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Crossing to the O ther Side: A Story About Guests a t the White House by M arta N. Zielyk I recently received a package from the White House. It was not the usual White House package containing documents I must study before a session interpreting for some visiting delegation from Ukraine, but one containing a single large photograph. It is a photograph that I have carefully framed and hung on my “ego wall” so that I can forever remember how I looked the night I crossed the line and enjoyed myself on the other side of a curious divide. Like all good stories, this one really begins somewhere else, in this case, with an invitation. Throughout my career as a State Department inter preter, I have received many invitations from the White House. In my case, however, these invitations have been “subject to interpretation” in more ways than one because they have always been connected with the visit of Ukrainian delegations to our nation’s capital. And even though they have been addressed to me, the “real guest” has always been someone else—usually the President of Ukraine or some other dignitary from Kyiv requiring an inter preter for some occasion. Thus, the White House invitations I receive can be viewed as orders to report for duty. They also ensure that I am not stopped by White House security as the real guest’s entourage is swept into the Presidential Mansion for the event he or she will be attending. At such events, I usually sit on a small chair behind the VIP for whom I am to interpret and discretely ply my craft as the VIP eats, drinks, and enjoys White House hospitality. Because I generally know when a dele gation or dignitary from Ukraine is expected in Washington, I was somewhat puzzled when, in early December, I received an invitation from the White House. To my knowledge, no Ukrainian VIPs were in town or expected to be in town. Then it became clear that this particular invitation was different from the ones I was accustomed to. This time, I was being invited as me to a Christmas party hosted at the White House by President and Mrs. Bush. Indeed, I, Marta Zielyk, was being cordially invited to present myself and a guest, if I wished, at the Northwest entrance to the White House wearing “holiday attire.” Needless to say, I was beyond excited. Every year the President and the First Lady host about 25 holiday parties for more than 10,000 guests. This year, I was included. Better yet, I was invited to enjoy the evening as a real guest with all that this implies. I could enjoy myself without walking or sitting behind someone else while speaking in two languages all night. I could eat when I wanted without the fear of being caught with food in my mouth at the wrong time. I could arrive and depart at a time of my own choosing. I could sit where I wanted and even mingle. What freedom! The White House glowed that night. Upon arriving, my friend Ed and I passed through two rounds of security, showing IDs and waiting patiently while my tiny evening bag was X-rayed. Then we walked into a magical place where all our senses were pleasantly bombarded at once. First, we were greeted by cheerful “Good evenings” from a dozen White House ushers. Then our eyes were drawn to the sparkling lights and gold decorations adorning the White House State Floor. Surrounded by a forest of lifelike Christmas trees, members of the US Marine Band orchestra, clad in scarlet-red dress uniforms, played a medley of holiday songs. As Ed and I savored the sights and sounds, waiters offered chilled glasses of champagne. Ed, now retired from the Marine Corps of the United States, had served in the military as a classical musician with the Marine Band. And as we listened to the band, both of us truly saw and felt ourselves on the other side of the employee/invited guest divide. In the past, he would have been play ing the trumpet and I would have been interpreting. On this special night we had no responsibility other than to enjoy ourselves as real guests of President and Mrs. Bush. And so we did. To the strains of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, we entered the main hall where all was gleaming, radiant, and luminous. Christmas parties Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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