On Tuesday night I went with Sevil to the Hilton for a ‘cocktail’ reception with the Canadian Ambassador, Mr. Michael Leir. Accompanying the Ambassador was Mr. Francois Lasalle, the Second Secretary (Commercial). They had come from Ankara to promote Canada and Canadian business. The others in attendance were businessmen, the 3 main mayoral candidates in the upcoming election and 3 or 4 Canadian teachers and partners from the Tarsus American College, Tarsus. One of the partners, Barry, had followed his wife from Qatar where he was working in materials management for a liquid natural gas (LNG) company. I enjoyed chatting with other native English speakers for a change.

Some thoughts I brought from the night:

-How many people do Ambassadors have to sincerely meet and greet each year, even though he/she will never meet almost all of them ever again?

-When will the Australian Ambassador (or any Australian Diplomat) come? I guess I have to ask to find out.