Flag day

I know I ought to have taken a bunch of pictures, but I have this special talent of taking my camera places when its batteries are dead. So, let me describe what happened during flag day.

I met the fiance of one of Kevin's classmates in our apartment lobby to drive us all over there. But when I got down into the garage, I couldn't find my car keys, despite having double-checked before I left the apartment. I ripped through my purse and everywhere I could think of, but they just weren't anywhere to be found. I ran back up and searched my apartment. Same thing. I ran back downstairs and found that they hadn't magically reappeared, so I called Kevin. Maybe he could beam himself back and use his car key.

Or we could just take a cab, which is what Kevin suggested.

So we took a cab. The friend's fiance ended up paying for it because I didn't have cash (I know, I feel really awesome about the whole ting), but we did get there in time.

The basic gist of the meeting was that they would show a big flag on the screen, then announce the post and who would get sent there. My heart would skip a beat every time they would call the name of Kevin somebody. I think it was the most popular name in the class!

In this class of 75, there were 15 people going to various cities in Mexico, and I can't say I was very happy about any of those posts. I also wasn't terribly thrilled about many of the African posts. I'm sure many of those would actually be fine, but there is so much I don't know, and that makes me a bit timid about them.

Eventually, probably about 2/3 of the way through the class, they finally called Kevin (Fisher)'s name. And in May 2011, we'll be going to Shenyang, China! This was our top choice, and we are both very excited to be heading out there!

I really thought we would go somewhere else. See, Kevin isn't the only person in his class who speaks Mandarin, but this was the only post in China. It is a Facilities Management position, and that's not Kevin's area of expertise. But thank goodness for training opportunities. I can imagine it would be easier to learn to manage facilities than, for example, to be an economic analyst. Especially when your entire understanding of economics can be explained using a picture of a pie and a chart showing one person making shoes and another person making ladders.

So Shenyang, China. It's really far north and gets very cold in the winter. Actually, it is pretty cold all the time. You know those kids in China who wear about 6 layers of clothing? That will be us, all of us. They have an ice sculpture festival in Harbin, which is sort of in the same area. I'm just glad our baby will be born in the summer, not in the middle of the frigid fall, winter, and spring.

And our cats can't come with us to Shenyang. I think this means that, once and for all, we have to find a new home for them. It will be simpler in the long run, but that doesn't make it easier.