Finally!

http://chinatravelholidays.com/the-bund-shanghai/

Finally!

After three extensions (one due to knee surgery) and one failed exam, I finally, FINALLY, managed to do well enough on the end-of-term Mandarin Chinese exam to pass the course, get off of language probation and start preparing for the move to Shanghai 上海. More than two hours after getting the results, I'm still in a daze, and not just because I have flu-like symptoms and have been feeling pretty damn uncomfortable since yesterday evening. I'm finding it hard to come to grips with the passing score I was given, considering that I felt I did much worse this time compared to the exam I took a month ago. I can think of four possible explanations:

1.) In my delirium, I didn't realize just how amazingly fluent I've become in the Chinese language;

2.) My score this time illustrates just how subjective the whole testing process at the Foreign Service Institute really is;

3.) Word came down from the top to pass me and get me the hell out of FSI as quickly as possible, no matter how much I butcher Mandarin;

or 4.) The testers made a mistake, and it turns out I actually failed (this wouldn't the first time this happened to me; however, I will say no more about THAT...). I'm leaning toward this explanation, which is why, during the post-test feedback session when I was asked if I had any questions, I quickly replied "No", and got out of there and to the Chinese section as soon as possible, both to report the results and to get myself signed out of the program before someone changed their mind.

http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/shanghai/the-bund.html

Now that I'm done with language training (fingers crossed), I can finally recover from 学中文-induced burnout, and get on the process of packing up our things and having them all ready for when the movers get here next week. The plan calls for a couple of days in San Francisco, where I'll have consultations with the Department of Homeland Security, followed by a few days visiting family in the other, nicer Washington. Then, following a night's layover at Narita 成田 in Japan (Yay!), we should arrive in Shanghai just after the Fourth of July holiday (in the U.S., of course), where I should be fresh, eager and ready to get to work the following Monday after resting up over the weekend.

That's the plan. Now that I've laid it all out for the world to see, no doubt some unforeseen disaster is waiting in the wings, biding for the right time to make its presence known.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shanghai%E2%80%99s_old_city.JPG

All this calls for a celebration, but I feel like  大条 right now, so I'll try to go to bed again this evening. Hopefully, if I feel better tomorrow morning, I can do one last hike before the serious job of getting ready for the movers begins. Shanghai, apparently, is pretty flat and the walking options are limited. Oh, the sacrifices one must make in the service of their country...

In lieu of a celebratory feast, I offer you this apropos oldie:

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.

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!