Biden Picks Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador

[applegrove]

Biden Picks Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador

December 15, 2021 at 5:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2021/12/15/biden-picks-caroline-kennedy-as-ambassador/

"SNIP.......

President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Caroline Kennedy to be U.S. ambassador to Australia and Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan as ambassador to Belize, Reuters reports.

......SNIP"

[Tickle]

1. I want to visit

Belize 🇧🇿 I hear it’s beautiful

[leftieNanner]

2. It's on my list as well

If we ever get to travel again.

Welcome to DU!

[Tickle]

4. Thank you wouldn't it be nice

if we ended up in Belize the same time 😊 Do things like that happen here?

[leftieNanner]

7. A lot of DUers have met in person

I connected with someone who lives in my area and we were going to take a walk in the park together. Then covid hit and we haven't rescheduled. You will get to know many posters over time here and appreciate the wisdom and humor they bring to the place.

Keep your eyes out for LOLCats on Sundays.

[Tickle]

10. You seem

very nice and I hope you end up meeting and walking with your DU friend soon 😊

[mnhtnbb]

40. Yes!

I met up with a DU'er when we discovered we would be in Strasbourg, France at the same time in 2017.

Belize is beautiful. I was there in 2005.

[Heartstrings]

12. Welcome to du, Tickle!

Have an ole high school friend that resides in Belize and loves it!

It’s on my bucket list, too!

[calimary]

20. Welcome to DU, Tickle!

I hear that as well.

[DFW]

3. But can she speak Strine?

I hear it is very difficult to learn.

[leftieNanner]

8. I pity the first guy

who calls her "Sheila"!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Actually, they stopped saying that some years ago.

At least when I was there in 2001 that's what I was told. I brought it up to a 30-something man, he looked puzzled and said, "Oh, yeah, that's right. We used to use sheila as a general word for a female, but not any more."

[canetoad]

32. Correct PO

Stopped in about 1948 apart from a few old hold-outs, a couple of whom I know personally.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. Not that long ago.

My real first name is Sheila. The first time I went to Australia, in 1970, people would sort of giggle when I gave them my name. Same with my next two visits in 1972 and 1975. Then, in 2001, there was zero reaction to my name.

In 1973 or 74 I was in London, staying with some friends of a friend, and those friends were Aussies on the typical world tour many of them took back then. More than once, while in the pub with them, one of them would say something like, "What kind of a dumb sheila do you take me for?" and I'd react. They'd then laugh at me and say they weren't talking about me. After a while I realized that just because someone said "Sheila" they weren't referring to or talking to me.

[canetoad]

39. I'm not sure the Ozzies in 70s London

Were totally representative of the rest of the country.

One of the old hold-outs is Ian, who lives in the local retirement village. He is ex Navy and his language is the bluest you could imagine.

His memory is not fantastic. Few years ago he met a woman and they became close; he kept calling her Sheila. Finally met Ian's paramour (at a funeral, of all things) and said G'day Shiela. Turns out her name is Jenny.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

41. Not just them.

But my visits to that country also in the mid-1970s. Trust me, as someone with the first name Sheila, I got very used to people giggling at my name.

I'm somewhat horrified at your story about your friend Ian, although perhaps I should not be, and just take it as that was what Ian was like. I do hope Jenny did not mind being called Sheila.

I can tell you that when people get my name wrong, they most often call me Shirley, a name I find unattractive at best, and do NOT like being called by that name. I'm quick to correct people. As I'm quick to correct misspellings. Sheila, NOT Shiela or Shelia. Worse yet is the pretentious and totally inaccurate "Shelagh" which is absolutely not the original Gaelic spelling. In fact, the correct Gaelic spelling is "Sile", pronounced "Sheila".

What I also like about my name is that it is not very common, and so when I do meet another Sheila I embrace her with joy. I've also noticed that the name is far more common in the Black and Jewish communities. I learned some years ago that when I was giving my name to a Black person, I did not need to spell it, because they always spelled it Sheila.

Names are wonderful. I love names, both first and last names. I love how they can indicate ethnicity or a country origin.

When I worked at National Airport in Washington DC, a friend who worked at Eastern Airlines was of Polish extraction, and he loved getting a passenger with some long, lacking in vowels Polish name, because he could pronounce it correctly. The passengers were always impressed, especially if some kind of delay or cancellation were happening and the passenger was otherwise upset. Pronounce the name correctly and they were won over.

