Name Dropping
The American Embassy
On 8 February, 2000, we--along with the other Fellows and their spouses-- visited the American Embassy for a briefing by several of the Embassy staff and the Ambassador. We passed through metal detectors and had our bags X-rayed at the entrance, under the watch of a Marine guard in a booth.
We were briefed by the Deputy Chief of Mission, the Minister for Economic Affairs, the Political Minister, and the Acting Consul General. The Ambassador, Philip Lader (full title: His Excellency Philip Lader, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) was disarming--and had some candid remarks about the role of Ambassadors in the age of pervasive intelligence gathering and instant communication. It seems an important part of his role is spending 6-8 hours per day at events involving food. The must be quite a switch for someone who had a successful government career doing substantive work. He told a couple of funny stories, we all lined up for some photographs, and then we moved on to 10 Downing Street.