Welcome Aboard, 161st! Here is a great synopsis of A-100 as told by my classmate and all-around good guy, Rob Crotty.
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OH MY GOD I AM JOINING THE FOREIGN SERVICE. I have Google Mapped
how to get to Main State four times now. I have set my alarm on my
alarm clock, on my phone, and on my watch for 4am to make sure I get
there on time. I will arrive at least three hours early. I have my
suit picked out and three back up ties.
Happy Hour with the 159th and 161st: OH MY GOD MY NEW CLASSMATES
ARE AWESOME. Have you met this guy? This guy started a bamboo bike
company!? This one worked for NASA! This one does kite photography.
What the hell is kite photography?! How the hell did I get into the
Foreign Service?
Week One:
OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW WHAT INSURANCE TO GET!!
Now, about that bid list .....
Oooo, Happy Hour!
Week Two:
OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RANK THESE!
I haven't slept for three days. Every night since last Wednesday I
have been looking at this damned list trying to figure out where I
want to go.
Australia would be nice but where does that put me in terms of equity?
What the hell is a Windhoek--is that even a country? Spaniola would be
horrible. God. Anywhere but Spaniola. And what did my CDO mean about
considering timing? Does that mean I should only bid on places that
fit my timeline? ... I did take French in high school so that'd take
two weeks of my French training which would mean I wouldn't even be
eligible to go to Spaniola until January.
Ooooo, Happy hour!
Week Three:
OH MY GOD I STILL DON'T KNOW HOW TO RANK THIS BID LIST!
You know, Spaniola wouldn't be that bad. I mean there's all those R&Rs
and I get a Crash Bang course, and that equity, oh baby, that's money
in the bank! Hell, maybe I should even bid it high, at least then I'll
know what I'm getting.
Who am I kidding, I want Australia. Learn to surf, drink some Victoria
Bitters, do nothin' all day... Hell yeah. Putting that high.
....
Met with my CDO. She is totally going to give me Spaniola! Why god!
Why!?
You know, Australia wouldn't be that cool anyway. I'd end up broke and
besides, I burn easily. And would a dingo really eat my baby? I didn't
hear anything about that in the OBC...
Ooooo, Happy Hour!
Week Four:
OH THANK GOD THAT'S OVER.
Screw it. I don't even know what I submitted. I don't care anymore.
Just please end this evil purgatory! Send me somewhere! Send me
anywhere!
Ooooooooo, offsite!
Week Five:
OH MY GOD FLAG DAY IS HERE!
Oh.
You're sending me where?
Cool.
I've always kind of wanted to go there.
Ooooo Happy Hour!
Week Six:
OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!
Ah, man, I'm going to miss A-100...
Ooooo, language training!
Showing posts with label FS training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FS training. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thank Codd Allnighty, It Is Here Atlass.
Flag Day, that is. I can't believe it is Flag Day already. After waiting 6 months that felt like a decade for A-100 to start, the last 4 weeks are a blur of powerpoint, happy hours, and empty Starbucks cups. I would have liked to have updated the blog more, but A-100 is simply exhausting. One of the coordinators described it as "drinking from a fire hose" which is an apt metaphor for how much information they give you every day. It is going to take a few more weeks for my mind to process it all. No promises, but I'll try to write up more about it in the coming weeks about what A-100 was like.
Anyway, Flag Day is here!
It is impossible not to be jacked-up about it. In about 10 hours, we'll know where we are going next year, and when we are leaving. The suspense is killing me.
Anyway, Flag Day is here!
It is impossible not to be jacked-up about it. In about 10 hours, we'll know where we are going next year, and when we are leaving. The suspense is killing me.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Bid List
The bid list is out, has been out for almost a week. I can't believe it is less than a week, since I know it front ways and backwards, and it is the only topic of conversation in the house. The Bid List is the one thing that all A-100's dream of, it is the list of prospective posts. This list is constantly in flex, yet we treat it like the postings are set in stone. After my orientation I was perfectly fine just rankng those we really didn't want to go to, for example no pets or no kids, as L (low) and leaving the rest. But now that I have had a chance to dream, I have some surprisingly strong feelings about certain postings. Why is it that I fear Mexican cartels more than Al Qaeda?
Spencer and I are going back to our old system of ranking internships. We have set up a spreadsheet with our priorities and each priority is weighted. Our top three priorities include work opportunities for me, travel with our pets, and salary. The next priorities are unofficial and are ranked lower. Those include the kind of schooling/care for the kids, position cone, language, and anything else that we think might be important for family life or career. This system is working well and has brought some interesting posts to the top. Even with this impartial ranking system, it is difficult staying detached and not trying to influence some of the scores.
