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Patty Kloss-McKay ’90 – United Kingdom
Thankfully, our friends at the University of Edinburgh and the Fringe office itself went out of their way to help us with our lodging, theatre space, and publicity. Our manager had all of us go out into the streets every day in costume, to perform short scenes and advertise our evening shows to make up for the postering gaff. Shenandoah Shakespeare, being a repertory company (they have three or four shows ready to perform every season, using the same actors) had Hamlet, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and the Tom Stoppard’s comedy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. The first night or two, we were doing okay with attendance – not filling to capacity by any means, but not in the “danger zone.”. On our third night (third one’s a charm, right?) lightning struck when a reviewer for Edinburgh’s largest newspaper, The Scotsman, gave us an extremely favorable review. From that moment on, we sold out every show and felt like stars. My anxiety melted and I truly enjoyed myself.
Because sales were so brisk, the production team had a few more opportunities to sightsee and take in all that Edinburgh has to offer. The town itself was incorporated in 900 A.D., and is split into “Old Town” and “New Town” (which cropped up in the mid 1600s, I believe). I had to laugh every time a friendly Scot gave me directions referring to “New Town” without a shred of sarcasm! There’s a mountain right in the center of the city with a castle perched on top. It’s breathtaking to see. Down the street (rather, The Royal Mile) from the Castle, is Holyrood Palace, where the Queen takes residence when she’s in town. If you’re into “spirits” there are both scary ghost tours and distillery tours. I partook of both…
Having gone back to Edinburgh since that particular Festival, I continue to count it as one of my favorite cities. It’s every bit as cosmopolitan as London or New York, in addition to being exceedingly friendly and unbelievably interesting. I highly recommend the Fringe Festival to any avid theatregoer. Your head will spin with the number of companies who attend. There is literally something for everyone.
I arrived in Kobe shortly after the Great Hanshin earthquake that devastated the city. Even when I left three years later, there was still evidence of the destruction. The school where I taught actually was broken in half so my first two years, we taught in prefabricated buildings until our new building was built. It was completed in the summer of 1997 and was beautiful.
While I was at SU, I was a member of the International Club and had international roommates my last two years of school. While I was in Japan, I got together with some of my best friends who were exchange students from Senshu University. I traveled to Tokyo on two occasions to visit Yuichi Sakuragi, Atsuko Kasuya (who was my roommate senior year), and Yukako Hompo. We had a blast together!
Teaching in Japan spoiled me quite a bit. My students were like members of my family and we still keep in touch to this day. The teachers were my best friends and the parents were a dream to work with. I gave my discipline speech the first day of class and never had to use it ... not once! The students were ready to go as soon as the bell rang and they didn't start packing up until the bell rang. They were courteous and just soooo lovable. Teaching in the U.S. will never be the same again.
In the end, I missed the little things America has to offer and was tired of traveling back and forth by airplane every summer. I still have dreams that I am back in Japan and I will always have great memories of all of the fun things I did while I was there.
Someday, when the world is a little less crazy, I hope to go back and take my husband and son. I highly recommend Japan to anyone who wants to experience a different culture and meet some of the nicest people on earth.
Other than adjusting to getting around without knowing the language, alphabet or anyone for that matter, adapting to the food (kimchee, which is a spicy pickled cabbage served with every meal; foods with names like kimbop, bibimbop, and kegogi; cooked dog, which I could not bring myself to eat; food carts on corners selling steamed worms and dried squid for snacks while others featured raw meat and fish that were in the blazing sun all afternoon on 100 degree days; and only local markets with very different food than found in American grocery stores), and an extremely tiny apartment in a city known for its high pollution where locals walked around with face masks, it actually turned out to be a wonderful experience. It was the best two years of my life, other than college, of course.
During my school vacations, I had the fortunate opportunities to travel to Thailand, where I took jungle treks riding elephants and sleeping in open-air huts with pigs and chickens roaming around under the beds, the Philippines, Bali, Japan, and Borneo and Malaysia – each with their own adventures.
The best thing about being in Korea was that I met my husband there. He was a U.S. Army crew chief stationed for a year at Camp Page. Eight years later, we are still together and got married last year in N.J., and now living in Texas.
