myretroperspective

That's right, and you thought I was just making an awful attempt at being a full-time blogger, didn't you? No as it turns out I've been waiting for the perfect job at the consulate and for all of the wheels to turn, turn, turn... I am now the Human Resources Assistant at the US Consulate in Shenyang! It only took 8 months after arriving at post to start my job but that's considerably less time than it took R to join the foreign service so I can't say I'm at all surprised. If you haven't noticed, I like context and details so I'll share a little bit about the step by step process assuming that at some point some EFM (eligible family member- technical term for spouses/kids in the state department) will be keeping warm in a high rise apartment listlessly wondering if or when he/she might get a job and trolling the internet in search of hope! When we were assigned to Shenyang in October we started getting emails from the CLO (community liaison office) about ...

We've been looking forward to skipping town for R's 4 week TDY since it came up as a possibility. Right as the summer routine felt a little stagnant, and the sad reality of friends leaving hit again, this little gem of an opportunity appeared on the horizon promising rest, adventure, reconnection, and a chance to hit reset on our time in Shenyang. Because there's nothing like time away to make you thankful for home, wherever home may be. So this last weekend in Shenyang for a while, we're taking things slowly. We had a few friends over for a super intimate, super casual goodbye dinner last night and will attend 2 more goodbye parties before we get on the plane tomorrow night. I'm trying to make sure I've cleaned out the refrigerator and watered the plants and remembered everything one needs to remember when leaving for 2 weeks. I honestly can't think of a time when R & I both were away from home together for a stretch so long, but there are sure to be a ...

It seems like the rhythm of life here for us toggles between travel and excursions outside the city and recouping from the travel and just living life in Shenyang. As you saw, the beginning of July had lots of travel and the rest of it was kind of laying low. I always need a few days to recoup but was starting to feel a bit restless again. The end of the summer always feels this way to me- restless. The last week or so the pace has picked up a little. We sponsored a sweet couple that arrived at post last Tuesday which has mainly involved pointing them towards the grocery store and introducing them to our friends. An excellent trip to our fabric market was also involved in which I snagged a gorgeous swath of fabric I'm using as a tablecloth for $5 (you might spot it at the right in the diplogram photo rotation). It's always a bit of a turning point in my overseas experience when I feel like I have something to share about living life well wherever I am. This weekend we skyped wi...

Maybe it's because I keep listening to a couple songs by the band the Head and the Heart (the lyrics of "Rivers and Roads" and "Ghosts" combine to reflect my current mantra) or maybe it's because every week there's a goodbye party for someone else. It feels like all of our friends are getting ready to leave. Ok, not all of our friends by any stretch, but some key friends, and obviously people who have been here from the start of our time in Shenyang. Yes, it's only been 6 months but rhythms were established quickly and people who define my idea of our community here are heading out over the next few months. This is our first "summer transfer season" in the Foreign Service, and I don't think I like it. It's not just consulate people leaving either. Half the women in my painting class move home to the states before the end of this month. Thankfully friends from our informal American church fellowship group are only home for the sum...

Criss-crossing the city of Taipei turned out to be an excellent way to spend a long Memorial Day weekend. A welcome getaway from the everyday and a much needed escape from the mainland. With 4 nights and 4 days in Taipei we barely scratched the surface. We left planning return trips to check out a few sights we missed this time around and even get out of the city to the coast. our first night loving taipei food! We were slowed down a little by R's recent knee injury (wherein we don't actually know what he did or when just that his knee hurts). You would barely notice his limp, but it does change the pace of life. He has been trying to keep off it as much as he can, which isn't much in Asia. So we were forced to skip out on all the great hiking suggestions we received. "Next time, next time," we said. My biggest disappointment was that the gondola that takes you from the Taipei Zoo up into the tea plantations on the mountside of MaoKong was out of service for the l...

It's rare that I talk too much about R's work because most of it is not all that interesting, and it's a bit grey as to what is cool to talk about on the internet and what's not ok when it comes to the issuance of US visas so it's easiest to avoid it all together.  However last night R gave his first Public Affairs lecture. Each week the consulate hosts English lectures on different aspects of American culture. Can you guess what R chose to speak on? What else? COFFEE. doesn't he look so... representative? The title of his lecture was: "America's Coffee Culture: Why Americans Love Coffee." Starbucks has over 850 stores in mainland China and has decided to continue to expand their business here. While China is a tea culture through and through, coffee has a definite presence in China's cities. The lecture drew the largest crowd yet with what I'm guessing was about 100 Chinese -mostly students, young adults and other community members. There ...

