Saturday, June 27, 2015

First FS Post - 1 Year Later

I arrived in Stockholm a year ago and this is the halfway point for my first Foreign Service post. My bid list was submitted this week for next year's move. Everyone in the Summer 2016 Entry Level Specialist (ELSPEC) assignment cycle should find out by Thursday where our next directed tours will be. Our class has stayed in touch so there's a small group of us around the globe collectively holding our breath until those emails arrive.

I think I prefer getting an email instead of having a flag day ceremony. I'll get a private moment to digest the information instead of having it shared with everyone like some game show. "Come on down! Your next 2 years will be in exotic..." It was a memorable ceremony and I was happy with what I got but I think it was a little torturous to sit through. However, each work email this week might end up being torture too because any one of them will contain my fate for 2 years of my life. I guess it's game show time again!




Wherever we go next, it probably won't be as easy to travel around to nearby countries as it's been here in Stockholm. I'd never been to Europe so I really wanted to come here to take full advantage of how easy it is to travel around the Schengen Area. Oh, have we! We've discovered you can do some really cool things in Europe over an extended weekend if you just go. This map was blank a year ago:


It's been a great year and and a great start to an interesting and fun career!

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