…Next Posts

As I mentioned before, we bid on our future post this summer, even though we were more than 1 year from transferring. Our transfer date is right at the tail end of the summer bid group, and many of those who bid simultaneously with us will transfer as early as May of next year. So, it’s a weird situation to be in, we already know where we’re going… but we’re not going for 14 months!

But, of course, the big question is… (for those who don’t follow us on FB too), where will the Adventures be in for Christmas 2012?

Seoul, South Korea!

Mr. Adventure finally gets to do some work in his chosen career path (Economics), and I (hopefully) will get a chance to teach some ethics or philosophy at one of the several American universities that have branch campuses in Seoul. Plus, the wee little adventurer will be living in a pleasantly shady complex with grass and playgrounds. We’ll be able to drink the water, and even go see a movie if we want to! We’re excited.

…Teal for tea

It’s been a long time again, working appears to take a toll on my desire to blog. Most of the time, it takes a toll even on my desire to eat dinner (or, rather, cook it). I’m spending most of my day in front of a computer screen, so the one at home just doesn’t have the appeal.

In the interim, we’ve been to Alaska and back, we’ve gotten the news of where we’ll be posted next, and we’ve seen the baby yawn on an ultrasound. Exciting times. The first two deserve their own post, so you’ll get those separately, though probably all at the same time, since I’m writing these out before I upload them.
(And, in the process discovered two old posts that never made it to the upload, but have festered in limbo since August.)

Last night was the monthly tea at the Deputy Chief of Mission’s house. Lest you think a “tea” has to be a dull and stuffy affair, like I did when I came, all nervous to the first one this time last year, I want to set you straight. While there is tea at the DCM’s tea, and while there are some cookies (everyone raves about the chocolate chip ones), there is also an ample supply of wine and mixed drinks, a variety of hors d’ouvres, including: fish sticks, meatballs, tiny samosas (which are different than the Indian ones, but more like a triangular fried egg roll), mini pizzas, bacon-wrapped something-or-other, veggies, oatmeal bars, flan, stuffed mushroom caps…….

It’s a smorgasbord. Except for one detail. I was advised this week to eat less fat, so the potential eating extravaganza was sadly limited. I did sneak in a cookie though, you’d hate to pass up that monthly treat.

It also, strangely, turned out to be a night of matchy-matchiness. A significant number of us all arrived wearing black and teal. So, of course, we had to take a photo. You can see the evidence on my FB page. We rocked that color.

…R&R, finally

Dhaka’s a two-R&R post for 2-year tours. That means the government rates the conditions in the city strange and/or difficult enough to warrant two trips to some other place for a little sanity restoration. (Those of us who are here realize that 2 vacations isn’t really quite enough, and, on average, take an out-of-country trip at least every other month. Our rate is slightly lower than that, but close.) There are regulations in place at each R&R designated post about when you can take the trip. Here in Dhaka, you have to wait a certain amount of time after arriving (and vice versa on the other end), as well as have a certain number of months between each trip. You, of course, like any vacation time, have to coordinate with your coworkers and supervisors for coverage.

The R&R “perk” is that the government doesn’t just tell you to git outta Dodge, but also pays for your ticket out. You use your own vacation time, so we try to schedule R&R travel to coincide with trainings or long weekends to maximize the time.

We’re about 10 months into our tour here in Dhaka, and one of the last of our group to take our first R&R. It’s possibly the sweeter for being so long delayed, however, and we’re really looking forward to the chance of being a bit chilly for the first time in a long time. We even went through our winter clothes, wondering if we needed to pack the wool socks. Why? We’re going to Alaska, and we hear they have glaciers and grizzlies there. They apparently also have McDonalds and other American excitements, possibly even movie theaters and sidewalks!

…Bidding (ad, infinitum)

So I read a lot of other foreign service blogs. Or, rather, I skim a lot of other foreign service blogs. Recently, they’ve all been talking about bidding, many of them are bidding on the same list that Mr. Adventure is bidding on (but there are also people bidding on Specialist lists, USAID lists… all sorts of bidding going on right now). It’s fun to see what everyone else is bidding on, and what their priorities are. Sadly, it looks like everyone has similar priorities… yikes! It must be tough to be in charge of doing these assignments, especially if everyone wants the same things!

More news on our bids to follow.