We really did it. I think my mind is still trying to wrap itself around the fact that we are really at a foreign post as diplomats representing the United States of America. Whaaaaat? US? Are you serious? It really seems like just yesterday we were dreaming about it. And it's truly been only a little over 6 months since we left Atlanta. Don't get me wrong, the living in a Chinese city thing and the being in a different time zone on the other side of the world from family & friends thing feels very real. Slowly we're starting to understand what we've actually been called to. What shape our days, weeks and months will take at least for this short season. There have been so many little things along the way that I've been glad we knew & that I wish we'd known. So here's my attempt at capturing what we've learned in the last 6.5 months. 1- Changes this big, this quick involve freaking out. R & I typically freak out in very different ways and at di...

We are down to our last week in DC and it finally hit me last night over dinner with one of my favorite women how sad I am to leave! Even though we've been here only a little over 3 months, there are things I will truly miss about our life here. This caught me a little off guard because I have been really excited about our move and so much about our time here has felt transitory. It's a bit different from how I miss Atlanta. Atlanta contributed to who we are as a couple. It's where we learned what being married meant for us. We had well worn paths in the community and seasonal routine that shaped our lives year after year. We established a home, and welcomed others into it when they were new or passing through. We've never quite fallen into a rhythm here in DC, and our apartment has not felt like home (although it's been just what we needed). Honestly, though we have a few usual haunts, we've spent our time in the city more as tourists rather than residents. Wha...

As I've been chronicling our efforts to round up the right things to bring to Asia as part of our consumables shipment ( p art 1 and part 2 are here), I have to admit this trip ended up being pretty painful in the end. I think mainly because we were shopping on a Saturday... in Northern Virginia... 2 weeks before Christmas. We knew better, but it was a wide open day in our schedule and just seemed best to bite the bullet and shop. Really the parking was the painful part. We stopped at the busiest Costco in the world (literally it is busier than any other costco anywhere), Trader Joe's and Target and spent a good portion of time just looking for somewhere to leave the car. That is one thing I will not miss when we sell it next week! just getting started at costco The shopping was ok. I actually got pretty overwhelmed when we started at Costco, but once we got to the dry, packaged goods, we got rolling and were ok. We went with a list, but definitely added to it as we roamed the...

When I wrote about stocking up on spices at the spice house , I promised follow up posts about my consumables shipment so follow up post I shall.  Here's one of my first tips for assembling your consumables- DO NOT attempt to buy them all at one time!  We made our first costco run Monday night and I felt like it was mostly a success. Honestly if it wasn't for R, and his low tolerance for shopping I probably would have tried to do it all in one fell swoop.  However, I knew that 1-if I was going to shop for 2 year's worth of stuff, I wanted R along to see where the money went and 2-purchasing-fatigue sets in for R after about 1.5 hours of shopping for anything. So we decided to tackle our toiletries, medicine cabinet and cleaning supplies first (basically non-food items).  I took about 20 minutes earlier in the day looking throughout the bathroom and under the kitchen cabinet where we keep cleaning supplies to get ideas of what we could want to stock up on. We went in ...

This is not some strange boycott against the materialism of Christmas or a bah humbug approach to the most wonderful time of the year.  For good reason, in our first 5 years of marriage we will only end up decorating for Christmas twice-in 2011 and 2013.  It pains me to see friends' photos on instagram of freshly decked mantels and their homes lit up with christmas lights.  I've walked through Target's holiday section multiple times already this year, picking things up and putting them back. Merriest hearth in Atlanta 2011 You see, in 2010 months after we were married, we were in temporary housing until we moved to our little rental house (which I miss even MORE this month) a week before Christmas.  R didn't quite have a job, and he definitely didn't have a paycheck.  We were spending 6 days in Florida with my parents right after our move for the holiday, and it just wasn't practical to decorate for only a couple days. cutest house on the block all aglow (2011) ...

