I swear

At long last, the orientation class is finished. It's been a long, intensive six weeks of lectures, field trips and exercises, all illustrated ad nauseam with Powerpoint slides, but as of this afternoon the 167th A-100 class is officially over. The culmination of our introduction to the Foreign Service and the U.S. State Department came with the swearing-in ceremony, which was held in the Dean Acheson Auditorium in the Harry S Truman Building. Here are a few photos:

 Before the start of the ceremony

Standing up when my name was announced

The keynote speaker was Patrick F. Kennedy, the Under Secretary of State for Management

The oath that we took at the end of the ceremony

The class photo. The official pictures were taken moments earlier - this shot was taken by my wife when the guests were given permission to click away. The woman seated third from right in the front row is Ambassador Carol Rodley, our class mentor. Yours truly is the grinning cue ball raising his left hand in the very back row on the right. 

Another family photo, taken at the conclusion of the afternoon's festivities

Following the end of the swearing-in ceremony, we returned home, whereupon I got out of my monkey suit and into something far more comfortable. We then went out to celebrate at the Dogfish Head Alehouse, where the 90 Minute India Pale Ale went down very well at the end of this very hot, very humid but very satisfying day:

What follows will be roughly six months of consular and Mandarin Chinese training before our scheduled February departure date for Shanghai 上海. It's going to be a lot, hot and busy summer.

Mall Rats

When I was a kid, I remember borrowing a picture book of Washington, D.C. from the Corona (CA) public library, seeing all the photos of the famous places and pestering my dad to take the family there. It took over 40 years to do so, but today I finally got around to seeing some of the scenes that so piqued my interest during my childhood. Better late than never, right? 

Taking the Metro to the Smithsonian station, we walked over to the Washington Monument. Though the obelisk has been closed since the 2011 Virginia earthquake, at 555 feet (169 meters) in height it was still an impressive sight, especially on a beautiful (if somewhat warm) day such as this Sunday:

I look forward to being able to ride the elevator to the top once the earthquake damage has been repaired:

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From arguably the most symbolic...er, symbol of Washington, D.C., we made our way over to one of the capital's newer memorials, the National World War II Memorial, which opened in 2004. Sitting between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, this salute to those who served during the Second World War consists of two arcs separated by a central fountain. Amber took advantage of the cool breeze created by all that water:

Chiseled into  the walls of the memorial are quotations from such luminaries as Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin Roosevelt:

In the center of the two arcs are 43-foot (13 meters) towers labelled "Atlantic" and "Pacific" (for obvious reasons if you know your history), both of which contain identical sculptures of four eagles holding a wreath:

There is a curving wall that contains over 4000 bronze stars that represent the 405,399 dead and missing from the conflict:

The memorial also contains 56 17-foot (5.2 meters) high stone pillars, one for each of the US states and territories at the time of the war. Guess which one I had my picture taken in front of:

Despite the controversy surrounding its design and site location, I liked how the architecture of this memorial evoked a style more reminiscent of the New Deal than its early 21st century construction date would suggest.

Kilroy was here

Lunch consisted of hot dogs, a turkey pita and lemonade on a park bench, where we entertained an audience of ducks and geese:

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 58,000 young lives squandered in another country's civil war far from home that we had no business being involved in. For me, the greatest thing about this beautifully stark memorial is that my father's name isn't etched on it, and for that fact Amber expressed her gratitude:

The last stop on our tour of the National Mall was the Lincoln Memorial:

Looking much like an ancient Greek temple, the Memorial was as grand as I had imagined it since childhood. Inside, of course, sits the justifiably famous seated sculpture of America's 16th president:

Gazing up at the 19 foot (5.8 meter)-high statue of Abraham Lincoln, I found myself feeling more than a little annoyed at how a certain memorial to a certain corrupt dictator who brutally ruled over a small island off the coast of China after getting driven out of his homeland tried to borrow so much from Daniel Chester French's magnificent work of art. 

Back to the more morally correct memorial in the District of Columbia, on the north and south walls inside the hall are some impressive, if somewhat dark, murals, and two of Lincoln's most famous speeches - the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address: 

If you sense that there's something missing from the photograph below, you're right. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is in the process of being restored, and as a result, it's been drained of all its water. I didn't think a long bed of concrete would've added anything to this picture:

Amber proudly shows off the two books that we bought for her at the memorial's tiny bookshop: Hello, Washington, D.C.! and The Story of America's Birthday. Let the civics and history lessons begin!:

As I said before, it took more than four decades, but I've finally arrived!:

Before leaving the Lincoln Memorial, Amber insisted on having her picture taken with a police horse:

On the way back to the Foggy Bottom metro station, we stopped in front of my new place of employment for one last photo op:

If all goes according to schedule, we're going to be in Washington, DC until next February. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the sights the nation's capital has to offer, and posting photos of them here. And now that my wife understands that the word "mall" in the National Mall does not refer to a large shopping center, I'm sure she'll be more appreciative of all that iconography she'll be seeing in the weeks and months ahead.

Holmes...walk

Now that A-100 is winding down, and my wife and daughter have pretty much settled in here in Falls Church, it's time to get into some habits. The most pressing non-work related routine that needs to be established involves some kind of exercise regimen. While our apartment complex does have a small gym, I prefer the great outdoors. Northern Virginia, however, is a lot flatter than Taiwan, and I'm starting to miss having Dakeng  大坑 on my back doorstep. Still, a Google search did turn up a number of walking trails in this area, and this morning I checked out one of them, an area about a 15-minute drive from here called Holmes Run, located in Alexandria. While the trails were hardly challenging, and almost completely level, they did make for a quiet, shaded walk. In all, I spent about 75 minutes exploring the area. 

