Rain.

It's been raining for weeks here in NYC. We had a huge storm 3 weeks ago that knocked out power, caused trees to fall on homes and elsewhere, and flooded our basement for the first time in the 3 years we've lived here. Then it rained about a week later and again this week. Lots of rain. Lots of water in the basement. Ugh.

As I sludged home yesterday, I found myself thinking about what monsoon season must be like for people who live in certain countries. I had to go look it up on Wikipedia and learned that it's quite widespread- of course I've only ever heard about it related to India and Bangladesh. I'm curious what it's like for FSOs in these countries. 

And as I pumped water from the basement, I found myself thinking that if (when?) we move abroad, we will have so many issues to deal with that we don't right now in the land of plenty. Sure, maybe water in the basement will be someone else's responsibility. But I'll have bug infestations or intense weather patterns and certainly difficulty doing the most basic tasks that we take for granted here. I am amused that my one-track mind turns everything back to the Foreign Service. And I still want to join! Because living abroad is intense and exhilarating in a way that regular U.S. life just never is. And I love that intensity of experience. 

FS Kids and Multilingualism

Before I started pursuing the FS, I assumed that FS children are of course multilingual, since they live abroad for most of their lives. Then I started learning more, and now I'm wondering.

I learned that most families send their children to English speaking schools, since their schooling would be seriously disrupted if they attended a school in a new local language every 2 years. So I would assume most of the children's friends are also English speakers. And if you are living in a country for 2 years, speaking English at school and home, this doesn't allow a lot of time/opportunity to become fluent in the local language. I have also learned that it can be difficult in some countries for State dept children to attend school with the local elite's children, as they are often quite wealthy and elitist and may not be friendly to my children.

That's about all I know. If anyone is reading this, I'd love to hear more about your children and language acquisition. 

It's really important to me that my children speak at least one other language, and hopefully more. I've done a lot of research on raising multilingual kids, and I know that I will have to be aggressive in finding opportunities for them to learn. Hopefully, if we serve in multiple Spanish speaking countries, that will allow for more time to learn the language. We are also interested in learning Arabic which opens us up to many different postings in the Middle East (of course, I must add my disclaimer: we will go where State sends us!). But I want my children to be truly fluent- in reading, writing, etc. Not just able to carry on a conversation. Any thoughts? How has it worked for your kids? thank you!

Tugging at the heart strings

My son M has been in Spanish speaking childcare since he was 4 mos old. He speaks Spanish willingly there, but has always been quite resistant to my speaking it at home or speaking it with anyone but his caregiver. Now that he's older, I know it frustrates him that he can't communicate as well as he can in English.

Last night, he mentioned something about Spanish, and I asked, "wouldn't it be fun to move to Mexico and speak Spanish every day?" You can guess what he replied: "No. I want to stay here in my house. I don't want to speak Spanish all the time."

Now, I know he'll thank me later about the language, so I don't have issues with that. I think it's too early to tell whether he's a kid who has trouble with transition, although I do think he takes a little time to warm up to new people and situations. But still, it does ache a bit to think of doing this to him every few years. It's one of the worries I'm wrestling with as I contemplate this life.

Security Clearance

Security clearance is in full swing now, which is a little nerve wracking. They want more contacts than the ones I listed originally, in a certain city. Am I the only one who has a limited amount of friends in one place? I can give you 3 more in DC, or a few on the west coast, one in the middle and one in India?? I found 2 more (thank you ladies!) in NYC but the whole thing does intimidate me. The investigator agreed not to contact my current boss, who will surely not take well to the whole "well, I might leave within 6-12 mos but I might not, and I'll probably be able to give you 4 weeks notice but maybe not" idea. I don't really have any friends at work, but I asked two lovely managers who I interact with regularly to be my work references. While it was a little scary to let anyone at work in on my secret, they were both so lovely and encouraging. It was rather heartwarming. So hopefully, my boss doesn't have to know.

At least now things are happening. I have a feeling that after the medical and security parts are done on my end, the waiting thing is going to be hard. Definitely not the first candidate to feel that way, though. Luckily, we are heading into spring and summer in NYC, the best half of the year!!! I love warm weather and long days. My husband might even be back to working M-F, so we'll have two whole weekend days to play! The time will surely fly by, right?

A little about the B family

I first had the idea of starting this blog to help keep family and friends up to date on the FS process and ultimately our new life in whatever country we end up in. But lately I’ve been noticing the community of mostly female State dept bloggers that is connecting across countries and I hope to become a part of that, too. I’m still too chicken to make my blog public, though. It seems too early to introduce it to my family, since we MIGHT get on the register by the fall and it’s only March. And I’m a little afraid of putting myself out there. But I think I will do it. Any day now.

