Deciding whether or not the Foreign Service is right for our family, has been a daunting task. (The decision has been made to try for it. ) I thought that I would share my pros and cons for anyone making the same decision or for anyone else that may wonder what our thought process was. We really tried to think of any Pro or Con that we could think of.
Pros (with Potential Cons of the Pros)
Pros (with Potential Cons of the Pros)
- Travel (expensive to travel)
- Being exposed to new cultures (what if we're not happy or the people are rude)
- Children would get a good education
- Learn a new language (could be difficult to learn and would take time)
- Church opportunities (because of not knowing the language might not have callings)
- Savings
- Hire help (could hire people who don't work well)
- Ed would have an impressive resume
- Ed would actually use his degree
- no pet (miss pets)
- See DC
- Downsize (miss some of our things)
- Better medical
- Service
- apartment living (free housing)
- miss family (less drama)
- miss friends
- lack of Church callings (focus on other ways to serve)
- homesick or lonely
- having to rent or sell our house (no mortgage payments)
- possible danger
- Not a strong church influence (will force us to be strong and teach our children)
- Communication home (skype, webcams, email)
- Stress of the unknown
- family would not come to visit (invite friends, other FSO families or extended family)
- not having our own furniture (it is nice furniture, buy slipcovers)
- Ed's time to study for the test (extra study time = passing the test)
- Hard to learn a new language (always wanted to by bilingual)
- No gardening (get out to see botanical gardens in other countries)
- No food storage
- Eating new foods
- Ed might not like it (5 year commitment)
- Girls moving every 2 to 3 years
- Could be a pay cut
- Our children won't get to know their cousins
Being a FSO, I thought I would add a little information to your PRO and CON list. SInce I love the job and lifestyle I am a little bias. But here goes.
ReplyDeletePRO
1. Not that expensive to travel in country. Also if you are in a hardship post (almost anywhere besides Europe) the State Department will pay for one or two R&Rs during a two year tour. This trip can either be to the states or to another location. We went to London last year for ours
2. Church Opportunities: We have lived in the Congo (French Speaking) and in Zimbabwe (English Speaking). Both my wife and I have had callings in both. In Congo my wife was the primary teacher for the english speaking kids (our son plus another family). Since you will be bringing a whole lot of church experience with you, the ward will rely on you even if you don't know the langauge.
3. Pets: I know alot of people who bring their pets, just costs a little money.
CONS
1. Apartment living: If you have a family, you usually only have to live in an apartment if you live in a really big city, or if you choose to. Both in the Congo and here in Zimbabwe we have had very large and spacious homes. A colleague of mine was in Geneva also had a house that overlooked the Alps.
2. Gardening.: We have a very large yard, with lots of flowers and a space for a vegetable garden. Our gardner does all the work, but we help out on occasion.
We have loved our time so far in the FS and while there are some cons, the pros outweigh them. Hope this helps.
Tyler