While our ceremonial swearing-in day is probably the most significant event of the entire seven week orientation program, it is still an afterthought to tomorrow. Tomorrow has occupied our thoughts and conversations every single day since Day One. On Day One we were sworn into the Foreign Service (so we could be entered onto the payroll), herded like lost lambs to our classroom and home for the next seven weeks, plunked into pre-assigned seats and handed our initial stacks of paperwork.
Then we were given our 'bidlist' and the most interesting thing in the world became that piece of white paper. Printed on it were approximately fifty Foreign Service positions located everywhere from Abuja to Sao Paulo. We spent the next week or so obsessing over the list and learning how to construct meaningful bids. Although our first two tours will be 'directed' or assigned tours, we were still given quite a bit of input on where we'd like to go or which job we'd prefer to do. Each of us was also given a private session with a Career Development Officer to make a case for our selections.
So, for the past six and one half weeks amid lessons on Public Diplomacy, Diplomatic History and Privileges and Immunity, we all found time to put together our own list of where each of us is certain to be going. Two of the women in the class are married to Foreign Service Officers and actually do know that they are going to Amman and Phnom Penh. The rest of us are using deductive reasoning and absolutely baseless wishing to try to convince each other that we can only be going to.....somewhere we want.
For the past six weeks, no matter where a conversation began, it always ended up in the same place...so, where do you think you'll go? Finding out where we're being sent isn't the only thing we'll learn at Flag Day tomorrow. Along with our first post, we'll be given our training schedule and can finally make some plans for after Orientation. Members of the 133rd A-100 will begin leaving for their posts as early as June and as late as next March. The job and language training required will determine the schedule.
So, tomorrow we'll assemble in the Field House and be called up one by one to be handed a flag from the country of our first post. I'm hoping for a post with a huge pay differential, a very light workload, and great living conditions, near a beautiful beach. Do we have an embassy in Maui?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Cherry Blossom Time
This, for those of you who don't know, is the Jefferson Memorial during the Cherry Blossom Festival. A couple of my colleagues organized a day to go and see the Kite Festival at the Washington Memorial, the Cherry Blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial and the Slavic Festival in some courtyard down a street by a highway. The weather was perfect and a small group of us wandered around the Mall and the side streets of DC for several hours. It was a great way to stretch our legs after a long week of class. The kites were just what you'd imagine, little black dots way up in the sky. Many of them were, apparently, quite beautiful for people with either binoculars or telephoto vision. There were huddled clumps of kite 'enthusiasts' doing what enthusiasts of any ilk tend to do...beating their hobby to death with expertise. Somehow, a few small children managed to get ahold of a couple of kites and threatened to bring the whole kite flying world to its knees by simply throwing their kites into air and having fun. A man spoke without pause into a microphone and sounded as if he were speaking in Klingon, but with great enthusiasm and much expertise.
So we wandered around dodging kites and kids and generally enjoyed the morning. Looking towards the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Memorial we were overcome with the same thought and three of us called out for "Gennnnnny" from "Forrest Gump" with one voice. We 'B' Diplomats alright, but not necessarily mature diplomats. Then we headed over to the Tidal Basin to check out the cherry trees. They were in full bloom, as advertised, and while we admired the beauty of Spring, one of the group was overcome by her allergies and went home.
From the Cherry Blossoms, we headed over to the Slavic Festival. It was being co-hosted by several embassies, including the Bulgarian Embassy so I was quite excited about the almost certain prospect of rakia and shopska salad. Imagine my disappointment when I found only a single card table booth with a couple of brochures and not a drop to drink anywhere in sight. I talked to the woman at the booth for a few minutes and managed to get the name of a decent Bulgarian restaurant in Arlington, so the trip wasn't a complete waste of time. There was food being served at the Festival and there were several folk-singing and folk-dancing groups but none of them were from Bulgaria. There was a quasi-Chalga singer, but she was from Ukraine. I spoke briefly with the Deputy Chief of Mission from the Bulgarian Embassy and he too seemed disappointed that they hadn't brought along any rakia. He gave me permission to take this picture with the Bulgarian flag and we somberly shook hands and said, "Dovishdane".
