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November 16, 2004
Going Back
In a couple hours I'll be on my way back to the airport. This weekend has been a terrific reminder of why I love the D.C. area. The weather has been perfect (around 60 degrees, not a cloud in the sky), I've been able to see all my friends, and had the opportunity to spend lots of time with my family. I wish I had another couple of days to relax--I am NOT relishing the 30-hour journey back to Karlskrona.
And now...a bit of political humor:
The Republican National Committee announced today that the Republican Party is changing its emblem from an elephant to a condom. The committee chairman explained that the condom more clearly reflects the party's stance today, because a condom accepts inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually getting screwed.
The real joy has been passing the Foreign Service Oral Exam, of course. While my score wasn't high enough to get an immediate conditional offer of employment (I chose the "political" track, which requires the highest score--I would have made the "management" cut-off, which I find very irritating), I have been placed on the list of "eligible hires". Here's more:
Placement on the List of Eligible Hires
The names of candidates who are successful at the Oral Assessment are placed on a rank-order list of eligible candidates based on the career track they chose and the scores they received. A candidate's rank may be raised by veteran's preference and/or a demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language, as determined by the Department through a telephonic assessment. Extra points are given to candidates who pass language tests in Critical Needs languages, currently defined as: Arabic; Chinese (Cantonese and Standard/Mandarin); Indic languages (e.g.,Urdu, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Punjabi); Iranian languages (e.g. Farsi/Persian, Dari, Tajiki, Pashto); Japanese; Korean; Russian; and Turkic Languages (e.g. Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish, Turkmen, Uzbek). If openings are available, candidates may be made an immediate offer of employment, without waiting on the register. Placement on the list of eligible candidates does not necessarily mean that a job offer will be made. Hiring is dependent upon the needs of the Foreign Service.
Since I have zero chance of getting proficient in one of the "critical needs" languages, I'll try and brush up on my German or Spanish and hope that boosts me up to receive an immediate conditional offer of employment. I have 24 months on the eligible candidates list, but don't have a competitive shot at getting called up without the language bonus points.
Well, that about covers it--I am on my way back to Sweden this afternoon, and after an overnight plane ride (with a LONG layover in London) and a 4 hour train ride from Copenhagen to Karlskrona, I think I will have to go straight to the public seminar hosted by our class. After that, I'm scheduled to have dinner with Jo and Paulo, the two other members of my group for the project in Strategic Management. I hope I can stay awake that long...I may have to take something (Nyquil, Dramamine, etc.) on the plane to help me sleep a little.
