Welcome Home: Who Are You? Tales of a Foreign Service Family [Paperback]

Gene Schmiel (Author), Kathryn Schmiel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998 | ISBN-10: 0963926063 | ISBN-13: 978-0963926067

These fascinating vignettes show Foreign Service personnel in action, heading off problems with other nations, reconciling differences, negotiating workable agreements, defusing conflicts, and generally steering Americans out of harm's way while at the same time coping with the myriad unexpected yet often deeply fulfilling aspects of overseas living.

In one vignette, Gene describes his rescue of a wayward young traveler from the clutches of an over-eager police officer who (wrongly) believes he has captured the fugitive Patty Hearst. In another, he recalls the grotesque difficulty of recovering and shipping home the mortal remains of an American sea captain whose life ended in a steamy tropical port with limited refrigeration facilities. Kathryn highlights the challenges of maintaining an American-style home life in a constantly changing, sometimes hostile environment. But her essays point up opportunities as well

as difficulties: When a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier makes a port call, she takes advantage of the chance to show the children a glorious example of American technology.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the bizarre and unpredictable (a Polish visa applicant swallowing his own application) to the peaceful and reassuring (learning how to knit an Icelandic sweater), these vignettes offer vivid portrayals of the life of a Foreign Service family living and working on three continents.

"This collection of essays and narratives puts a human face on the skilled, dedicated, and highly motivated people who compose the U.S. Foreign Service. With humor and charm, the authors write from personal experience about the work Foreign Service people do, day after day, all over the world, on behalf of Americans."-- Ambassador T. Frank Crigler (ret.)

"I recommend highly the authors' lively treatment of topics that are not familiar to most readers. Their work contributes to an enhanced understanding of the Foreign Service."--Henry E. Mattox, Editor, American Diplimacy

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Aletheia Pubns Inc (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963926063
• ISBN-13: 978-0963926067
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,735,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic picture of the US foreign service., October 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Welcome Home: Who Are You? Tales of a Foreign Service Family (Paperback)

In fundamental ways, the U.S. Foreign Service and America's military services are first cousins. Both are instruments of foreign policy, the one relying upon "diplomatic" modes of persuasion, the other upon armed force to achieve policy objectives. Both function under the direction of the President as Commander-in-Chief. Both are intended to cope with challenges to our national interests. And both are deployed mainly outside the nation's borders.

It's remarkable, therefore, how little the American public knows about the Foreign Service-its tasks, its people, its problems-given how familiar most of us are with the men and women who compose our Army, Navy, and Air Force and with the jobs they do. Most have not heard of it at all; among those who have, the stereotype persists of non-stop cocktail parties, duty-free liquor, pampering servants, and taxpayer-paid tourism. The stereotype is unfortunate and grossly unfair. It is in fact the unheralded Foreign Service whose everyday work is to head off problems with other nations, reconcile differences, negotiate workable agreements, defuse conflicts, and generally steer Americans out of harm's way, precisely so that the Commander-in-Chief need not respond with deadly force to every challenge.

The collection of essays and narratives put together by Gene and Kathryn Schmiel should help overcome that stereotype, painting a human face on the skilled, dedicated, and highly motivated people who compose the U.S. Foreign Service. With humor, charm, and often poignance, they write from personal experience about the taxing, unglamorous work Foreign Service people do, day after day, all over the world, on behalf of Americans.

* Gene describes his rescue of a wayward young traveler from the clutches of an over-eager police officer who (wrongly) believes he has captured the fugitive Patty Hearst; and he recalls the grotesque difficulty of recovering and shipping home the mortal remains of an American sea captain whose life ended in a steamy tropical port with no refrigeration facilities.

* Kathryn highlights even tougher challenges, those of nurturing family values and maintaining a semblance of American-style home life in a constantly changing, often hostile, environment. But her essays point up opportunities as well as difficulties: when a huge U.S. Navy aircraft carrier makes a port call, she takes advantage to show the children a glorious example of American technology, from stem to stern-and they're thrilled, of course!

I've often thought to myself, "If Americans only knew Foreign Service people as I do, they'd be just as proud as they are of their troops in uniform." The Schmiels' book ought to make lots of Americans proud!