Olympics!

I love the Olympics. I particularly love the Opening Ceremonies. I have always loved getting together with people to watch the event because its a presentation of what each nation loves about itself and wants to communicate to the rest of the world.

Tonight was especially great. I was having serious social anxiety about inviting my new colleagues over to watch the ceremonies. I had mentioned it almost a month ago (before I met anyone) on an online forum our class had established. Its easy to suggest events so far in advance but when it came down to this week I was being ridiculous about bringing it up again.

Training class is a little like a bubble. I am barely aware of the actual date or even day of the week sometimes; I just know what is on the schedule and what I need to be doing. However, the Olympics were always on my radar. I knew they were coming but quite a few people had honestly lost track of the dates. In my silly social anxiety I literally wrote the invitation e-mail three separate times and then closed the window because I felt silly.

After I finally worked up the courage to invite my whole class (90+ people) I was worried too many people were going to come. My apartment is a one bedroom and although its plenty large for me and Scott I was worried about hosting a large crowd. In the end about 25 people came and it was tight but it never felt too crowded.

I will reserve my judgement on the opening ceremonies themselves. I wasn't watching as closely as I usually would and I could barely hear the commentary most of the time. I will say, it was pretty interesting to think this was what Great Britain wanted the world to know about themselves. I have a Master's in History and I was pretty lost for a lot of the "historical" part. Also, there are a lot of scary characters in British fairy tales. And the Queen and James Bond? That was pretty awesome. I am going to youtube that later. Ok, so I judged anyway.

I must say, watching the Olympic Parade of Nations with my fellow brand new foreign service officers really brings a different element. In mere weeks we will all be assigned to one of the nations we saw celebrated on television tonight. We cheered for every country on our bid list and "awww-ed" at the countries we wish were on the list. The loudest cheer for each country came from the person hoping to be placed there.

At this point, we all just want to know. Where am I going to go? Which flag am I going to be holding on flag day? We really don't know. After some meetings today we have a better idea about where some of us might end up, but even then there are no guarantees.

No matter how Flag day turns out for me, I am going to be rooting for all the countries I hoped to be posted to, as well as the USA!

This moment

Oh so what am I doing right now? Just taking a short walk from work down past the Washington Monument and the Vietnam War Memorial wall. You know, everyday things.

(!) awesome.

Time flies

It is already the end of week two, which is just amazing. I have learned more in these two weeks than in an entire semester of grad school I think!

So far, it has been great. The people, both in my class and the others we've met, have all been amazing. I have not met a person that wasn't kind, helpful, and generous. I am sure I will not always feel this way about all the people I meet in this job but at this point I am hopeful! Haha.

Class is overwhelming but it's good. It is unlike any other job I've had. When I go home at the end of the day, I'm not done being a responsible government employee, which will be even more true when I'm living overseas at the grace of a host government.

Scott has been able to visit, which is nice, but only two weeks in and already it's not easy. He left this morning at 6am and if all goes well he will be back on Tuesday evening. And that will be after he worked a full day and then drove for 7 hours. We know this wasn't going to be easy but already I don't like it.

When he was training in Oklahoma we went three weeks without seeing each other. And although it was never fun we made it through just fine. There were a lot of Skype sessions where I just sat in front of my computer for hours and did homework and he studied. That is really not possible here so far. He works some evenings and when he doesn't work either he or I are out doing something. I'm glad we are out instead of barricading ourselves inside but I think we are already feeling the impact of not talking so often. We are the kind of people who speak on the phone multiple times a day even when we were coming home to the same house at night. Days without constant interaction are not normal for us.

I like to think this will get easier but I am sure it will be anything but. The longer we keep this up the more we will benefit financially (our hope is to go overseas as close to debt-free as possible). But at what point do we decide the sacrifice isn't worth the potential gains?

In other news, we are mere weeks from flag day! I cannot believe it is so close! Our bid lists are due soon and there are so many amazing places on the list. Each day a new one becomes my favorite and I wish I could make a list of all the places I hope to go to someday. Soon I will be able to focus on one of them as the location for our next adventure in life!

First week of A-100

Is over!

This is so crazy. One week of my orientation is already complete. Part of me feels like I have been here for a while but the other part feels like every day is still my first day. I am lost in the city and in the buildings but the amount of knowledge I have gained since Monday is staggering.

Got the bid list. Incredible. There are so many amazing posts and I feel we cannot end up with something we would really dislike. There are a couple unaccompanied posts but we are hoping to avoid those this time around. We are only three weeks away from Flag day, which is also crazy. I really think that is going to be an awesome experience because as excited as I am to see where we will be going I am already looking forward to finding out who gets all these other awesome posts.

