Monday, September 7, 2009

Flag Day (and other important dates!)

hello hello!

So, I wanted to share a little bit of my timeline for the next few weeks. Here are some of my personal plans combined with some of the latest information I've gotten from Washington.

First and foremost, I am heading east this Thursday - Sept 10. I will be driving to Asheville, NC where I will stay the night. I'm excited to see my Emily (Chiara) at Warren Wilson!

My first "meet-and-greet" will be this Sunday. It is hosted by the 146th A-100 class and will be a chance for me to meet all of my classmates! ("A-100" is the name of the 5 week training class I will be taking from Sept. 14 - Oct. 16).

Then, on Monday the work begins! I will head to "Main State" in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood and be "processed." I assume this means that I will be filling out a lot of paperwork, maybe getting a fancy badge or something, and choosing life insurance?? Who knows...!

Tuesday morning will be my first day at the Foreign Service Institute . Here is where I will be spending the next 3-12 months learning about the role of the Department, learning language (don't know yet!), and learning - I guess how to be a diplomat. More on that later...

But, I guess the most important date - the one everyone has been asking me about is Oct. 9. This is "Flag Day." This will be the day when I will finally be able to answer all of your questions - "Where are you going?" "How long will you be in DC?" "What language are you going to learn?" "Can you only go to a place where they speak French?" (--- well, the answer to that one has always been no...) On "Flag Day," I will be given a flag that corresponds with the country I will be spending approximately 2 years. So how will they decide where to send me? Well, within the first couple of weeks of my training I will be given a list of available posts. I will meet with a career counselor who will talk to me about my goals, needs, etc and then I will rank all of the available posts (apprx 100) either high, medium, or low. From what I understand, a good portion of people get a post they ranked high, with a majority of people getting a post ranked high or medium. Rarely are people assigned a post they ranked low.

Once I know where I will be posted (don't forget - Oct. 9!), then I will know how long I will be in DC. Once I know my first post I will know what kind of and how much language training I will need. I will also know what kind of career specific training I will need. (FYI - Even though I am a Public Diplomacy Officer I may not do any "PD" work in my first post. Therefore, I might need training in consular work, etc).

So now you all know everything I do! It's just a waiting game now! I would appreciate any prayers for the drive this week, the new transition, and my health! (I have a little bit of a sore throat to start off my new career :/)

Oh! And in more personal news, I will be living in a condo in Arlington with two other young women. My friend, Lindsay, who is already in DC sent me a link to this cool site. It is a ministry called "Kairos" which is affiliated with The Falls Church. It's a neat way to connect people moving in and out of the DC area. Anyway, it's how I found Lauren and Abby. I'll be so excited to finally get there and meet them!

Alright, I think that's the latest update. BTW - Congrats to Jennie who had a BEAUTIFUL wedding this weekend!

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