V for VonHinken

Swearing in

melissa — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:39:59 +0000

Yesterday afternoon, I, along with my 91 classmate colleagues, said the following:

I, Melissa VonHinken, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Dad tells me that this is the same oath that military officers use. This doesn’t surprise me, since Foreign Service Officers are just that, commissioned officers of the United States of America. Which is really really awesome.

Much more awesome than our fantastic dinner at Founding Farmers last night – and that was pretty amazing too!

Flag Day!

melissa — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:21:50 +0000

You may be wondering why I’m blogging at 11pm on Friday, instead out celebrating or…well…sleeping (I am pretty tired). The simple explanation is that I’m waiting for State’s online HR system to come back online from scheduled maintenance so I can look at the summer bid list.
Imaginary conversation between me and you (because I like to put words in your mouth)
You: Huh? But today was Flag Day, didn’t you get your assignment?
Me: I did – and it’s AWESOME!
You: Then why do you need to look at the summer bid list (FS types probably already know the answer to this question)
Me: Oh, because I’ll be working at Main State for the next year!
You: Buh-but…you’re in the FOREIGN Service. Why are you going to stay here in DC? And why are you so excited about it?
Me: There are sooooo many reasons. First, I’m really excited about the office I’ll be working in. I’m going to be a Special Assistant in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs. I’ve already met some of the people I’ll be working with, and everyone seems very smart and nice. I should make a lot of really great contacts and learn a lot about the Consular Bureau before I go off and do consular work abroad. Second, it works perfectly with each of our preferences. Depending on when we leave for the next post we won’t have to pay back any tuition at all! We’ll also get to go to Alin and Christina’s wedding in Hawaii this winter – that probably wouldn’t have been possible if I were in language training. Ooooh, I just realized that I might get to work the election again this November. Yay!
You: Wow, that sounds really awesome!
Me: Yes! Chad and I are really excited. Now if only the HR website would finish its maintenance early so we can take a look at that bid list…siiiigh

“The Woods”

melissa — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:45:17 +0000

is the overnight offsite leadership development and team building training for A-100.
is out in West Virginia.
is not about trust falls and high ropes courses.
is about learning about how teams evolve and interact.
is about working together as a team.
is about learning from our experiences.

was challenging.
was thought provoking.
was a great bonding experience.
was quite hilarious at times.
was a valuable and worthwhile experience.

Preferences

melissa — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:19:02 +0000

I’ve already written about The Bid List, the magical inventory of all of the amazing places we may spend the next couple of years. As a brand new hire, I need to bid on every post. So on Tuesday morning (Monday evening), I’ll send in my bid list with with each post ranked high, medium, or low. However, how I rank the list is not the only thing our Career Development Officers (CDOs) take into consideration when making our assignments. They tell us that our stated preferences are more important than our bid list ranking. Since they’re so important, I thought I would share them with you.

1. Timing: Chad will finish his classwork in December, and ‘walk the lawn’ in May. His employer Avaya currently pays his tuition, and their policy is that if he leaves before 12 months after submitting his grades, then we have to pay them back for the class. If we leave before June 2011, we’ll have to pay back all 2010 tuition. If we leave after June, we’ll only have to refund them half. So we would like to leave after June 2011.

2. Position: I’m a Consular officer. One who just realized that I haven’t written about the different career tracks yet – I’ll do that soon. Anyway, I would like to work in my career track for my first tour, then get some experience in the other ‘cones’ later on.

3. Work for Chad: We would really prefer that there be opportunities for Chad to work if he decides that’s what he wants.

So there you have it, our reasoning behind why some very cool sounding posts will be ranked low instead of high, and some posts will be ranked high or medium instead of low, regardless of how my Mom would like me to bid :-)

Hello Bid List

melissa — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:43:08 +0000

The following post [would be] tiger approved*

The worst part about last night was waiting for Chad to get home so we could talk about the bid list. We are both sooo excited because a full third of the list meets our time frame. Also, there are some really awesome jobs and places on here. Right now, I’d have to say that [REDACTED]** is my top choice, although [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] are very close behind. Honestly though, there are two posts in [REDACTED] that I’m really rather interested in. Chad and I need to discuss that first, before we can make it a high.

I called my mom right after I ate dinner, and she was especially excited about the prospect of a post in [REDACTED]. There were a lot of oohs and ahh’s over several posts, including: [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].

I’ve got to say, I’m really looking forward to discussing our preferences with the career development officers, submitting our bid list, and waiting (some more) until flag day. Keep your fingers crossed that we get to go to [REDACTED]!

