Saturday, 18 March

Dull

In the afternoon I went to the American Embassy to watch a film.

I received a phone call from the Belgian Ambassador d’Hallebast, saying he is being transferred back to London and will take the flight to leave Moscow in the morning the day after tomorrow and he would like to borrow a lorry to use tomorrow. I said certainly. In the past in the Diplomatic Corps when someone is transferred people will come to bid farewell to him, and he will usually say goodbye to us. But recently in Moscow, it is normal that people do not know each other, and this is the difference between the Soviet Union and other countries. The Belgian Ambassador was rarely in touch with others, and his character was quite weird. However, his private life was extremely colourful. He had many girlfriends and his wife is a white Russian. She has been living in London so she could not come with him. No wonder he has been like this.