Briefing!

I went to my first State Department briefing! And besides making the foreign service sound unassailably cool, I learned some good facts 'n figures that might come in handy for you at an awkward cocktail party.

30% of Americans have passports! (This is higher than I expected; does it seem high or low to you?)

In 1990, about 3.6 million passports were issued. This year, they're on track for over 15 milllion issuances!

Some very busy consulates (embassies) in larger cities around the world have over 1,500 visa interviews each day! That's a whole lot of tourists, students, fiancees and folks hoping to get to visit the United States.

Cool huh?? What can I say, I'm turning into quite the briefing geek.