More D.C. Vacation

On Wednesday we took a double decker bus tour and met Smokey Bear at the National Forest Service. He moved and spoke, and frankly was a little unnerving.

Saturday we saw the Afghanistan treasures exhibit at the National Gallery, followed by an awesome waterfall. Sam had his first gelato!

On a more somber note, Sunday we visited the National Holocaust Museum and saw video and heard tape recordings of Mark's Papa Sam, baby Sam's namesake.

Swearing In

Friday was Mark's official Swearing-In ceremony at the State Department headquarters in D.C. It was a lovely event, beginning with a reception in the room where the actual United States Seal is kept in a special box, and where many bits of bagel were kept in Sam's hands. There were some poignant speeches, then the members of the 139th Generalist Class (Mark's) and the 101st Specialist Class took their Oath of Office and posed for photos. We were very happy that both sets of parents and Grandma Chase were able to attend. Sam really enjoyed the ceremony, especially the part where he ran up and down the steps of the auditorium with Mommy in hot pursuit.

The OBC

One way to ensure that families will be happy living abroad is to give them a lot of information about their post before they leave the U.S. The Overseas Briefing Center (OBC) at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is where foreign service families can research any of the 250+ posts worldwide. There are "briefing boxes" for each post with official reports, details about local schools, regulations for bringing pets, and so on. This week, Sam and I checked out the Chennai briefing box:

D.C. Vacation

So, the whole family is together in D.C. for a week. Mark's swearing-in ceremony is tomorrow, and his parents (Grandma Nancy and Papa Jack to Sam) and Great Grandma Chase are arriving via train from New York tonight. Meanwhile, we've been doing some sightseeing, hanging out with the members of Mark's A-100 class and their families, and enjoying the pool at our swanky corporate apartments. Here's Sam swimming with Grandma Helene while Grandpa Barry mans the camera:

We love those internets!

I won't be in D.C. until tomorrow, so most of the research I have done on Chennai is via Google and Wikipedia. In D.C. I will go to the Overseas Briefing Center and do lots of reading, but if you know me, you know that I need information to process things, and it's a long way to Tuesday!

This is where the fabulous internet comes in. There is an online usergroup for members of the foreign service community, and I have been hanging out there since Mark got "the call" from State. Yesterday I posted that we were going to Chennai, and wow! Three fabulously helpful people so far (two in Chennai now, one who just got back) have written to me with all sorts of advice, websites, book recommendations, and just an ear for any questions I might have.

It's a little daunting to pick up and move to a new country when you've never visited and don't have family there. I've done it once before, to England, with the nice people at the U.C. Education Abroad Program to guide me. What really made me ready for the move to the UK, however, was a welcome booklet, written by students from my Hall of Residence (Wha-hey, Tap-ton!). I didn't understand all of the slang or cultural references (and sheltered 20-year-old me was a little shocked by the fact that a pub would advertise in an official college publication that it was "within walking or crawling distance" of the dorm!), but nonetheless, it made all the difference. I was armed with inside knowledge about where I was going to be living, and it made me just that much more comfortable.

The emails I got today were my Chennai welcome booklet. Thanks, R, L, & M!

Namaste

We're moving to India!

Chennai (formerly Madras) on the Southeastern coast, to be precise. And we're going this October, because language training is preferred but not required. So Sam and I will join Mark in D.C. for a couple of months of language training and cultural orientation, then off to Chennai just in time for the monsoon season. Mark likes snowy winters, I prefer warmth. I win. :)

Tomorrow is Flag Day!

Not the Flag Day where we celebrate Old Glory (although it is the first day I won't be saluting the stars and stripes now that the school year has ended), but State's own special holiday. Mark will be in a gym with all of his A-100 colleagues, facing a selection of world flags representing each available post. I may have the sequence wrong, but I'm pretty sure that they'll call up each FSO in alphabetical order, then hold up the flag so that everyone else can yell out "Ghana!" or "Mexico!" or "Vietnam!" or "Serbia!" or wherever in the world the Department has seen fit to send us for the next two years. :) That little flag informs our packout, how long we're living in D.C., what language we learn, Mark's actual job, and on and on. It's a lot of pressure for a 5X7 polyester rectangle.

Under normal circumstances, I would be so excited that I wouldn't be able to sleep. But these aren't normal circumstances; this is a week when the perfect storm of grading, report cards, and Sam's insomnia equals my being able to fall asleep standing up, so I'm good.

You know I'll be posting tomorrow...