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Wednesday, January 23, 2013
burkina
i happen to be taking two africa-related modules this semester - one is a lecture series in which every week representatives from embassies of south african countries come to give wiki-style briefings, while the other is more like a general introduction to political and economic situations in the whole continent.
so far this semester i've had the impression that these ambassadors and political secretaries and whatever-other-posts-they-have are very much like any other typical diplomat - appearing to be witty, giving politically correct responses, trying to paint an exaggeratedly rosy picture of their own country, the kind of by-product from some decaying patriarchal system. but today i encountered one of the more down-to-earth diplomats. his presentation was very monotonous, but he had a sincere approach of looking at global issues. he took questions from the floor earnestly, and was able to give pragmatically reasonable replies. there was none of the usual "are you kidding me?" or "who said it ever was a problem!" kind of chiding.
the lesson was simple - sincerity is not to be claimed, but to be felt.
cloud at 7:09 pm
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