Lately, with the newness of DC having worn off about the same time the cold weather hit, it's felt a little more like we're just crossing off the days until we leave.  There certainly aren't many days left (34 until we leave DC, 40 until we arrive in Shenyang with Christmas in Florida in between).  We attempt to cross things off the to-do list as well and every now and again it feels like we're making headway. Then there are the moments when I'm able to get an aerial view of the situation and realize that- it's all happening! ("Almost Famous" quote for those who've seen it).  Last week I had a couple of those moments when: 1-Tuesday I held my diplomatic passport for the first time. Sadly I had to sign it and promptly turn it over for a Chinese visa. In all her glory. I now have 2 passports- crazy! 2-We got our housing assignment and we are beyond thrilled! We're in a downtown 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom apartment.  This is beyond our expectations, ...

I've mentioned previously on this blog that we're excited about our post in Shenyang.  I think at first glance (only at wikipedia, no less) lots of people would question our enthusiasm.  Honestly, I've heard it referred to as the "Detroit of China" in the past, but if you look past the car factories, heavy industry and snow, I think that's a bit unforgiving.  I really believe Shenyang is the perfect fit for our first post so let me share a few reasons (some serious, some frivolous) why. 1-It's China! We love China, and after investing so much in it (learning the language, starting to figure out the culture, etc.), we're thrilled to be going back.  Thanks to Communism, while some things will be different, I know that there's a lot that I can count on being the same.  There will be plenty to learn in this transition into the foreign service alone (how a Consulate runs, what the community is like, etc.)  and it's a comfort that we'll be making...

China flag hanging with all of the others in Main State lobby Friday marked the end of R's initial A-100 training.  I can hardly believe we've been here 6 weeks, it has truly flown by.  I will absolutely do a separate post about our visit with our parents, but I wanted to post about R's swearing in ceremony first. The funny thing about the state department is that you can not receive a paycheck without being sworn in.  So on Day 1 (Sept 10th for R) the whole class says the exact same oath as they do on day 29th in a huge auditorium in front of friends & family. program with our moms before the ceremony began The ceremony was short and sweet. As they called out each person's name & where they were going everyone was all smiles (unlike just a week before when expressions of shock, surprise & disappointment crossed the faces of a few classmates on flag day ).  A few different former Ambassadors were in attendance and addressed their class with words of encou...

For those who are unfamiliar with Flag Day I'm going to do a little background and then tell you about our experience. As the Foreign Service accepts new hires they make it very clear that you MUST have "worldwide availability."  So when you are invited to attend A-100 training, you have not yet been assigned a post.  The 3rd day of training the FSOs receive a bid-list with many posts all over the world, organized by city, language requirement, date when the job starts & a few other details.  You have 2 weeks to rank all of the jobs on the list as high, medium and low.  You are warned many times that the bid list is a living document and can change at any time.  They took a couple posts off and added a few on in between when we first got it and we we submitted our bid-list. You meet with a Career Development Officer (spouses are invited too!) to discuss your preferences and they represent you as their team of CDOs attempts to fill all of the jobs on the list...

More details to come... soon  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang

Many of you are aware that today is just ONE WEEK away from our flag day, and that next Friday, October 12th, we will find out where our first post will be! Honestly since we submitted our bid list last week I haven't been nervous about it.  I really relish the idea that our placement is out of our hands. I think we did an adequate job communicating who we are and any preferences that might come into play for us in particular.  At the end of the day, the "needs of the service" trump our personal preferences anyways so we can't put too much stock in those anyhow. I also surprisingly enjoy the bliss of not knowing where we're going.  It's exciting and there is anticipation of this new adventure.  The difficult aspects of leaving and moving (again) aren't reality yet.  Heck, I'm still dealing with the last transition of leaving Atlanta and moving to DC. Part of me doesn't want to engage with the next transition just quite yet. So I will savor this com...

On the shuttle to the Foreign Service Institute with R yesterday, as I was checking twitter, I started to see some of the reports of the attacks on the consulate in Benghazi & anti-American protests in Cairo.  As my spouses' orientation class started the coordinators acknowledged that the Ambassador to Libya & 3 other diplomats gave their lives in the attacks, but not much was really said about the situation.  Not sure if it was just too early to really talk about it or if they didn't want to unsettle us even more as we were a group of newbie foreign service spouses. It was obvious throughout the presentations of the day that different officers personally knew those involved and were impacted by this tragedy. We went throughout the day learning about life as an eligible family member in the foreign service- everything from how to think about different posts on our bid list to medical services to ways that the FS helps provide support in this strange but exciting lifest...