Sunday, November 28, 2004
Back in Saigon
It only took 36 hours to get back here in Saigon...flew from Santiago through Buenos Aires and Paris. I think Air France food is not as good as it used to be; they seemed to rely a lot on the odd-brown-meat-product-and-boiled-vegetable-substance recipe.
A couple of random thoughts about APEC:
--President Bush seems a lot taller in person than on TV. He charmed everyone when he spoke at the Embassy farewell for him--contrary to some of the jibes we hear about him, he spoke to us without notes, unnatural pauses, incomplete sentences or stray thoughts. As a public speaking teacher, I would have given him an A-.
--Compared with the TV news shots, President Putin is much smaller but appears a lot warmer.
--I had two weeks but only got through half of President Clinton's memoirs. His presidential period does not actually start until page 476 or so--but you certainly feel like you know him by the time you have reached that point.
--Wine is cheaper than the water in Santiago. The bottle of Evian in my hotel room was five bucks, but the Gato Negro at the neighborhood grocery was only $1.80.
--I wish McDonald's would start selling its empanadas in the Washington, D.C. area. (Or, better yet, I wish McD's would open a restaurant on Hai Ba Trung Street--if only to satisfy my son.)
A couple of random thoughts about APEC:
--President Bush seems a lot taller in person than on TV. He charmed everyone when he spoke at the Embassy farewell for him--contrary to some of the jibes we hear about him, he spoke to us without notes, unnatural pauses, incomplete sentences or stray thoughts. As a public speaking teacher, I would have given him an A-.
--Compared with the TV news shots, President Putin is much smaller but appears a lot warmer.
--I had two weeks but only got through half of President Clinton's memoirs. His presidential period does not actually start until page 476 or so--but you certainly feel like you know him by the time you have reached that point.
--Wine is cheaper than the water in Santiago. The bottle of Evian in my hotel room was five bucks, but the Gato Negro at the neighborhood grocery was only $1.80.
--I wish McDonald's would start selling its empanadas in the Washington, D.C. area. (Or, better yet, I wish McD's would open a restaurant on Hai Ba Trung Street--if only to satisfy my son.)