On May 16, 2005, our adoption coordinator and interpreter picked us up at our apartment and drove us to Astana Baby House, where the orphanage director introduced herself and then brought the most beautiful little baby girl for us to meet (of course, as all parents are, we are just a little biased!). We fell in love immediately, and spent each afternoon for the next four weeks visiting her at the baby house. We ultimately lived for seven weeks in our daughter's birthplace while all of our legal documents were processed, and we fell in love with the people and the culture. One of our favorite memories was an evening spent at our interpreter's home, eating a traditional Kazakh meal, smiling and laughing with her family (even though we didn't share a mutual language), and listening to them sing songs about their history as one of her relatives strummed her dombra. Another vivid memory was walking the streets of Astana on June 10, the day they celebrate their country's capital, and seeing children in traditional costumes singing, dancing, and reciting poems in Kazakh. Of course, the best recollections from this trip involved the end of a long and wonderful journey to meet our daughter, Anelle. She is a happy, healthy baby girl, in part due to the loving care she received for the first seven months of her life. We are so thankful and blessed that she has joined our family.
After I left London, I went to Zimbabwe for a few months, and then to Johannesburg, where I didn't work, but saw the beginnings of the transformation of South Africa. From there I moved to Washington, where I worked as a contractor in the then-West African department of the World Bank, which planted the seed to eventually move to West Africa at some point.
In the meantime, however, Washington had started to bore me, and I went to live in central England for a few years, just to decompress. I worked at several law firms, and it was at this time I became even more interested in international trade.
Upon my return to Washington, yet again, I first worked for USO World Headquarters, where I planned (and attended) the 1999 organization-wide meeting in Naples, Italy, before taking a position in the international trade department at one of the largest law firms in the world.
At the end of 2004, I left that job so pursue several opportunities. First I established myself in Dakar, Senegal, before returning South Africa to study in a graduate program in development management at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town. At this moment I've run into some financial difficulties and may have to drop out -- no big shock there, I nearly had to drop out of Susquehanna due to lack of money -- but I will find a way to muddle through.
In addition to being a student, I am also working at a company which transcribes conference calls from elsewhere in the English-speaking world. South Africa, as many are not aware, is positioning itself to being the English-language alternative to India in the outsourcing field. I also do translations, both from French to English and from Spanish to English for a bit of extra cash.
Cape Town is a beautiful city, but there are moments where I just want to pack it in and leave. But then I walk into the park behind my apartment building and look at Table Mountain, it makes up for the cool rainy winter -- I've become a weather wimp already; if I avoid having to leave here in January, it is highly unlikely that I will ever see snow again -- and it makes me realize that perhaps I could live here for a while.
Ideally, however, I would settle in Abidjan, Accra or Dakar, and should I be able to finish my studies on time, I will do exactly that.
Our time living abroad has been extraordinary and we would not trade the experience for anything. We have taken advantage of the opportunities that an overseas assignment offers including the travel and have visited many markets in the region. We have traveled extensively throughout Asia and Pacific, as well as Europe, Mexico and other places as remote as Egypt. This region in particular offers a great deal from both a business and personal perspective as it’s comprised of developed (i.e. Japan, Singapore, Australia) and less-developed (Vietnam and India) markets. We have also tried to be considerate when it comes to the cultural differences and have tried to adapt to the local environment where appropriate.
While in Hong Kong, I worked for ACNielsen Media International leveraging my experience from Fox Family and Time Warner. My role was in client service and sales and focused on helping clients to maximize their advertising effectiveness and promote sponsorships. The opportunity to meet and present to our international clients such as CNBC, The Discovery Channel, CNN, Bloomberg, Dow Jones and multi-national media agencies was exhilarating and very difficult at times. I was challenged not only by the demands of the industry, but the diversity of cultures and personalities. Despite the intense working environment, it was clear that client issues are similar regardless of what country you are in.
Some amazing experiences that we will always remember include attending the America’s Cup race that was hosted in Auckland, New Zealand, celebrating the Millennium and Chinese New Year fireworks overlooking Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, climbing the Great Wall of China and riding a camel beside the Pyramids of Egypt to name a few. In terms of obstacles, the most difficult was during the period leading up to the birth of our son, Jake, who was born in 2003 during the peak of the SARS epidemic that had claimed many lives in Hong Kong. Being away from family during this period of uncertainty was taxing on us all.
