Since both of us speak Mandarin and have been trying to teach Penny some as well, we've been looking forward to bidding high on all the Chinese-speaking posts. There are billions of Chinese people, and we have like 6 embassies and consulates in China, plus more in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. HUNDREDS of people work at these embassies. Kevin has family in Taipei, so that was going to be top of the list, with the rest of them shortly following.
Now that we have the list, there is.... ONE... opening in China. Period. And it's an opening for a management officer, while Kevin is a consular guy. And he said there are probably 8-10 other people in his training class that speak Mandarin.
So.... we'll be doing a lot of globe spinning in the next few days and weeks.
I'm not allowed to post the list, and I'm also not supposed to give too many specifics. But I'm excited to be learning about all these places. There are several in the Caribbean that I think we'd be stupid not to bid for. But then again, some people would say that about Europe, and we're not terribly excited about Europe.
Honestly, looking at these options, I'm realizing that any of these places would be exotic and adventuresome in their own way. I guess it just depends on how much adventure I'd like to have on a daily basis.
Kevin is obviously looking at different things than I am. Some of these posts require language training, and some locations are better for his career than others. Some posts have hardship pay that can be up to 30% of your regular salary. On the other hand, you do earn this hardship pay in most cases. (I say "in most cases" because China's posts receive hardship pay, and for us, we don't consider it a hardship. We like the briar patch! But we won't say no to some extra dough....) I'm more looking at the living conditions, weather, travel availability, healthcare availability, and possibility of friends and family coming to see us.
Anyway, we have a few weeks to mull and stew over the list. I think Kevin said that we'll find out where we go a few days after I get to DC. I can hardly wait!
9 comments:
hi there, I can't remember if I've posted before. Starting A100 in Jan and am the mom of 2 little ones. Your daughter is gorgeous!
I appreciate this reality check- we've been thinking about bidding China and other CNL spots high so that my husband will have a good chance of getting in (we want to be tandem) but isn't that funny- only 1 Chinese post? So sorry. I've heard that about Russian posts in the past, too. I will add you to my blogroll and look forward to hearing where you end up!
Wow, this just seems a little unreal to me! I can't imagine how it must feel to you! I hope you guys end up somewhere fun!
Good luck with all your post research! It's the most exciting part of A100, in my opinion. I can't wait to hear where you guys end up!
I hope you go somewhere that allows visitors! Also, China was my first choice for you as well...
How exciting! I can hardly wait to hear where you're going. :)
I can't wait either!
Good luck deciding. Those darn life decision. Just will affect the rest of your life... but no pressure. I'm sure you'll do great anywhere... especially if you blog about it :-).
Oh that's a bummer that there's only one China spot! (And that it's not in the consular department.) Hmm, maybe for your second post you could try for China if it doesn't work this time.
My sister and husband LOVED doing the State Dept in Slovenia. They would be happy to live there for the rest of their lives. Ghana was a hardship post, but it's probably the most mild you can get for working in Africa. And those are the only two places they went to, so I don't know anything else. The housing that you're provided with is amazing-- both of their places were huge and fully furnished.
I know it's a ways off, but I can't wait to hear your news in a few months! The way my sister announced for both of their posts was to email us a picture of the country flag, and then leave it up to us to figure out.
Sounds very exciting! I can't believe you're going to be such a globe-trotter!
Post a Comment