In the evening, I joined another group of colleagues to watch the Georgetown/Ohio State basketball game. We found a bar in Georgetown with standing room and drank our beers surrounded by rabid student fans. There was a police presence in the Georgetown streets of a magnitude exceeded only in Fallujah or Baghdad and it was absolutely clear that they intended to keep the lid on any over-exuberant celebrations. Unfortunately, Georgetown lost and the air went right out of that balloon so the evening ended with a whimper rather than a bang. Still, it was a nice change of pace day for me and, as I'm not really a "riot" sort of guy, I enjoyed the quiet walk home and smoked my cigar in peace.I'm getting to know some of my colleagues a bit better and I'm enjoying all the time I get to spend with them. As a group we seem to have moved from positions of "I really hope I get sent to (insert country here) and I really don't want to go to (insert some other country here)" to "I don't care where I'm sent as long as they send me somewhere!" The more we learn, the more we realize that we just aren't able to judge which are the 'good' posts and which are the ones to be avoided. While it's easy to figure out which parts of the world we'd like to either live in or avoid, we just don't know much about the morale at the individual posts. The staff at the posts are the most important ingredient in determining whether or not our time there will be pleasant or miserable. Until we've been in the service for awhile, however, we won't really know anything about the various staff reputations. For example, we've been told that Lagos has a great staff and extremely high morale while a couple of western european embassies have morale 'issues'. Surprisingly enough, this information did not lead to a stampede in bidding for Lagos. My strategy in bidding has been to bid for all the Management jobs and Consular jobs in any part of the world I think would be interesting. One of our first two assignments will be a Consular tour and I'm looking forward to mine. Vice-Consul Gemmell in Florence sounds about right to me.
On April 13th we are being given a reception by the corps of retired foreign service officers. In their wisdom, the powers that be have made me the coordinator for the event. You'd have to ask yourself why they have so little regard for the retired foreign service officers. Anyway, I plan to coordinate like crazy just as soon as I figure out exactly what that entails. Foreign Service...broadening my horizons.
We begin Week Five tomorrow and baseball season starts tonight. How much better can one man's life be?
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Halfway...Well 3/7th's Of The Way Anyway...There!!
On Monday when we go back to FSI for class, we'll be entering our fourth week of orientation training. So far there has been a nice mix of 'practical' stuff like "here's how you bid on jobs" and "here's how you fill out your reimbursement vouchers", and 'cultural' stuff like "this is what we mean by protocol" and "an introduction to diplomatic history". The orientation staff and our session speakers have worked hard to keep the interest and energy levels high. Our task seems to be to absorb as much as possible as quickly as we can. There aren't exams (other than the language tests) but there is an expectation that we will fully learn all of the material, practical and cultural. Which is to say that there is an expectation that we will acquit ourselves professionally and begin to behave like diplomats. There is a 100% buy-in to this expectation from the 133rd A-100. During one session, we learned that one of our responsibilities when at post will be to handle visits from ranking VIPs. We were given a list of potential disasters that might occur and asked how we might anticipate and prevent them. We learned how the responsibilities are assigned and which positions are coveted and which are not. One person, for example, is always assigned to ride herd on the visiting party's baggage. The job of 'baggage handler' is extremely important and often competitively sought. Believe me, Diplomatic Immunity won't save your career if you lose the President's luggage!!
The 133rd A-100 is comprised of 23 women and 21 men with (for you statistic wonks) a mean age of 34, a median of 32 and a mode of 29. The range runs from 23 to 57, oh, and that would be me skewing the averages to the ancient side. We come from 25 different states or countries and count 4 PhDs, 5 JDs, 7 MBAs and a host of other degrees in our numbers. Apart from English we can speak 19 languages, with varying degrees of fluency, including Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, Guarani, Hindi, Norwegian and Turkish. Several of us have come to the Foreign Service after serving in the Peace Corps and several others came in from one branch or another of the military. This is a widely diverse group of people and I find that interesting because the rather rigid and formal entry process into the Foreign Service might suggest that it was designed to eliminate or at least control diversity.
In class, we sit in assigned seats and have little contact with those not seated in our immediate areas. At lunch or on breaks we are often scattering to attend to various chores and errands or to make phone calls or just to get some quiet time. Therefore, I had gotten to know some of the folks in my immediate area, but not many of those who sat in other parts of the room. FSI has now fixed that.
At the end of the third week, just as our energy levels began to wane, we were taken out to a retreat in West Virginia for three days. There we were divided into groups of eleven for a series of leadership, management, teambuilding exercises. I was put into a group made up of people I didn't know very well and had a ball. The activities were interesting and well run, but the opportunity to finally get to know each other outside of the classroom was especially valuable. I was speaking with two of my younger colleagues and they were telling me how impressed they were that someone my age would do this. For a minute I thought "Wow, I am really impressive, aren't I?", then I realized that I couldn't have possibly gotten into the Foreign Service when I was their age and that I'm only doing this "at my age" because this is the soonest I was able to qualify. The people who impress me are the people who have already worked in our embassy in Baghdad or served with an NGO in India providing HIV/Aids couseling or taught themselves Turkish. When I look at some of the things my colleagues have already accomplished, it's a bit intimidating. On the other hand, I have grown old....let's see them do that!!
