter of making yourself available. By being open to everyone is how I found the windows of opportunity. I met many different people over the years, and I still love most of them. Sometimes there were disappointments, but often I found joy and was enriched by the most unlikely of contacts. Engaging in exploring the culture I live in is a must, and that is not least a challenge this time. These approaches led to friends and jobs of all kinds in as different areas as designing, teaching tailoring, establishing and running an Every-Day-Craft-outlet in the Kalahari desert, setting up and running a Culture house-project in Denmark , teaching Danish to children of mixed marriages in Bangladesh and India, conducting welcome and Culture-awareness courses for Scandinavian children in Bangladesh and working with Indian State hotel managers as a consultant to help organize logistics for international conferences, as well as overseeing the realization of events. In Tanzania, I became leader of the Swedish school’s kindergarten, with daily as well as budget and staff responsibilities. All of these activities gave me great joy and self-esteem. Besides this, I held chair and board member positions in various committees. Whether paid or volunteering, I have thrived.

We have always had a large home to room family and friends, highly appreciated by all of us. In Denmark I furthered my University studies with Minorities and Africa studies, areas that would substantiate my solid experience from working with different cultures in the developing world. I still think moving abroad to experience the world was the right decision 26 years ago, though parents, children and grandchildren now live far from us. But the many visits back and forth are always enriching and help to keep the bonds strong. As for now we have settled ourselves on Capitol Hill, DC and I have dedicated myself to being a part of the Mosaic team.

Annemarie Brink Olsen