2026 Challenge
Culture. I struggled with this title for a long time, because the word itself is so hard to define. Culture. It doesn’t even fully capture what I’m looking for. Maybe by the end of this post I’ll have figured it out. Until then, I’ll just write out what culture has meant to me — what’s pulled me toward it.
Growing up as a European, as a city girl, culture has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Not in a forced way — naturally. I grew up in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and I’ve spent most of my life there, but I’ve also lived in many other European capitals. As a European, our everyday life is steeped in European culture. At the dinner table. In the kitchen. On the street, between the buildings. In the way we dress. In our languages. In our literature. In the conversations we have with friends. In the magazine columns and on social media.
I don’t think I ever really realised this — never truly registered it — until I became a mother.
From that point on, the time I had for all of it shrank, fast. Less time for a beautifully set table, for a thoughtful menu, for lovely restaurants, for culinary adventures, for theatre evenings, for reading the culture pages, for the long conversations with friends. And honestly, for years I didn’t even walk down the street the way I used to — the way that lets you actually notice the beautiful things around you. I was holding small hands and trying to survive a zebra crossing. And so on, and so on.
The kids are now old enough that I can slowly begin to return to my old cultural life. They themselves are starting to enjoy and appreciate the beauty around them — built and natural — their culinary curiosity has woken up, they actually know how to behave at the theatre now, and we’ve started to build our own family traditions (The Nutcracker every Christmas season). They can even sit through a gallery or an exhibition now, more or less. But still — even these cultural moments have been, for years, shaped around them.
And at some point I had to admit it: yes, I go to the theatre, to concerts, to museums. But I’m not necessarily watching what I want to watch.
So I made a decision. Since I happen to live in one of the most exciting cultural cities in the world, I want to bring some intentionality to my own cultural life too. To go to a concert, a play, a museum at least once a month — for me. My plan for 2026 is simple: the Lincoln Center is now bookmarked in my browser. And honestly, once a month might not even be enough.
Intentionally. Internationally. Me.
R.
Intentionally Internationally Me 