Many people ask me just what it is I will do as a Foreign Service Officer. It is a difficult question to answer because their are many, many different jobs and over 200 places around the world where they can be done. However, most junior officers do at least one year of consular work. That is, they’re responsible for adjudicating visas for foreigners wishing to come to the United States as well as assisting Americans traveling overseas. While I’m not doing this particular job on my first tour, I probably will the second tour.
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2007.
Although I’m a newcomer to the DC world, I’ve quickly gathered that it is a city of many power struggles. One of the largest of these in the government world is between the State Department and the rest of the executive branch (particularly the Pentagon.) It has been an issue for some time, but is apparently easier to spot with the current administration as State is regarded by many as a liberal institution. Figure in a strongly conservative administration plus a war in Iraq and Afghanistan and that can create tension.
The story today coming out of Athens helps me remember that you never know exactly which are the “dangerous” posts to work at. The U.S. Embassy in Athens was struck today by a rocket-propelled grenade. Fortunately, no one was injured in the attack.
I find this still somewhat, unfleshed-out news story to be disturbing. According to CNN:
The U.S. military operation Thursday in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil that resulted in the arrests of six Iranians has drawn a sharp denunciation from Iraq’s Kurdish regional government.
A spokesman for the autonomous regional government and its presidency expressed their “alarm” and condemned the Thursday morning operation.
They characterized it as a raid on the Iranian consulate in Irbil, “which opened in the provincial capital in an agreement between the Iraqi government and the Iranian government.”
I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that it has taken this long, but I feel that I have finally run head-first into the language training wall. I’d been warned that it would happen and witnessed the unpleasant experience first-hand about a month ago when it happened to my wife. Now it is my turn to feel like a no-progress-making, non-Russian-speaking idiot.
It turns out that President Nixon wasn’t a big fan of the Foreign Service. I’m not sure that is exactly something that will keep me awake at night. He was probably just grumpy that someone from State told him it wasn’t a great idea to bomb the hell out of Laos during the Vietnam War. Read the rest of this entry »
I took advantage of a pleasant holiday break from Russian classes to catch a few new films. Most of the Oscar heavyweight contenders usually come out right at the end of the year and I saw at least two, maybe even three, that will be up for some awards.
Recent Comments