FSI Yokohama Preparing American Diplomats for Service in Japan February 2014 // Issue Number 586
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Nelson Mandela Retired Ambassadors Remember Late Leader Alternate Entry Programs Provide Career Advancemant Opportunities state.gov/statemag February 2014 FSI Yokohama Preparing American Diplomats for Service in Japan February 2014 // Issue Number 586 Post of the Month: 20Dhaka U.S. Promotes growth in Bangladesh Residents take shelter under umbrellas during a rainstorm in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Original photo by Zoriah.net 12 Features 8 FSI Abroad Learning Japanese in Yokohama 12 Engaged Citizens Volunteers honored for good works 14 Saving Masterpieces Department helped repatriate stolen art 16 PD Planning Linked tools aid strategic analysis 18 Mandela Rememberd U.S. diplomats recall his personal touch 19 Still Serving Bataan survivor on the job at 93 26 Alternate Entry Programs increase career mobility 28 Library Lectures Speakers bring their books to life Columns 2 Post One 3 America the Beautiful 14 4 In the News 7 Diversity Notes 30 In Brief 32 Lying in State 33 Appointments 34 Obituaries 36 End State On The Cover Yokohama, seen here from Landmark Tower on Tokyo Bay, is Japan's second largest city by population after Tokyo metropolis. 18 Photo by Isaac D. Pacheco Post One BY ISAAC D. PACHECO Editor-in-Chief Isaac D. Pacheco // [email protected] Deputy Editor Ed Warner // [email protected] Associate Editor Bill Palmer // [email protected] Art Director Walking the Peter Ziff // [email protected] Contacting Us 301 4th Street SW, Room 348 Talk Washington DC 20547 [email protected] Phone: (202) 203-7115 Linguistic researchers estimate that Earth’s Fax: (202) 203-7142 inhabitants currently communicate in more than 6,000 different spoken languages. It is no Change of Address surprise then that State Department employees Send changes of addresses to our staff using the contact information above. often face communications hurdles in their Please include your previous mailing day-to-day interactions around the globe. address. Thanks to intensive language education programs like those offered by the Foreign This edition of the magazine also takes a Submissions For details on submitting articles to Service Institute (FSI), linguistic differences look back at the life of a man who emerged are no longer chasms that separate people. State Magazine, request our guidelines from nearly three decades of imprisonment by email at [email protected] or FSI’s numerous foreign language courses stress on Robben Island in South Africa to lead download them from state.gov/statemag. the importance of understanding relationships and unite a nation once bitterly divided State Magazine does not purchase between language and society, and provide along racial lines. Two senior Department freelance material. students with unique cultural engagement diplomats recall late South African opportunities that help them acquire a great President Nelson Mandela, who looked Deadlines The submission deadline for the April deal of vocabulary in a relatively short period. past the bars that confined him and saw Some particularly complex languages issue is February 15. The deadline for the what his country, torn by apartheid, might May issue is March 15. require two years of intensive study, including become. training abroad to better develop speaking and Retired Ambassadors Edward J. Perkins State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165) is comprehension skills and learn more about and Pamela E. Bridgewater share their published monthly, except bimonthly in the history and traditions that shaped the recollections of working with and around a July and August, by the Bureau of Human Resources at the U.S. Department of State. language. One such program, in Yokohama, man whose vision for unity and democracy prepares Foreign Service officers for assign- It is intended for information only and is not only reshaped a nation, but touched not authority for official action. Views and ments at Embassy Tokyo and U.S. consulates the lives of all who knew him. Check out opinions expressed are not necessarily in Japan. the article on page 18. those of the Department of State. The The Japanese Language Area Training Our new photo section, America the editorial team reserves the right to select Center, better known as FSI Yokohama, Beautiful, features iconic sights across the and edit all materials for publication. provides an intense, deeply immersive study United States, highlightingpopular tourist Follow Us Online environment for an average of 10 students destinations plus the broad spectrum annually. From it, students go into the of Americana that makes our nation state.gov/statemag community to participate in activities and so unique. If you have recently taken a engage native speakers. Be sure to check out photo of a classically American location facebook.com/statemagazine our feature article on page 8 to learn more and would like to see it featured in State @statemag about how FSI Yokohama is preparing the next Magazine, send the full-size, unedited generation of Japanese-speaking American image and a caption to