We've been here for two months now, and until today I've been in relatively generic training (first training for all incoming officers, and now training for new political/economic officers). This afternoon I got a chance to have my first consultations with people who work on Lithuanian issues. I met the person who is called the desk officer (he works in DC and is post's main contact back at State), as well as the person who will be one of my bosses in Vilnius, and a whole bunch of other people. I got to sit in on a briefing from a neighboring country, which was also very cool. Everyone was helpful and made time to explain background information, and also answer my random questions about what I've learned so far. It turns out that during the second half of my time in Lithuania, their president will hold the rotating EU presidency for 6 months. That means lots of work for me, but it will be very exciting. I've got to read up on how the EU works. All I know now is that it's complicated! Today was one of those days where I can't believe that they actually hired me to do this job - it's gonna be awesome!!
I mentioned that I'm in the middle of training for new political/economic officers. I've had to reach back into my somewhat distant memory on macroeconomic topics: GDP, balance of payments, current account deficits... I'm actually expected to report on this stuff! I also practiced giving a "demarche," which is a fancy [French] word for a message from Washington to an official in the host government. I understand that we'll be delivering these messages on a fairly regular basis, and then reporting back on their answer (or lack thereof). For me, this is much easier than public speaking! Speaking of which, I practiced giving another speech today. The feedback was more positive this time, but I still have a bad habit of trailing off at the end of sentences (I do it because I can't seem to decide how to finish the sentence... hum...guess I should work on that).
Some of my classmates are getting ready to leave; several will leave as soon as next month. They are going all over the world with different "portfolios" of work, such as piracy in the Indian Ocean, cultural affairs in the Philippines, consular work in Europe or political/economic issues in Sudan. I'll start training for how to be a consular officer pretty soon - that includes all the regulations related to visas as well as helping American citizens abroad. If you're planning a trip overseas, be sure to check in with the Embassy in that country - in case something happens while you are there (i.e. earthquake in Japan), they will be able to help you get home safely, or alert you to options that are available. Just a plug. :)
No homework tonight, so I guess it's time to watch some Jonny (aka The Daily Show) and then get some rest. More Excel spreadsheets to come tomorrow!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Oath of Office (and the end of the beginning)
Today we took the oath of office in a formal ceremony led by Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg (the second highest position at Dept. of State). The centerpoint of the ceremony is the swearing in, where we use the same oath as Congress. (By the way, at some point, my name will be listed in the Congressional Record when all the members of our class are approved by the Senate - I'll be sure and post a link when that happens!) It is an honor to serve our country and "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." The past six weeks I have heard from so many people in the State Department, all of whom are doing amazing things to promote peace and security around the world.
In the past week, I've been learning bits and pieces about the place we will soon call home. Vilnius is referred to as the last great undiscovered city in Europe. Old town is evidently huge and parts of it were built 5 or more centuries ago. They have about 3.5 million people in a country roughly the size of West Virginia. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, although they don't use the Euro. I understand winters are particularly cold, but I'm sure that J will enjoy them, and we will enjoy having visitors in the summer! Lithuanian is actually the last living Indo-European language and was derived from Sanskrit (a dead language). It uses a modified Roman alphabet (similar to English, French, Italian, etc) not Cyrillic, which is what I learned for Russian. I'm going to a small post, meaning we'll get to know everyone well and I'll have a chance to work on all sorts of things going on at the Embassy. I'm also excited about how easy travel around the rest of Europe should be. Once we get into language training in September, I'll have a lot more to share with you.
I feel like we just got here, and yet everything changes again on Monday. I start training on how to be a political/econ officer, and in June I learn what it takes to be a consular officer (evidently, an in-depth knowledge of regulations!) I'll still be with about 30 of my classmates on Monday, but at least we will have a little more elbow room!
J and I are headed out for dinner to celebrate tonight. Tomorrow morning I'm running my first 5k, and next week I may sign up for a 10 mile run in the fall (heck, we'll be here a while, you know...).
Miss you all - talk to you soon!
In the past week, I've been learning bits and pieces about the place we will soon call home. Vilnius is referred to as the last great undiscovered city in Europe. Old town is evidently huge and parts of it were built 5 or more centuries ago. They have about 3.5 million people in a country roughly the size of West Virginia. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, although they don't use the Euro. I understand winters are particularly cold, but I'm sure that J will enjoy them, and we will enjoy having visitors in the summer! Lithuanian is actually the last living Indo-European language and was derived from Sanskrit (a dead language). It uses a modified Roman alphabet (similar to English, French, Italian, etc) not Cyrillic, which is what I learned for Russian. I'm going to a small post, meaning we'll get to know everyone well and I'll have a chance to work on all sorts of things going on at the Embassy. I'm also excited about how easy travel around the rest of Europe should be. Once we get into language training in September, I'll have a lot more to share with you.
