The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

20 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL S ample Air France tips and comments to potential French tourists in its “NewWorld 1968.” • Don’t hesitate to ask directions from anyone in the U.S.— the American is always happy to oblige and is very clear in his explanations. • Don’t take too much baggage. You can easily buy anything you need in an American store when you get there. • Nothing can give you a better idea of American opulence than a big U.S. department store. You absolutely must see one to believe it, even if you don’t need anything definite. There are very good buys to be made in them. If the salesgirl asks, “May I help you?” and you reply,“No, just looking,” she will answer something like “You’re welcome.” • They are very much on time in the U.S. If you have an appointment or a dinner engagement, be on time or have a very good explanation when you get there. • Indispensable to the American way of life, the telephone service is practical, quick and not very expensive. There are public telephones everywhere. •With their marvelous sense of organization and comfort, the Americans have equipped their country for very easy traveling about. Nowhere in the world are there so many good roads and so many cars. Trains are luxu- riously organized. Regular-scheduled airlines serve 950 American cities. • The U.S. is particularly well equipped with hotels and motels, the latter often in a pretty, natural setting. • American food is pure, abundant, and of excellent quality. Restaurants serve at all hours, which is very practical for tour- ists. A touching custom: Even before you have placed your order, you will be served a glass of water. This is a practice dating from the time of the pioneers, when nothing gave greater pleasure to the tired horseman than some fresh water to quench his thirst. •The Americans are very hospitable … their attitude is naturally friendly. They quickly enter into conversation with you. Encourage this familiarity. But remember that American usages are rather fixed and that American women expect plenty of courtesies. Also that American children are kings and relations with their parents much more free than in Europe. —From an anonymous Letter to the Editor by the same title, FSJ , September 1968 50 Years Ago Do’s, Don’ts and Lots of Compliments Reuters. Their symptoms included hear- ing loss, headaches, tinnitus and vertigo. The State Department issued a health alert for China on May 23, according to the Washington Post, after an employee of the consulate in Guangzhou began exhib- iting symptoms of a brain injury following exposure to “strange noises.” One department employee, Mark Lenzi, told the Washington Post that he began hearing the sounds in April 2017. After that he, his wife and his son began experiencing “excruciating” headaches. The family was later evacuated. The cause of the illnesses is still elusive, with the most common theory being tied to faulty or crossed-wire listening devices. Statement for the Record on the 20th Anniversary of East Africa Bombings O n July 26 Representative Ed Royce (R-Calif.) issued a statement for the record regarding the bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 20 years ago. More than 200 people were killed in the attacks, including 12 Americans, and more than 4,000 were injured. In his statement Rep. Royce recog- nized the courage of the Kenyan and Tanzanian security and emergency per- sonnel and offered condolences to the Kenyans and Tanzanians who suffered due to the attacks. “History should record that U.S. personnel in both embassies showed extraordinary leadership and personal courage in their response to the attacks, rapidly responding to locate and rescue victims,” wrote the congressman. “Their offices were on fire and their colleagues dead and injured—but these men and women responded immediately and quickly restored embassy operations. “Unfortunately, we in Washington did not respond as quickly to the strategic threats we witnessed that day. The pre- cisely coordinated attacks on our embas- sies were a declaration of war. … But we failed to heed that warning and paid a price three years later when al-Qaida took us by surprise and struck again on Sept.