statemagazine@ state.gov/rss/channels/ statemag.xml diplomats. state.gov. flickr.com/statemagazine 2 STATE MAGAZINE // FEBRUARY 2014 The Colorado River courses through a section of the Grand Canyon’s south rim in Northern Arizona. The 446km long gorge is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Photo by Isaac D. Pacheco In the News Department Assists Anti-piracy Training In September, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP), Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) and Philippine government held a multilateral workshop in Manila on best practices in training civilian mariners to counter piracy. Attendees included representatives from governments and educational institutions of all 18 East Asia Summit member states, including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. The Expanded ASEAN Seafarer Training–Counter-Piracy (EAST-CP) initiative, begun in 2012, promotes cooperation on maritime security and prepares seafarers to fight piracy in the ASEAN region, from which approximately one-third of the world’s seafarers are drawn. Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said the workshop would improve seafarers’ piracy preparedness. Tom Thompson, of MARAD’s International Activities Office and the head of the U.S. delegation, said, “It was only natural that the U.S. partner with the Philippines on this region-wide initiative, given the success of a similar bilateral program with the Philippines.” The Philippines, he said, provide the vast majority of seafarers in Southeast Asia, so their expertise and leadership in this initiative was crucial. For the training, MARAD recruited experts from the International Maritime Organization, Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Program and maritime industry, and from the fields of medicine, law and academia to lead discussions on training programs to better prepare seafarers physically and mentally for piracy. Dr. Donna Nincic, a California Maritime Academy professor and piracy expert, said the workshop was the first she’d been involved in that focused solely on this extremely important, yet often neglected issue and the first where attendees committed to explicit post- conference action items, giving the outcomes of this conference more longevity than is typically seen at these venues. Three seafarers who survived as pirates’ hostages spoke of their ordeals. Workshop facilitator Ben Cote, of EAP’s Multilateral Affairs Office, praised the ex-hostages’ courage and said he hopes attendees will advocate for improvements in their countries’ seafarer training programs. Former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. and Philippine Secretary of Transportation and Communications Emilio Abaya also attended. Ambassador Thomas highlighted U.S.- Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay speaks at the training event. To his left is Philippine cooperation and the importance of regional maritime Philippine Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Maximo Q. Mejia Jr. Photo by Jody Daigle cooperation on such issues as seafarer training. Another workshop is planned for 2014. 4 STATE MAGAZINE // FEBRUARY 2014 Chef’s Tour Is Culinary Outreach In a city where fine food fills the street markets, Hong Kong’s diners never lack culinary options, but their knowledge of American food is often limited to the many fast-food joints located throughout the city. To help remedy that, Benjamin Ford, a member of the Department’s American Chef Corps and the owner and executive chef of Ford’s Filling Station (and son of actor Harrison Ford), participated in a culinary diplomacy program organized by the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau through the Office of Protocol’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Program. Ford spent seven days in Hong Kong promoting U.S. agricultural products and educating Hong Kong’s foodies about American regional cuisine, including his own style of farm-to-table and head-to-tail cooking. His visit took him throughout Hong Kong, cooking, volunteering, speaking and learning about Hong Kong’s own culinary depths. At The Salted Pig, a “gastropub”- style restaurant, he developed a menu using high-quality U.S. ingredients including pork, as the restaurant’s name would all but require. For two barbecues benefitting Food Angel, a local nonprofit, he elevated a common American family meal of sloppy joes to haute cuisine and introduced diners to the finer points of Southern grits. As Hong Kong produces 3,200 tons of food waste each day, the program sought to promote sustainability and charity. Ford, alongside Consul General Clifford A. Hart Jr. and consulate staff, packed lunches for the indigent elderly at Food Angel, and donated the unused raw food from the barbecues to prepare more than 1,000 meals. He also taught high school students how to use simple U.S. food products to prepare healthy meals for themselves, visited markets with food bloggers and slurped snake soup at a Chinese restaurant. His media interviews, press conference and social media engagement ensured that Chef Benjamin Ford sparks Hong Kong's interest in American food at a more than 4 million people followed his activities.