Surprise Invitation

About 3.5 months ago I passed the final Foreign Service exam - at the time providing a thorough run-down of what the next steps would look like here. I had what I thought were pretty realistic expectations about the time and uncertainty involved in getting to the final stage of being a real, live diplomat. I expected the clearance process to take 2-3 months and then many more months of waiting until my number came up, if at all. I even very wisely assumed that I may not get called up at all, so was pursuing Russian studies both for fun and for potential bonus points.

Well, as should be expected, so far things have not gone according to my very prudent plans. My clearances took a mere 30 days, landing me on the Economic register in mid-December. I was nervous that starting my 18 month clock on the register so soon wouldn't allow me enough time either to work my way up the list as others got called up or expired, or to learn Russian well enough to earn bonus points. If I had guessed at that time, I would have said I had pretty much a zero chance of getting an invitation before September 2012, perhaps July as a stretch.

So I was shocked beyond belief when I received an email from the FS Registrar inviting me to the May 21st class of Foreign Service Officers, informally known as A-100. I had just got off a red-eye flight from a lovely weekend in Seattle, so it took a couple of days just to absorb the fact that I had been invited, and a couple more to confirm that, yes, I did want to accept. But, I did send off my acceptance. So it's official, I will be starting my career with the Foreign Service in about 2.5 months.

I will have to go into the details of A-100 another time, but the short story is that on May 21st I start the A-100 class, which is about 6-weeks long. Around week 4 you find out where your first country posting will be, which determines what additional training you will need. Most new FSOs then spend another 4-6 months in D.C. in various skill and language training before shipping off to their new homes and their first tours. So my official timeline, updated on the left, ends up leaving my about 1 week shy of year between taking the written test and starting A-100, warp-speed in State Department terms.

Stay tuned.

Lake Wenatchee in Washington State- days before learning that I would soon be a new FSO. 

How a tweet got me to the White House (or This is What Democracy Looks Like)

This post is long overdue, but still something worth sharing.

Sometimes living in D.C. gets a little surreal. I've already covered my activities around Christmas, where I got to enjoy a couple Embassy parties and sit up near the front for the National Christmas Tree lighting. No biggie, just the norm around these parts. This past year I've also been lucky enough to eat Presidentially-Sealed cake and personally meet the Secretary of the Interior and other high level officials across the government. While there are plenty of downsides to living "inside the beltway," these brushes with importance are fun perks.

Topping off all of my brushes with power experience was a random invitation received a couple of weeks ago. After following @Whitehouse on Twitter and contributing a tweet to the President's social media blitz on the payroll tax cut debate, I was invited to the White House (well, technically the Eisenhower Executive Office Building) to attend an address by the President on the issue. Having watched every single episode of West Wing over a period of several months after arriving in D.C., hearing that announcement "Please Stand for the President of the United States of America" was pretty thrilling. The speech itself was memorable for it's strong stand for equity, but also for his opening line acknowledging the day  - "Obama offers Valentines Day Advice."

The President of the United States of America

My seat, pretty close if you ask me

The day after my visit to the White House, my parents arrived for a visit from Washington State, and as a good host/daughter I had arranged all sorts of activities for us to do while they were in town. While I decided to take that Friday off of work, Thursday I still had a lot to do, so I sent them over to do the standard White House tour, which I had done with my mom a few years prior. As I was sitting at my desk, diligently working on some memo or another while occasionally scanning my twitter feed for interesting updates (see above for why twitter is a good idea) I saw a news flash that the First Lady was surprising White House guests at that very moment. And they were live-streaming it on whitehouse.gov! So I tuned in to watch as Michelle Obama and the dog Bo greeted visitors. I wasn't sure if I had missed my family going through, but sure enough, about 8 minutes in there they were, live, meeting the first lady and the first dog! You can see the press release and whole video here - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/16/first-lady-michelle-obama-surprises-white-house-visitors. 

Read and Mom get to meet Michelle and Bo Obama at White House. 

So it was a great week for me and my family to get up and personal with the Commander in Chief and his family!

A Quick February Update

So much for good intentions of updating multiple times a week, let along a few times a month. I guess when life gets into stasis mode it's hard to find interesting things to write about, and I don't even have many pictures to post because I haven't made it out of DC much in the last month plus. So enjoy an abstract image that I took during many daily walk. However, I now realize that there are probably people out there beyond my friends and family who are reading, looking for insight into the mysterious foreign service process, so now I have some external pressure to keep updating.

I continue to monitor my status on the Foreign Service econ register, which seems to be moving much more quickly than I would have predicted. I've moved up about 10 spots since going on the list back in December, which I assume is due to people expiring off the register as well as the two classes of FSOs that have taken place in the mean time. And while I obviously don't know the inner workings of the system, it seems there are a number of folks expiring off the register and less people being added. Predicted constraints on hiring may be leading to less invitations to the oral exam in the coming months, that trend may continue.

I've also been trying to concentrate on Russian studying, though I think there is a fairly decent chance that I would get called eventually without the language points, but probably not for over a year or so. The great thing is that I'm perfectly happy in my current life and can afford the time to figure a few things out before having to make the final decision on joining the foreign service.

The year of the apocalypse

The Potomac at sunset on New Years Day, 2012.

I can't believe it's 2012. Back in my Peace Corps days, circa 2007, I had a conversation with my site-mate about the Maya calendar and the coming end of the long-count calendar. Or as the rest of the world has now come to know it, THE END OF THE WORLD. We discussed coming back to our tiny Maya village in December 2012 to celebrate the impending apocalypse from the top of one our local pyramids, but 2012 seemed so far away, and neither of us could have imagined what life would look like in 2012.

Here's hoping I won't need an emergency exit in 2012

Five years later, my former PC site-mate and I have ditched our chacos (and chaco tans) for the fast-paced D.C. life. He as a press secretary for a Senator on Capitol Hill and me as a policy analyst in the Executive branch. We often talk about how far we've come, but it's even more exciting to think about, on this second day of the year, where we might go from here. I really don't do New Year's resolutions, but I do like to set generally high expectations for myself for the coming year, and this one is no exception.

So in 2012, despite the impending doom, I am optimistic and full of hope that things will fall into place just as they are supposed to do. I will be a student again, intent on learning a new language not just because it has the potential to alter my job path (though that's great motivation), but because I enjoy learning for the sake of learning. And with any luck, I may get to start a new career. Though if at the end of 2012 I'm still where I'm at right now, I would still count myself as fortunate. I don't know if I will make it down to Belize to sit on a temple next December, but I do hope to travel to a new place or two. And I'm sure I'll continue to have great adventures with my amazing friends.

This new year was kicked off by a hike at Great Falls Park, a beautiful spot on the Potomac River just outside of the District. The weather wavered between clear skies and rain, but scrambling over the rocks along the raging river was still a perfect break from city life. Even when it started raining pretty hard, other hikers were still smiling and happy to be outside, reminding me of the Seattle rain smile, the knowing silent exchange between walkers/bikers/hikers in the PNW that happens when both parties are soaking wet but still happy to be in the great outdoors. Our walk was rewarded when we reached the Great Falls viewing platform right before sunset, the sky to the west exploding in pinks, reds, and violets, and a rainbow forming to the east. If there ever was a good oman for a new year, this was it. I can't imagine anything more spectacular.

Walking along the C&O canal

Potomac river near Great Falls

Sunset, looking from Maryland to Virginia at Great Falls