A-100 is over. A-100 is over? A-100 is over!
Last Friday I swore my oath of office and am now officially a Foreign Service Officer. Okay, well technically I am a "career candidate" and won't be officially official until I obtain tenure somewhere between three and five years from now. But I have made it through the initial orientation and am now on to "real" classes. My schedule is pretty full for the next 8 months before I head off to Oslo. First up is the ESTH Tradecraft course, which is a couple weeks overview of all the environment, science, technology, and health issues that matter to the Department of State. After that it's Political/Economic Tradecraft, some other short courses, and then on to Norsk språk (Norwegian language).
In addition to the excitement of swearing-in, this weekend was a wild one in the world of weather. As has been thoroughly covered by the local, national, and international media, the East Coast was hit hard by a freak storm, called a derecho. The storm itself only lasted about half an hour, but the next morning the entire area looked like a massive hurricane had rolled through. I didn't see one street without a tree down, including my own (see pics below).
But a storm wasn't about to stop me from a planned trip up to Ikea to gather some scandinavian food supplies in preparation for my "norsk fest." Driving through miles of city without working stoplights was interesting, but I made it to my mecca and found everything I needed (and much much more).
With my Ikea trip accomplished, I hid for the rest of the day in my cool basement, thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't one of the millions who lost their power and A/C in the 90 degree heat. The next day my Norwegian celebration went off without a hitch, with plenty of cheese, crackers, cucumbers and salmon in all forms (dip, grilled, or cured for gravlaks). Thanks to my BFF for manning the lefse griddle. And with several of my friends without power and thus emptying their freezers at my house, I ended up with way more food than I had at the beginning. So for the next week it's salmon and cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which should be good preparation for my two years in Oslo!
http://servicecentered.blogspot.com/
Last Friday I swore my oath of office and am now officially a Foreign Service Officer. Okay, well technically I am a "career candidate" and won't be officially official until I obtain tenure somewhere between three and five years from now. But I have made it through the initial orientation and am now on to "real" classes. My schedule is pretty full for the next 8 months before I head off to Oslo. First up is the ESTH Tradecraft course, which is a couple weeks overview of all the environment, science, technology, and health issues that matter to the Department of State. After that it's Political/Economic Tradecraft, some other short courses, and then on to Norsk språk (Norwegian language).
In addition to the excitement of swearing-in, this weekend was a wild one in the world of weather. As has been thoroughly covered by the local, national, and international media, the East Coast was hit hard by a freak storm, called a derecho. The storm itself only lasted about half an hour, but the next morning the entire area looked like a massive hurricane had rolled through. I didn't see one street without a tree down, including my own (see pics below).
But a storm wasn't about to stop me from a planned trip up to Ikea to gather some scandinavian food supplies in preparation for my "norsk fest." Driving through miles of city without working stoplights was interesting, but I made it to my mecca and found everything I needed (and much much more).
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| $1 breakfast at Ikea |
With my Ikea trip accomplished, I hid for the rest of the day in my cool basement, thanking my lucky stars that I wasn't one of the millions who lost their power and A/C in the 90 degree heat. The next day my Norwegian celebration went off without a hitch, with plenty of cheese, crackers, cucumbers and salmon in all forms (dip, grilled, or cured for gravlaks). Thanks to my BFF for manning the lefse griddle. And with several of my friends without power and thus emptying their freezers at my house, I ended up with way more food than I had at the beginning. So for the next week it's salmon and cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which should be good preparation for my two years in Oslo!
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| Getting ready! |
http://servicecentered.blogspot.com/
