It hasn’t gotten much coverage in the American media, but things have been a little tense in Kyiv these last few days. Large scale protests have been held in our future neighborhood by the various political parties. So far the demonstrations have been peaceful, but the court recently was forced to rule that the demonstrations stop to allow people to calm down. The people aren’t listening.
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I have just over one week of Russian language training remaining and, of course, I feel like I’m in the middle of a big ol’ slump. I can’t get any coherent thoughts out, conjugate a verb to save my life, and don’t even get me started on those damned Russian cases.
Although I have nothing but respect for our Armed Forces who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world, I wish we would hear more about the diplomats and other government workers (such as those from the USDA and Commerce) who are also in harm’s way. Here is a recent article from USA Today that does a good job at presenting the civilian side of life in Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »
Although I’m not going into consular work for my first tour, I will more than likely being doing it for my second tour. Since I know there are many (okay, maybe three) wannabe Foreign Service Officers who read my blog, I thought I’d share a less than rosy perspective on the work as told on this blog. Obviously, everyone’s experience will be different and some will love the work. Many will not. Like most jobs it probably comes down to your co-workers, the place you work, your customers, and, most importantly, you.
Today’s Doonesbury comic strip set its sights on the State Department. Luckily, what it represents isn’t currently true, but it is the fear of some that changing the Foreign Service test could politicize the hiring within the department.
The Economist recently had a short article on the lives of diplomats. In short, the article talks of how there used to be an unspoken agreement that diplomats would receive lesser, government-level salary in exchange for the glamourous life of living the high life in foreign countries where our currency was much more valuable. Of course, these days there are more diplomats living and working in places like Iraq, West Africa, and Pakistan than in Paris and Florence. Read the rest of this entry »
I thought some of you Foreign Service groupies as well as those hoping to join the ranks might like a little taste of FSO training life. Here are a few photos of the Russian textbooks that have been handed out to me in the six months I’ve been in language training. These aren’t books I bought, these are books presented as part of the class. Also keep in mind, that this is only six months through the course and I’m not receiving the complete 44 week course. Of course, the Russian department is very organized. Some of my colleagues are lucky to have a dry erase board and an Urdu dictionary from 1952.
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