Although they are roughly comparable in age, there are a few significant differences between my Foreign Service colleagues and my Peace Corps colleagues. In Peace Corps there were varying degrees of commitment to the service from 'not at all' to 'extremely dedicated', here the commitment level ranges from 'completely dedicated' to 'extremely dedicated'. That point was made apparent to me the morning after a late night party at the retreat. Every single member of the class was on time for breakfast and ready to participate fully in all the day's agenda. In Peace Corps we always lost a few happy souls on the days following late night 'voluntary' events. In Peace Corps a few folks eventually quit and went home because they didn't like their job or didn't like the town they were sent to; in the Foreign Service we all have preferences as to where we'd like to go and also where we would prefer not to go but no one has considered quitting over any assignment on the list. Finally, Peace Corps could never be a final destination for the volunteers but Foreign Service is the career goal for most of us which, I suppose, goes a long way towards explaining the behavioural differences. That, of course, and the fact that we get paid pretty well in the Foreign Service.
The die have been cast and our fates are sealed. Our CDOs (Career Development Officers) have sorted us all out and assigned us to our first posts. I'm delighted to say that I'll be going to .... Oh, that's right, they don't actually tell us where we're going until April 12th. Not that I'm counting, but that is still two weeks, five days and nine hours away. There are several good reasons for not letting us know right now where we've been assigned and the best of those reasons is that the minute we know we stop listening to anything that doesn't have to do with our future posts, the "Yes, this is interesting, but what does it have to do with Lagos?" syndrome. So on April 12th we'll gather in a large room and there will be a table with the country flags of all the posts in front of us. One at a time we'll be called up and handed a flag and given our first assignment. Weeping with joy is allowed, cursing is frowned upon.
In the meantime, we will continue to receive orientation training designed to give us a thorough indoctrination into the Foreign Service. Although I am anxious to know where I'm going, I don't necessarily want to rush through orientation to get there. I'm enjoying every bit of this and the best is yet to come, in the next week or so we'll receive our first paychecks!
The 133rd A-100 is comprised of 23 women and 21 men with (for you statistic wonks) a mean age of 34, a median of 32 and a mode of 29. The range runs from 23 to 57, oh, and that would be me skewing the averages to the ancient side. We come from 25 different states or countries and count 4 PhDs, 5 JDs, 7 MBAs and a host of other degrees in our numbers. Apart from English we can speak 19 languages, with varying degrees of fluency, including Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, Guarani, Hindi, Norwegian and Turkish. Several of us have come to the Foreign Service after serving in the Peace Corps and several others came in from one branch or another of the military. This is a widely diverse group of people and I find that interesting because the rather rigid and formal entry process into the Foreign Service might suggest that it was designed to eliminate or at least control diversity.
In class, we sit in assigned seats and have little contact with those not seated in our immediate areas. At lunch or on breaks we are often scattering to attend to various chores and errands or to make phone calls or just to get some quiet time. Therefore, I had gotten to know some of the folks in my immediate area, but not many of those who sat in other parts of the room. FSI has now fixed that.
At the end of the third week, just as our energy levels began to wane, we were taken out to a retreat in West Virginia for three days. There we were divided into groups of eleven for a series of leadership, management, teambuilding exercises. I was put into a group made up of people I didn't know very well and had a ball. The activities were interesting and well run, but the opportunity to finally get to know each other outside of the classroom was especially valuable. I was speaking with two of my younger colleagues and they were telling me how impressed they were that someone my age would do this. For a minute I thought "Wow, I am really impressive, aren't I?", then I realized that I couldn't have possibly gotten into the Foreign Service when I was their age and that I'm only doing this "at my age" because this is the soonest I was able to qualify. The people who impress me are the people who have already worked in our embassy in Baghdad or served with an NGO in India providing HIV/Aids couseling or taught themselves Turkish. When I look at some of the things my colleagues have already accomplished, it's a bit intimidating. On the other hand, I have grown old....let's see them do that!!
Although they are roughly comparable in age, there are a few significant differences between my Foreign Service colleagues and my Peace Corps colleagues. In Peace Corps there were varying degrees of commitment to the service from 'not at all' to 'extremely dedicated', here the commitment level ranges from 'completely dedicated' to 'extremely dedicated'. That point was made apparent to me the morning after a late night party at the retreat. Every single member of the class was on time for breakfast and ready to participate fully in all the day's agenda. In Peace Corps we always lost a few happy souls on the days following late night 'voluntary' events. In Peace Corps a few folks eventually quit and went home because they didn't like their job or didn't like the town they were sent to; in the Foreign Service we all have preferences as to where we'd like to go and also where we would prefer not to go but no one has considered quitting over any assignment on the list. Finally, Peace Corps could never be a final destination for the volunteers but Foreign Service is the career goal for most of us which, I suppose, goes a long way towards explaining the behavioural differences. That, of course, and the fact that we get paid pretty well in the Foreign Service.
