Thoughts While In Belgravia
I spent part of the day today in Belgravia – a posh residential and diplomatic district just south of Hyde Park and Knightsbridge. It’s a place where celebrity sightings are likely, where property prices are astronomical, and where Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Ferraris are highly visible. It is, in short, a lofty world far away from the student digs where I’m in right now.
But it’s not exactly an unfamiliar sort of setting, even though it was the first time I really ventured into the area. For I was visiting the Singapore High Commission on Wilton Crescent, lunching with an old contact there. We were also joined by a colleague of his and by my new MFA friend whom I last met last November.
I was given a nice tour of the chancery, and we lunched as well at the Turk’s Head, a local pub barely a minute’s walk away. And of course, a bit of the talk at the table centred upon my time at our embassy in Washington. It was a real highlight of my career, and after spending those years there, it was neat therefore to be able to check out how other missions are set up, even to catch up on current ministry gossip.
I first met my contact at MFA headquarters in Singapore, even before I was shipped off to Washington. He had vague recollections of the time we worked together, although my memory’s clearer. There I was, new to MFA, blur, groping around and thrown into the deep end. He was an older and more experienced official who was generous with his time, sharing with me some of his experiences while overseas at post. It’s entirely apt that he’s since received this nice assignment to London.
You tend to remember people like him, don't you? You tend to remember these little random acts of kindness. These are the individuals who leave a lasting impression on you. Not the nasty ones. Not the arrogant ones. Nor the truly evil. For there are indeed quite a few of them out there in the working world.
But it’s not exactly an unfamiliar sort of setting, even though it was the first time I really ventured into the area. For I was visiting the Singapore High Commission on Wilton Crescent, lunching with an old contact there. We were also joined by a colleague of his and by my new MFA friend whom I last met last November.
I was given a nice tour of the chancery, and we lunched as well at the Turk’s Head, a local pub barely a minute’s walk away. And of course, a bit of the talk at the table centred upon my time at our embassy in Washington. It was a real highlight of my career, and after spending those years there, it was neat therefore to be able to check out how other missions are set up, even to catch up on current ministry gossip.
I first met my contact at MFA headquarters in Singapore, even before I was shipped off to Washington. He had vague recollections of the time we worked together, although my memory’s clearer. There I was, new to MFA, blur, groping around and thrown into the deep end. He was an older and more experienced official who was generous with his time, sharing with me some of his experiences while overseas at post. It’s entirely apt that he’s since received this nice assignment to London.
You tend to remember people like him, don't you? You tend to remember these little random acts of kindness. These are the individuals who leave a lasting impression on you. Not the nasty ones. Not the arrogant ones. Nor the truly evil. For there are indeed quite a few of them out there in the working world.
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