So, a little about me and my family. I work in NYC and live outside the city in a sweet little house that is now worth much less than we paid for it. Enter FS worry number 5 out of 3,139,349 (give or take a few). I’m a healthcare administrator, a job I used to love but no longer do. My current position is unstimulating and unsupportive and I’ve been looking for a new job, closer to home, for more than 2 years. I know I am lucky to have a well-paying job. So many others are suffering so much. But I can’t help feeling frustrated that I can’t seem to change something I want to change. I have a Masters in Public Health and used to absolutely adore working in this field. I will always have a special place in my heart for public health, and plan to volunteer abroad in health related areas, but I don’t have a problem with pursuing a new career field.

My husband D works in television and also used to love what he does. But lately he finds it frustrating and doesn’t see himself doing it forever. I never thought this would happen 7 mos ago, but he is now totally excited about becoming an economic officer. He takes his OA in a few weeks. I am on pins and needles. On the one hand, having gone through the OA myself, I don’t think it’s insurmountable anymore. If he doesn’t make it this year, he can try again and will surely make it the next time. But on the other hand, I so want him to make it, for his own pride and self-confidence and so we can do this together. So you know, we’ll see.

But let’s get to one of my favorite subjects: my delectable children. I realized today that I love playing with L, my almost 2yo girl, just a teensy bit more than M, my almost 4yo boy, because playing with L just involves her sitting on me or snuggling me and me being able to kiss her over and over again and tickle her and have her shriek, “Oh, that tick-le!”. Oh she is just the yummiest baby girl ever. Playing with M involves Thomas the tank engine and friends….yes, I bet you know Thomas if you have boys at all because apparently he’s been around for like 30 years. And we have been playing with trains for 3 years, ever since M was about 1. Which is a long time. Currently he’s obsessed with James so the game involves James pulling different freight cars and us having discussions and trades. Fun stuff, I’m telling you. He’s not yet 4, so I still do get to kiss and hug him a fair amount, especially when he sing-songs, “snuggle time for mama, snuggle time for mama!” but it’s not quite as much as it used to be. Yes, we’re a snuggling family. And I’m coming to the realization that my snuggling access will probably decrease as the kids get older. No fair. I do love both of their ages, though. It’s nice to actually have conversations with M and be able to explain things to him. And L is just exploding with cute expressions and new words (yesterday, she spotted a cat across the yard through the window. “Look, a kitten! Bye bye, kitten! See’y soon! Have good day!”).

Ok. This is probably enough for one day. I do have work to do.

Dreaming of far away places

One of my favorite things to do as I walk between work and the subway is daydream about possible posts. Some are dream posts that we most likely will not bid on right away, even if they are available. Some of the countries that call to me, for various reasons, are Croatia, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Bahamas, Norway, Italy, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Brazil, Mongolia, Mozambique, and so many more. Now before you chime in to tell me x country is a terrible post for families, let me just say that I have not done my research on all of these. FSOs know that some places are great to visit but difficult to live in, so the above list may include some of those.

Those of you who know me know that I have a real passion for Latin America. My children have been in Spanish-speaking daycare since infancy. They are familiar with the language, culture, and food. I speak Spanish pretty well (I would probably need training, but hopefully not a full course) and it’s the only language my husband has a few words in. AND, it’s close to the USA. So my hope is that our first post will be in Spanish speaking Latin America. I think it would be the easiest transition for all of us, especially the kids. It would solidify their language, especially since we would hope to do our second tour in a Spanish speaking country too. This is because State only teaches you one language before you get tenure, so if D gets Spanish training, we would not be eligible to learn another language for our second tour. So that leaves English (India, Nigeria, southern Africa, Caribbean, etc) or Spanish.

There are few posts I wouldn’t be excited about in Latin America. I love Mexico, having married and vacationed there many times. I will probably think twice about the border posts, but Guadalajara, Mexico City, etc all sound great to me. And then there are Lima, Guayaquil, Quito, San Salvador, Guatemala City, Montevideo, Asuncion, Bogota, Panama – just a few that excite me.

I should take this moment to mention that just because I hope to be posted in Latin America, doesn’t mean we will! The State dept sends us where we are needed, and if we are tandem (what State calls a couple with both partners serving as FSOs), the possibilities will be fewer. Manila seems likely, as are posts in China and India due to the size of the countries and their U.S. missions.

We just won’t know anything until we get our bid list, which we receive the first week of training. We must rank all the choices on the list as high, medium, or low according to identified preferences (such as wanting to stay together, wanting to learn a certain language, etc). On Flag Day, about 5 weeks in, we find out where we are going!

