How to learn a foreign language? It’s a question everyone has probably asked at least once—and some many, many times. Yet there’s no...

I’ve been in fulltime German language training for three weeks now, and I’m having fun. Yet I feel like I should stop telling people...

Now that I'm assigned to a year of language training, it’s time to settle in. I live in North Virginia, within the DC Metropolitan Area,...

So, now that the orientation period (aka A-100) is over, what does my life look like? Well, I wake up at 6:45 every morning to go through...

I could hardly contain myself as the announcer, speaking to a room filled with newly minted diplomats and 300 of their closest friends...

You may have noticed that I haven’t written a word on this blog since I joined A-100. Because I’m too busy, right? Well, there’s actually...

When I first moved to Yerevan two years ago, I didn’t really like my house (too big) or my neighborhood (lots of stray dogs, trash, no...

I started working in Human Resources (part of the management section) two months ago, and I'm leaving my position next week, so please...

I just completed my first cruise! In only 10 days, our little family visited Rome, Crete, Mikonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Athens, and Naples....

A few weeks ago I went on my first-ever cruise: a 10-day voyage in Italy and Greece on the Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Sea, with my...

And so the journey ends! It’s been two years and two months since I applied for the Foreign Service, and last week the process finally...

In some countries you get only one shot at being a diplomat—if you're rejected you’re done. You can't apply for the job again because, I...

Diplomats interview people all the time. As managers, they're often involved in hiring permanent staff and interns. They may also...

1. It’s safe There aren’t many countries where you can leave your phone in a taxi and get it back; where you can walk down the street at...

Diplomats in the US Foreign Service work in one of five career tracks. Even though they are called “generalists,” which means they can...

It’s funny to me that many people imagine diplomats as Ivy League educated cocktail-circuit regulars who only hang out with high society....

Traveling with kids is a big part of diplomatic life and so far it’s been hard for me. My kids are 1 and 5—too young to understand what’s...

Passing the Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA) back in March of 2017 felt cathartic. It was the end of a 7-month process that started...

When I graduated from university with a Master’s in International relations (IR), I’m embarrassed to admit, I had no clue what to do with...

I still remember the time when I was intrigued by the word “networking” because I didn’t know what it really meant. When I was studying...