I would aver that it is quite rusty since he would have had very little opportunity to practise it post his Swedish stint. but all said and done he is someone to be admired – from being a sharecroppers son to Prime Minister is quite an achievement.

yes, I suppose that means he probably speaks broken Swedish. I take it that you have a more than passing knowledge of Mandarin.

He learnt Mandarin when he was a foreign diplomat. Every Australian diplomat is expected to learn a foreign language. Rudd chose Mandarin and was posted for a few years to Beijing. At that time it was probably a foolhardy move especially given contempt for Asians in Australia. In retrospect a very wise move. The previous Foreign Minister – Downer was also a diplomat and he spoke French. Downer kept mocking Rudd for speaking Mandarin -that sent more Asian voters into the Rudd camp. If Rudd had even a drop of Chinese blood in him it would have been used in the election.

Anna @ 265, thanks for your comments. I think you’re right on here. I actually posted some thoughts about this very question on my blog on Thanksgiving– I think it’s important, especially for those of us who descend from the colonizers of this country, to wrestle with this question. At the same time, it’s the most important culinary day of the year in the US, and the only one whose traditional foods celebrate American foodways, which I love; and as you mentioned, we all get so little time off to see our families, we’ve got to make the most of that.

Haha, actually it kind of was. I went last year when the guy I was going out with was an evangelical Christian (didn’t work). My boyfriend now is Christian (the St. Thomas kind), but in a way that’s more compatible with me (and, um, I didn’t need it to work).

I know of Hindu guys who do it to get laid. I assume that was not your goal.