I feel like we just got here, and yet everything changes again on Monday. I start training on how to be a political/econ officer, and in June I learn what it takes to be a consular officer (evidently, an in-depth knowledge of regulations!) I'll still be with about 30 of my classmates on Monday, but at least we will have a little more elbow room!
J and I are headed out for dinner to celebrate tonight. Tomorrow morning I'm running my first 5k, and next week I may sign up for a 10 mile run in the fall (heck, we'll be here a while, you know...).
Miss you all - talk to you soon!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Vilnius, Lithuania here we come!
Friday was Flag Day! The ceremony was surprisingly informal; after a couple of minutes of introductions, they jumped right into listing off 89 locations and handing out 89 flags. We shouted out each country's name when it's flag flashed up on the screen (at least those we knew). When Lithuania flashed up (three bars: yellow, green and red), no one recognized it. J didn't even hear the name of the country, so when I jumped up beaming, took my flag, and smiled for our posed photo with the ambassador, J didn't know whether to be happy or not. It took a few minutes of asking other spouses sitting around him to find out where we'll be going!
Needless to say, we're quite excited to be going to a Baltic state in Eastern Europe. Before we go, though, I need a lot more training. I'll get about 2 months of "tradecraft" training in Consular and Political/Economic work. Then, to fill the time, I'll be working on a country desk (which one is not clear to me at the moment because I have not learned enough acronyms - I'll have to ask about that on Monday!) for about 2 months, and then finally spend 6 months learning Lithuanian. I knew I wanted to learn more languages than Russian, I just didn't expect to be learning another one before I solidified my Russian speaking ability. It's good to be flexible in this job!
In the mean time, we'll be staying in the DC area until March of next year. So... give us a holler if you've always wanted to come to DC. Now you have an excuse!
Last week was jam packed with things to do so that we stayed busy. On Wednesday, we had two diplomatic receptions back-to-back. I got to chat with some VIPs and retired VIPs. The receptions are good practice, but I was worn out by the end of the day (must buy more comfortable shoes!).
Today I took a self-defense class - something I've been meaning to do for years. This one was just an introduction, although I'm not sure I'm going to take the full 5 week course. I think it was helpful, but a little short on moves. Nonetheless, having practice defending myself seems like a good thing for "muscle memory" in case I ever need to do it in real life. J made me promise to take a CPR class, too. Classes, classes... ;)
My last week of orientation starts tomorrow, and then I jump into another 10 months of more specific training. Time has flown by - I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and being able to call this place 'home' for a while.
Coming up: 5k race with a friend on Saturday! We're even talking about running a 10 mile race this fall! Have a good week, and don't be a stranger - email/call/check in!
Needless to say, we're quite excited to be going to a Baltic state in Eastern Europe. Before we go, though, I need a lot more training. I'll get about 2 months of "tradecraft" training in Consular and Political/Economic work. Then, to fill the time, I'll be working on a country desk (which one is not clear to me at the moment because I have not learned enough acronyms - I'll have to ask about that on Monday!) for about 2 months, and then finally spend 6 months learning Lithuanian. I knew I wanted to learn more languages than Russian, I just didn't expect to be learning another one before I solidified my Russian speaking ability. It's good to be flexible in this job!
In the mean time, we'll be staying in the DC area until March of next year. So... give us a holler if you've always wanted to come to DC. Now you have an excuse!
Last week was jam packed with things to do so that we stayed busy. On Wednesday, we had two diplomatic receptions back-to-back. I got to chat with some VIPs and retired VIPs. The receptions are good practice, but I was worn out by the end of the day (must buy more comfortable shoes!).
Today I took a self-defense class - something I've been meaning to do for years. This one was just an introduction, although I'm not sure I'm going to take the full 5 week course. I think it was helpful, but a little short on moves. Nonetheless, having practice defending myself seems like a good thing for "muscle memory" in case I ever need to do it in real life. J made me promise to take a CPR class, too. Classes, classes... ;)
My last week of orientation starts tomorrow, and then I jump into another 10 months of more specific training. Time has flown by - I'm looking forward to getting into a routine and being able to call this place 'home' for a while.
Coming up: 5k race with a friend on Saturday! We're even talking about running a 10 mile race this fall! Have a good week, and don't be a stranger - email/call/check in!
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