Despite all the positives, international assignments do not come without risks and challenges. During our time overseas, we have seen expatriates come and go and the lifestyle is not suitable for everyone. A successful experience is tied to your ability to focus on the positives and not the negatives. Those who try to replicate what they had will only be disappointed. For my husband and I, this has been a character building experience and has helped put things in perspective. Living and working abroad has provided a great advantage and hands-on platform to learn about other cultures where we would not have the opportunity otherwise. It has also broadened our business experience and skills. But if there is any thing that we would take away from this experience it would be that it has taught us that we are very fortunate compared to other parts of the world and we have learned to appreciate what we have and focus on what is important in life.
This has been a fantastic chapter in our life that we will always remember. Since then, we have now moved on to the next chapter having relocated to Brussels, Belgium a year ago. Despite missing our family and friends, we remain focused on the positive aspects that this assignment has to offer and are excited about exploring more of Europe.
After graduating SU in 1995, I almost immediately left the U.S. for a two-year tour as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon. My job was to teach preventative medicine through education, so I focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, maternal/child health, and other programs like hand washing and home gardening. It was an experience like no other. My village was a dusty outpost, very remote and it could take days to reach the capital city Libreville.
Hospitality was very important to the Gabonese. For people who didn't have much in the way of day to day amenities – no running water, no electricity – and poor education and health care, they always made time for me; this odd, white girl who sold condoms out of her backpack (as a part of my job) and went everywhere with her dog. No matter where I went, out of nowhere, a cold beer would appear, and some grilled beef and local vegetables were served. The stories started and the rapid fire questions about life in the U.S. would begin. Over two years, I learned that accepting this hospitality was the best compliment that I could give my Gabonese hosts because it meant that I accepted their way of life while they learned about mine.
In 1999 I joined the United States Department of State, specifically their law enforcement branch, the Diplomatic Security Service. In the summer of 2000, I was sent to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). The country was in its fifth year of civil war, a total mess. About six months after my arrival the U.S. Embassy had to be evacuated due to civil unrest. As the assistant embassy security officer, I was tasked with coordinating the evacuation. In a male dominated society, it was unheard of for a woman to hold what was perceived to be such a prestigious security job. Once the local Congolese police and military recognized my role they honored me with the nickname “Mama Security.” In central Africa, Mama is a term of respect used for women. The security part speaks for itself. Throughout Kinshasa, I was known as “Mama Security;” even the homeless kids who'd hang around looking for handouts outside the Embassy started calling me "Mama Security." One of my most favorite overseas souvenirs has my name on it followed by "Mama Security" written in big letters underneath – it was given to me by the police in Kinshasa.
After Kinshasa, I continued my African sejour in Niamey, Niger. While there, I had the chance to do a camping trip in the Sahara Desert with a traditional guide from the Tuareg tribe. Touregs are famed and fabled desert guides, real nomads. I was thrilled. After our first night out in the desert, I was curious as to how our guide knew his way around so well since I never saw him look at a map throughout the previous day. He went into this story about how his father was one of the first people to map the area and how he had grown up driving the dunes. Then he paused.... and reached way down deep into he traditional robe and as said "Ooh by the way, one of these helps" and he pulled out a GPS! My romance with the Nomads was killed by this hand held GPS! I laughed for days.
