A bunch of foreigners around here...

In many respects, it is like the UN around here. Since Baghdad is the center of the collation (yes, there really is a collation here) I’ve run into all sorts of people. So far, I’ve either seen or met Japanese, Koreans, Poles, Latvians, Macedonians, Brits, Aussies, Bulgarians, Romanians and a few that I can’t figure out who there are. There are a lot of civilian contractors here as well. They are referred to as either TCNs (third country nationals) or LNs (local nationals). The TCNs are mainly from India, Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. With all those nationalities, communicating can be difficult at times. Most of the barbers understand “NOT MARINE” when you tell them how to cut your hair, so all is well.