Yesterday I had the very unique opportunity to go to 3 Embassies here in Canberra with my International Political Communication class. We first went to Indonesia, then China then the US!
We were given a tour of the Indonesian cultural center and saw these massive instruments that they play called gamelans (eh, spelling?) We listened to a presentation and had a q and a, it was very informative and they were so hospitable.
The Chinese Embassy is gorgeous! The outside is very traditional and intricate and the inside is filled with artwork and sculptures. The diplomat who spoke to us was so well-spoken and answered all of our questions. Once again, so hospitable!
We broke for lunch and I tagged along with some girls from my class, Cat and Jen. We have sat near each other in class all semester and finally spent more than just classtime together! Jen loves anything Disney and Taylor Swift (haha!) asked me all sorts of questions. It was fun and I love making new friends :)
Lastly, we went to the Press Center to meet with the American diplomats. We couldn't go to the actual embassy because of space issues-our class is pretty large. Of course my teacher had to call me out on being the American, which was funny, and then the diplomats kept referring to me as "our friend from Tennessee." Oh America! They were open to talking to just about anything and took photos of us with a life-size Obama.
One thing we did agree on later was that the Americans were much more candid about things they did not agree with, and it was okay. At the Chinese embassy, the diplomat made the statement that in 2o years she hadn't disagreed with anything the Chinese government did. This was a very diplomatic (pun not intended) answer but I find that hard to believe, personally.
I liked that the American diplomats did not make it seem like we take ourselves too seriously OR think we are better than anyone; they cut up with he group but were serious and addressed not-so-fun issues as well. I'm glad we are friends with Australia!
Overall-such a great experience!
