OC grad, retiree, 67, joins Peace Corps

by PAUL MORTON

Associate editor

Oberlin College graduate Lawrence Siddall had entered a new phase in his life. Not sure what to do next, he decided to join the Peace Corps for two years.

Of course, thousands of college graduates join the Peace Corps every year, but Siddall graduated from college nine years before the Peace Corps was founded. Siddall joined at the age of 67 after retiring as a psychotherapist.

"I gave no thought to this until just a few months before I retired," he said. "And I got to thinking what could I do that was different -- something unusual. And Peace Corps came to mind."

Siddall was born in China, where his father was a medical missionary. The family moved to Oberlin in the 1930s, and Siddall graduated from Oberlin College in 1952.

After earning advanced degrees from the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts he became a psychotherapist. He lives in Amherst, Mass., but from 1997 to 1999 he lived in Swidnica, Poland, teaching English with the Peace Corps.

He wrote about his experience in a new book, "Two Years in Poland and Other Stories." The other stories include an 11,000- mile road trip he made with a friend from Germany to India in 1956, when he was closer to the age one might expect him to do such things.

"I graduated from Oberlin in 1952," Siddall said. "The next year I got drafted and ended up in Munich. 1956 is when we took that overland trip from Europe to India in a Volkswagen. It takes up several chapters in the book. Finally after 50 years I've been able to write up that story."

When Siddall applied to the Peace Corps, he indicated he was interested in teaching, although he had no experience teaching. But because teaching assignments had to be coordinated with the host country's academic schedule, Siddall had to wait six months to receive his assignment.

He was sent to Swidnica (pronounced shvid-Neet-sa), a city of about 65,000 not far from the Czech border, in an area of Poland that was in Germany prior to World War II. He would teach English to high school students under a contract between the Polish ministry of education and the Peace Corps.

"In Poland, high school students are required to take two foreign languages," Siddall said. "Usually one of them is English, because that is really an international language now."

He said most of his students had taken English classes before he came, and many were quite proficient. This was helpful in the classroom, because Siddall had difficulty learning Polish.

"The language was most difficult. I never got very good at it," he said. "I'm teaching myself Spanish now. Spanish is a breeze compared to Polish."

He said Polish is a phonetic language, in which certain letter combinations always have the same pronunciations. But he said he struggled to master the pronunciations.

"I ended up having English-speaking Polish friends," Siddall said.

His book includes a Polish pronunciation guide to help with Polish names and phrases used. He also provides pronunciations in parentheses following most proper names.

Siddall said he lived in an apartment at the school where he taught. He said he lived simply on a small salary of $200 a month, but he paid no rent, so he managed.

"Twenty-five percent of Peace Corps volunteers leave before their two years are up," Siddall said. "I had decided before I left I was in for the long haul. And I only missed three days of classes in two years."

He said he made some fast friends while in Poland. He has returned twice for the weddings of a student and a tutor.

The Peace Corps currently has more than 8,000 volunteers and trainees serving in 74 countries, according to statistics from the Peace Corps. Five percent of those volunteers are age 50 and older, including one 80-year-old volunteer.

"The Peace Corps is recruiting older volunteers," Siddall said. "I'm hoping my book will serve as an example of what a person can do when you're retired."

Siddall's book, "Two Years in Poland and Other Stories," is available at www.lawrencesiddall.com.