Remembrance Day

Lest we forget...

Today is Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday closest to the 11th of November, Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day in the USA), during which citizens from the Allied countries remember those who fought and died in the First World War, and all wars since.

After the 7:30 service and a nice breakfast at Christ Church, I headed to the British embassy, which holds a memorial service annually for citizens of the Allied countries. The vicar of Christ Church gets the honor of presiding over the service every year. Father Tim is a friend of my boss Geoffrey, and offered us a ride to the embassy in the black armored SUV that the ambassador sent to collect him. Father Tim thought it was funny, because in the past he had to ride to the embassy on the back of a motorcycle taxi. Arriving at the embassy, we were waved through the diplomatic entrance without even having to check in.

The service started promptly at 11:00 with a bagpipe rendition of "Scotland the Brave" by the British Club of Bangkok's Pipe Band, then Father Tim and British ambassador, The Honorable Mark Kent, led a short memorial service. Representatives from Bangkok schools, organizations, and military attachés from the embassies of other friendly countries laid poppy or other floral wreaths at the base of the memorial monument.

The red poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day in Commonwealth nations, and I was given a paper poppy of my own to pin to my shirt upon entering the embassy, as well as a poppy tie pin which I'll keep for next year. Most of the British guests had their own silk poppies pinned to their shirts or jackets.

After the service the guests were invited to the ambassador's garden for what I learned was one of the biggest social events of the year for the British and English-speaking Bangkok expat community. Walking through the ambassador's residence to get to the garden, I looked in the guestbook. The most recent signature was from Yingluck Shinawatra, the ousted former prime minister of Thailand!

Betty

The British embassy, I found, is a wonderful world of Panama hats, lapel pins, and tiny sandwiches. The party, though open to all those from allied nations, was overwhelmingly British, and the close-knit English-speaking expat community seemed mostly to know one another by name.

the ambassador's garden

Having majored in International Relations in college, the highlight of my morning was getting the chance to meet and shake hands with the ambassador himself. Although a fairly formal morning affair, the garden party felt very relaxed. I was comfortable chatting with the ambassador, despite Geoffrey constantly announcing to everyone around me that I am, in fact, an American.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
between the crosses, row on row."