The die have been cast and our fates are sealed. Our CDOs (Career Development Officers) have sorted us all out and assigned us to our first posts. I'm delighted to say that I'll be going to .... Oh, that's right, they don't actually tell us where we're going until April 12th. Not that I'm counting, but that is still two weeks, five days and nine hours away. There are several good reasons for not letting us know right now where we've been assigned and the best of those reasons is that the minute we know we stop listening to anything that doesn't have to do with our future posts, the "Yes, this is interesting, but what does it have to do with Lagos?" syndrome. So on April 12th we'll gather in a large room and there will be a table with the country flags of all the posts in front of us. One at a time we'll be called up and handed a flag and given our first assignment. Weeping with joy is allowed, cursing is frowned upon.
In the meantime, we will continue to receive orientation training designed to give us a thorough indoctrination into the Foreign Service. Although I am anxious to know where I'm going, I don't necessarily want to rush through orientation to get there. I'm enjoying every bit of this and the best is yet to come, in the next week or so we'll receive our first paychecks!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
At The FSI
I've been in the Foreign Service for two weeks now and the experience has been fascinating and intense. The seven week orientation program for newly hired Foreign Service Officers is held at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia. The first order of business on the first day was to swear us all in. The last order of business on the last day will be to swear us all in again. The first is for dough and the second for show. Until we're officially sworn in, we can't be put on the payroll but the 'official' swearing-in ceremony comes, naturally, at the end of the orientation program. So, we are quickly sworn in right off the bat on Monday morning so we can be entered into the system and then we are sworn in again in a very official ceremony in the Ben Franklin room at the State Department when we complete our initial training.
On the first day we were also given the list of posts to which we will be assigned. This is known as the bidlist and we are encouraged to research the various posts and to rank them, according to our own levels of interest, as High, Medium and Low. Each post lists the job, the required language level, the date of departure and any financial incentives associated with it. For example, A Management job in Bucharest requires a fluent level of Romanian, departs in March '08 (giving one time to learn Romanian) and carries a 15% 'hardship' differential. There are 44 positions for us to rank, but we must bid for them all. We have all made a commitment to the Department of State that we are 'worldwide available' and, therefore, we have agreed to accept any position on the list. In my case, I feel that I could rank them all high and be very very happy with any job they give me.
So I ranked all the Management positions High. I also ranked three Consular jobs in Chennai, India High and one Consular job in Islamabad, Pakistan High. I ranked a few of the Consular positions in a couple of Mexican cities Medium and stuck a couple of other South American posts on the Medium list too. Every time I research a new post I change my mind and want to go there. We had a job fair one afternoon. It was an opportunity for us to mill around and speak with people who had been to all of the various posts on our list. I had to stop talking to people because everyone I spoke with convinced me to rank their post as a High. As of today, I'm hoping to get assigned to the Consular position in Hermosillo, Mexico. Yesterday it was the Management spot in Jerusalem and tomorrow it may shift to an Econ job in Lagos, Nigeria.
Our final bidlists have to go in tomorrow and then our CDOs (Career Development Officers) will get together and assign us to our first posts. Stop me before I rearrange my preferences again!! We won't learn where we're going until April 12th. That makes a lot of sense because there is still a lot for us to learn and as soon as we know where we're headed, all we'll want to focus on is that future post.
Aside from the bidlist and all that it represents, we also had to go through the mundane things associated with any new job, badges, health plans, savings plans, credit unions, Human Resource stuff and protocol. All right, most new jobs don't really have a protocol section but we do. The United States Foreign Service is a very formal organization and is rightfully proud of its long and distinguished history. Part of that pride is manifested in the structured formality of the Service. For example, we wear suits and ties to the FSI every day. When a speaker of the rank of Ambassador or above enters our classroom, we stand and applaud and remain standing until the speaker indicates that we should be seated. Then we stand again when they leave the room. In an informal world this is somewhat old fashioned but I appreciate it and see it as a mark of respect for individuals who have given extraordinary service to the country.
The clock is ticking on tenure for all of us. The most immediate hurdle is getting off of language probation. You must test at a pre-determined level in some language in order to be tenured. If you don't get tenure within five years of joining, you are thanked for your service and are set free to seek employment elsewhere. The levels for passing language probation vary between languages, with world languages (Spanish, French, etc) requiring higher levels of fluency than hard languages (Arabic, Chinese etc). Our CDOs have assumed the responsibility for guiding us along paths most likely to lead us to succeed and language probation is right up on the top of their list. Therefore, someone like me who hasn't tested at the required level in a language will be urged to look at first posts in areas of the world that require a world language. The theory is that I could take an immersion course in Spanish, pass at the required fluency level and serve my first two years towards gaining tenure. If I take a first post that has no language requirement, then the pressure is greater for me to pass a language on my second tour.
There are a host of other rules, regulations, norms and considerations that come into play when looking at the bidlist. However, I can honestly say that I will be delighted with any job on the list. I have some relative degrees of interest in one city over another or one job over another but there just aren't any on the list that I'll be disappointed in receiving. My goal is to learn a language, get to post, master a new job and get tenured. Along the way I expect to have a ball. This week we're going to an 'offsite' meeting for a few days. We'll participate in a series of Leadership exercises, put on a Follies Night and spend some time with our CDOs. Heck, I'll even sit around the campfire and sing Kumbayah if they want me to.
