The Foreign Service Journal, September 2003

fter 14 years as a Foreign Service Office Management Specialist, I’m happy to say that I still get a thrill from liv- ing overseas and experiencing a life “different” from what I could expect in the United States. Better? Yes, in some ways. Worse? Yes, in some ways. Life in the Foreign Service is Technicolor — and sometimes even neon. I have been lucky enough to visit Red Square and the Hermitage, see the pyramids and a number of exot- ic souks, explore the Holy Land, and collect enough carpets and copper to gobble up my allotted household effects weight limit. I have been privileged to ride a camel, ride a bike alongside canals, and ride a bright red double-decker bus to work. I’ve eaten my way through most regional foods, enjoyed warm Belgian waffles, scraped snails from their shells with a safety pin, eaten cheeses so unique that the smell alone could drive a grown man to his knees, downed uniden- tifiable grilled meats off a wooden stick, and tasted desserts I could happily die for. But I still need to sam- ple what South America has to offer, and I look forward to every single calorie. I’ve seen demonstrators waving posters in front of the American embassy in a half-dozen different coun- tries, and — whether I agreed with what the demon- strators had to say or not (assuming I could understand their language) — I have been thankful they live in countries where this is permitted. Their chants and drum-banging are the sounds of freedom, and that ain’t a bad thing. I know from listening to water-cooler talk that my love for this lifestyle is not necessarily shared by all members of the Foreign Service (or maybe it is, and what I hear is recreational complaining). There are certain hardships and risks we experience that friends and family in the States don’t. And this is where we venture into the neon! Over the years, I’ve felt the earth quiver from earth- quakes and bombs, felt despair and helplessness over filthy living conditions in Third World countries, spent painful sessions on the toilet, distilled my drinking water, been treated for skin fungus, and endured disconcertingly thorough physical exams to ensure there weren’t other embarrassing health problems to be addressed. Yes, along with the perks, Foreign Service members also run into amoebas, bombings, cholera, dysentery, evacuations, and a whole alphabet of nasty stuff that you wouldn’t find at a typical U.S. shopping mall. But if I wanted a shopping-mall life, saturated with fast food and films, I wouldn’t have joined the Foreign Service. When I consider that I could be sitting at the same dull desk, in the same building, with the same colleagues, living in the same city for years and years … well, that feels just a little gray to me. Where else but the Foreign Service will computer and office manage- ment skills take you around the world? Give me Technicolor — and even neon — any day. ■ W HERE ELSE BUT THE F OREIGN S ERVICE WILL COMPUTER AND OFFICE MANAGEMENT SKILLS TAKE YOU AROUND THE WORLD ? F O C U S O N F S S P E C I A L I S T S 42 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 3 A G IVE M E T ECHNICOLOR … A NY D AY ! B Y L INDA I NGALLS Linda Ingalls is senior OMS in the Political Section, Embassy London.