19th December 2014
We are going home for Christmas. But we’re only back for less than three weeks, and we won’t be living in our house. So we won’t have the complete British Christmas that I described last year. But we’ll be spending time with family and friends, and re-visiting favourite places. I’m looking forward to it. As […]
10th December 2014
(on occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December) There is a time in life when we start learning from people younger than ourselves. Perhaps that’s the best moment as a parent – when your children start telling you things you didn’t know. We joke in Britain that you know you are getting older, when policemen […]
17th November 2014
Stereotypes about nations are dangerous things. I read recently that national stereotypes exist for a reason. Maybe, but they can breed prejudice – in the sense of “pre-judging” people or places based on a stereotype before you encounter them. What of stereotypes about Britain? I hope many of my previous blogs have challenged some of […]
7th November 2014
I come from a politically engaged family. My parents were active in local politics and spent quite a lot of their spare time attending meetings or public events in support of their party. I don’t think I ever really discussed with them why they were so interested in politics. We talked more about what needed […]
31st October 2014
One of the biggest changes in my working life has been in communication. When I started working as a diplomat, we read newspapers, and had a “cuttings service” of news articles that were circulated on paper. I read it days after it was first distributed. Today, I get my “newspaper” cuttings electronically, and they’re waiting […]
24th October 2014
I give many talks in English because there is a good demand for me to do so. Most of my audiences are younger people at universities, and one asked earlier this year how different young people in Belarus were to those in Britain. I had to think hard before I gave my answer. Much of […]
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3rd October 2014
Political life has been fascinating in the last few weeks in Britain. I was lucky enough to be in London in mid-September and watched, listened and read lots from the British media about the Scottish referendum. Like any good contest, the outcome was not certain. There was lively debate and on the day, a high […]
19th September 2014
I recently received an invitation to talk about dress. A business club wanted to hear my views about how to dress for business meetings. I’m always happy to speak in public, but I wasn’t sure that I was the best person to give advice on this subject. I probed for more detail. Apparently, some business […]
12th September 2014
August is a holiday month in much of Europe. It’s a good time to take stock, read the books that have waited long on the shelf, and explore new places. The war that is still going on This August marked one hundred years of the start of the First World War, when the armies of […]
1st August 2014
In my first few months here, I asked Belarusian interlocutors about Belarusian national identity. I received a variety of replies, but the subject was of more interest to me than to them. That’s changed recently as events in Ukraine have stirred a debate on the issue. I am intrigued by national identity. I first came […]