Heads of State

Bideshi 2 writes –

Here it is T minus 42 hours and change until departure and I’m concerned because today on the train to the National Gallery to see the Edward Hopper exhibit, the Examiner (a freebee paper which I found lying on the seat) brought to my attention the fact that I did not know who Nicolas Sarkozy was. I exposed my ignorance to Bideshi 1 and she graciously explained that he was the president of France and was getting divorced. This led me to examine the recesses of my brain for the names of other foreign politicians that a worldly, educated cultural ambassador of the United States ought to know. Who is the president of Germany I asked myself? No answer. Britain? Tony Blair? No that’s not right, he was ousted for being too buddy-buddy with our genius head honcho. Who’s his replacement? No answer. At this point I’m starting to get nervous. Canada? Drawing a blank. If my mother were dead, she’d be rolling in her grave with shame …

So in the interest of postponing the display of my American ignorance at least two rounds in an exchange of small talk I decided that I should learn the names of six or eight foreign heads of state. Here goes:

Nicolas Sarkozy, France

Angela Merkel, Germany

Gordon Brown, United Kingdom

Stephen Harper, Canada

Felipe Calderon, Mexico

Yasuo Fukuda, Japan

Hu Jintao, China

Manmohan Singh, India

Fakhruddin Ahmed, Bangladesh (technically a stand-in until they actually elect someone)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran (actually, I knew this one already)

Nuri Al-Maliki, Iraq

Kim Yong Il, North Korea (knew that one too)

Roh Moo-hyun, South Korea (at least until December)

Okay that’s a start anyway. The fact is though (it now occurs to me) in Bangladesh I’ll hardly be able to talk to anyone, not knowing the language and all. So no matter how many heads of state I know, they’ll still think I’m an idiot…So it goes when you’re a Bideshi, I reckon.