So, The Foreign Service chapter of my life has begun and it's terrific!! I'm really hoping to be sent to Addis Ababa for my first post. No wait, make that Sao Paulo. Wait, wait I really want to go to Bogota. No, Kinshasa....... Well, you get the idea. In just a few hours I have to submit my Really Last Final Ultimate No Kidding Bidlist. Arrrgh, I want them all.
On the first day we were also given the list of posts to which we will be assigned. This is known as the bidlist and we are encouraged to research the various posts and to rank them, according to our own levels of interest, as High, Medium and Low. Each post lists the job, the required language level, the date of departure and any financial incentives associated with it. For example, A Management job in Bucharest requires a fluent level of Romanian, departs in March '08 (giving one time to learn Romanian) and carries a 15% 'hardship' differential. There are 44 positions for us to rank, but we must bid for them all. We have all made a commitment to the Department of State that we are 'worldwide available' and, therefore, we have agreed to accept any position on the list. In my case, I feel that I could rank them all high and be very very happy with any job they give me.
So I ranked all the Management positions High. I also ranked three Consular jobs in Chennai, India High and one Consular job in Islamabad, Pakistan High. I ranked a few of the Consular positions in a couple of Mexican cities Medium and stuck a couple of other South American posts on the Medium list too. Every time I research a new post I change my mind and want to go there. We had a job fair one afternoon. It was an opportunity for us to mill around and speak with people who had been to all of the various posts on our list. I had to stop talking to people because everyone I spoke with convinced me to rank their post as a High. As of today, I'm hoping to get assigned to the Consular position in Hermosillo, Mexico. Yesterday it was the Management spot in Jerusalem and tomorrow it may shift to an Econ job in Lagos, Nigeria.
Our final bidlists have to go in tomorrow and then our CDOs (Career Development Officers) will get together and assign us to our first posts. Stop me before I rearrange my preferences again!! We won't learn where we're going until April 12th. That makes a lot of sense because there is still a lot for us to learn and as soon as we know where we're headed, all we'll want to focus on is that future post.
Aside from the bidlist and all that it represents, we also had to go through the mundane things associated with any new job, badges, health plans, savings plans, credit unions, Human Resource stuff and protocol. All right, most new jobs don't really have a protocol section but we do. The United States Foreign Service is a very formal organization and is rightfully proud of its long and distinguished history. Part of that pride is manifested in the structured formality of the Service. For example, we wear suits and ties to the FSI every day. When a speaker of the rank of Ambassador or above enters our classroom, we stand and applaud and remain standing until the speaker indicates that we should be seated. Then we stand again when they leave the room. In an informal world this is somewhat old fashioned but I appreciate it and see it as a mark of respect for individuals who have given extraordinary service to the country.
The clock is ticking on tenure for all of us. The most immediate hurdle is getting off of language probation. You must test at a pre-determined level in some language in order to be tenured. If you don't get tenure within five years of joining, you are thanked for your service and are set free to seek employment elsewhere. The levels for passing language probation vary between languages, with world languages (Spanish, French, etc) requiring higher levels of fluency than hard languages (Arabic, Chinese etc). Our CDOs have assumed the responsibility for guiding us along paths most likely to lead us to succeed and language probation is right up on the top of their list. Therefore, someone like me who hasn't tested at the required level in a language will be urged to look at first posts in areas of the world that require a world language. The theory is that I could take an immersion course in Spanish, pass at the required fluency level and serve my first two years towards gaining tenure. If I take a first post that has no language requirement, then the pressure is greater for me to pass a language on my second tour.
There are a host of other rules, regulations, norms and considerations that come into play when looking at the bidlist. However, I can honestly say that I will be delighted with any job on the list. I have some relative degrees of interest in one city over another or one job over another but there just aren't any on the list that I'll be disappointed in receiving. My goal is to learn a language, get to post, master a new job and get tenured. Along the way I expect to have a ball. This week we're going to an 'offsite' meeting for a few days. We'll participate in a series of Leadership exercises, put on a Follies Night and spend some time with our CDOs. Heck, I'll even sit around the campfire and sing Kumbayah if they want me to.
So, The Foreign Service chapter of my life has begun and it's terrific!! I'm really hoping to be sent to Addis Ababa for my first post. No wait, make that Sao Paulo. Wait, wait I really want to go to Bogota. No, Kinshasa....... Well, you get the idea. In just a few hours I have to submit my Really Last Final Ultimate No Kidding Bidlist. Arrrgh, I want them all.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Good-bye Maine, Hello DC
There have been a million little details to take care of before I wander off into the wide wide world once again. Fill in forms from the State Department, assemble a 'business' wardrobe, register my Mustang in Maine, arrange for the pack-out of my belongings from the storage shed in St. Charles, fill in more forms, rent an apartment in Arlington, get a root canal, find a dentist in Arlington to complete the half-finished root canal, and fill in a few more forms. Well, as of today, I'm all set.
