Bermuda is not the most exciting place for a diplomat to live.

But as he oversees the busy American Consulate on Middle Road with the help of his wife, Marie, Dr. Kish insists he has not been bored.

"This is not a place where you're going to get major international incidents,'' said the 46-year-old career Foreign Service officer. However, "there's been quite a bit going on since I got here. More than I expected.'' And he said he welcomed the change of pace after four years in Washington, where he worked "ridiculous hours'' as senior political officer in the Near East Bureau during the Gulf War.

The closure of the Naval Air Station in 1995 would forever change relations between the US and Bermuda, he said.

"The major American presence here is going to be gone,'' Dr. Kish said. But Bermudians would continue to make frequent trips to the States. And most visitors to Bermuda would still come from America, as would most Island imports.

"There are going to be plenty of ties,'' he said. For instance, "Bermuda is rapidly becoming a much more important international business centre.'' Assigned to the American Consulate last July as deputy principal officer, Dr.

Kish has been acting Consul General ever since.

Had he known the appointment of a successor to Mr. Ebersole Gaines would take this long, he would have moved into Chelston, the US Consul's official residence.

The Consulate has been shortstaffed since the consular officer was transferred to Washington with a medical problem. Dr. Kish and his wife -- another career foreign service officer and the Consulate's administrative officer -- have been sharing the extra duties.

The couple try to move in tandem so their children can follow them to their postings. Sons Geoffrey, 16, and Gregory, 14, attend Mount St. Agnes Academy.

The family expects to be in Bermuda another two years.

Dr. Kish does not know when US President Bill Clinton will name the new Consul General, but expects to continue in his present role for at least another two months.

Bermuda is unusual in that its American Consul General has been a political appointee since 1982. In most countries, the post is held by a career Foreign Service officer.

"It was mostly a matter of patronage,'' Dr. Kish said. "The feeling was back in the Reagan Administration that this was too nice a place for the Foreign Service.'' A political appointee as Consul General was not necessarily a bad thing, he said. While he had to communicate through the State Department, "political appointees have their own lines of communication.'' Fluent in Russian, Dr. Kish served in Moscow from 1980 to 1982, at the end of the Brezhnev era and just after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

"I always wanted to go to Moscow,'' Dr. Kish said. "After about six weeks of being there, I realised it was a big mistake.'' Housed in a foreign compound guarded by the KGB, Dr. Kish had so little contact with Russians that he lost most of the language he had picked up in high school and university.

It was also difficult to get milk or green vegetables for most of the year.

And while getting a car repaired was something Americans took for granted, it was impossible in the Soviet capital.

"Moscow was very dreary,'' he said. "In the winter, it's overcast all the time. It was very depressing and very dirty.'' He was struck by the contrast when he went to Kazakhstan on temporary duty in 1992. Under the new openness, his Russian returned quickly.

The collapse of the Soviet Union that sounded the death knell for Bermuda's US Naval Air Station has created new opportunities in the Foreign Service, particularly for someone who speaks Russian.

The United States has opened 15 new embassies in parts of the former Soviet Union which are now independent republics. One day, he would like to be posted to one of those.

Dr. Kish was in Tel Aviv during the Intifada. One of his favourite postings was to Jerusalem, where he worked from 1978 to 1980 at the time of the Camp David agreement.

"We lived on the Mount of Olives. There was a lot of atmosphere. You really felt like you were in a foreign culture.'' The work was also interesting, as the President and Secretary of State made several visits, conducting shuttle diplomacy.

Bermuda is quite a change, but Dr. Kish became familiar with Island issues as United Kingdom desk officer in Washington from 1984 to 1986.

Born in New York City, Dr. Kish has an undergraduate degree in nuclear energy from Maritime College, a Masters in Russian Studies from Georgetown, and a doctorate in political science from the University of Virginia.

ACTING US CONSUL -- A backlog of Clinton Administration appointments means Dr.

Stephen Kish has been acting US Consul General to Bermuda much longer than he expected. He took the post last July and expects to continue at least for another two months.