Seventh Week of A-100

Another thing about Flag Day at the end of week six was that, in addition to the flags, we each also got a folder with our training schedule for the remainder of our time at FSI, with things like language training and learning about the specific type of work we'll be doing at post. Although the bid list had listed our Copenhagen job as starting in October and requiring proficiency in Danish, my folder said I'd be leaving in July and didn't include any Danish training. (You should be able to guess that I do not already speak Danish.) In the seventh and final week of the orientation class, I felt like there was not enough time to research the post and answer the burning questions I had, such as the meaning of these apparent changes. I admit I was rather impatient with some of the sessions early in the week. In the end, though, I did get the answers I needed; apparently the language requirement had been waived in order to get me there as early as possible. As a local hire not receiving per diem while in DC, I am pretty much in favor of that decision!

This week had a number of exciting sessions, including meeting with Amb. William Burns, Under-Secretary for Political Affairs. The best, of course, was Friday, when we were formally sworn in by former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger. Seating was alphabetical, which put me pretty much front and center, able to overhear Larry muttering "Oh cut it out" while being praised at length during his introduction. As the only career FSO ever to serve as Secretary, Eagleburger is a hero among professional diplomats. The swearing-in also included the orientation class of Foreign Service Specialists, who work alongside us in the embassies and consulates. It was a big day, with Bongsu and both of my parents in attendance.

After the ceremony Bongsu and I went to pay a short visit to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, where I worked until A-100 started. It was great seeing former colleagues in the Continuing Education office. It was a great working environment, and I think I'm justified in sometims missing ASHA a little bit. I learned that my replacement had been hired (actually, promoted from within another department at ASHA), so things will be back to normal for them soon. I was glad that living in the DC area made it possible for me to continue working there right up until the last week before starting at State, so that the transition time was only a month and a half.

The next day, Saturday, we planned to go shopping with my parents. My dad came to pick us up and then stop back at the hotel to get my mom, but when we went up to their hotel room, it turned out to be a surprise party for us. A bunch of Wessel relatives (some from as far away as Vermont!), more college friends than I had seen at one time in years, and even a couple of A-100 classmates were there. It was a wonderful day. I hope many of those same people will be able to visit us in Copenhagen!

Sixth Week of A-100

This was probably the most difficult week of our Foreign Service Generalist Orientation Course. Not because of language testing (although I did have a tough German exam on Thursday) or trying to keep track of the plethora of information in our classes (although we did have some important meetings this week, including one at the Pentagon and one with the Deputy Secretary of State), but mostly because of the anticipation for Friday, which was "Flag Day"!

I really like the Flag Day tradition. The A-100 class gathers in the gym at FSI, along with many of their spouses, parents, children, friends and others, plus other FSI students who have the free time to attend. All our class coordinators and CDOs are also there, and they get a round of applause. For every post on our final bid list, Amb. Joe Mussomeli, Director of Career Development and Assignments, held up the flag of the country and said a word or two about the particular posting, then called out the name of the person being assigned to that post. There was applause as the winner walked to the front of the room to receive the flag from our class mentor, Amb. Michael Polt (PDAS in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs).

Bongsu and I had prepared a paper showing the flags of all the posts ranked High, Medium-high and Medium on our list. At the beginning of the ceremony, it was announced that no one from our class had received a Low bid, so that meant that Bongsu and my dad (who were in attendance) could be confident that one of the flags on that paper would end up in my hands. It was quite an emotional experience for about the first half of the ceremony, as every now and then one of the flags from the "High" column would come up and go to another classmate.

Eventually they reached the Dannebrog, the flag of the Kingdom of Denmark, for one Consular-Political rotation (meaning that the incumbent works a year in each of those two sections) in Copenhagen. This was one of our top top choices, and one we had talked about at length in the interview with the CDO. When Amb. Mussomeli called my name, Bongsu leapt out of her chair and I had a huge smile as I walked up to receive my flag. Bongsu tried to send a text message to my mom (who was traveling for work and couldn't be there) which ended up as a text saying "Denm" and a second saying "Denmark" (the response was "www").

All in all, a good day!

Fourth & Fifth Weeks of A-100

We keep learning about all kinds of topics. The ones about how foreign policy is made in the interagency process were interesting. Our class continues to ask lots of questions. There are a number of us who ask something at almost every session; I'm afraid I myself end up asking a question at least once or twice a day, although I try not to if I don't think it will be of interest to most other people in th room. The speakers are just so interesting, it's great that we have the opportunity to hear from them!

We also broke out into three sub-classes for some sessions, including a "Composure Under Fire" workshop in which we learned how to field tough questions about U.S. policy, and a "Public Speaking" one in which they recorded us giving a speech on DVD so we can watch ourselves at home and critique what we did well and what we should try to improve. Although those tasks are difficult, I kind of hope that my job will include them, because they can also be an exciting challenge and also, frankly, a lot of fun.

Over the course of A-100 there were four sessions scheduled of "Diplomatic History", but I only attended the third one because I had my Korean, Spanish and German tests scheduled during the others. From what other classmates tell me, the schedulers did a good job of choosing which parts of A-100 I wouldn't mind missing. In any case, my language test scores in all three of those were not high enough to get me off "language probation" (in order to move to the mid-level of the Foreign Service, you need to demonstrate proficiency in at least one foreign language), but my score in each was more than half-way to the required score for that language, meaning even if I get a full course in one language I can still also have a "top-off" course in any of the languages I tested in, even before moving to the mid-level. Without qualifying for a top-off, entry-level officers can only have one language course.