Last but not least, was my twelve months in Peshawar, Pakistan a scant 35 miles from the Afghan border. That was interesting. The adage in Peshawar was that if you wanted drugs and guns you could have them in 30 minute; if you wanted a driver's license you'd be waiting six weeks or more. There wasn't much you could do in Peshawar because of the threat of terrorism. We really had limited movement and a somewhat cloistered lifestyle, pretty much, all we did was work. So I found a hobby and that was to learn as much as I could about carpets, oriental rugs, and local tapestry. When the time and environment permitted, my carpet education sessions usually started at a carpet shop (while armed police stood outside- yes, in Peshawar, even the Security Officer had her own security), over many cups of green tea as the carpet vendor, knowing I was likely not to buy, graciously would unroll carpet after carpet and tell me all the finer details of each rug. When next I'd go back to the carpet vendor and he'd role out the rugs and quiz me on what I had learned. If I made a mistake, he'd make me walk on the rug, barefoot to feel the difference, or get on my hands and knees to view the pattern up close and see the difference. It was a lot of fun. I learned so much. I often thought that the relationship between the carpet vendor and me was very one sided, with me getting all the benefit. When I was finally leaving Peshawar, I went to say my farewells to my friends. I told him how much I appreciated what he taught me, the hospitality that he showed me and how I learned so much. My carpet vendor friend was a bit taken aback. He said that he never felt that his simple knowledge of carpets was as important as what I had taught him about America and Americans and that Americans, just like Pakistanis wanted the same things – hhealth and happiness.
There are many more stories from my time overseas. Some funny, like the French motorcycle cops who, when not riding their bikes, were often polishing off a bottle of wine- or multiple bottles of wine, before continuing to escort the secretary of state's motorcade through Paris; some not so funny, like seeing a child die from malaria in Africa. All in all, my overseas experience has been great and has influenced me more than anything else that I have done in my life.
Creative engineering and architecture went into the design of the city. The canals are practical for transportation as well as living - they have numerous houseboats. The trams run quite late and can take you just about anywhere in the city. The most frequently encountered crime is pick pocketing, which the locals were very gracious in reminding us to be careful about. Everyone we met was friendly. The streets were clean and felt safe. According to one of the people we met there, violent crime is not much of a problem there. She said she had lived there for nine years without even hearing about a rape or a mugging in her neighborhood. The legalization of prostitution and marijuana keep most regularly law-abiding citizens from fraternizing with the "criminal element" and contain the use of such services to a particular area of town. They are regulated businesses (well, sort of - they still have certain restrictions on marijuana growing and distribution that make it a little tricky for the shops to keep running, and not all residents like the idea of legal prostitution or marijuana). We explores the red light district and found it allowed commerce to prosper and tourism to flourish.
Our journey to the Van Gogh museum was one of the most emotionally moving experiences of my life. His art takes on such new depth and texture when you see it live, and the museum headphones tell you about what his life was like when he painted each painting. There was such beauty and despair in both the man and his work. I was spellbound. From there, we went out for lunch- a toasted piece of French bread with warm goat cheese, honey, and onions, and cold beer (or hard cider in a lot of places, too). Everything we ate in that city was phenomenal. But be warned - health codes are not there what they are in the U.S. We had the pleasure of a cat coming up to our table at dinner one night to engage us in brief conversation, and there's no sign warning you about the health risks of undercooked food. Water is never free there, either.
It's bottled and usually runs about US$1.50.
From there, we traveled to Bruges in Belgium by train. We took a cab to the hotel, where we checked in and were shown an elevator about the size of a closet. We got in and hit the button for our floor and it moved, and then it stopped. No door opened. We were confused - why did the door not open? After a short spell of disbelief, we tried something totally unique- we pushed the door. And it opened like a door.
We explored gothic cathedrals and chocolatiers before gorging ourselves on freshly steamed mussels. For breakfast, we had (of course) Belgian Waffles and they were absolutely gorgeous feather-light crisps that melted in your mouth with the sweet finish of a chantilly cream (I did, after all, marry a chef). We took a horse carriage ride through the cobblestone city past the "lake of love," as our carriage driver called it, where swans glide across the lake and form transient heart shapes with their arched necks as they pass each other. There is a legend that if you kiss by the lake of love, that your love will be endless – or at least that's what they tell the tourists.
You get the feeling in Bruges that nothing has changed much over the centuries. And many things haven't. The way they make chocolate, beer, and steamed mussels have remained unchanged in their fundamentals, but have a few new sauces or shapes or sizes. They still sell fish at the local fishmarket when the fish is still practically flopping after being netted from the North Sea, the same as it ever was. We greatly enjoyed the aesthetics of the city, but found much more to do in Amsterdam. Granted, we were staying in the historic district of Bruges, which even the tour guides warn you is greatly overpriced. But while Bruges was a pinnacle of tradition, Amsterdam encompassed both traditional and youth cultures. We returned for our last night and enjoyed a candlelit cruise through the canals before stopping at one last coffeehouse and taking the train back to the airport. (Sadly, our experience at the airport once we got back into Atlanta was not nearly as enjoyable as having our eyelids forced open and lemon juice squeezed into them, but that's another story).