The closest entrance to the Dora Kelley Nature Park from where I parked my car

 The bicycle and jogging trails were paved in parts, whereas the walking paths were more "rugged"

 Holmes Run is the name of the creek that passes through the park. Portions of it evoked images of James Fenimore Cooper in my overactive imagination.

Wildlife to be seen this morning included birds, dragonflies, small fish and squirrels

Shanghaied

I'm sure you all recognize this flag. Today was the day the members of my A-100 class received their first assignments in a ceremony at the Foreign Service Institute, and this was the flag given to me when my name was called. To be more specific, I'm being posted to our consulate in Shanghai 上海 for a position in the consular section. It's a two-year tour that begins next February, and between now and then I'll be undergoing various trainings, including a 21-week course beginning in September that will try to bring my poor Mandarin skills up to something approaching snuff. In other words, I've got a lot of work ahead of me!

Both my wife and daughter were overjoyed to hear the announcement. Amber, in particular, was so happy to hear the news that she started singing the National Flag Anthem...of the Republic of China 中華民國, aka Taiwan. My little girl has already been given her first lesson in the pitfalls of international geopolitics.

Diplomatic faux pas aside, everyone was satisfied with way things turned out today, myself included. Going to China had not been a high priority for me when I entered the Foreign Service, but once the first bid list came out, and the importance of attaining proficiency in Mandarin in terms of career development became apparent, the available Chinese postings quickly catapulted to the top of my list of preferences. So it looks like I left Taiwan to move back to the United States in order to prepare for an eventual move to China. I don't see any ironies here - do you?

Natitude

Tomorrow is Flag Day - the day in which we learn where our first posts will be. Everyone is looking forward to Friday, no doubt with equal parts excitement and trepidation. After five weeks of waiting, the long-awaited announcements will be coming down, but there have been other activities going on this week to take our minds off of the event (at least temporarily). Take yesterday afternoon as an example - our class was invited to the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room on the 8th floor of Main State to hear Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and former Secretary of State James Baker engage in a "Conversation on Diplomacy". This was a privilege rarely afforded to an A-100 class, and it was especially gratifying to hear the Secretary acknowledge our presence in her opening remarks. The conversation was moderated by PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, and the video of the interview can be seen on his website (a transcript of the conversation can be seen on the State Department's site). I was impressed with the level of respect shown by Baker and Clinton toward each other, and it was interesting to compare the current secretary's carefully chosen answers to Rose's questions with the retired Baker's freedom to speak more freely (check out his remarks about Iran). Following the interview, our class was invited to join the reception, where we were able to partake of champagne and hors d'oeuvres - shades of embassy cocktail parties to come? The view of Washington, D.C. from the 8th floor balcony was fantastic, taking in the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials and the Pentagon. 

And of course I forgot to bring my camera, so I have no pictures of Clinton, Baker or the view. You'll have to make do with this photo of the invitation card, and take my word for it that I was actually there:

Fortunately, I remembered to take the camera along on Tuesday evening, when Amber, Pamela and I joined some of the members of A-100 in going to Nationals Park to see the Washington Nationals take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Thanks to Washington's efficient Metro system, it was a relatively short ride to the Navy Yard Station, though by the time we bought our food and drinks, and found our seats, the top of the first inning was over, with the Rays up 1-0:

I was impressed with the stadium, which is only four years old. My only complaints were with the high concession prices and the lack of craft beer. 

A statue of Negro Leagues great Josh Gibson, who once played for D.C.'s Homestead Grays. 

For Pamela, the main draw was the chance to see Taiwan's own Chien-Ming Wang 王建民 in action:

Wang, however, was a disappointment. The right-hander has struggled this season, and on Tuesday night he lasted only 3⅓ innings, giving up five earned runs in a losing effort that saw his record drop to 2-3 and his ERA rise to 6.10. As a result of his poor performance against the Rays (Tampa Bay won 5-4), Wang has been dropped from the starting rotation and consigned to the bullpen.

We had a good spot in the left-field stands, seated just behind the foul pole in prime home run ball territory. While there were three homers hit in the game, none of them came our way, though one of my classmates, Tri, snagged a T-shirt that was fired into the stands between innings:

Amber didn't really pay much attention to the goings on down on the field, but she certainly enjoyed the atmosphere in the stands. She continually danced up and down in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to get her image on the scoreboard screen, but she was able to bag a photo with the Nationals mascot, Screech (this was actually my second encounter with the eagle):

We stayed to the end of the game, which unfortunately meant we didn't get back to our apartment until around 11:45 (we did get to see a lot of fireflies on the walk from the East Falls Church Metro station). Any future Nationals game we attend will most likely be day games. 

For a report on the contest between the Rays and the Nats, check here. You baseball fans will no doubt have heard of the Joel Peralta pine tar incident. At the time it happened, none of us in the stands had any idea of what was happening down on the pitcher's mound - it wasn't until breakfast the next morning that I finally learned why there had been a pitching change in the bottom of the eighth.

Tomorrow is Flag Day - stay tuned for details as they come in!