Flag Day

Tuesday was Flag Day, which is the day that all the members of the current A-100 class find out their first overseas assignment. It took place in the Field House on the campus of the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington at 3pm. The employees had been forced to sit through normal classes all day, but were released early to meet the throngs of family and friends that descended upon FSI to show their support (and in the case of the spouses, find out their own fate as well).

The Field House is the smallest gymnasium I have ever seen and by the time everyone was in and settled, it was hot. Nervous chatter filled the room, along with the shouts of all the children playing in the back. We all found seat, although some of us were a little disappointed that family and friends were expected to sit in the back of the room and not with our spouses. Finally, right at 3pm, the post announcements began - no speeches like I expected, but I don’t think anyone in the room had any patience for that sort of thing.

I was sitting near the back of the room with three of the other wives that I’ve gotten to know quite well over the past few weeks. We took turns cheering for each other as well as the other people in the class that we’ve come to see as friends. Each time a flag was raised, people in the audience would call out the name of the country (in my mental state, the only two I could remember were Laos and Burma…not even Mexico!), then there would be silence until the name of the employee going to that post was announced. This was usually followed by a cheer from the employee, family member, or both and the employee jumped up and ran down the aisle to receive their flag and pose for a graduation-style photo with the class sponsor. Then they received their training schedule and departure date.

When the half-way point was announced, Shawn’s name hadn’t been called. When we reached the three-quarter point, it still hadn’t been called. At that point, I thought I might pass out…various body parts had been going numb for a while now and I was having to consciously remind myself to breathe. But finally, the Ukrainian flag was raised and Shawn’s name was called. I jumped up and shouted in disbelief that we actually got our number one post!

Most of the rest of the ceremony was a blur (although when my friend Christy’s husband got Buenos Aires - the number one bid in the class - her reaction woke us all out of whatever daze we were in). After all of the flags had been handed out, I could finally talk with Shawn and find out that our planned departure date is April 2007 and there will be hours and hours and hours of Russian language training before then.

The best part of Flag Day was the feeling of comaraderie among the group. I think it’s probably hard for people who haven’t gone through this experience to understand just how close this group has become in only six weeks. Everyone was bidding on the same posts, yet we were all genuinely happy to see where everyone ended up. And almost everyone was really happy with their assignment. There were a few tears, but I think that has to be expected when you consider the intensity of this lifestyle. I haven’t had my pre-post “breakdown” yet, but give me time - now I know I’ve got 10 months!