Tap, Tap, Tap

Is this thing on? Is there anybody out there?

I am indeed a horrible blogger. But hey, life is busy, and the blog ends up getting left behind. I will try to be better. Maybe!

I am enjoying Foreign Service life. The great thing about a European post is that we travel a ton, do cool stuff every weekend, and generally enjoy life. I'm working pretty regular hours (some very late nights occasionally, but it's doable), and also really enjoying the job. It's interesting and challenging. You have to be self-motivated a lot, because there isn't necessarily someone telling you what to do or how to do it. I like that, though. The down side to a European post is that there isn't much of an Embassy community, which can be a little rough on the spouses, especially. It's not the end of the world, but something to keep in mind.

All of a sudden, I've been at post almost a year. It's almost impossible to imagine. Bidding has come around again, too. It's exciting to be looking at bid lists and dreaming of our next assignment. With little equity, we are looking to get out of Europe (like we had a choice!) and to head to the developing world. It looks like we'll get the opportunity to do that. It's been a whirlwind of post research and priorities. Fingers crossed that it all works out!

The Long and Short of It

So, I had Flag Day, I posted once, and then. . .nothing. I had the best of intentions, I swear. But post-Flag Day was a whirlwind: training, packing, logistics, selling things, buying things, figuring out things, getting things wrong, redoing, undoing, throwing away, more packing, saying goodbye. . .and that was just the DC half of the adventure. There was the GETTING TO POST (always a bit painful), and then once at post, there was the learning of new job, unpacking, replacing lost or broken things, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking, and getting to know a new city. . .all with a small child. So hopefully you can see why something had to go by the wayside, and blog, it was you, my old friend.

But now that the dust has settled, I'm hoping we can get reacquainted.

I am loving Foreign Service life (setting aside the ridiculous 16% pay cut the lovely Congressman Reed has introduced. . .more on that later). The job is challenging, interesting, impossibly hard at times, rewarding, demoralizing, unique, creative. . .fabulous. It's everything you thought it would be. Not every day, mind you. Not even every week. There are definitely moments that are. . .less than stellar. Bust stepping back, overall, it feels like a really good fit. I feel like I am contributing to the betterment of my country. I feel like I am making a difference. Not necessarily in a huge change-the-world-overnight way, but in a journey-of-a-thousand-miles-starts-with-a-single-step way, most definitely.

Here is what I have taken away from it so far:

1. Take it slow. Don't leap in and volunteer to do everything at first. Don't tell everyone what you think from the minute you hit the ground. Hang back. Let things develop. Give yourself a chance to acclimate, and to learn who everyone is, what they're about, and what they do. Let the dust settle, and give yourself a chance to see the big picture. No matter how good your instincts are, it will take a while for everything to fall into place, and you'll be better off if you give yourself a chance to figure out how things work and where you might fit in.

2. That said, figure out where the holes are, and innovate. Offer yourself up. Figure out where you can be value-added. Whatever your portfolio, the nature of this career means that there is room for you to define your role in a way that has interest for you while also having value for your post.

3. Whatever you do, do it well. Be the best you can be.

4. When you have figured out what you are doing, and you have figured out how to do it well, then--and ONLY then--volunteer for extra stuff. You will not only learn new skills that way, but you will meet new people. But your boss needs to value you for your core roles first.

5. The "easy" posts are not necessarily so easy, for you and/or for your family, for both personal and professional reasons. Remember that EVERY post has its benefits, and it also has its costs. As you go through your tour, learn to embrace the benefits and live with the costs. Love what is to be loved, and keep in mind that no matter how much you hate the bad stuff, it's only temporary.

6. Don't sit around waiting for someone to tell you what to do or how to do it. Move forward with your job (keeping in mind the points raised above). If you are doing it wrong, or they want something else out of you, they will generally tell you. You will not necessarily get as much guidance or have as much oversight as you might have imagined, but part of the reason they chose you was because they knew you were capable of succeeding without guidance or oversight.

Anyway, those are just my insights from the field thus far. I have another post rolling around my head about this job, the proposed pay cuts, the sacrifices, etc., so I promise I won't disappear again for another six months.

!

Weekend Update

First, I know that people who read this blog, especially Foreign Service folks, will want to know where we are going for our first assignment. I am sorry to leave you hanging for so long. After much debate, I have decided that I am not going to post that here.

I have thought long and hard about the security issues attendant to blogging, and about how transparent I want to be in general. I read a lot of blogs while I was trying to decide if the Foreign Service was the right fit for me and my family, I read a lot of blogs while I was going through the seemingly endless hiring process, and I continue to read a lot of blogs today. I admit, I always want to know where people are going. I blog because I like being part of a community, I like having a place to vent about FS life where people actually understand what I am talking about, and I also like the idea of giving back to a community that has given me so much. Digger long ago convinced me that there is value to FS hopefuls in blogging, and I have learned so much from the many bloggers that I have read in recent years. I feel like in some small way I am paying that kindness forward by blogging. But after sitting through security seminars and thinking about the issues, I am also convinced of the value of maintaining a certain level of opacity. I harbor no illusions that I am actually anonymous--I know that I have shared enough details that any really motivated person could figure out who I am. But I think that by being a bit vague, I am striking the appropriate balance for myself in general. So I am sorry. . .the location of my first post will remain a mystery. At least for now. It may be a bit tricky to maintain that while also recounting our adventures abroad, and I may revisit that decision in the future.