I am so tired at the moment that I cannot keep writing. Suffice it to say this has been a great experience thus far and I am looking forward to more!

Washington, D.C.

We have arrived! Unfortunately we left Ohio a little later than I was hoping and arrived in Washington, D.C. around 1:45am. The drive was not too bad. We encountered a little rain in Pennsylvania but because Scott plans well not a single item in the bed of the truck was wet when we arrived. In case you hadn't noticed, he is pretty awesome.

I am staying in the apartments paid for directly by the State Department and so far it has been great. The night security guard was amazingly helpful and walked me through the check-in process despite my being half asleep. He then got us a luggage cart to unload the truck and replacement keys for the apartment when the door would not open.

The apartment itself is pretty great as well. It is completely furnished including awesome artwork on the walls. There is even a fake tree and you know a place doesn't feel at home until there is a fake tree. I look forward to hosting some visitors on the hide-a-bed in the couch! (hint hint to all of you)

Tonight was the meet-n-greet hosted by the 166th A-100 class. There are so many people in my class that there was no way I could meet them all in two hours. However, the people I did meet were fascinating. I keep thinking that at some point since I was invited to this class they are going to call and rescind my offer and tell me this has all been a big mistake and they never meant to extend me an offer. And after meeting my fellow classmates I am expecting it even more. Everyone has such interesting stories about their lives and their experiences; I cannot wait to meet everyone else and learn their stories as well.

Tomorrow is my first day and I have a lot to get together before I will feel prepared enough to go to sleep. Hopefully it will go well and I won't forget anything important!

Goodbye Ohio!

The day has finally arrived. I am packing and getting all the last minute things together this morning and when Scott gets home we will be heading out to D.C. This still does not feel like it is actually happening right now. I do not feel like I am going to be sleeping somewhere new tonight. I also do not feel remotely ready. 

Even as I sit here and type this there is so much I need to do that I have not done. But I needed to eat breakfast, so I figured, "I can type while I do that!" Nope. I read some news stories and watched a couple videos and now that my cereal is gone I am typing this. This does not bode well for my day.

My sweet Belle knows we are packing and does not want us to leave without her. Even after we made her get out of the bag I'd turn around and she would be right back in. I had to close it to keep her out. Little does she know....

We went through everything in the basement in an attempt to organize for a future pack out. The dogs, who have previously refused to go into the basement because they were afraid of it or something, came down the stairs and watched us move everything around just to make sure they were not missing something. 

Although my time in Ohio was a lot shorter than I anticipated it has actually been really great. I am so thankful for the people I met while we were here. 

I am thankful for the friends we made at Ontario Christian Church who took us into their lives even though they barely knew us. It made such a difference to feel like someone cared about us in a town where we knew no one and invited us over on holidays. It makes me realize I should have done the same when I was at a church where I knew everyone. I never understood how difficult it was for new people to get acquainted and become part of a group. I feel so blessed for everyone who reached out to us and I hope to do the same for others!

Zephyr and I outside of Grandpa's Cheesebarn!

I am also thankful for Grandpa's Cheesebarn and all the people I met there. I feel so blessed to have been able to keep working there even after they found out I was leaving in a couple months! The atmosphere was welcoming and the people I worked with were kind and fun to be around. I actually looked forward to going to work (and not just because I love cheese. Although I do love cheese, that should not be understated).

Although my time in Ohio was much shorter than I anticipated I am thankful for it. Now I look forward to new adventures, new people, and a plethora of other things I will soon be thankful for!

Tune in next time for reports from Washington, D.C.! (Haha, I know, that was so cheesy. Did I mention I love cheese? I really don't think I can say that enough).

The mess

My poor dogs know what packing is. Having moved three times in the last ten months, they understand the meaning of the suitcase.

I was trying to figure out why they were being so clingy this afternoon. I figured MeiLi's problem was that age had been stung by a bee and was therefore not feeling well (I had the flick the honeybee off her leg). But Belle was inexplicable.

However, as I started packing all my clothes this evening I figured it out. I couldn't walk into the other room without my little companions right at my heels. They know I'm packing and they think they are going to be left behind. Oh little dogs...they have no idea what is in store for them.

They had to be right in the middle of my mess. Also, this picture makes it look like I own a lot of pink. I do not. These are probably all the pink clothing items I own, except for the shirt I am currently wearing.