The Suit

One thing about the Foreign Service, I have to wear suits more often. Apparently a lot more often. Like most everything else in the Foreign Service, it depends a lot on the post.

When I started working in corporate America in the late 1990s, I bought one suit to interview in.  I was hired to work at the corporate headquarters of a big company where they still had to wear a jacket and tie each day. Fortunately, I was at an annex - still had the wear the tie but not a jacket.  I just kept a blue blazer on hand in case I had to go to the main office - very rare.

The dress code gradually loosened over the years I was there - first business casual on Fridays, then business casual every day.  Fortunately again, they went all business casual every day before I moved to the main office.  Eventually we went to jeans on Friday until finally, in late 2011, they abolished the dress code completely. I wore jeans every day after that.  All that time I kept the one suit for weddings, funerals and job interviews.  I was wearing it when I interviewed (took the oral assessment in State speak) for the Foreign Service.

So now I've had to buy some more and I'm still not used to it. I just don't feel comfortable in a suit.  I know I'm supposed to feel confident  but I don't.  I've just decided to stick with grey or navy suits, white shirt (maybe a blue one if I'm feeling crazy) and I'll favor pretty plain ties (stripes or a simple pattern).  Treat it like it's a work uniform.  Like when I worked at Whatburger.  At least these aren't polyester.

Williamsburg - Then and Now

Last month we took the kids to Jamestown and Williamsburg to do a little sightseeing.  Great fun. The kids got to see what a 'time out' was like in the 18th century.  Before you call CPS, we told them to look sad for photo for the sake of realism - they posed willingly.

Then today I came across this picture from the last time Erin and I were in Williamsburg, back in 1991.  I was in the Navy, stationed in Virginia Beach for training and Erin came to visit. It probably didn't occur to us that we might return over 20 years later with 3 kids and about to go to China for a couple of years.

I have to say, I was pretty optimistic about this whole marriage thing, but it's working out even better than I imagined.    Best advice I could give for a happy marriage - marry the right person.

Must be getting close - shopping

Little things make me realize how close this big move is ---  I was putting gas in the car this weekend and realized that they are coming to pick it up in 2 weeks.  It should not have more than a quarter tank during transport, so I didn't fill it up.  Strange feeling.

Also - buying toilet paper and wondering if I should buy a smaller package.  Or maybe I should buy lots of bigger ones and put them with our household goods for shipping - you know in case we really don't like the paper there.  We're calling this panic buying.  Maybe we should buy two years worth of deodorant/shampoo/cosmetic products, etc.  It's probably not necessary; Beijing is a large, cosmopolitan city compared to a lot of other Foreign Service posts. And we are lucky enough to have a DPO address - I think we'll like Amazon prime. Many smaller posts in the Foreign Service don't have this convenience.

We did buy an artificial Christmas tree that's been sitting in the living room since December 27th, still in the box, waiting to travel to China (probably right back where it came from).

Interested in what the Foreign Service does?

Nicely done recruiting video for the Foreign Service --