The Foreign Service Journal, December 2005

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 89 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT their own started by alumni, and many have alumni clubs that have held successful reunions. All of the sites had a similar set-up: a place to register, class representatives, a way to contact other classmates and a place for you to get involved in the search for other alumni. Many also had a place where you could donate money or time, either in their name, your class’s name or your own, for a good cause. Encounters of the Global Kind — Reunion Tales When I sent out my cybercall for tales of international school reunions, I heard, as expected, frommost of the corners of the globe. The stories were tales of heartache, catharsis, res- olution and discovery. As I read and listened to the stories, I realized that there were many common experi- ences and revelations. Many of the former students had been to reunions and many had been back to visit their old school. Some admit to looking back with rose-tint- ed glasses. I even heard stories of some alumni who have found that they have been living in the same town as a long-lost friend from decades and continents ago. Some meetings are accidental, but many are planned events. A typical response to the question of what it was like to go back was: “I went back for my five-year reunion at the pri- vate school and then my 10-year reunion. Both were odd experiences. This one guy gained about 50 pounds and lost most of his hair in five years, which was alarming. When I’ve gone to the private school, I’ve always been in awe of how beautiful it is. The school has a view of the beach, and is really stunning. I don’t think I really appreciated it while I was a student there.” Then there are those experiences which are uniquely international. Walteen attended the International School Bangkok in the 1960s and 1970s when her father worked for USAID. Walteen says of her reunion Continued on page 90 Continued from page 85 I discovered that most international schools had a Web site of their own started by alumni, and many had alumni clubs which had held successful reunions.