On Wednesday of this week one of my classmates mentioned to many of us that "today is our official 'hump day.'" Now at first I thought she was a little off... of course it's hump day, it's Wednesday after all. Then, after a little bit of thought it came to me that Wednesday was our official halfway point through training. It's crazy to think that as I write this entry today that I have already completed four of the seven weeks in A-100. To be honest, it feels as though I have been in training for months and have been working with my classmates for a decade. I guess when you put that much time, effort, and learning in to such a short amount of time, the only way we can truly comprehend it is to stretch the timeline out in our minds. No matter what, its becoming obvious why I am so tired at the end of the day!
Now aside from my summers of two-a-day swim practices, I have never really been the best napper. Unless completely exhausted, I've always had the hardest time shutting off my mind and letting go for a quick rest. Stretching back as far as I can remember, I've always been a little too worried that I will miss out on something. As a result, I think I convinced myself that I always needed to just fight being tired to make sure I wouldn't miss what the world had in store for me. My analogy reminds me a little bit of when my oldest niece was just a baby and she'd never want to go to sleep... she was always the curious little bugger that wanted to be awake for everything (she sure does make her uncle proud!). This week however, was a completely different story. More than once this week I came home and started studying or working on homework after class. Realizing that I was too tired to be absorbing information or make logical decisions, I would put my materials down, turn on the TV and just rest my brain for a bit. After what I can figure was only a short while, I would unintentionally fall asleep and wake up HOURS later!! To top it all of, even after waking up and finishing my nightly routine, I was still able to get to bed at a normal time and sleep through the night. Its been almost embarrassing that this is what my nights have become, but hopefully after a weekend of sleeping and getting stuff done I'll be able to return to a normal schedule (or what could pass as normal considering the circumstances) this week.
A-100 week 4 was a big mix of exposure as we continue to learn more about our new jobs, the State Department, and overall U.S. foreign policy. This week we spent an entire day learning how to adjust to working in a different culture and how the clash of U.S. habits and demeanor with the local culture can cause some major workplace chaos. While many of my classmates have worked in an overseas environment before, I found these sessions to be quite helpful, as I want to be as effective as possible when I get to post. In the process of discussing and learning about "crossing cultures" it was really interesting to profile and generalize American behavior. One of my favorite parts of the day was when someone clashed with me about Midwestern communication. I was insistent that in the Midwest we constantly have to read between the lines when someone is talking to us (as opposed to saying exactly what's on our minds). A number of folks disagreed with me, but it turns out one of my fellow Minnesotans was having the same disagreement in his small group. After the discussion he came up to me with a few of his group members and asked, "Brian, how do you know if its okay to accept food that someone has offered you?" I told him, "well, if they offer it only once you politely decline, but if they offer 2-3 times, you know you have to take it." He began to laugh and the people with him looked dumbfounded. They asked me how that works, and I had to explain that in the Midwest if someone is seriously offering you something (as opposed to just being polite) they offer it multiple times to notify you that it's okay to accept. It was so fascinating to discover that being able to overcome and learn our own American culture differences will be a big help in adjusting to life and work overseas. I guess with our diverse class, we'll have plenty of time to practice before shipping out.
This week we also began our series, "Diplomatic History." I think a more appropriate title would be "History for Diplomats," but the point is probably taken. In our sessions this week we began to learn the historical foundations of U.S. foreign policy, beginning with the outreach done during the Revolutionary War. Now, I've never been a history buff, but I really did enjoy these sessions and fealt like I learned a lot. I don't know if I'll ever be able to remember it all, but I think it is useful to be able to learn and discuss previous events and how we can learn lessons from them. Additionally, we learned that the State Department has a History Office, that can provide research and context to events of the past. I hope that I'll be able to tap into this resource as I get ready to go to post. I'm convinced that I'm going to learn as much history of the country we're assigned to as possible before we head out... we'll see how that goes.
The end of the week brought what could be one of my favorite sessions thus far. We received a briefing from the Congressional Relations Office for the State Department. It was so exciting to learn more about how the Department works with Congress to make decisions and to hopefully develop policy that is favorable to us. I was also elated to discover that the CR office does have positions available to FSOs on DC tours. Now I wouldn't be back to DC for 4-5 years most likely, but I definitely think I want to keep this option in mind for the future. One great opportunity would be a one-year fellowship to work in a Congressional office on foreign affairs issues. I always regretted not working on "The Hill" during our time in DC, but who knows, this could be a great opportunity to do some policy work while maintaining my position as a FSO. Our session with the CR office was the cap to a series discussing interagency cooperation. It was surprising how much work it takes for the government to work with itself, but when you consider checks and balances, it's probably a good thing. I guess this is just the reality of our world and we can only work to increase cooperation and efficiency. It's exciting to think that I could be doing this now from the inside.
This weekend I am working on my final cable assignment. I can't believe how much we've learned in four short weeks! I'm actually looking forward to putting this together and seeing how much progress I've made. My last practice cable got good remarks from the instructor, so I'm hoping that I can do even better on this final assignment.
This coming week our class splits into three groups for "core skills rotations." I'm told that these sessions are deep dives into public speaking, composure under fire (tough questions), and learning more about Foreign Service life. I'm sure it will continue to be exhausting, but I'm really looking forward to these practical sessions where we get to apply much of what we've learned thus far.
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