CAROLYN GLASSMAN, with 25 years of experience in the foreign service, is the United States Embassy’s new cultural attaché and counselor for public affairs.
She boasts of an impressive career that also included time spent in the movie industry, while also playing basketball and baseball on the side.
“This is my first posting in Southeast Asia,” Glassman admitted; although she had been assigned to Russia, Tokyo and South Korea before coming over to the Philippines.
She has two sons, Ryan and Collin, both enrolled high-school students in the country.
The writer
Glassman was a fellow at Georgetown University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree.
“It may not sound like science, but I got the same degree and so, if we look scientific, there is a reason for that,” Glassman deadpanned.
Glassman has other degrees from the Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of Illinois.
Glassman said she had chosen to serve nine years in Asia and three years in Washington.
She used to write stories for the United States Information Service before it merged with the State Department.
“We have a different agency that we work for back in those days. I was a writer when I first started my career and, believe it or not, the first stories that I wrote about were about Apec [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation], and it was about Manila,” as she noted the upcoming November summit in the country.
She recalls that her first interview before joining the foreign service was with artist Charles Geneviere.
“And his contribution was creating sculptures for the garden at the Philippine International Convention Center, which actually is where Apec is going to be held this year. So it’s kind of my coming back around in a full circle to where I started my career,” Glassman said.
A father’s story
Glassman hails from Chicago, where she grew up with his father, who was a World War II veteran in Manila.
She said there is a large community of Filipino expatriates in her hometown. It is there where she developed close friendship with the Filipino-American community and where, as a young girl with a sweet tooth, she found a liking for halo-halo and ube ice cream.
“So, even at a young age, I had the chance to explore the cuisine of the Philippines and get literally my first taste of your food. So now, it is a pleasure for me. I felt literally like in a candy store here getting to explore all the sights and sounds of not only Manila but all of the Philippines,” Glassman said.
She added that her father, who is still sprightly at 90 years old, told her of his experiences in Manila.
Glassman said that her father considered her time in Manila as one of the most memorable experiences of his life, despite all the hardships of war. Her father told her about the warmth and friendship of the Filipinos.
“I also hear very high praises from my colleagues, and the department who served here in years past and have a chance to experience your wonderful country, as well,” Glassman said.
The work ahead
Glassman added that she was very impressed during her first six weeks on the job. She noted the openness, tolerance and goodwill of the people she has been in touch, which, to her, was a testimony of the Filipino culture.
“Let me also mention that one of the things that strike me very foremost is your focus on the arts. It just blows me away. I cannot even put into words how in the short time I have been here. I really do look forward to getting to work, particularly the artistic and intellectual education of the community because I feel very at home there and again,” Glassman added.
Glassman said she would be fully committed to further strengthen US-Philippine relations, while also doing work for youth communities in the country.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano