"Too Much Stuff" Club

This past week has been a busy one for PM and I. While others were enjoying their long weekend relaxing, we were busy getting ready for the movers to come today. We thought of ourselves as people who don't have much stuff. Well, when you pile it all together in the corner of your apartment and watch the piles grow from a corner to a wall to half our apartment, we started to rethink that with the help of several apartment maintenance employees who weren't shy about holding back their thoughts about how much stuff we have. I felt the need to try and defend myself for why we had that much stuff. I explained we would be gone for two years. I explained about our consumables (shampoo, lotion, laundry soap, toothpaste, etc for two years), but I was still faced with heads shaking about how much stuff we had. 

I looked at those piles a little differently after those conversations. Where did this all come from? A year ago, we were both were able to place all of our earthly possessions into two 50 lbs suitcases each. And now, our apartment looks like this! What happened? Then I thought, well, we did get married, so there are quite a few wedding presents here. And we do have a large amount of consumables. I glance back at the piles, maybe we went overboard trying to estimate just how much shampoo and face wash we really do need for two years? It was all just a guess. Last night when turning off the lights at bedtime, I looked at those piles one more time, turned off the lights and thought, "There is nothing more I can do. I guess I will just cross my fingers and hope when the movers come in the morning it all works out alright."

This morning the piles were still there. I had kinda hoped they would disappear in the middle of the night. I know most of our stuff is useful and we definitely want it, but when you see it all piled up in one spot, there has to be a way to live with less stuff. I just happened to log onto the foreign service spouses Facebook group, and a lady had just posted about feeling embarrassed when she packs out due to the vast amounts of stuff. I guess we are now card carrying members of the "too much stuff" club.

HHE: We are allotted 7,200 lbs. This stuff will travel by boat and take around 3 months to arrive in China.

UAB: We got 450 lbs here and used it all (I had to pull more out of HHE to meet the weight limit). This stuff will travel by airplane and hopefully will get there a week or two after we arrive.

The movers show up and as I bring them to our apartment, they ask me if we have a lot of stuff. I tell them I didn't think we did, but when it's all piled together, it looks like it and I've heard comments agreeing with that. I open the door to our apartment and point to our piles. The movers take one look at these massive, heaps of stuff and ask, "Where is the rest of it." I tell them that's it. They shake their heads and say, "No. No. You have maybe 1,500 lbs of stuff. This will be easy." So I guess our membership in the "too much stuff" club had been revoked. I promise to cut up our cards immediately. Although, 1,500 lbs still seems like a lot of stuff. Maybe we better keep our cards on standby. 

Three hours later, PM and I are left with four 50 lbs suitcases, a clean apartment, and the hope that all our stuff survives its journey to the other side of the world. Bon voyage stuff! See you in China!

Nothing left but a few scraps on the floor.

So its been awhile....

March 26th. That was the last time I posted anything. That was only 8 months ago and only like 3 people even know this site exists so far. However, because one day I will print this into a book for us to have, I figure I should do a short update on the last 8 months.

Since I last posted....
- PM and I have gotten married, not once, but twice. We made it legal in April so we could get all the paperwork started with the State Dept so I can go to China as an EFM (Eligible Family Member) and not an MOH (Member of Household). This was crucial as it means I have health insurance, plane tickets, and the government will ship my stuff too. At our first wedding we didn't have any family present, so to appease them all, we had wedding round two (the white dress one) in October.

- I was offered a job with Arlington County directing one of their summer camps and I spent all summer hanging out with some crazy kids in south Arlington.

- PM studied his little butt off for his Mandarin test. All that studying paid off as two days before the BIG wedding, he not only passed his tested, but did so well, he receives a special language bonus.

- We have said "see ya later" to countless Foreign Service friends who are now all over the world. The good news is if we ever find ourselves in Caracas, Cairo, Sao Paolo, Mumbai, or Abuja, we have friends!

- I learned that the foot and ankle pain I had been having for over a year was due to a fracture. I got the lovely fortune of spending the entire summer wearing a lovely walking cast.

- We received our housing assignment. If you remember, my last post was about the housing options and I mentioned the place with a pillow and blanket menu. That is where we will be living! All of our friends going to Guangzhou had received their housing assignments. Everyone but us. We figured they had forgotten about us, but knew they wouldn't put us out on the streets, so we didn't make a fuss about not knowing four months in advance. The waiting and patience paid off as we received what we have been told is the nicest housing in Guangzhou and some of the top housing in all of the Foreign Service world (minus Ambassador's residences). We would have been happy as long as we had an actual bed rather than a Macedonian couch bed, but no complaining here!

- We received our fancy-smancy Diplomatic passports (yeah, we are pretty excited to show those things off) and I used that to model an American Girl doll sized Diplomatic passport with Brazilian visa, Brazilian money, and boarding passes for the daughter of some FSO friends.

- Both PM and I have taken the Basic Consular Course at FSI (ConGen). It was a required class for PM, I just had the luck of getting a spot in an earlier class so I could take it too. Taking ConGen was one of the first steps in our plan to see if Slim should become a consular officer herself one day.

And that is the last eight months. I mean, there may have been a few happy hours, trips to the midwest, and weekends spent exploring the D.C. area thrown in there, but you get the gist of it.

"Silk Kimonos Upon Request"

There hasn't been much to write about lately. PM is busy learning Mandarin all day, every day. He has moved up to the advanced beginner's class (no surprise there). This guy was born to learn languages. Sometimes, if there is room, FSI will let family into language classes as well. However, I wasn't lucky enough as Chinese is full. I have been granted access to Rosetta Stone and some other online resources through FSI so I am slowly building my vocabulary. I can't say anything useful yet, other than "hello", "good-bye", and "thank you". I can, however, say "The white cat is running with the young girls eating apples" and other wonderful sentences!

I remain jobless for the time being, however I have accepted a job for the summer as the Director of Arlington Youth and Family Service's Summer Expedition Camp at Drew Elementary. I am excited for it. It seems the structure of their camps is different than what I am used to in St. Peter, but I think it will be a good challenge. I especially am excited to have a more diverse group of kids than I have had previously. The kids here don't get out of school until the middle to end of June, so camp doesn't start until July. In the meantime, I have contacted a local adoption agency in hopes of volunteering with their International Adoption Coordinator. The US Consulate in Guangzhou handles all US-China adoptions. Soon, I will start looking for a job in China and my hope is that any more specialized experience might be advantageous. I still haven't heard back from them yet, but I am hoping to soon.

Our life has been filled still with happy hours and events with PM's A-100 classmates and their families. This past weekend there was an international potluck where we all brought food or drink from our future homes. Then Monday we said goodbye to the first of the 175th group to head to post. This is only the start. By January, everyone will be off exploring their new countries.

Our life has also been filled with Chinese at all hours of the day. PM is working really hard at learning the language. I often wake up in the mornings to him practicing the tones and making all kinds of weird sounds. Sometimes, I even have to endure Chinese opera. Now, in China, I might be inclined to go to the opera for the cultural experience, however here, I would prefer not to listen to horrible YouTube videos of it! All that said, if this helps him master the language, I am game.

This coming weekend, we are headed to Dim Sum with the whole crew who will be going to Guangzhou. I already know most people, but there are a few that I haven't spent much time with and one husband who is flying in from Nairobi to take the oral exam to become an FSO, so I will meet him for the first time.

The weather continues to act like a petulant child, alternating between being nice and warm and freezing cold and snowy. This long winter has made me even more excited for China as our winter temperature will be about 50 degrees!

One other thing that made me more excited for China is that we received our welcome letter from the Consulate last week. In it, there was a list of the housing options. Can you say AMAZING! I feel as though I am going to get spoiled with housing there. All of the options are super nice and really modern. One of them lists a "goose down pillow and blanket menu" and "silk kimonos upon request". I think I can get used to that!

Swearing-In

The last week of A-100 is by far the most exciting. It started with Flag Day and the following Friday was Swearing-In. Flag Day was by far the more exciting ceremony, however, Swearing-In is more official.

The Swearing-In of the 175th A-100 class took place on February 21, 2014 at Main State (State Department's main headquarters). PM's parents and sister and brother-in-law flew in for the weekend to celebrate with us. It was great having them here. 

This class's honorary speaker was the Honorable Ambassador Burns, Deputy Secretary of State. The ceremony was short- about 20 minutes, and formal, which is why I say Flag Day was more fun and exciting. However, Swearing-In marked the end of A-100 and the start language training.

After the ceremony we went first to a happy hour to celebrate with his class and then out to dinner to celebrate with PM's family. We went to PM's favorite DC restaurant, Old Ebbit Grill. At the start of dinner, PM presented each of us with a gift from the State Department's gift shop. His father, sister, and I all got shirts. His brother-in-law a whiskey glass, and his mother a coffee mug. Then, PM pulls out a little yellow baby onesie and announces that it is for the family's newest arrival and hands it to his sister (who is expecting baby Millie in September). His parents were shocked and confused and his mother thought we were playing a mean joke on his sister, but they were very happy to learn that they will have a new little grandbaby due Labor Day. Congrats Lori and Sam!

Flag Day

Today was Flag Day at FSI! It was a day filled with much anxiety mixed with excitement as we waited to find out where we will be going. I sat there as 82 of the 87 people were called in his class, just waiting. Near the end, it seemed all the China postings were gone, however, we were lucky enough to snag the second to last one!

In December 2014, we are headed to Guangzhou, China (formerly known as Canton). We aren't experts on the area yet, but in doing some brief research, I have learned the following:

• Guangzhou is the 3rd largest city in China and the capital of the Guangdong province. 
• Guangzhou has been an international trade center for over 300 years. 
• It borders the South China Seas.
• Guangzhou is 2 hours from Hong Kong. 
• The weather is tropical with hot and humid summers. 
• Guangzhou is 13 hours ahead of Eastern time. 
• According to Andrew Zimmern, it is the food capital of China.

PM and I couldn't be happier to start this next adventure together!

Its Out of Our Hands

PM submitted our bid list today! In the two weeks that we had to rank all the posts, our thoughts changed some, partially due to PM's conversation with his CDO. Our final bid list was submitted with the only posts being high, the EAP (East Asia and Pacific) bureau posts. The low posts were the English language designated posts (including Mumbai and Manila- cool spots, but we would rather go when a language is required) and Nuevo Laredo. And everything else being medium posts.

Now we just have to contain our concoction of excitement, nerves, anxiety, and anticipation in check until February 14th as its out of our hands now!

Bid List!

We have the most prized possession of anyone in A-100, the Bid List!

When PM brought it home the other day I could barely contain my enthusiasm. The bid list is a list of all the potential places we could be headed next. There are 99 spots on the list for the 86 members of his class, so some spots will go unfilled. The list contains places as familiar as Ottawa, Canada and as unknown as Abuja, Nigeria. The list is heavy on Mexico, China, and Brazil, which was no surprise as everyone in his class will be serving as a consular officer their first tour.

We now have one week to rank every spot as High, Medium, or Low, with only 25% being in the low category and unlimited highs and mediums. We have to take into account that many of the positions require language training and the ETA in country has to allow for appropriate language training. The list also gives us the percent of danger pay, differential pay, and the size of the American direct hires at post. All things that need to be considered when we are making our list.

In a couple days, PM will meet with his Career Development Officer (CDO) to discus what his preferences are when it comes to his first post as his CDO is the one who, along with the other CDOs, makes the decision.

So far, we are heavy on Asia in the highs and the lows consist of the English language designated posts as PM really wants to learn another language right away. I have been writing each post out on pieces of paper and placing them in the correct categories.

After submitting the bid list in a week, we have to wait until February 14th, so learn where we will be headed in the much anticipated Flag Day Ceremony.

New Apartment

We moved into our new apartment in Arlington today and I must say, its the nicest place I have ever lived that's for sure! A few highlights of our apartment include: onsite gym, swimming pool, 1 block from the metro, and 2 blocks from a grocery store.

I am excited to take this place and turn it into our first American home!

Inaugural Post

This inaugural post is exciting as it marks the start of Book 1 in PM and Slim's Overseas Adventures.

Yesterday, PM and I flew to Washington, D.C. to begin our new life. However, PM's journey to becoming an FSO began quite awhile ago. I won't go into details about all of the initial steps, but I will give a brief rundown of the process and it's timing since I have been involved.

June 2012- Written Test
July 2011- Personal Narratives
January 2013- Oral Assessment
February 2013- Security and Medical Clearance
June 2013- 2nd Candidacy Written Test again (you can have multiple candidacies at one time)
July 2013- 2nd Candidacy Personal Narratives
November 2013- Language Exam (Macedonian)
November 27, 2013- Acceptance

As you can see, even just this process has been long and this is only the shorthand mention of the major checkpoints.

PM was lucky enough to find our about his acceptance to the January 2014 A-100 training class during our epic return journey from Peace Corps. Since arriving back in America, there has been lots to do to get ready, including purchasing new clothes and shoes, completing our first pack out, and submitting all the paperwork.

Pack out went really well. Because neither one of us has much stuff, we had it pretty easy. We brought as much of my stuff from Minnesota as we could in two checked bags and even adding some of that to the piles of PM's stuff, there was room in the UAB (unaccompanied air baggage- this will arrive in DC in 2-6 weeks and will be what we have to live with while PM is in training) and certainly ample room in the HHE (household effects- this will all be placed in a storage locker in the DC area and we will have limited access to it).

We flew to DC yesterday to have a bit of time to adjust before PM starts work on Monday. We will be staying at a friend's apartment until we move into our own place tomorrow. Housing is provided during training, which makes it possible for me to join PM and search for a job here. I have two second round interviews lined up for the upcoming weeks, and hopefully something will work out. I get to attend a training for spouses and members of the household this coming week to learn about my role in this career and the services that I am entitled to.

So far, so good!