I'll be driving to Arlington, so I don't have to worry about plane tickets or excess baggage. Of course, I'll need to hire a team of Sherpas to get my stuff down to the car. I have managed to squeeze everything into two extra large LL Bean duffel bags, one extra large American Tourister foldover suitcase, two green overnight bags and my large backpack. The extra stuff will travel in an assortment of bags, folders, cases and miscellaneous bits of wrapping materials. Travel light, that's my motto!
So, on Saturday, after spending five very pleasant months at the beach in Maine, through one of the mildest Winters on record, I'll begin driving down to Washington. Actually, the Foreign Service Institute is in Arlington, VA and my apartment is about five minutes away by car. Many of my colleagues in the 133rd A-100 (our intake class) have elected to stay at the Oakwood apartments in Falls Church which is a little farther away. The State Department has a trial program underway with that property to provide housing for Foreign Service Officers while they're in training. You can opt to take an apartment there in lieu of receiving a housing allowance and finding a place on your own. The problem for me is that, as a single, I would only qualify for a studio apartment. I don't mind the small space at all, it's the 'murphy' bed that's a deal breaker. I'll be in training for anywhere from five months to a year and I don't want to have to put up and take down my bed every day for all that time. It also doesn't seem to make sense to me to go out and find a woman and marry her just to qualify for a one-bedroom apartment. So I'll stay at the other Oakwood and pay rent.
I had planned to buy a new Mac laptop before starting work, but I had a root canal instead. This was somewhat less than a voluntary choice. A root canal is generally preceeded by an enormous amount of substantial pain in your jaw. I realized that a root canal would help alleviate that pain while the new Mac would only sit there and not help my jaw at all. The new Mac would have cost about $2800 and, once the crown is made and set in place, the root canal will cost about $2800 too. The man at my health plan sounded absolutely chipper when he said that, "nope, you don't have any dental coverage and we can't cover any of the expenses. Bye now." So, while my new tooth does not have high speed internet access, a fifteen inch screen or 180 gigabytes of memory, it also does not have any pain.
The 131st A-100 is, by tradition, the group that mentors our class. They have been very helpful in answering questions, providing a wealth of information and setting up a welcoming get-together for the Sunday night before we begin work. This will give us an opportunity to get acquainted with each other in somewhat informal surroundings. I know that there are only forty of us in our group and that several of us are RPCVs (returned Peace Corps Volunteers). Beyond that, I'll just have to wait until next week to find out more.
Monday, March 5th, will be our first day at work. I'm told that we'll receive the 'bid list' that day and will be told to begin identifying the posts we're most interested in. For the next seven weeks we'll be in orientation training and, during that time, we'll learn where we're each headed and what our own jobs will be. After the seven week orientation program, each of us will be given further training based on the country and job we're assigned. Some folks will leave for post after relatively short training programs while others will stay in Washington for almost another year. We'll each know what's in store for us as soon as we're given our first posts.
Yesterday, my belongings were pulled out of a storage shed in Illinois and today they're on their way to the Federal storage warehouse in Maryland. Just prior to my departure overseas, I'll be allowed to visit the warehouse to designate which things I want left in storage and which I want shipped to me. I haven't seen any of this stuff in almost three years so I'm sort of curious about what's there.
That's about it for now. I'll try to update this journal periodically in the same way I kept the journal of my Peace Corps experience. The Peace Corps was the most fun I'd had in many years and I'm really excited about the opportunity I've just been given to live and work abroad once again!
These pictures, by the way, are of York Beach in the Winter. This place is always beautiful!!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
I'm In!!
Things happened very quickly after more than a year of progress being measured in geologic-time. I was placed on the Management Register on January 18th and became number 12 of 54 candidates waiting for an invitation to begin work. I'd spoken to Pat (the controller of the Register) and Don (somebody who answered her phone one day) and had that information confirmed. I was also told that it was probable, but not guaranteed, that I would be invited to join the class beginning on April 30th. That suited me just fine. It would give me a couple of months to find a place to live and I could do a bit of traveling in the meantime. High on my list of plans were trips to NYC, Hawaii and Portland, OR. Joining the April 30th intake would also give me almost fifteen weeks in the gym and I could use the work!! By far and away, however, the most important aspect of being assured of a spot in the April 30th group was that I could stop sitting at my computer hitting the Get Mail button over and over, waiting impatiently for any word from the State Department. There was nothing left for me to do. After testing and interviewing and filling in forms and working through clearance processes, all that was left for me to do was wait.