[canetoad]

31. Oi you

Keep yerself noice, roight?

[DFW]

45. Oh, roight!

That's not a knife.............

[marble falls]

5. The fools in Dallas think that's a sign!

[SheilaAnn]

6. Bwah! OMG, seriously? I wouldln't put it past those nimrods..LOL. n/t

[DickKessler]

9. Congrats and good luck to both her and Michelle Kwan. Caroline was of course Ambassador to Japan

in the Obama administration.

[mcar]

11. Nice!

[Deuxcents]

13. I wondered when she would be our Ambassador again

I saw a segment on tv..forget what station as it’s been a while..but the officials in Japan there highly praised her for her compassion n going out to meet n greet people..she was very accessible.

[applegrove]

15. She was a candidate for ambassador to Canada but I think our

Conservative PM probably did not want her, a person from a famous liberal political family, in Ottawa. I assume that is what happened. We people would have loved to have her in Ottawa. She went to Japan instead. They all lucked out.

[Cha]

14. I love this.. my son-in-law is Australian

from Melbourne!

[OnDoutside]

18. My niece emigrated from Ireland to Melbourne and never wants

to come back, she loves it there. She works as a case manager for kids in care.

[Cha]

24. Very Cool! My son-in-law has

been in Portland Oregon for Decades with my daughter and raised their family there.

But, my Grandson is in his last year of Medical School in Melbourne and loves it!

So happy that your niece is happy with her job in Melbourne.. It sounds like a great place to live!

[OnDoutside]

46. Yes, it's on my must visit list.... eventually !

[onetexan]

16. WOOOOPPPP!!! That's my gal Michelle Kwan!! I've been waiting for her to land a post in the Biden

admin!!! & Kudos to Caroline K as well!! Both lovely ladies and great role models for women.

[IronLionZion]

17. Qanon folks see this as proof of something

trust the bloodline

[MLAA]

19. Both are excellent appointments.

[Deuxcents]

23. Agree..

One with experience n another younger who brings diversity n Olympic bragging rights! Apologies up front to all old white men b/c I love ya ...I’m knocking on 75.. but.. it’s good to see more representation of our population.. 🤗.

[MLAA]

37. Agree!

[wnylib]

22. Caroline will need a Berlitz crash course

before she goes down under.

I can't understand a word of Aussie.

[Fla Dem]

25. And the Aussies may have a tough time with her Boston accent.

[wnylib]

27. Now there's a communication gap

waiting to happen.

If she actually had a Boston accent. She moved to DC when she was 3, lived in Greece, and in NYC. Don't remember hearing her speak like a Bostonian.

[JenniferJuniper]

28. She's not from Boston

[paleotn]

30. She'll have to practice her R's

Yard, not Yaad. Car, not Caa.

[Celerity]

44. she doesn't have a Boston accent, she grew up in DC and NYC

[paleotn]

48. No voice practice necessary then. She's good to go.

[SharonClark]

34. Seriously?

I’m intrigued by accents and have been to Australia several times; I’ve never met any American who thought Australians were hard to understand.

[Bucky]

36. I never thought their *accents* were hard to understand.

Australians themselves sometimes require a bit of explaining.

[wnylib]

43. The "accent" combined with

colloquialisms are hard for me to understand.

[wnylib]

42. Well you've "met" one now.

Didn't say that I don't like accents. Just that I don't understand Aussies.

I have taught (American) English to immigrants. My grandparents were immigrants to the US. I have been around many people who speak English with accents for most of my life. I can understand them better than I can understand Australian English.

[paleotn]

49. The vocabulary possibly?

Like the Brits...boots, bonnets and wings, oh my.

[paleotn]

26. I still owe you guys for that thing with the guy in the place and I'll never forget it...

My pleasure. I'd never been to Belize.

Guess that movie.

[Wounded Bear]

29. Key ally on the Pacific Rim...

[canetoad]

33. Kick

Good choice by Joe. Welcome Caroline.

[SharonClark]

35. With the handle "cane toad" I wondered if

you were from Australia. Do you still live there?

[DBoon]

47. a song for Caroline Kennedy