It's great to be back at Oakwood after two years away. For those outside the Foreign Service, let me explain. The State Department contracts with Oakwood to provide temporary furnished apartments for employees in training in the D.C. area. You can also choose to find your own home outside this arrangement, but for us, the camaraderie found here and the ease of logistics (State pays the rent and utilities; we just show up) make it a very attractive option. The kids had a ball last time we were here, and we met a ton of people who became friends and part of our State Dept. network, a very important thing when you are bidding for your next position. Oakwood Falls Church is very popular with young families- the bus stop must have at least 50 kids!- and people help each other out. We just love it here.
Oakwood has been renovating the units over the last few years. The biggest change since we were here last is that a washer and dryer were installed in the unit, although I'm a little bummed they take away from our closet space.
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| The closets are the best feature! Lots of storage |
This time, I remembered to take some pictures before we unpacked all our stuff. If anyone out there is a future FSO wondering about housing during A-100, hope these photos will be helpful. I'm really not sure if anyone is reading anymore (let me know!)!
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| The new bathroom area provides a lot of storage too. |
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| Last time, we were able to fit a crib and toddler bed in this second BR. This one is much smaller, but luckily, we have no need for any addl. furniture! |
14 comments:
I'm a loyal reader...although we don't know each other! I'm on the OMS register and fingers crossed I'll be at Oakwood in January - so thanks for the tour :) I really enjoy your updates and mooch off of your blogroll as you link to a lot of my faves.
You don't know me either but I have been following your blog since back when you were still on the register waiting for "the Call". When I first started following your blog I was on the MNGT Register, however my 18 month window expired without me getting an invitation. I have since passed the OA once more, but that candidacy expired as well. I am currently serving in the Army, but will continue to pursue the FS every year until I get it. Anyway, just wanted to stay that yes, people are still reading! Thanks again for sharing so much of your experiences on here.
Thanks Tracy and Jess for reading and commenting! Glad to know my blog is helpful to some. The google stats don't seem to be correct (for ex, they tell me 20 people read a certain blog post when 30 commented on it!).
Best of luck to both of you. It can be such a hard road to travel but I am here to say that it is really worth it. Jess I love your attitude- I was prepared to keep taking it myself if I didn't pass- and you obviously have what it takes if you have passed the OA twice!! Good luck to you both!
I'm here as well! I've only been pursuing this life for the past 18 mos or so am an currently sitting on two registers (HRO and MGMT). During that time I've gone back and read many FSO/FSS blogs, yours included.
I'm really hoping to receive an invite to the Jan A-100 as I'm #6 right now. I also have two kiddos so loved seeing the pics of Oakwood and being able to send the link to your post to my husband so he knows what to expect. A huge Thank You! Sarah
Great blog! I stumbled upon it for the first time yesterday and have enjoyed reading your posts.
My wife and I are current Peace Corps volunteers in the DR. It shows that you and your family loved your time living here. No doubt China will be equally as fulfilling.
Thanks for your wonderful insight into FS life and for your service to our country. I look forward to reading future posts.
-Greg
Loyal reader here!
Thanks for the sneak peek at the apartments, I have wondered what they looked like. I saw your last post on the Oregon coast, I was actually born in Coos Bay! Although, I think you have probably seen more of Oregon than I have lol. Good luck with language training, I would think that Chinese would be a very difficult language to learn.
Samantha
hi Sarah, so glad this is helpful to you- best of luck and just hang on! B
Greg - great to hear from you! We adopted a few PCVs while we were there and loved hearing from them. It is definitely different being a diplomat and I did miss the PC experience this time in the DR. I will check out your blog and hope you have a great 2 yrs.
Samantha, good to hear from you too! We passed through Coos bay, I think! Small world.
I'm a new reader to your blog and my husband is currently at Oakwood during the training period. We've been discussing bid spots this week, and I wondered if any of your past posts covered some different bid spot reviews? If you could point me in that direction, or I'll just read through your whole blog :). Anyway, my girls and I are coming up to visit next week, so I'm glad to hear it's a fun place for the kids! Can't wait to read more of your blog.
hi Sarah! Welcome to state. We are not really allowed to discuss the bid list online, much to my dismay, so you won't find many posts about bidding. Take a look at my January 2011 posts just about the process, as well as this one on bidding 2nd tour. http://thebfilesblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/bidding-on-our-next-post.html
Have you joined the Trailing houses Facebook group? Any DOS officer or spouse is welcome to join and there is a lot of info there about different posts, in addition to the regular channels. Best of luck!
Hi! I just found your blog. I, too, am a health care administrator giving very serious consideration to pursuing a FSO career. I work in Arlington and have met some great Department of State folks that really have me thinking. One concern is I'm a single mom with 15 and 11 year old daughters. We already love to travel and have traveled internationally. They would be up for just about any adventure, but I'm wondering just how much I can control where I go in the first several years til my youngest is in college. Any thoughts? Thanks! Lisa
hi Lisa! Glad to hear from you. When I was applying, I talked to so many moms and they provided such invaluable information and advice. Hope I can help.
Your concern is the biggest one I had as a mom during my application process. And the truth is that you have to come to terms with the fact that State can send you anywhere for the "needs of the service." Currently, they won't send an FSO to an unaccompanied or adults only post unless you request it, so you don't have to worry about being sent to Pakistan without your daughters. I can't say the policy won't change, but that's the current policy which has been in place for a while I think.
However, there are other less desirable posts where you can take kids, and those are fair game. During A-100 (your orientation), you would receive a list and you would rank each post on that list high, medium, or low. You would have a chance to explain your rationale (why you want to go to certain places and not to others) to your career development officer (CDO). Most people get a high or medium bid, but there are people who get a low bid, and they just have to suck it up and accept the assignment. The great thing about the FS is that one person's dream post is another person's nightmare, but there are still those posts that no one really wants, and yet someone has to go there.
If you get a hardship post for your first tour, you get to bid first on your second tour, and the idea is that you get assigned to a better place (but it doesn't always work that way).
I have found this to be an amazing career and lifestyle so far, but I understand that anxiety when you are looking at this from a mom's perspective. It does take a leap of faith and an interest in exploring the world, not just Western Europe.
If you'd like to talk more, let me know and I'll send you my email address. best of luck!
Just found out I've been invited to orals (first time). Any advice? A little background on me - former military (Czech linguist), female, 50, master's degree, consular cone. Thanks for any input!
hi Erika!
Sorry for the delay. Congratulations on your invite!
My best advice is to join the FSOA yahoo group to learn more about the test, and join a real group to practice the group exercise and interview questions. Also, prepare stories from your life for each of the dimensions so that they come easily during the SI. Let me know how it goes! Good luck!
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