He Said: Life After A-100, Language Training Begins

It's been a while since I last posted, but I believe its been for good reason. Since the beginning of February, when I got "the call" I really haven't had a chance to slow down, pause, or take a break. Now, I'm not saying that since A-100 ended life has been a breeze (far from it in fact), but I have realized now the excruciating pace I've been going at since this all began. After the swearing in I slept harder than I think I ever have. I think my body just realized what it had been through and that there was a short window to recover... boy, that sure felt good. After a great weekend of celebrating the end of A-100 and the official beginning of Steph and my new diplomatic life, I put everyone on planes and sent them back to Minnesota. On Monday, it was back to reality and back to a little bit of (controlled) chaos.

Since then, I have been in language training for a week and a half now. The time has definitely gone quickly and been enjoyable. Although, it has been a lot of work and wears me out each and everyday. Heading to Spanish every morning is a constant reminder of what we've gotten into. It's not quite like college, but it's also not your typical full time job. Our classes are extremely small, and I spend 4+ hours in a classroom environment that is 98% in Spanish. The rest of the time in the day is spent in the multimedia lab working on listening exercises, speaking practice, interactive programs, and homework. I also do about an hour of homework each night. All of that totals to about 9 hours or so of Spanish everyday. It's so weird to study one subject so intensely and to have it be your full-time job on top of that.

I've definitely felt like I've been learning during our short amount of time in class, but I'm really wishing I could fast forward a few weeks at this point to be more comfortable in the language. I enjoy doing all the work and am motivates as the language will be a skill I need to have for my job. Although, all this work and the effort to understand another language has been exhausting. To put things in perspective, I have heard that one day in language at FSI is the equivalent of one to two weeks of a college level language course. I know that my hard work and this exhaustion will pay off, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to use my new skill effectively.

Aside from starting language training, the move out of A-100 has been fairly smooth and enjoyable. It's strange to walk the halls at FSI and not see my classmates in their suits. Now everyone has moved to different levels of dress, with those of us in language training on the more casual end of the spectrum. I get the opportunity to catch up with many of them either in the hallways or at lunch, which I really enjoy. I know that during the A-100 days I have made many friends that we will keep throughout our careers. These are the people we will keep track of share this common experience across the globe with.

Everyday there is something that reminds me of how lucky I am to be able to be apart of this amazing experience. I hope I never lose that mystique.

She Said: Swearing In, The beginning of my search

Well, the past few weeks have been a blur and yet they have been wonderful. After flag day, I made my way back to Minnesota for a few days and then headed back to DC for the swearing in. It was really nice to have both my parents and Brian's parents in DC for the swearing in, and to be able to just spend some quality time together. As Brian has already said, the swearing in was a really neat ceremony to witness, and it made us all feel very patriotic. I was extremely proud of Brian!

Beyond the ceremony, we had a lot of time to talk about this journey. It has been 10 days since we heard "Caracas, Venezuela" announced as our post, and I think we are in a very different place about it today than we were when it was announced. As Brian and I said in our first post about Caracas, our initial reaction was mixed. While we have been excited about Venezuela and South America from day one, we had concerns about whether or not I would be able to work. I think at that moment, we both realized what "worldwide available" truly meant and it was a bit scary for both of us. Truthfully, I have hesitated to share my emotions about the post to this point because I never wanted anyone to think we weren't excited about Venezuela. That's really not the case AT ALL, and I want to be clear about that! What I have realized is that I think our fears just really took over when we realized what was happening. Suddenly, it wasn't what COULD be, it was what IS GOING to be, and those are two very different things.

From a career standpoint for me, I feel that I have worked hard to get to where I am, and I really don't want to give all of those things up. It has taken me 10 days (a few of them just feeling sorry for myself) to realize that I'm not giving those things up and that what lies ahead is an opportunity for me to showcase my abilities and talents and to do it overseas, as I've always wanted to do. Will it be hard? Without a doubt, but I've never been one to do things because they're easy. What I have realized since the announcement is that Venezuela offers all of the things that I said excited me about life as an FS spouse in the very beginning. When i read my first posts on this blog, I said that I was excited about the possibility of teaching, of freelance translating, of working with entrepreneurs in various industries such as chocolate, coffee and wine....of reinventing myself.

We know that Venezuela will offer us many challenges, but we also know that we will have an authentic foreign service experience there that will allow us to decide whether or not this is the kind of life we want to have after Brian serves his first two years. So, for those of you who have been wondering about how we're processing things, we're at a really good place about this whole experience. We are realistic about how challenging this post will be for both of us and excited about all of the beauty and opportunity it brings to us.