*That is, if I had sent it to any tigers to approve…
**This list was SELF redacted

New Links Page

melissa — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:25:45 +0000

First: I am soooo tired, I think that I will go to bed as soon as I finish this post. I don’t know if it’s all of the excitement of meeting so many awesome new people (I still haven’t met everyone), or if it’s that I’m getting up an hour earlier than usual, or if it’s just that I feel like I have to be ON all of the time right now, but I’m exhausted. Actually, scratch that, I figured it out. I’ve heard people say that the class is called A-100 because that was the number to the original classroom. That is a red herring. A-100 actually indicates the number of lines that one must stand in before our official swearing in. Ah well, standing in line is a great way to meet people – who you then bond with by talking about how much you stand in line. I am having a fantastic time in class, but it still feels a little bit unreal. I guess I should face the fact that since they didn’t turn me away at the door yesterday, I’m officially in!

Anyway, back to the point of this post, which is links. Lots and lots of links to different Foreign Service Related websites. As was established in last Friday’s RoundUp, I am a little crazy. One of the recent manifestations of my tendency to sometimes bite off more than I can chew is the new FS Links Page, which you should go and check out once you’re done reading this post.

“But Melissa,” you say, “why should we wait?” That is an excellent question, gentle reader. You should first read my plea for your assistance.

Are you still here? Awesome.

I know myself well enough to know that there is no way I can keep this page up to date without some help. I haven’t even finished adding all of the Foreign Service Blogs, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do that. However, towards the bottom of the links page is a small form where people (maybe even you!) can submit a website or blog that I’ve missed or haven’t gotten to yet. I will also appreciate any comments at the end of the page that provide updates to links.

I absolutely welcome feedback on the links page. I wasn’t 100% certain about how I wanted to categorize links or lay out the page. Any helpful suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks! Now go check out the FS Links Page!

Long and Winding Road

melissa — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:45:21 +0000

By the magic of the Internet, I can post an update right as I’m starting my A-100 training as an Entry Level Officer (ELO) in the Foreign Service (I actually wrote this a while back). It’s taken a loooong time to get to this date, and I thought some people might be interested to know just how long it’s taken me to get here – especially others who have had, or are in, a long candidacy. So here are my stats.

May 28, 2008 – Register for the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)
July 17, 2008 – Took the FSOT (written)
August 8, 2008 – Received notification of passing the Written Test
December 8, 2008 – Received notification of passing the QEP, and invitation to the Oral Assessment
December 15, 2008 – Register for the Oral Assessment (FSOA)
March 2, 2009 – Took the FSOA – and PASSED
May 12, 2009 – Received Medical Clearance
November 9, 2009 – Received Security Clearance
November 20, 2009 – Placed on the Consular Register
May 11, 2010 – Took Hebrew Language Phone test (PASSED)
May 26, 2010 – Received and accepted offer for August A-100
August 2, 2010 – Beginning training as a Foreign Service Officer

This was my second candidacy (the first one was a bit…short lived), and it took a long time. Thanks to timeanddate.com, I can tell you exactly how long: 2 years, 2 months, and 6 days since I registered for the FSOT (or 797 days). The only thing I can think that would have cut that time was if I had taken the Hebrew test sooner, or if my security clearance had taken less than 9 months.

So if you’re in the middle of the long wait, take heart – there may be a light at the end of the tunnel after all.

State Department Weekly Blog RoundUp!

melissa — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:25:11 +0000

So, I know the reasons why I decided to volunteer to host the Friday RoundUp (1. I’m crazy, 2. I’ve got a couple of days off, 3. I’m crazy), but I didn’t realize how daunting it can be. I definitely don’t read every FS blog out there, but when I sat down last night to start working on this post, there were over 95 articles in my reader (and it isn’t even FRIDAY yet!), waiting for me to sort them for this post. Here goes nothing!

Photos
One of the MANY cool things about life in the Foreign Service is that we get so many opportunities to go to amazing places and take some really cool pictures. Click on any of the photos to go to their source post.

First up, TwoCrabs has some great pictures from their first month in Bahrain.

Just a few countries away in Wadi Musa, Jordan, Whale Ears visited my favorite ruins in Petra, and got the classic Indian Jones shot!

Next, Our Serbian Story took another visit to Sarajevo and took some beautiful pictures

Diplomat and Cat visited the Gila Forest National Park, which is 4 hours away from Juarez (GPS lies!)

Kolbi from A Daring Adventure took some fantastic pictures right here in DC of the Boy Scout Parade

BH Neely’s garden photography just says summer, like only squash and tomatoes on the vine can

Finally, For Lack of Tacos continues to make me hungry with pictures like these

Back at the Office… (*sigh*)
The big news this week is the closing of the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez for today.

