Saturday, September 20, 2008

A to New Z-land

My main squeeze and I are about to leave for Hershey, Pa., for a little mini-vaca. We're going to a B&B! Never been to one before. I hope there is a river of chocolate in Hershey. If so, we'll swim in it for sure.

I just finished my first week of training. It was information overload. One of my classmates perfectly described the resulting feeling as "jet lag." I went home every night and tried to fight off sleep until bedtime. Who knew that a day in a classroom could be so draining. But we are being inundated with tons of information. It's tiring to be on constant full attention for hours at a time. Add to that, meeting a lot of new people in and around our class and trying to remember their names, story, etc. OVERLOAD!!! But it's been great! I'm really excited to actually get started. Meaning, I'm very excited to find out where I'm going and get there!

I have been paranoid to post anything about my new endeavor, because I'm not sure what is allowed and what isn't, and I haven't been able to get a definitive answer on what the policy is. So you'll note the newly added disclaimer on the side of this page.

On Monday I did get my list of places to choose from and I couldn't be happier with the selection. We'll see if I actually get posted to one of my top picks. I'll find out 9/30.

Without further ado, here are my choices -- where would you go?

Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Berlin, Germany
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Caracas, Venezuela
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kingston, Jamaica
Lima, Peru
Panama City, Panama
Seoul, Korea
Vienna, Austria
Wellington, New Zealand

18 comments:

AJones said...

SHoot TOUGH CHOICES!!! some NO WAYS some WOW!!!COOL!
I want to say new zealand but maybe you need a change and so I am saying AUstria,...!

leslie said...

Wow. Berlin would be such a strange otherworldly place to go, i've never been but imagine it feeling like walking through a time warp from WW2. Ethiopia would just be insanely amazing. Abu Dhabi--that would be a hard one to pass up. i could go on and on about each one! this reads like "12 Places to Go Before You Die!"

leslie said...

PS. your descriptions of class remind me of being in the mtc. i felt like the information was being poured into my mind until full and dripping over--some days i was up to capacity and unable to take in anything else! and similarly--i loved it! can't wait to see you, i want to hear more!

Stephanie said...

germany or new zealand or argentina... austria might be cool- oh man- they all sound exotic.

diana palmer said...

whoa, i would NOT know what to choose. so many unbelievable choices...sigh...like a dream to me...i'm telling martin to apply for the foreign service....

luckily you've been preparing yourself for this tuff decision and have a much better idea of what would be best for you and neil

echo said...

austria would be my choice. hope you get what you want.

echo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lincoln and Alisia said...

ARGENTINA, ARGENTINA, ARGENTINA ARGENTINA ARGENTINA ARGENTINA ARGENTINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN LINCOLN AND I COULD VISIT YOU WHEN WE VISIT OUR MISSION THIS SUMMER! GO TO ARGENTINA!!!

Moni and Paul said...

NEW ZEALAND hands down!
beautiful amazzing new zealand!

Liz said...

I GUARANTEE you'll LOVE New Zealand. That country is so you, megan! But I'm sure whatever place you decide, it'll be better off for having you there.

Consul-At-Arms said...

A lot will depend upon your cone and upon your language-probation status. If you're on language probation, bid higher for jobs that'll get you language training for your first post rather than your second, otherwise you may encounter issues at Tenure time.

If you're cone is other than consular, than you may want to bid higher on those jobs that are in your cone rather than the (majority) consular ones.

Good luck!

Lacey said...

Chas says:
I can only narrow it down to three. 1) Buenos Aires - The birth place of the tango. Nuf' said
2) Vienna - Skiing in the alps
3) Panama City - Almost island life with a Spanish flare.

Tara said...

oh my gosh, i want them all! how lucky you are! seriously, that is soo something i have dreamed of...

Taralyn said...

all i can say is make sure you have a guest room :) haha. we are sad you will be leaving us so soon though. we need to hang out all the time before you leave :)

modestmuse said...

Hello, folks. Wow, thanks for all the reaction. Our door will SERIOUSLY always be open!

Rachel said...

Vienna, Berlin,Buenos Aires, New Zealand, Panama City

M. said...

ah! you find out tomorrow!! I'm so excited for you. When will you get posted...and when are we doing lunch, or a dessert aye?! :)If you go w/ the kiwi's play with my cousins, they basically rock and so do you!

Steve said...

Ha, wish I would have seen this before. I've been to a bunch of your top picks and know a good bit about the rest. But Aregentina will be pretty sweet, especially as a first post.