For her daughters, the question Where are you from? is a tricky one. Living in South Korea, the two blond girls, ages 7 and 8, get the question a lot. They have often insisted that they are from Africa, considering that they have spent most of their young lives in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Sensing skepticism, the older one might say, “Well, maybe Greece.” After all, they were born in Athens. But – even though they’ve never lived in the United States – the two girls are as American as their parents, both of whom are in the U.S. Foreign Service.
Kirsten Bauman ’93 fully understands the confused sense of home that life in the foreign service brings for her daughters, but sees it as an opportunity for them to grow up as citizens of the world. She and her husband have been serving in Seoul since 2011, and, before that, in Addis Ababa; Athens; Washington, D.C.; and Paris – moving every two to four years. When their tenure in Korea is up in 2015, they expect to be relocated to the United States, where their daughters can finally experience the place that they have always been told is home.
Originally from Rockville, Md., Bauman started at the College in 1989. During her four years, she remembers being encouraged to enjoy the city, and also to look beyond it.
“I think I got a very good, well-rounded start in higher education at CofC,” she says. “My political science professors taught me that true learning is not only about getting good grades on tests.”
It was in the halls of the political science department, in fact, that she saw a poster advertising the U.S. Department of State’s free annual foreign service exam.
“I have always been a restless person and I wanted to see the world,” she says. “I took the written exam and passed, but failed the oral segment in Washington, D.C.”
A few years later, after getting her master’s degree at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, she successfully retook the exam and began her career with the service in 2000 doing consulate work in Paris.
“I was lucky to start my career in such a beautiful place and also meet my husband, but I have to dispel the myth that diplomats lead a glamorous life sipping wine,” she says. “My daily job is to facilitate the communication between U.S. and foreign governments in order to build and foster relationships to advance American foreign policy objectives.”
After next serving as a World Bank liaison in Washington, Bauman was transferred to Athens, where she served as a political officer responsible for informing U.S. policymakers on issues related to Turkey-Cyprus-Greece relations. But it was her next post in Ethiopia that was the most difficult. There, she worked as an environmental officer for geothermal development and water resource management across 14 East African countries. And there, she and her family faced the daily challenges, both logistical and emotional, of living in a comfortable American-style compound in a developing nation.
“Living in Ethiopia for three years was challenging. On our daily drive to my girls’ preschool, I often had to answer questions about why a man was crawling along the gutter with his twisted legs folded under his crumpled body,” she remembers, “or address why a mommy holding her baby and knocking on our car window looked so sad. In exposing my girls to these extreme levels of poverty at an early age, however, I now see that it has instilled them with a sense of gratitude and a great capacity for empathy.”
At the moment, Bauman – who has played host to President Barack Obama and other members of Congress and conducted formal meetings to further
the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement – is negotiating a U.S.–Korea treaty on nuclear energy cooperation and working on a variety of other environmental, technological and health-related issues in the region.
“In Seoul, a fast-paced and dynamic city, I have learned to take the time to slow down and appreciate the important things in life,” she says. “Although work, ambition and success are still very important, I see how the ceaseless pursuit of these goals can take an extreme toll on family and health.”
With her family’s upcoming return to the U.S. in 2015, Bauman says that her highest priority is to acquaint her daughters with their national identity.
For the first time, they will be able to state without confusion or anxiety that they are indeed American, and are sure to grow up as worldly and open-minded as their mother.
– Kristen Gehrman ’11
Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Bauman’s experience in Ethiopia in her book, Accidental Patriot: A Diplomat’s Journey in Africa Rediscovering America.
Photo by Janos Nadudvari
