The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

52 JULY-AUGUST 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL T he May Foreign Service Journal ’s focus was “Life After the Foreign Service.” We began preparing that issue in January, with a broadcast message to retired and former mem- bers of the Foreign Service requesting input on the “afterlife.” We asked AFSA members to reflect on what they wished they had known earlier about retirement, and what advice they would give their younger selves on planning for it. We also asked what they wish they had known before joining the Foreign Service. And we invited them to tell us about their interesting post-FS lives, including advice for others who may want to take a similar path. The response was quick and abundant. We received nearly 50 thoughtful essays—far too many for one issue. We published 22 in May, and present the remaining 25 in this edition. Like the first batch, this collection is full of interesting stories. Retirees and prospective retirees alike will appreciate the great variety of paths taken by their colleagues, as well as the hard-won insights and useful advice offered here. —The Editors Life After the Foreign Service— What We’re Doing Now PART II Teaching English as a Second Language BY JAMES WACHOB W hen I retired from the Foreign Service at age 60, I strongly wanted to “give back” some of the fruits of my exciting and challenging Foreign Service assignments. I was particularly interested in applying the skills in writing and in cross-cultural communication that I had honed in the course of a 37-year career that included seven overseas postings. A Foreign Service spouse had once told me of the satisfaction she derived from organizing groups to learn English in countries where it isn’t widely spoken. Her enthusiasm for English as a Second Language instruction motivated me to consider employ- ment as an ESL instructor in the Washington, D.C., area, where my wife and I intended to remain in retirement. A novice on ESL matters, I sent employment application letters with my résumé to four ESL schools advertising in the Yellow Pages. One of them was so enthusiastic about my quali- fications that its management tracked me down in Los Angeles, where I was administering Foreign Service oral examinations during my final State Department assignment. They promised to hire me without an interview if I agreed to report to their Rosslyn branch on the first day of my retirement from State, a condition to which I readily agreed. FEATURE