He Said: Swearing In, the end of A-100

Wow, what a whirlwind these past seven weeks have been. As I look back, it's hard to imagine where Steph and I were just a short few months ago, heading down such a different path. Today, after my parents, Steph's parents, and Steph were all safely on planes back to MN, I took a little time to go for a run. When we used to live in DC, running around town was one of my favorite things to do. Where else in this world could you run for 40 mins and see a number of national treasures and landmarks along the way. On my run today though, I realized how truly changed my life has become, and that Steph and I have now entered a completely different world, exposed and aware of so much more. Along my route this afternoon I encountered both the Saudi Arabian Embassy, and Swedish Embassy. During the more than three years that Steph and I lived here before, I had never come across either. As I ran by today, it was strange to think that in six short months, I too will be working in an Embassy

This past Friday, I was so lucky to be joined by my parents, Steph's parents, and Steph for my official swearing in as a Foreign Service Officer. After a short reception with my classmates and their families, we filed into one of the auditoriums at the main State Department building. What a treat we had for our ceremony. Not only were we able to hear Ambassador Bill Burns, currently the highest ranked Foreign Service Officer still in service, but we were also honored with the presence of former Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleburger, the ONLY FSO to ever serve as Secretary of State. Secretary Eagleburger actually administered our oath after giving a short speech. In his remarks, Sec. Eagleburger choked up a bit after mentioning how proud he was, and how proud we should all be to have the opportunity to represent the greatest country on Earth. I must say, this short moment encapsulated all my feelings for this journey we are about to endure. I am so proud of my country and so honored to be able to serve in a capacity where my actions could make a difference for America. Below is the oath I took, and above is a picture of me taking the oath of service.

"I, Brian Beckmann, do solemn that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Tomorrow I begin the next phase of my training. I will spend the next three months learning Spanish full-time. It's so cool to think that learning a new language will be my job. What a great opportunity. It's also a little nerve wracking to think that I need to get to a certain fluency in the language to be able to do my job. I'm looking forward to it and think that I'm motivated enough to study hard.

He Said/She Said - Caracas, Venezuela Here We Come!

We apologize for the slight delay in posting, but as you can guess, the last 12+ hours have been pretty crazy. It is official... around October we will be heading to Caracas, Venezuela for two years.

Those we have talked to have been wondering how we're feeling about this assignment. We'd be lying if we didn't say we were very happy and a little disappointed at the same time... not to mention completely shocked. It turns out that a few positions on our list had been removed and duplicate assignments had been added. So, when Caracas had already been assigned we were blown away to see another Venezuelan flag come out and to hear our name announced.

Venezuela will be a good post in that Brian will learn Spanish and will be speaking it quite well by the end of the tour. As a Vice-Consul he'll be interacting daily with the public handling visa requests. The political atmosphere with Hugo Chavez will also make the situation interesting to witness first hand. One of the biggest challenges we anticipated with Venezuela will be the challenge of finding work for Steph. The political situation has caused many multi national companies to leave Venezuela and there may not be many opportunities outside of the embassy. We will have to wait and see what the situation is really like as we really start to dig into the opportunities.

Venezuela is a beautiful country with opportunities to see Angel Falls, Margarita Island, and eat lots of Arepas. We are excited about our new adventure and hope to see many of you there!!

He Said: The Flag Day CountdownI

I can't believe that we're finally here... the night before Flag Day. I didn't mention that it was coming up in my last posting because, well frankly, I was too tired when I was writing and it would've taken up way too much space. Now, here I am, the night before Flag Day, waiting for Steph and my parents to arrive. I'm going to be so glad to see them, especially Steph. I can't believe I haven't seen her in an entire month. I'm very much looking forward to having someone else in the apartment for a bit. I just don't think I'm that good at living alone.

The week leading up to Flag Day has definitely gone quickly. On Monday and Tuesday our Core Skills Rotation continued. Team Monroe spent the two days learning about and practicing our public speaking skills. On Monday we spent 8 hours reviewing tips, tricks, and elements to be used for all kinds of public speaking. We even got down to reviewing appropriate, off-the-cuff, presentation practices. On Tuesday we actually delivered speeches we wrote t6:he night before. My speech was about freedom of the press and was delivered to a fake audience of journalism students in Venezuela. They videotaped our speeches for us to review on our own and I was pretty happy with my performance. In fact, the instructor told me one portion of my speech was "perfect." Too bad I ruined the 6 and a half minute speech with a two minute conclusion. In fact, I actually delivered two conclusions on accident... apparently a "call to charge" is a good enough ending and you don't have to wrap the speech back to the intro if you do that. Unfortunately, I did both... oh well!

The last two days have been filled with some wrap-up and policy sessions. I can definitely feel my classmates getting anxious. I can't blame them. I'm so ready for tomorrow to come. To think that in less than an hour the next two or so years of our lives will be set. It will be good to finally know and be able to look forward.

I know that many of you are going to be extremely curious about where we get posted. I promise that we will try to get to a computer tomorrow to post where we're going, but we'll get something up by Saturday morning for sure.

