Diplomat Dan - Again
SWEDISH NATIONAL DAY INVITATION
Somebody must be out of their mind thinking I’m important, but I received this about a week ago:So I did what every good diplomat should do and RSVP’d that I’d bet there. And I was - blue suit, blue shirt and the closest thing I had to a Swedish flag colored tie (which was pretty close) of yellow and blue. I opted for the Business Suit because I couldn’t decide between my Patriot knickers with powdered wig and tri-pointed hat, my buckskin leggings with coon-skin cap, or Grateful Dead Tie-Dye Outfit [in part because that last one would probably have ended up with me being naked by the end of the evening spinning around in circles with my arms flapping in the air (if you’ve ever been to the Oregon Country Fair you understand)].
Just as I was struck by how many people I knew at the Ambassador’s farewell to Patricia a couple weeks ago, I was equally struck by how many people I didn’t know at this event. Well, at least for a while. In time I saw some Liberians, Swedes and others that I work with and did what I was supposed to do - which is have small conversations with folks I hardly know.
Fortunately, after the speeches, when I was in the food line, I ran into a colleague (the Chief of Party at the Carter Center) who is from England and is a soccer buddy (we watched Real Madrid beat Manchester United at Saaj a while back). So we talked about football (soccer) a lot, Man U, Alex Ferguson’s retirement, will they keep Wayne Rooney, how will Mourinho do at Chelsea . . . . while consuming a lot of beer. We also talked about Ann and me visiting him and his wife when he’s back in England, in particular this pub he wants to take me to . . . and going to watch a Man U match at Old Trafford (Ann would be game - our first non-date was to watch the US women's national team play Brazil).
After one hell of a start (no power when I woke up, no shower, no coffee, no internet access at work even though I got in early [because of no power in my house] and running from one meeting to another all day), it turned out to be one fine Swedish National Day!