Wind In My Head: The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Wind In My Head
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Once again, I questioned why I didn't join the foreign service.HE Franklin L. Lavin- The US ambassador to Singapore did an American Government 101 with the kids this morning. It was a logistical nightmare where an advance team was sent to us to get the place ready. We joked about them sweeping for bombs and being the target for terrorists and running around looking for table cloth since the Ambassador couldn't know that the table on stage was a bright yellow one which, in its previous life was a canteen table.
When he was being introduced, I had flashbacks to the West Wing episode where the President's swearing in ambassadors and also a little bit of the town hall session at Rosslyn . It was pretty interesting. He spoke to us in Chinese since he actually has a Masters in Chinese History and Language so that got all the kids amused. Nice man. I actually got to say hi to him and he actually remembered my name after that.
All morning, everyone was trying to disguise their awe at the whole thing by rationalising that this man can't be all that great- he was after all a Republican. He had worked for the Reagan and senior Bush administration and he had been appointed by the dim wit himself, so he coldn't have been all that great. It was highly amusing. It was highly amusing also to note the horror of some of the school's senior staff when informally polled, the entire cohort voted for John Kerry instead of ol' Dubya himself. My principal was almost beside herself trying to apologise to the ambassador and the member of the press spoke to the some students at length about the decision although I suspect, in their heads it was more "Bush-Iraq-no good, Kerry-not Bush-good" than real campaign platforms that swung their vote.
I can't say that I wasn't overawed. But at least I didn't pretend that it wasn't a big deal. But I think it was more for me the case of thinking "ooooh....the West Wing!" and wondering how many people worked on the mini lecture he gave our kids and wondering about the aides that were with him. Then I wondered some more about how someone got a job in the embassy since they were some very obviously non-American and very Singaporean people there. And how in the world I was going to land myself one of those jobs.
I had a talk this morning with one of my big bosses about restlessness and what one wanted out of their jobs. Obviously we were talking about teaching and it caused me to wonder, I mean, I have wondered about this before, but this morning, I really wondered, what was I doing here and what did I intend to do with this? Was this just a means to pay the bills or was there something more to it than this? Was there something else out there that I really wanted to do? Was there something else out there for every single teacher I know.
The fear of not knowing is one that I'm unfamiliar with and I'm awash with it now. What do I see myself doing when I'm 35? Apart from having a kid or two, I really don't know. And is that a bad thing? As in, am I going to be doing the same thing when I'm 35? I just heard of another person who is 34 or somthing like that and is principal. And I asked myself, is that what I would want for myself or is that what anyone sets out to want?
I keep drawing blanks with all these questions. I couldn't answer them for myself or anyone else. But I do know, for a little over an hour this morning, I wasn't a teacher. And that was nice.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 22:31
5 thoughts...
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At 11:59 am
Terz said... Two things:
1. Didn't see the need for the P to be apologising so much, but it does say a lot for our civil service that we equate 'government' with 'ruling party' and not see them as separate entities. The guy's an ambassador; he serves the government of the United States of America, not the Republican party.
2. Take heart, most people don't settle into their final careers til they're at least 35. Heck, it took me five years to decide...-
At 12:53 am
Beach-yi said...
One question, why are my fellow Singaporeans so in awe of an American ambassador? And my goodness,judging from what you wrote, the young men and women in the esteemed (whatever it is, pick a random one from the top 5 JC) college seems to be quite well versed with Yankee politics and I suspect more so than local ones.
That's it, the next PAP election should superimpose a picture of Bush/Kerry as part of their campaign.
Cheers.-
At 4:53 pm
Terz said...
You'd rather them be in awe of an American celebrity instead? Or a vapid local one?
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At 8:16 am
Packrat said...
Local politics...let's see.
It's one man, one vote...and MM Lee's the man. 'Nuff said.-
At 8:58 pm
Benjamin Kong said...
I think it's very much what you want to achieve. I don't think too many people want to be Principal, or at least not in the determined sort of way. I'd just work on getting transferable skills so I can choose what to settle into when I'm 35 (which isn't that far away - gasp!) rather than not have that choice at all. Heck, I may not even settle at 35.