My First Ambassadorial Encounter

"Congratulations" is a phrase I never expected to hear from a U.S. Ambassador as a 22 year old recent college graduate.  Sitting in the American Embassy in Warsaw, waiting for a sitting ambassador to come speak to a group that I belonged to was a surreal moment in my life.  Hearing his words of congratulations and esteem were memorable.

Ambassador Feinstein's remarks were lengthy and included a question and answer session, which was used to ask questions about all sorts of Polish-American questions.

There were a few memorable quotes from the speech, but I was thoroughly amused by the ambassador's analysis of how Fulbrighters achieved their fellowships.

"You are all a little bit lucky, but very plucky," he said. 

Luck, or Divine Providence, does have a role in our success.  However, all of my fellow Fulbrighters already have very interesting life stories.  A year in Poland is another chapter in our life stories, not the beginning of our books. 

During the Q and A section, I had the opportunity to ask the ambassador about the Polish response to the recently released documents showing the U.S. had knowledge of the Soviet massacre of thousands of Poles at Katyn.  According to Ambassador Feinstein, the Poles are appreciative that the truth is coming to the surface, and aren't generally upset with Americans.  Their official statement hopes that this encourages other countries (looking at YOU Russia) to release sealed documents related to the Soviet occupation of Poland.

Overall, this experience has been incredible.  I am looking forward to sharing more of the opportunities that are being offered as a Fulbrighter and the differences between this program and just being a study abroad student.  Hopefully, I will be able to return to Ambassador Feinstein's house on September 24th for a reception.