But for now, I’m going to keep dreaming. I love that the entire world is a possibility! How cool is that!

The Process

The journey to becoming a Foreign Service officer is long, with many steps to follow and lots of waiting. Here's a brief overview:

FSOT: The Foreign Service Officer test, a multiple choice test (with an essay) that I liken to Trivial Pursuit, is the first step.

Personal narratives: After being notified of passing the FSOT, one is invited to submit a series of 5 personal essays that must be short and sweet.

Oral Assessment: Next, a candidate is invited to take the Oral exam, an all-day interview offered in DC and a few other cities. The OA consists of 3 parts: the group exercise, the case management exercise, and the structured interview. At some point, I might have the energy to recap these three parts, but not now. A candidate receives the news that same day whether she passes or not. A score of 5.3 must be obtained in order to pass.

Medical clearance: FSOs must be physically fit to serve around the world. I am undergoing this part now.

Security clearance: FSOs receive top secret security clearances so a thorough investigation is conducted. This part is also underway now.

Final Suitability: After a candidate passes medical and security clearance, her file goes to final suitability for one last review.

Register: A candidate who passes all the previous areas is put on the register of available candidates for her chosen track. I hope to be added to the Consular register by this fall. Candidates are added to the register according to their OA score, plus any bonus points earned from being a veteran or speaking a language well.

Offer: The final step is to receive "the call", aka an offer to begin training, or 'A100' class. There are approximately 8-10 A100 classes during a year, with anywhere from 80-98 FSOs. Lately, the classes have been large because of a hiring push. We hope they stay that way. The call usually comes 4-6 weeks before class, so there is a mad rush to get organized and move to DC. People are called based on their ranking on the register, so someone with a 5.8 will be invited before a person who received a 5.4 on the OA.

Assignment: An FSO finds out her first post during Flag Day, held on the last week of the 5 week training.

So as you can see, it's a long, long process with many opportunities to get derailed or discouraged. So far, I'm still excited and encouraged by how far I've come, even though my OA score is on the low end (5.4) in an increasingly competitive track. I'm told that this means I might wait a few rounds before being invited to training, but eventually I should get an offer. I do plan to take the Spanish test, which would bump my score to a 5.57 and allow me more reassurance that I will receive an offer. HOWEVER, the test is notoriously tough and even native speakers fail it all the time! I need to get serious about preparing if I want to pass it.

Ok, I think I've jabbered long enough here. That's it for now.

Catch Up

Let's catch everyone up to speed on a few FS things.
There are 5 FS career tracks, or cones. The State Department describes them in this way (http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.html):
* Consular: Consular Officers protect Americans abroad and strengthen U.S. border security.
* Economic: Economic Officers work on economic partnerships and development, support U.S. businesses abroad, and cover environmental, science, technology, and health issues.
* Management: Management Officers run our embassies and make American diplomacy work.
* Political: Political Officers analyze political events.
* Public Diplomacy: Public Diplomacy Officers explain American values and policies.

Basically, Consular officers help Americans in trouble abroad and issue visas. A Con officer spends a lot of time on the visa line, interviewing applicants, using language and cultural knowledge to determine if they are being truthful or not. They say Con officers have the best stories and really get to know the pulse of the country. I love that. I also am attracted to the American citizen (Amcit) work. I used to think about pursuing disaster relief work but couldn't handle the thought of tremendous tragedy, all the time. It sounds like working in ACS (American citizens services) can be tragic and difficult (helping report an Amcit death, visiting Amcits in prison, helping with child abduction cases) but also mundane (helping with lost passports, registering Americans born abroad, etc). I like that variety and love the idea of using my customer service, language, and cultural skills and knowledge to help my fellow citizens. I feel like I will really be able to make a difference to someone who is scared, lost, or helpless. I hope so.

Welcome to the B Files

I've spent the past year obsessively reading Foreign Service (FS) blogs. And now it seems that my own blog is just dying to be created. So here we are.

About a year ago, I was feeling bored at work and took another look at the job description for a Foreign Service Officer (FSO). I've looked before, and always dismissed it because it wasn't public health work. But after 8 years doing health care administration work I have never really loved, this time around, the Foreign Service looked really interesting.

So I told my husband, D, I just wanted to take the written test (the first of many, many steps) to challenge myself. He was very supportive, despite my obsessively working the FS into every conversation over the next 6 mos. He asked, understandably, "what will I do?" My answers included write a screenplay, play with the kids, explore the world, or become an FSO yourself! I was surprised that the latter was what ultimately attracted him.

So here we are! I'm a Consular candidate and he is an Economic candidate.
More about what it all means shortly.