The U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez is closed on July 30, 2010 to review its security posture. American citizens are advised avoid the area around the Consulate General until it reopens. Authorities are investigating the situation.
The Consulate General has cancelled all scheduled appointments and services for Friday, July 30. As soon as we can reopen we will inform the public by a warden notice and posting on our web page.

Stay safe everyone!

Diplopundit delves into the FAM about OpSec and Social Media. Ladies and gentleman, please make sure to unfriend any Russian Spies you may know, because we all have too many online contacts for one RSO to comb through on his or her own. Squishy gray territory folks!

I learned a new word from SassAndSweet: Craplicants. As in, those visa applicants who make it very difficult to find one’s Zen.

In DC, Michele, who thinks that Facts are Strictly Optional, describes the stresses of Washington meetings and the perils European chocolate.

Back at FSI, Interloper is hard at work on Portuguese, EPH-OH the cat herder had her first non-FSI Spanish conversation, and hoyzhou and the rest of the 153rd A-100 were added to the Congressional Record, which is very very cool.

Consul at Arms reminds us (especially Consular Officers), that summertime=more tourists=more Americans who may need us. However, as much as we wish for one, there is no standard issue magic wand that can fix all of our constituents troubles.

In the same vein, Digger from Life After Jerusalem would like to echo Charles Silver, and remind everyone that PD does NOT stand for pixie dust. Hopefully the new Deputy Assistant Secretaries (DAS) will help those at the policy table keep that thought in mind.

Digger also gives us an excellent example of how not to behave if you want to a.) enhance your corridor reputation, b.)act like a diplomat, c.)demonstrate some tact and class. I have to admit, I’m a bit appalled.

Finally, The Skeptical Bureaucrat reminds us that Tuesday was the 221st birthday of the State Department. Happy birthday DoS, and congratulations on your 200th anniversary of being able to drink legally (~~as long as we forget about prohibition~~DOH!).

Life at Home and Abroad

Despite the closing, Diplomat and Cat are settling into life in Ciudad Juárez, which includes getting some help around the house and various trips to Home Depot, while Bryn from Simmons Says had a great time at a local baseball game, and You Can Call Me Al experienced the joys of shopping in Chetumal, where the dairy selection is much more varied than he can find in Belmopan. On the other side of the world, the 2 Crabs are experiencing a month of firsts in Bahrain. In his first month, Mr. Crab wrote and sent his first diplomatic cable, and paid $25 per person to see “Inception” in a movie in a “VIP” cinema. The list goes on and on, and the pictures are great – go take a look!

Meanwhile, Masha from Where to Next discovered chocolate made just for men. I would like her to know that there is also Pocky: Men’s Chocolate.

Back here in DC, The Diplodocus is dealing with the stress of adjusting back to a DC post, but being able to stand up for your best friend at his wedding is a great big bonus.

Chela of The Más Allá, like many of us, is pondering the challenges of raising third culture kids, and pointed to a great article in the recent Foreign Service Journal: “I Am a Girl“. I also recommend reading it.

Over in The Consuls’ Files, Madam muses on the urge to write about our experiences, and the various hurdles to actually putting pen to paper, tape in the typewriter, or just sitting down at the computer and writing. While none of us may ever make it as novelist, at least we can express ourselves by writing in our blogs.

Changes

Summer isn’t over yet, which means people are still packing out and getting on their way to the next stop in their journey’s.

I’ll get the toughest change of the week out of the way. The Dinoia Family is going through the rough transition of an unaccompanied tour. Luckily, the Foreign Service Family has a great support system (especially online), and Jen appreciates everyone’s kindness.

Jill of The Perlman Update is about a week ahead of Jen for her family’s unaccompanied tour, and is doing fine. I’m looking forward to reading of her adventures at BlogHer and seeing more of her benefits of blogging.

David, who is NOT just a government acronym, shares his air-frieght-nightmares, Dave P won some victories in his last week in the US, and Cyberbones is heading to Kentucky for some real sweet tea before heading to Malawi. Meanwhile, Sunny at Fabling is all packed up, which means that her three year old daughter couldn’t have a proper tea party, but hey – only 2 more days to go! The Richardsons are saying farewell to Serbia, and the ball is rolling for the folks at Mobile Home, their next blog post will be from Manila! Katie, the Rock Star in Dhaka is about to embark on a massive road trip, as is Kolbi from A Daring Adventure, who enlisted the help of her husband, Fits Crap in Minivan (yes, it must be bolded), to pack everything up to go back to Texas for their official move. The logistics of which are mind boggling. Donna’s Email From the Embassy is a must read as always, and details a crazy tally of the cost of home leave.