There are a lot of great postings out there and we have to remember that we will probably have 10 in a career. A surprising small number, but those 10 posts can cover the entire world, from small city to culture center. So maybe we should go with a hardship now and aim for Rome when the kids go to school.
Spencer and I are going back to our old system of ranking internships. We have set up a spreadsheet with our priorities and each priority is weighted. Our top three priorities include work opportunities for me, travel with our pets, and salary. The next priorities are unofficial and are ranked lower. Those include the kind of schooling/care for the kids, position cone, language, and anything else that we think might be important for family life or career. This system is working well and has brought some interesting posts to the top. Even with this impartial ranking system, it is difficult staying detached and not trying to influence some of the scores.
There are a lot of great postings out there and we have to remember that we will probably have 10 in a career. A surprising small number, but those 10 posts can cover the entire world, from small city to culture center. So maybe we should go with a hardship now and aim for Rome when the kids go to school.
Monday, February 14, 2011
And so it begins.
We just got back from the A-100 welcome reception put on by the 157th Class. In-processing and orientation start first thing tomorrow morning. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight. Lots of fretting about alarms not going off and late metros and all sorts of other potential mishaps will surely keep me awake.
The 157th took place in October/November and many of them are just starting to ship out to post right now. They are going to some pretty interesting places; at least one is going to China, another to Cairo, and someone is even going to the Vatican. It was a nice event, and it makes for a nice soft landing to a new job. Ted and Josie seemed to have a pretty good time, as there are a lot more young kids in the group than I expected. I guess if the average age of a new FSO is early thirties, then there are bound to be lots of little ones. That'll be good for them.
Otherwise, Cary and I alternate between being very excited and a bit overwhelmed as we start this new adventure. Me, I am mostly excited. It has been a long time coming.
The 157th took place in October/November and many of them are just starting to ship out to post right now. They are going to some pretty interesting places; at least one is going to China, another to Cairo, and someone is even going to the Vatican. It was a nice event, and it makes for a nice soft landing to a new job. Ted and Josie seemed to have a pretty good time, as there are a lot more young kids in the group than I expected. I guess if the average age of a new FSO is early thirties, then there are bound to be lots of little ones. That'll be good for them.
Otherwise, Cary and I alternate between being very excited and a bit overwhelmed as we start this new adventure. Me, I am mostly excited. It has been a long time coming.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Parlez vous une autre langue?
I have had a lot of very similar conversations lately. They usually go something like this.
FRIEND: Hi, Spencer.
ME: Hey!
FRIEND: When do you start your new job?
ME: Valentine's Day. My last day at the Council is February 11th.
FRIEND: Oh. Do you know where you are going yet?
ME: Nope. I will find out on March 11th.
Then I usually give a quick explanation (I really don't know much myself - it is very mysterious) of the bidding process, and how jobs are assigned to junior FSOs.
FRIEND: Do you speak any other languages?
ME: Nope. If I need to learn one, State will provide training. I have to learn at least one other language within the first 5 years, or they kick you out, but there a lot of jobs and posts in the foreign service that require only English speaking.
FRIEND: Oh, cool...
I can't tell you how many times recently that I've had some variant of this conversation, but if I had a nickel for every time, I could retire tomorrow. As you gather from the above, I do not speak another language. I took five years of French in middle and high school, but that was 18 years ago. Wow, that just made me feel old. Not only was it a long time ago, but I don't think that the way most Americans learn another language in school really helps anyone to learn another language. We start way too late in life, and we aren't required to spend any real time on it. It is just another subject in school; just another 50 minute period for 180 days for a few years. And because it is required for most college prep curriculums, it is just something that we go through the motions on. At least that was my experience. I assume it is this way because most Americans don't believe there is any reason to learn another language. If someone wants to speak with us, so the thinking goes, they'll speak English.
Language is a very important part of foreign service life; important enough that they give you bonus points on the register if you speak another language. The bonus points are on a sliding scale where the size of the bonus corresponds to how important the language is to State at a given time. For instance, languages like Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Pashto and Urdu are worth more than Spanish or Portuguese right now. I obviously did not get a language bonus, but my veterans bonus was worth the same as if I spoke one of the easier, more common languages. If I make a career in the foreign service, I will likely learn at least 2 new languages, and the diplobrats will likely learn several. Assuming we can work out childcare arrangements, my wife can even learn another language at the same time that I do at the Foreign Service Institute (where State trains its diplomats). So I see language as a pretty cool perk of the job.
Therefore, in honor of languages everywhere, here are some fun facts about language (with thanks to VistaWide: World Languages and Cultures):
To no one's surprise, Mandarin Chinese is spoken by the most people in the world: 1.051 billion (873 million native speakers/178 million speak it as a 2nd language)
Below is a list of the top 10 languages by numbers of native speakers. The list is a little surprising both by what is on the list, but also what is not on the list.