It was relaxing and I felt some of the stress of the process melt away now that the ball was firmly in the State Department's court. I made a list of books I wanted to read and hit the local library. I began to put together a "to-do" list to prepare for an eventual move to Washington DC. I solved the New York Times crossword with a pen. Then, five days after I'd been put on the Register, I received an email inviting me to join the March 5th class! Enough people, who were on the Register ahead of me, opted to defer their invitations that Pat worked the list all the way down to my name.
I've accepted that invitation and will become a member of the 133rd A100 Foreign Service Officer Class. The classes are called "A100" classes after the room in which they were originally held. The group I'll become part of will be one of the smaller classes, having only eight representatives from each of the five career tracks.
Oh, and you can just rachet the stress level right back up, if you please. Now I had less than five weeks to get ready, find and rent a place to live, move my stuff out of Illinois, finalize my hiring details (salary determination), arrange to see my sons and get a haircut. I had seen a lot of advice on various living arrangements and mulled over my options. I could find a 'corporate' apartment which would be very expensive, but extremely convenient. They are close to the training center in Arlington, VA, are furnished and function much like hotels in that you don't need to sign a long term lease. A second option would be to rent an unfurnished apartment and then either rent furniture or move some of my own into it. This is a much less expensive option, but requires a lease. The problem with signing a lease is that I'll be in Washington for an indeterminate length of time. Orientation will last seven weeks. During that time I'll receive my first overseas appointment and that will determine the amount of training I'll need before departure. Typically, there will be from three to nine months of additional training required after Orientation. So, I'll be in Washington anywhere from five months to almost a year. Signing a lease, therefore, becomes a bit tricky. There are also private residences and properties available to rent and each is unique and so are the terms of rental.
I know nothing at all about the Washington DC area. Our training will take place in Arlington and it appears as though Foreign Service personnel live throughout the entire greater metropolitan area. People live in DC and Arlington and Ballston and Falls Church. There are pros and cons for each and in the end I decided to just go with the most convenient option to start. I've rented a furnished one-bedroom apartment in Arlington that is about a twenty minute walk to the training center. My plan is to settle into it with a minimum of fuss and then get focussed on the training and orientation without any outside distractions. After I learn where I'll be going I'll have a much better idea of how long I'll be in training, I'll know the area much better and will begin to look around for a less expensive place to sleep. The building has a secure garage so I've decided to take the Mustang down and leave the Volvo with my folks. I got a new suit and I've shined my shoes. All I need now is to get that haircut and I'm set.
My paperwork should arrive this week from the State Department. There are, apparently, a couple of forms I'll have to fill out and send in. So, until then, see you in Washington!!
It was relaxing and I felt some of the stress of the process melt away now that the ball was firmly in the State Department's court. I made a list of books I wanted to read and hit the local library. I began to put together a "to-do" list to prepare for an eventual move to Washington DC. I solved the New York Times crossword with a pen. Then, five days after I'd been put on the Register, I received an email inviting me to join the March 5th class! Enough people, who were on the Register ahead of me, opted to defer their invitations that Pat worked the list all the way down to my name.
I've accepted that invitation and will become a member of the 133rd A100 Foreign Service Officer Class. The classes are called "A100" classes after the room in which they were originally held. The group I'll become part of will be one of the smaller classes, having only eight representatives from each of the five career tracks.
Oh, and you can just rachet the stress level right back up, if you please. Now I had less than five weeks to get ready, find and rent a place to live, move my stuff out of Illinois, finalize my hiring details (salary determination), arrange to see my sons and get a haircut. I had seen a lot of advice on various living arrangements and mulled over my options. I could find a 'corporate' apartment which would be very expensive, but extremely convenient. They are close to the training center in Arlington, VA, are furnished and function much like hotels in that you don't need to sign a long term lease. A second option would be to rent an unfurnished apartment and then either rent furniture or move some of my own into it. This is a much less expensive option, but requires a lease. The problem with signing a lease is that I'll be in Washington for an indeterminate length of time. Orientation will last seven weeks. During that time I'll receive my first overseas appointment and that will determine the amount of training I'll need before departure. Typically, there will be from three to nine months of additional training required after Orientation. So, I'll be in Washington anywhere from five months to almost a year. Signing a lease, therefore, becomes a bit tricky. There are also private residences and properties available to rent and each is unique and so are the terms of rental.
I know nothing at all about the Washington DC area. Our training will take place in Arlington and it appears as though Foreign Service personnel live throughout the entire greater metropolitan area. People live in DC and Arlington and Ballston and Falls Church. There are pros and cons for each and in the end I decided to just go with the most convenient option to start. I've rented a furnished one-bedroom apartment in Arlington that is about a twenty minute walk to the training center. My plan is to settle into it with a minimum of fuss and then get focussed on the training and orientation without any outside distractions. After I learn where I'll be going I'll have a much better idea of how long I'll be in training, I'll know the area much better and will begin to look around for a less expensive place to sleep. The building has a secure garage so I've decided to take the Mustang down and leave the Volvo with my folks. I got a new suit and I've shined my shoes. All I need now is to get that haircut and I'm set.
