2011.01.16: January 16, 2011: Over the next two years Carl Smith will live in Thailand, where he will teach English and help the community
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2011.01.16: January 16, 2011: Over the next two years Carl Smith will live in Thailand, where he will teach English and help the community
Over the next two years Carl Smith will live in Thailand, where he will teach English and help the community
"I am glad to be joining the Peace Corps and am grateful to the U.S. for making it possible: Chance to live in an interesting new place, meet people with customs and beliefs which may be different from mine. Chance to use the teaching skills I've developed over the years in a new way. Chance to show a peaceful side of our country. Chance to help others and to learn from them. A chance to get away from Maine winters!"
Over the next two years Carl Smith will live in Thailand, where he will teach English and help the community
Facetime: Carl Smith: one career done, a Peace Corps career begun
By Lindsay Tice, Staff Writer
Published Jan 16, 2011 12:00 am | Last updated Jan 16, 2011 12:00 am
When Carl Smith retired as an English as a Second Language teacher in Lewiston, he could have lived a life free from work. He could have taken up golfing, maybe moved to Florida to enjoy a warmer climate.
Instead, the 69-year-old decided to join the Peace Corps.
Over the next two years Smith will live in Thailand, where he will teach English and help the community. It's more than another career; it's another life.
Name: Carl Smith
Age: 69
Town: Bowdoinham
Job: Retired from Lewiston School Department
Why join the Peace Corps? Reasons I am glad to be joining the Peace Corps and am grateful to the U.S. for making it possible: Chance to live in an interesting new place, meet people with customs and beliefs which may be different from mine. Chance to use the teaching skills I've developed over the years in a new way. Chance to show a peaceful side of our country. Chance to help others and to learn from them. A chance to get away from Maine winters!
Have you ever been in the Peace Corps before? If not, why not join when Kennedy first created it? I was a young father when the Peace Corps was created and couldn't go then.
How do you go from ESL teacher in Lewiston to Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand? ESL teaching in Lewiston was a wonderful international job in itself! And I had taught in West Africa. I wanted to do more international work.
Have you ever been to that part of the world? I traveled briefly in Thailand five years ago and loved it.
Do you speak Thai? I am learning Thai online. I haven't mastered the Thai alphabet, though.
Where there any challenges in applying for the Peace Corps? Applying for Peace Corps took two years. It was delayed due to medical and legal issues which had to be resolved before I was accepted.
You could retire and live the good life golfing, sitting by the beach or gardening. Possibly in Florida. Why join the Peace Corps at age 69? Maybe my idea of the good life is a little different. Golf? FLORIDA?
Although seven percent of Peace Corps volunteers are over 50, people tend to think of them as college-aged. What kinds of reactions have you gotten from people when you tell them you've joined the Peace Corps? Some people are envious. Others shake their heads.
What do your friends and family think of you spending the next two years in Thailand? My family thinks it's great. They want to come and visit me.
What will you do there? I'll be helping Thai teachers to broaden their English teaching skills. And there is the chance to help in community projects.
Will you be able to come home during that time? I don't plan to come home, unless there's an emergency.
What will you miss most about Maine while you're gone? I'll miss my family, especially my 5-year-old granddaughter and friends. And the ocean, since I will be far inland in Thailand in a rural area.
What are you most looking forward to? Looking forward to making friends with Thai people . . . and Thai food. Lots of bike riding since we're prohibited from driving motorcycles or cars!
What are you most anxious about? Anxious? Learning the language well enough to communicate with Thais.
Would you recommend the Peace Corps to your fellow retirees? More seniors are entering the Peace Corps these days. I would have to wait awhile before I would recommend it to others.
What's your favorite Thai food? There's a red curry with coconut that I love. But I don't know its Thai name.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: January, 2011; Peace Corps Thailand; Directory of Thailand RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Thailand RPCVs; Older Volunteers; Maine
When this story was posted in May 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
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Story Source: Sun Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Thailand; Older Volunteers
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