I’m not the only person who had a last day of work this week, Short Term Memory contemplates then end of 5 years of Mondays. She got a goodbye piñata (which is very very cool), hopefully it was a piñata of a fax machine and she went Office Space on it (probably not, but I can dream!).

Finally, Chris from Foreign Service Specialist has some wonderful words of encouragement those making the transition into the Foreign Service. Thanks!

Waiting

Another constant theme of the Foreign Service is the wait. And the other wait, and the next wait and the last wait and the hurry up and wait. I’m sure I’m missing a few species in there. Ah well.

SassAndSweet is getting restless while playing the waiting game with bid lists right now, but it doesn’t look like Pakistan is in her future, so she’s choosing between the Middle East and Latin America. Both regions have sunny climes and great food, so it’s win-win either way!

Nick and Liz also got their bid list, and their deliberations about posts and their careers are beginning.

The German language has over taken the home of I’ll Take Mine. Her husband’s phone test is next week. Good luck!

Incoming A-100
Hey – that’s us! The [insert clever adverb] 155th A-100 class starts on Monday, and I can hardly wait to meet more of my classmates.

Leslie at Destination Diplomacy has been road-tripping across the country, and provided a handy A-100 FAQ for friends and family who are still asking these sorts of questions.

The Diplomatic Mama is prepping for their move from NYC to Ballston, and is quite naturally concerned about the effect of all moves on her son. I’m sure she’d appreciate some words of wisdom from those of you who’ve been through this with their kids. As and aside, this military brat thinks that he’ll be fine – kids amazingly resilient.

Brooke and Max from The World That We Live In have finished their first pack-out and are heading to DC!

Wow, that was a bit intense, I think I read through over 100 blog posts to figure out what to include today – it’s a good thing I had the day off . I’ll see you all next week when I’m finally an official Foreign Service Officer!

Updates and a Request for Help

melissa — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:29:14 +0000

I’ve been home from Las Vegas for well over 24 hours now, and I thought I had decompressed enough from the trip to take a look at the blogs I follow on my reader (which I didn’t have time to read while I was out there). I’m almost ready to look through my Foreign Service blogs, but there are over 130 unread articles in that folder and I’m a little intimidated. That’s a little more than a weeks worth of blog updates that I need to go through, which just reminds me that I’ve volunteered for this Friday’s State Department Weekly Blog Roundup, which I know is going to a whole lot of work, but definitely worth it. However, since I’m certain that there were more than 130 State related blog posts out there last week, I’m therefore pretty sure that I’m missing somethings. Therefore, I’m asking for help.

Please please please nominate your favorite State department related posts from July 24 -July 30 in the comments below so I can include them in this Friday’s round up. If you want to take a look at last week, just visit Hannah at the slow move east.

Now, for a quick Vegas recap. I don’t really like Las Vegas. I was there for almost a full week with the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo and that was about 5 days too long. I don’t like how over priced everything is, I dislike being forced to walk through a noisy casino to get anywhere, I HATE that traces of stale cigarette smoke are everywhere, and I absolutely did not like how thin the walls of my room were.

However, there were a few things that made such a long stay in Las Vegas bearable. There were some definitely perks involved with being part of the company that brought over 3,000 people to Caesar’s Palace for four days:
1. Limo service to and from the airport (thanks George!)
2. Dinner at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill (I don’t really care for the man’s ego, but the food was excellent)
3. Diamond Cards that gave us access to the Spa (wonderful!) and the Diamond Lounge

Other things I like about Las Vegas:

The outlets (thanks Mom and Dad for the new suit!)

The water show at the Bellagio is really beautiful at night

It was really really great to spend some non-working time with my awesome coworkers at Halfaker & Associates. Wednesday is my last day and I will definitely miss them.

Alexandria Birthday Cannons

melissa — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:50:46 +0000

Yesterday was year three that Chad and I attended the City of Alexandria’s birthday celebration, which I’ve written about before. Every year we enjoy the concert by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (this year’s theme was movie music), the fireworks, and the cannon fire support. However, this year I brought my camera and tripod – not to take pictures of the fireworks, I did that LAST weekend. Yesterday, I wanted to get some shots of the Marines and their cannons – I think I got some pretty good shots too. There are plenty of cannonfire photos in the gallery . This year, however, we decided to skip the cupcakes. The crowd between us and the cupcake tent was just too big.