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Oh god today is my last day at my old job and I'm starting at the foreign service orientation class on the 17th and I'm a little worried about it, aagh
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Apr 8, 2016 17:07
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QuackAttackAggie posted:Your first day will be so anticlimactic that all your worry will melt away. Well that's good to know. But I do have to run a half marathon one day before the orientation class, so hopefully I will be alive Oh, I guess the orientation is on Monday the 18th, I said 17th. The 17th is the day I run a half marathon in Florida.
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Apr 9, 2016 15:36
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Yeah, I'm taking a plane from Florida back home to the DC area at like 9 PM on Sunday. Uh, I hope the flight doesn't have any delays or anything. I'll be a computer guy, of course.
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Apr 10, 2016 17:02
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Hungry Hippo posted:IMS here as well, I'll see you around on the 18th (hopefully you make it on time!). What happens if I'm late, anyway? Get fired on the spot?
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Apr 11, 2016 17:09
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Well I signed up for the half marathon before the state department sent me a job offer, so I can't go back on running this half marathon!
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Apr 11, 2016 23:47
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Business of Ferrets posted:Just run your thirteen miles and make it to work on time. This is not some binary choice. That's my plan! Hope it works
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Apr 12, 2016 12:25
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Well I am at the main state building, all ready and waiting with other new hires for orientation. Exciting!
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Apr 18, 2016 12:44
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Well I am a nerdy guy with a goatee that's supposed to resemble Iron Man's
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Apr 19, 2016 12:29
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I'm just hoping to avoid having to take malaria medication for my whole first tour, but I guess four of us will be
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Apr 21, 2016 19:42
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Well, either way, successfully done the first week! Gotta prepare my location bid list with my wife this weekend. I'm glad that this is also my last week of my online classes for my master's degree. Once I pass and get a degree, I can get more money! And won't have to worry about class homework anymore!! I've been doing my final exam during the same week as my first week at this job, agh.
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Apr 23, 2016 13:03
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Flag day is this Tuesday! I'm hopeful! We'll see how it goes, I guess.
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Apr 30, 2016 23:17
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We had Flag Day! It was pretty stressful, they didn't call my name until pretty late. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say or not say on internet forums exactly, but anyway, it's certainly safe to say that both of us new goons successfully got our #1 choices on our lists. Huzzah!
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May 4, 2016 00:55
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Yeah, the last generalist class had like 60 places on their list, all over the map. I'm sure that many of those places would show up on the list of possible places. Of course, the odds of actually GETTING a chosen place are more difficult to guess. That'd depend on a lot of things, like how the rest of the class bids, number of openings, whatever. But, don't expect that security clearance to be fast. For me, it took a little over a year from getting medical clearance to getting my security clearance all finished up and getting invited to an orientation class.
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May 12, 2016 03:39
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From what I've gathered over my few weeks at orientation so far, it sounds like the generalist/specialist divide is a relic of the past, and not really applicable anymore. It sounds like generalists used to more think of themselves as better, but I guess that changed. I think they try to socialize specialists with generalists a bit more during orientation, like the two groups went and had an overnight offsite thing, so everyone is viewed a bit more as colleagues now. Of course, I have not yet gone to post so I don't know for sure.
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Jun 15, 2016 00:33
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Security clearance limbo was the most annoying part about waiting for the job. Maybe with this Eligible Family Member Reserve Corps thing they're rolling out, they won't need to run through a new security clearance check on family members whenever they apply for a job at a new post, so maybe it will mean fewer clearances need to be processed, so maybe slightly speed up security clearances for everyone! We can hope, anyway.
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Jul 15, 2016 20:03
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I've completed most of my training now, and mostly have consultation days and "Refresher Communications" stuff, with a few other odds n ends, before my departure to post later this month. This is still kinda surreal to me, and it seems a little overwhelming. At least my wife is going with me, so I won't be all alone overseas!
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Sep 4, 2016 03:42
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Goons must be stopped I'm flying out tomorrow! It's my first assignment, so this will be pretty weird. I'm glad my wife is going with me, hopefully it'll all go well!
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Sep 27, 2016 04:44
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Saw these on the internet today, it's Season's Greetings from US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, and the rest of US Mission Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN_cWAfJ1fU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xuXlpvWw1I So that's what they've been up to in Japan I guess.
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Dec 23, 2016 11:43
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And the way Flag Day works is the worst, it's like it is intentionally designed to make it as stressful as possible. The names are called in random order, and would read them out as the destination first and the name last. It is awful!
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Mar 25, 2017 09:17
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I feel like simply getting to the point of doing the OA interview stuff is an accomplishment by itself. Lots of people don't even make it that far!
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Apr 21, 2017 17:06
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theOctagon posted:I find this fascinating, but can't find any information beyond wild speculation. Anywhere I can read more about it from a Foreign Service prospective? I checked out D&D but didn't find much. I recently saw an interesting article about the time in 1986 when the Soviet Union forced the US Embassy in Moscow to get rid of all their locally-hired support staff. A diplomat from the time recalls how they had to make the whole place run by themselves. https://www.rferl.org/a/us-diplomat-recalls-last-major-expulsion-russia-soviet-union-coombs/28652654.html It is pretty hectic!
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Aug 9, 2017 09:47
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iMDkx1RLcQ
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Aug 11, 2017 07:17
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Well I got PNG'd from Russia. I'm back in the states now. This was a pretty exciting way to end my first post!
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Apr 6, 2018 19:40
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Some of the other IMSes who were with me have a list of like ten posts to choose from, but I'm actually in a pretty good position. I'd just hit 18 months at post, and was scheduled to depart around August to get to my next post in Yerevan in September. Instead I may be able to go in July. Yerevan was excited that I may get there early, since the guy I'd be replacing leaves in June. Since I'm over 18 months I don't have any problems with taking home leave. So nothing really changes that much for me, it's just a little earlier than planned.
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Apr 6, 2018 21:08
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SCRwM posted:This is a tough career and a tough life. Every time I come off H/L and R&R I usually question "is this life right for me/my family". We've just arrived at our second post, and it has been tough getting here. Seems like everything has been difficult this past week. It's been rough, but it's also exciting! And today we've got our pets in our house, finally, and gotten internet hooked up, so things are looking up!
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Jul 20, 2018 15:47
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