1. Mandarin
2. Hindi (370 million native/120 million as 2nd lang)
3. Spanish (350 million native/70 million as 2nd lang)
4. English (340 million native/170 million as 2nd lang)
FRIEND: Hi, Spencer.
ME: Hey!
FRIEND: When do you start your new job?
ME: Valentine's Day. My last day at the Council is February 11th.
FRIEND: Oh. Do you know where you are going yet?
ME: Nope. I will find out on March 11th.
Then I usually give a quick explanation (I really don't know much myself - it is very mysterious) of the bidding process, and how jobs are assigned to junior FSOs.
FRIEND: Do you speak any other languages?
ME: Nope. If I need to learn one, State will provide training. I have to learn at least one other language within the first 5 years, or they kick you out, but there a lot of jobs and posts in the foreign service that require only English speaking.
FRIEND: Oh, cool...
I can't tell you how many times recently that I've had some variant of this conversation, but if I had a nickel for every time, I could retire tomorrow. As you gather from the above, I do not speak another language. I took five years of French in middle and high school, but that was 18 years ago. Wow, that just made me feel old. Not only was it a long time ago, but I don't think that the way most Americans learn another language in school really helps anyone to learn another language. We start way too late in life, and we aren't required to spend any real time on it. It is just another subject in school; just another 50 minute period for 180 days for a few years. And because it is required for most college prep curriculums, it is just something that we go through the motions on. At least that was my experience. I assume it is this way because most Americans don't believe there is any reason to learn another language. If someone wants to speak with us, so the thinking goes, they'll speak English.
Language is a very important part of foreign service life; important enough that they give you bonus points on the register if you speak another language. The bonus points are on a sliding scale where the size of the bonus corresponds to how important the language is to State at a given time. For instance, languages like Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Pashto and Urdu are worth more than Spanish or Portuguese right now. I obviously did not get a language bonus, but my veterans bonus was worth the same as if I spoke one of the easier, more common languages. If I make a career in the foreign service, I will likely learn at least 2 new languages, and the diplobrats will likely learn several. Assuming we can work out childcare arrangements, my wife can even learn another language at the same time that I do at the Foreign Service Institute (where State trains its diplomats). So I see language as a pretty cool perk of the job.
Therefore, in honor of languages everywhere, here are some fun facts about language (with thanks to VistaWide: World Languages and Cultures):
To no one's surprise, Mandarin Chinese is spoken by the most people in the world: 1.051 billion (873 million native speakers/178 million speak it as a 2nd language)
Below is a list of the top 10 languages by numbers of native speakers. The list is a little surprising both by what is on the list, but also what is not on the list.
1. Mandarin
2. Hindi (370 million native/120 million as 2nd lang)
3. Spanish (350 million native/70 million as 2nd lang)
4. English (340 million native/170 million as 2nd lang)
5. Arabic (206 million native/24 million as 2nd lang)
6. Portuguese (203 million native/10 million as 2nd lang)
7. Bengali (196 million native/9 million as 2nd lang)
8. Russian (145 million native/110 million as 2nd language)
9. Japanese (126 million native/1 million as 2nd language)
10. German (101 million native/128 million as 2nd language)
Surprising no-shows on the top 10 list are French (#18), Italian (#20), and Turkish (#21).
There are currently 6912 living languages, with 516 languages considered nearly extinct.
The country with the most languages spoken is Papua New Guinea, which has 820 living languages.
English is the most widely spoken 2nd language, the most widely published language, and has the most words, at approximately 250,000 distinct words.
Languages have been around since about 100,000 BC.
The language with the largest alphabet is Khmer (Cambodia) with 74 letters; smallest is Rotokas with 12 letters (4300 speakers in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea).
The oldest language still in existence is either Chinese or Greek (about 1500 BC).
The first written language is either Sumerian or Egyptian (about 3200 BC).
6. Portuguese (203 million native/10 million as 2nd lang)
7. Bengali (196 million native/9 million as 2nd lang)
8. Russian (145 million native/110 million as 2nd language)
9. Japanese (126 million native/1 million as 2nd language)
10. German (101 million native/128 million as 2nd language)
Surprising no-shows on the top 10 list are French (#18), Italian (#20), and Turkish (#21).
There are currently 6912 living languages, with 516 languages considered nearly extinct.
The country with the most languages spoken is Papua New Guinea, which has 820 living languages.
English is the most widely spoken 2nd language, the most widely published language, and has the most words, at approximately 250,000 distinct words.
Languages have been around since about 100,000 BC.
The language with the largest alphabet is Khmer (Cambodia) with 74 letters; smallest is Rotokas with 12 letters (4300 speakers in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea).
The oldest language still in existence is either Chinese or Greek (about 1500 BC).
The first written language is either Sumerian or Egyptian (about 3200 BC).
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