Sometimes I imagine a future job interview in the U.S. The interviewer scans my resume, frowning slightly and tapping a pen on the table.
“Well, Mrs. Holsten,” he says.
“Yes?” I lean forward hopefully.
“I see you haven’t been gainfully employed since the new millennium. And your skill set, I’m not sure it’s what we’re looking for. ‘Can ride side-saddle on a motorcycle, can use the bathroom anywhere, can quickly locate flashlights in a dark room, can bake bagels, can make Christmas candy last till Easter, can start a generator,’” he reads. “I’m afraid we’re not looking for someone who can guide us through an apocalypse.”
And the imaginary interview ends there.
We don’t want to relocate anytime soon, and it’s a good thing, because it’s hard to imagine what kind of job this life as an overseas missionary has prepared me for.
Many of the skills I’ve acquired as an expat in Indonesia would have no use in the U.S., and frankly, there are some I would not be sad to give up (yogurt-making and hoarding chocolate chips come to mind). But there are skills that will serve me well, no matter where we might live: entertaining kids during an hours-long service; taking public transport, even when I’m not exactly sure where I might end up; killing vermin of all sorts; making myself understood despite cultural and language barriers.
Maybe the main skill set I will take away—that makes all these others possible—is the ability to adapt, go with the flow, and laugh at myself. Even during job interviews, imaginary or otherwise.