The Flag Day ceremony will take place in the late afternoon tomorrow. The ceremony is expected to last about an hour, which is pretty impressive considering our class is over ninety people! The ceremony consists of the Ambassador in charge of our placements raising the flag of a country. Sometimes they announch the country the flag belongs to and sometimes they leave it up for the class to announce. Once the country is identified, the Ambassador lists the jobs and people from our class that will be heading to each post. After receiving your flag and getting your picture taken, we have the opportunity to review the packet of information that tells us when we'll be leaving and what our next round of training will be. There's not much to the whole thing as you can tell, but obviously there's a lot riding on that short hour.

That's about it. We'll be sure to let you know where we'll be for the next two years of our lives. Wish us luck!!

She Said: Flag day, Finally!

It's finally here...flag day, and I can hardly wait! Life has been absolutely crazy here in Minnesota, including a random April snowstorm last Saturday. I'm already ready to leave that behind. While these past few weeks have been extremely difficult for me, I am now looking back on them and amazed at all that I had the chance to experience. I really missed Brian and can't wait to see him again, but I had a great time with all of you! I had dinners with mom and dad, hung out with Kelly and Chris, had a visit from Erica, read bedtime stories to Lola, hung out with Renee, helped Dan and Mel move, met Micah and Sandra's new babies, enjoyed shopping time with lots of friends, and on and on and on. I wish I could list all of the fun things that I have been up to here, but I've got to get packed sometime tonight. The time has been wonderful and family and friends have been incredibly supportive. Thank you to all of you for listening and for helping! I can't tell you what it means to Brian and I.

Tomorrow afternoon I will be leaving for D.C. and on Friday afternoon we will find out where this adventure will take us for the next two years of our lives. I can only think of a few places on the list that I would be really disappointed in, and so many that I would enjoy. We will write a short blog entry on Friday night for those of you who are wondering where in the world we will be going. It will probably be late, so Saturday might be the better time to check. If it's really killing you, just shoot one of us a text. Thanks for all the well wishes, and we'll see you on the flip side of flag day.

He Said: A-100 Week 5, Core Skills Rotation

Before this week began, we were told that it would be one of the most useful weeks of A-100. Looking back, I can honestly say that they were not kidding.

The Core Skills Rotation is a series of exercises and sessions that continue our education on embassy life and help hone our communication skills. For these sessions, our class was split into three groups: Team Jefferson, Team Franklin, and Team Monroe. I was placed on Team Monroe, representing our fifth President. My group began the week by discussing embassy life, professional conduct, and how to properly work and run a representational event (reception). Although these sections were mostly presentations, it is really nice and refreshing to begin discussing what our lives will be like at the embassy. I was shocked how many after work events either occur at the U.S. Embassy or at neighboring embassies in the host country. It's strange to think that this new job really is 24/7 representation of the U.S. Government, but in the end that is what I signed up for, the opportunity to serve my country.

Toward the end of the week, Team Monroe spent time reviewing crisis management and diplomatic immunity and privileges. While major emergencies at the embassy are not highly likely, they do happen. The State Department definitely has experience handling these situations and teaching us to do the same. Our session on diplomatic immunity taught us that it was created to prevent host governments from trapping, holding, or hassling diplomats as a bargaining chip to their country. I was surprised that with all the hype around diplomatic immunity that this is what it comes down to, you are never supposed to have to use this privelege. In the end, I really don't care, but all the hype and build up definitely brought about a slight sense of disappointment.

The best sessions of this week, at least I thought, were titled "Composure Under Fire." These sessions were designed to teach us how to handle tough questions during a press conference, Q&A sessions, or even at cocktail parties. As representatives of the U.S. we can expect that many people we meet along the way will be interested in the U.S. and what is going on here. While we will be prepared to answer many questions, there will likely be answers that we won't have. These sessions taught us how to handle those situations. The highlight for me was the session where we got in front of the room and were hammered with tough questions. While it was very uncomfortable and nerve wracking, I really do want to get better and practice is the only way. I think I did pretty well, but I'd sure like to do it again.

After class on Friday a number of us went out into Virginia for Korean Fried Chicken and karaoke. One of our classmates organized this extra-curricular field trip to expose us to something new. I have to say, this was some of the best fried chicken I have ever had in my life. Apparently they cook it a lot longer than here in the States and at a lower temperature. this causes the fat to render out and for the batter to become one with the skin. It was spicy, crunchy, and delicious. I can't wait for Steph to come out so I can bring her to this restaurant to share in the experience. Karaoke afterward was an absolute blast. What a great group I have for classmates, Everyone was willing to participate and was just out to have a good time. I can already see how the Foreign Service develops a close knit group.

I'm constantly amazed at the different things I am exposed to because of my new job. In one weekend I have tried a new food, done karaoke (where the book was mostly in Korean), and learned many of the rules of rugby (as explained to me by one of my classmates). I consider myself so lucky to be having these experiences. I truly do look forward to Steph getting out here when the time comes so that we can share these new adventures.