My paperwork should arrive this week from the State Department. There are, apparently, a couple of forms I'll have to fill out and send in. So, until then, see you in Washington!!
Monday, January 08, 2007
The Waiting Game
When last we visited, I had passed the Oral Assessment and was waiting for my Medical, Security and Suitability clearances so I could be put on the Register and, eventually, be offered a job. That was last October and I'm still at the beach watching the ocean and waiting. However, progress has been made. I received my Class One medical clearance on December 12th and am now medically qualified to serve anywhere in the world. My Security file is in the works and was scheduled for completion yesterday. Several of my references have been contacted and I've been interviewed as well. I spoke to the customer service people in the Security Department and they said my file was being sent off for final 'adjudication'. So it looks as though it might be released to Pat Evans by the end of this week.
Pat is the woman at the State Department who manages the register list and sets up the incoming classes of new hires. I spoke to her on Friday and she told me that the March class has already been invited and the next opportunity for me to join will be the April 30th class. As of right now, I would be number twelve on the Management list and she feels that I should make the April group without any problem as long as I receive my final clearance.
So, that's where I stand at the moment. Just waiting. I did fly out to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve and had a great time. I rented a car and drove out to the Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam, saw a couple of shows, ate in some pretty good restaurants and welcomed in the New Year out in the street with 100,000 total strangers!! I gambled a little and won at poker but lost it at dice. Playing poker was a lot of fun because there is so much poker on tv now that everyone thinks they're pros. I got into a game with a bunch of college guys who had studied the look and the language but forgot to learn how to play. I felt like I was taking their lunch money. Oh well, someone should teach them to beware the bumbling old fellow who seems a bit slow. 
January 12th
I've just learned that all of my clearances have been issued. This information has been forwarded to Pat over at the State Department and I'll probably learn sometime next week about my position on the Management list. I passed the Written Exam on April 8, 2006 and the Oral Assessment on October 16, 2006. I received my Class One medical clearance on December 12, 2006 and my Top Secret security clearance on January 11, 2007. From everything I can determine, this seems to be a fairly typical time line. Once I can contact Pat, I'll have a pretty good idea about if and when I can expect to be offered a slot in one of the start-up classes.
In the meantime, I joined a gym and hired a guy to help design a workout program for me. This is beginning to have all the earmarks of a colossal mistake. I was under the misguided impression that working out in a gym would make me stronger and fill me with energy. I find that I need more energy to play online poker until the wee small hours every night. Anyway, after one solid week of 'working out', I am sore beyond belief and too tired to play a hand. The guy who's responsible for this condition swears that it's temporary and that I will improve. Maybe if I pay him more, he'll do the exercises for me!
Hopefully, I'll have something more exciting to write about soon.
Pat is the woman at the State Department who manages the register list and sets up the incoming classes of new hires. I spoke to her on Friday and she told me that the March class has already been invited and the next opportunity for me to join will be the April 30th class. As of right now, I would be number twelve on the Management list and she feels that I should make the April group without any problem as long as I receive my final clearance.
So, that's where I stand at the moment. Just waiting. I did fly out to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve and had a great time. I rented a car and drove out to the Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam, saw a couple of shows, ate in some pretty good restaurants and welcomed in the New Year out in the street with 100,000 total strangers!! I gambled a little and won at poker but lost it at dice. Playing poker was a lot of fun because there is so much poker on tv now that everyone thinks they're pros. I got into a game with a bunch of college guys who had studied the look and the language but forgot to learn how to play. I felt like I was taking their lunch money. Oh well, someone should teach them to beware the bumbling old fellow who seems a bit slow. 
January 12th
I've just learned that all of my clearances have been issued. This information has been forwarded to Pat over at the State Department and I'll probably learn sometime next week about my position on the Management list. I passed the Written Exam on April 8, 2006 and the Oral Assessment on October 16, 2006. I received my Class One medical clearance on December 12, 2006 and my Top Secret security clearance on January 11, 2007. From everything I can determine, this seems to be a fairly typical time line. Once I can contact Pat, I'll have a pretty good idea about if and when I can expect to be offered a slot in one of the start-up classes.
In the meantime, I joined a gym and hired a guy to help design a workout program for me. This is beginning to have all the earmarks of a colossal mistake. I was under the misguided impression that working out in a gym would make me stronger and fill me with energy. I find that I need more energy to play online poker until the wee small hours every night. Anyway, after one solid week of 'working out', I am sore beyond belief and too tired to play a hand. The guy who's responsible for this condition swears that it's temporary and that I will improve. Maybe if I pay him more, he'll do the exercises for me!
Hopefully, I'll have something more exciting to write about soon.
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