The Other Side of Perspective
THE OTHER SIDE
I think it’s important to look back on all of our lives and think of the wonderful people who changed us, and taught us, and gave us extraordinary perspectives, almost entirely for the better. This is purely a guess, but I suspect many of us will admit the most surprising benefits and broader horizons were often, not from those shallow spaces we grew up with or would have expected, but from people and places far away that we did not expect.
In 1994, I walked into the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC thinking I had no shot at a job opening for a writer-editor position working for a country I really didn’t know that much about.
Well, seven years from that moment forward, working with wonderful people, being a part of something that truly was in at least some small way *changing the world*, taught me ordinary lessons about life, how to work with others from backgrounds that I couldn’t possibly comprehend, multilingual communications, inevitable complexities, and a history and culture so mind-bogglingly rich that it defies imagination. I mean think about it–working for the Republic of Turkey. How would that change life your perspectives your friendships and even you?
Yeah, I’m glad I went through those changes.I wish every person I know —and especially those I don’t know who oddly seem to have opinions about other parts of the world they do not understand and know nothing about— could spend at least some time working for a different government and culture and people —- just for the experience and the eye-opening awareness that it provides. I mean seriously, HOW INCREDiBLY LUCKY WAS I? I consider myself so much more aware of my surroundings in the world and see things through a whole different prism and that’s because of my extraordinary experiences with Ayla Armay Karamete. I passed the audition. She hired me about 30 years ago and that decision changed my life.
As is customary in diplomacy, I only worked with Ayla for a couple of years. Her rotation ended and she went back to Ankara and now she’s back in Washington again. While I was working for the Turkish embassy in the 1990s she was replaced by Mustafa Siyahhan, and then Sami Orcun. They were also marvelous people who were not just bosses, but friends.
The respect I have for these foreign diplomats who gave me such a rare glimpse and wonderful window into their culture is something I can never repay. But by acknowledging those gifts here and now, I hope this in some small way can at least acknowledge the debt and the trust that they bestowed upon me. What better gift is there and changing someone and making them more enlightened as to the world?
Earlier today, Ayla posted this wonderful picture from the cherry blossoms outside at the Tidal Basin in Washington.These cherry blossoms were once a gift from the Japanese government to the American people nearly a century ago. Whoever thought that a plant or a flower or a tree could be an sort of ambassador? But it’s true. Think about that while Trump slashes USAID overseas.
In these times of conflict with such grotesque narcissism and even open hostility between us and them, whoever them happens to be at this moment, we would be wise to recognize –both personally and collectively– all the kindnesses we’ve been given by people on the other side of vast oceans–which should not separate us but rather should bridge us together for the common good.
