Imagine coming to a foreign country, your spouse about to begin a new
post as a diplomat there. You don’t know much about the culture of the
land, and your knowledge of the language and customs is slim. The city
you’re about to reside in for the next few years seems somewhat
daunting. You can’t help but think, “If only there were something to
help in this transition.”
Washington, D.C., has just such a program, THIS for Diplomats, which assists foreign ambassadors who come to the United States. Their education is not traditional schoolroom learning. “D.C. is sophisticated and complex and can be unsettling to someone of a different culture,” said Phyllis Kaplan, president of THIS for Diplomats and former Montgomery County Public Schools Coordinator of Music.
{mosads}THIS, a nonprofit organization, is celebrating its 51st anniversary this year. It originally began at the request of the Chief of Protocol of the State Department, during the Kennedy era.
THIS is an organization made up almost entirely of volunteers — 300, to be exact — and two staff members, according to Kaplan. “Some of our first volunteers were the wives of the Kennedy Cabinet,” she added.
Friendships are what Kaplan calls the glue that holds the organization together. “It’s heart-wrenching when some of the diplomat families leave, because we may not see them again,” Kaplan said.
Those friendships are cultivated through touristy activities like private, behind-the-scenes looks at the Pentagon, Supreme Court and White House. THIS’s access to such high-profile places in D.C. is made a little bit easier with volunteers having connections through either themselves or spouses.
The THIS calendar begins in September with a welcome event. “There, those who are new to the program can learn through example, as we typically have a keynote speech by a diplomat spouse,” Kaplan said. “Many of those talks are about how that person has an entirely different view of America and Americans.”
Ambassador Muni Figueres of Costa Rica attended a THIS welcome reception years ago and calls the organization “a wonderful companion” for those who’ve never lived in D.C.
Figueres, who has lived in the D.C. area for 22 years, did not need the program’s assistance but praised THIS for compressing the learning curve of arriving diplomats.
“Ambassadors, counsels, minister counsels — they wouldn’t know where to turn without an organization like this,” she said. “Imagine being a spouse of a diplomat and being left at home with your family, not knowing whom to call about plumbing or where to get your lettuce. THIS is comforting to have.”
Ambassador Gilles Noghes of Monaco, whose work prohibited him from attending many THIS events, nevertheless recognized the value of such a program.
“A small embassy like ours really welcomes the assistance,” he said.
Noghes, who previously served as permanent representative of Monaco to the U.N. in New York, said it’s “striking” how different D.C. is compared to New York City.
“People really welcome diplomats differently here,” Noghes said. “D.C. residents are so wonderfully eager to make us feel at home.”
Kaplan mentioned that THIS is partnering with the Johns Hopkins International Medicine program to sponsor a series on wellness this year.
There are international “coffee and conversation” groups for those interested, activities Kaplan calls “safe places to learn and ask questions.” Participants can also try book clubs and tennis groups and conversations in various languages.
“There was a wife of one ambassador who was fluent in Spanish and German and was interested in learning more French — she ended up signing up for a French conversation,” Kaplan said. In addition to French, THIS participants can try Arabic, Spanish, Italian and four other languages.
The program’s Welcome Packet is of particular interest. The group thinks of just about every aspect of American culture in order to make foreign diplomats feel at ease in the city. There are printouts on gourmet grocers in the area that carry everything from authentic Indian to Russian cuisine and everything in between.
Papers inside show different cuts of meat (including pork, beef lamb and veal), weight conversions that make cooking in the United States easier and information on what to bring to a hospital emergency room.
“We even have information on how to properly tip everyone from your hair stylist to your waiter or waitress to your masseuse,” Kaplan said.
Volunteers even sign up to host a dinner for a diplomatic family, Kaplan added. Those families have the opportunity for a quintessential American experience, whether it be a Fourth of July barbecue, Thanksgiving dinner or college football game.
THIS, which works in cooperation with the Meridian International Center, has few difficulties, except the ability to reach our foreign guests in the first few weeks of their stay in the United States. “Ever since 9/11, the State Department has stopped giving us lists of new diplomats,” Kaplan said.
“We are quite lucky that over the years we have had such good cooperation with Meridian and Cultural Tourism DC,” Kaplan said. All three organizations present an International Children’s Festival every year, a community event that brought out over 6,000 people this year and is an opportunity for THIS volunteers and diplomats to bring their entire family.