So, with that. . .as I have mentioned, I am PD-coned. There were a surprising number of PD posts on our bid list. When you bid your first tour, you are required to have a stated bidding strategy, and you are supposed to bid in accordance with that strategy. My bidding strategy was to go for PD jobs. Historically, the bid lists have apparently been devoid of entry-level PD jobs, so the PD folks were encouraged to go for PD positions while they were available.

The wrinkle was that the vast majority of the PD posts were not language designated, meaning that we would not receive training in a foreign language. Before getting the bid list, I had expected to do a consular tour first, and was also hoping to get language training so that I could get off language probation (all FS officers must gain true proficiency in a language within the first few years of being hired; you cannot get tenure without establishing language proficiency). It was therefore a bit of a gamble to go for the PD jobs, as it meant that I would potentially get neither language training nor satisfy my consular requirement. This meant that on my next tour, I would need to bid only on posts that allow me to get both. And, that is exactly how things worked out. I am going to a PD job, I will not be receiving any language training, and there is no consular component to my position. The position sounds interesting, though, and it's in a location we are really excited about, so I think the tradeoffs are worth it.

It also means that we are out of here relatively quickly. I took a few training courses this past week, and have more training over the next month or so, but it looks like we will be leaving for post in about a month and a half (I don't have a firm date yet, or even a mushy one, thanks to a bit of bureaucracy that I am trying to work around). A good sized portion of my A-100 class will actually be leaving for post over the next couple of months. First, a lot of people had language skills and went to posts with immediate openings. Second, there were a lot of non-language designated posts. Some folks are even leaving in August! It's weird to think that the 94 of us won't be together any more, after spending the last month and a half bonding. Soon, we'll be scattered around the entire world.

Prior to bidding, I had thought that we would be here for language training, so the idea of leaving so quickly has taken some getting used to. We are of course thrilled to be going to one of our top choices. But, we have also been enjoying DC, and it is a bit disappointing to be leaving so soon. There are so many things we had hoped to do, and now we are having to re-prioritize. The good thing about the Foreign Service, though, is that we know we will be back in two years, because I will definitely need language training then. We'll save the to-do list.

In the meantime, we are making good use of our time in the city. Yesterday, the weather was finally just perfect for being outside. We wrangled for hours with pre-departure-for-post bureaucracy (FSO-In-Training: 0; State Bureaucracy: 1), then spent a magnificent afternoon enjoying the city: long meandering stroll, leisurely impromptu dinner, delicious dessert picnic, and sunset on the mall. Beautiful!

Flag Day!!!

We got one of our high bids. We are totally ecstatic. Most of the class seems pretty happy with their countries as well. It's a good day.

The Offsite Retreat, and Everything Else

A-100 has continued to be very busy. There is always a softball game, a happy hour, a party, tennis, or some other fun event when we are not in class. The classes themselves have been jammed packed with information. We've had some really excellent and interesting speakers. I think we've learned a lot in the last four weeks. It has FLOWN by.

Every A-100 class involves an overnight offsite retreat. Ours was last week. In the days leading up to it, they were somewhat mysterious about would be doing while we were gone. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it ended up being really fun. It was very well done, and unlike any other leadership/team-building exercises I've ever done before. The exercises were very creative.

So, now we are here. Flag Day, THE DAY, is TOMORROW! It is sort of surreal. You spend so long working your way through the hiring process that somehow, Flag Day always seems like some mythical, theoretical point that you will never get to. It is always somewhere out there in the future. But, mine is tomorrow. Every time someone would say today "oh, your Flag Day is tomorrow," it seemed a little shocking. I feel good about it. I feel like we will rise to the occasion, no matter where they send us. That's not to say that I don't have my favorite posts, and a list of places I am hoping will be enjoyed by my colleagues, rather than ourselves. But, I know that we will be fine, no matter what, and that's a pretty good place to be in.*

*Of course, check in with me this weekend. Let's hope my positive vibe stays put once I hear my name tomorrow!

A-100

It's hard to believe but A-100 is half over, and I haven't even blogged about it. Between classes, social engagements, house guests, unpacking, and attending to miscellaneous other responsibilities, I haven't managed to find the time. I fall into bed exhausted every night, thinking "I really should blog about this. . ."

So, how is it? I think it's everything you imagine it will be, and more. It totally rocks. My classmates are smart, charismatic and engaging. The classes themselves are generally interesting and well presented, although the pace is a bit frenetic. Most days fly by. The topics are all over the map. Some days there are light assignments to prepare for the next day, but there is not a ton of homework. For those of you wondering (and worried) about the tigers, I have waited for the inevitable warnings about blogging, but they have not yet come. No one has actively discouraged us from blogging, although I was ready for that.

The bid lists have come out for our first assignment, and bids have already been submitted. It was really a fantastic list. We had an amazing array of places to consider. I think most people were pleased when they saw the possibilities. Our Flag Day, the day we learn our assignment, is next week. This is a day that we've been anticipating for so long; it's almost surreal to think we will actually live it soon. It's terribly exciting. And terribly frightening, but mostly exciting.

DC itself is also just phenomenal. There is always something to do here, no matter what your interests. It has been really fun to be able to just hop on the Metro and explore. There are great restaurants, great music, fabulous museums, all of the tourist stuff. I could live here for years and never get bored.

All in all, this has been a really good experience, and we're really glad to be here.