An additional note: I married Brandon Dumas, but didn't change my name. He is a chef at Maison Bleu in Watkinsville, Ga. and I am a social worker in Athens, GA. I decided to study abroad and found this fabulous program in Namibia. I was encouraged by many of my professors to go and come back ready to share all that I had learned. Juest before I left I spoke with a South African man living in California. When I asked him what I needed to know before I left for Namibia he told me, "If you listen more than you speak you will learn much. You will know that you have learned much if you are getting on the airplane to come home and you are crying and you do not know why. The tears will be because you will be leaving a large piece of your heart in Namibia." After four months I was ready to come home and yet the tears were there when I boarded the plane. A part of my heart was left in Namibia and I have had a connection to Africa ever since.
While in Namibia I tried to listen a lot. The country had been independent from apartheid rule for five years when I was there. They were still learning how to live more freely. We spent some time in the Northern part of the country with a family. The family spoke very little English, but this is where most of my learning took place. I tried to help in the fields. I enjoyed cooking over the open fires and learning to dance while we waited for dinner to boil. I was given the gift of a chicken, only to find it on my plate later in the evening. There was no electricity and so I saw the most amazing sunsets melt into the beauty of stars. During the days I visited schools and homes and hospitals. One day I was walking to the school and some of the children (about 30) were following me. They were very shy and yet they were curious. Not many white people had come to this area to visit with the intention of kindness. They would touch my skin and giggle. Finally one of them got up the courage to ask my name using the very few words that they learned in school. When I replied "Lori" the entire group laughed hysterically. They kept asking and laughing. I finally realized they were laughing because theEnglish they were learning was the language the British use. In English they had learned that a "lorry" was a big truck. So I was essentially telling them, "Hi. My name is big truck."
In Tanzania, we had a focus of meeting our partners in ministry in this part of the world. After a two day journey into the mountains of the South Central part of Tanzania we got to our destination. Each church we visited welcomed us with open arms and hearts, with singing and gifts. We recieved two goats and three chickens in our 10-day visit. I was drawn to the needs and issues of women and children. In the face of poverty and AIDS, the church was working hard to provide all of the needs of the people. There were many children without parents. Often the oldest child, sometimes age 13 or even younger, was caring for their siblings. Many cannot afford to go to school. There was not a problem with food, but many areas do not have easy access of water. As a female pastor I was received warmly even though they are beginning to ordain women and see women as partners in various areas of life.
Living and working in a foreign country, especially one where your native language is not spoken, is an excellent way to experience the dynamics of another culture and their way of life. Transferring with the company to Tokyo has truly been a rewarding experience for me in both my career and personal life and would highly recommend it.
While a junior at SU, I enrolled in the School for International Training’s College Semester Abroad in Bali, Indonesia. I was one of about a dozen students from universities across the U.S. We had classes in Indonesian language, Balinese arts and culture, and research methods. The capstone of the experience was an independent research project on a topic of our choice; I studied culturally-aware tourism.
In 2001, I interned and studied at a cultural museum in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. The Monsopiad Cultural Village was a local historical village which portrayed village life in Borneo two hundred years ago. The central features of this museum are the artifacts of the local priestess and the 48 skulls the warrior Monsopiad collected of his and his village’s enemies. From there I moved to Mae Sot, Thailand for three months and interned with the American NGO Consortium-Thailand. With this organization, I provided computer training, English lessons and teacher training to refugees who had escaped from Burma.
In the summers of 2004 and 2005 I returned again to Indonesia, this time to Manado, North Sulawesi. During the first summer I studied Indonesian with the Consortium for the Teaching of Indonesian and Malay and in 2005 to collect field research for my master’s thesis on the topic of youth and conflict management strategies.
I’m currently finishing up my master’s degree at Ohio University in Athens and considering either heading back to Southeast Asia or working in the U.S. on projects important to that region.
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