USAID 50th Anniversary

Today marks the 50th anniversary since the official establishment of USAID on November 3, 1961 by Pres. Kennedy.  However, the roots of USAID and the U.S.'s foreign assistance goes back to the Marshall Plan following World War II.

The organization has gone through many changes and evolutions and still is in a continual improvement process (Kaizen anyone?) to become better equipped to be more effective in foreign assistance.  Despite the challenges, I greatly believe in the mission of the organization to 1. Support US foreign policy in expanding democracy and free markets, and 2. Improve the lives of citizens in the developing world.  And these assistance programs, which have considerable influence around the world, amount to less than .05% of the US federal budget.

It's a great privilege to be able to have the opportunity to travel, learn new cultures and languages, meet interesting people, support the US, and be able to directly work on improving the lives of people around the world.  USAID is one of the best representations of the American people and their values to the world abroad.  It is really an amazing place to be able to work.

6 Weeks in Language Training

About to complete the first 6 weeks of language training.  So far, things have been progressing well but considering I'm a 1/4 through my language training, I'm still nervous about reaching the level I need to complete it.

For Indonesian language, there were almost 30 people enrolled taking the class.  Two thirds of the students are State employees with USAID making the last third.  For the first 2 1/2 weeks of class, they had all students together in one big class to learn the fundamentals of the language and basic vocabulary.  After that, students were then split up into groups of four for the rest of the training.

One thing that I think is nice about learning Indonesian is that all the people in the class will be going to the same country, mostly all to the city of Jakarta with a smaller subset going to Surabaya.  This is different than languages such as French or Spanish where people will be put into countries all over the world where that language might be used.

So since we're all going to the same country, we have the opportunity to get to know the same people we will be working and living with in the embassy community next year.  It's a nice to already have a network established before even reaching the country!

Now, back to studying!

Indonesian Embassy Independence Day Celebration

The Indonesian Ambassador, his wife, and his DCM shook hands and greeted every attendee.

Yesterday, I attended the Indonesian Independence Day celebration at the Indonesian Embassy.  Indonesia declared independence on Aug. 17, 1945; however, they were only now celebrating their Independence Day due to last month being the month of Ramadan, in which a formal celebration would have been inappropriate.  Note, Indonesia is the most populated Muslim majority nation in the world.

The Indonesian Ambassador to the US, H.E. Dr. Dino Patti Djalal.

My Indonesian class was invited to attend by the Indonesian Embassy as we will all be working in Indonesia next year.  The event featured traditional Indonesian dance performances, speeches by the Indonesian Ambassador, and four officials from the US (Asia Bureau, Commerce, Education, and DoD).  I think the four speeches by the US was a bit too many and would have preferred just the Indonesian Ambassador speak and maybe one official from the US with just mention of other esteemed guests, but it was still all ok.

The Embassy served a variety of hors d'oeuvres and refreshments including wine and mixed drinks.  They also had a full meal served cocktail-style including Indonesian fried rice, salad, satay, and other Indonesian dishes.  I was too famished at the time and neglected to take a picture of the food spread :P.

The inside of the embassy was very impressive.  I think I may have come into the embassy during the Passport DC event earlier, but I'm not sure since I saw so many of them.  Would have taken more pictures but didn't want to appear too much of a tourist at my first representational event.

I'm very glad I was able to attend to the event and it was good inspiration for me to work to get my Indonesian to a level where I can capably converse!

Language Training Begins

I started this week at the Foreign Service Institute taking Indonesian.  I'll be attending classes here for the next 6 months (24 weeks) though I'm planning on beating that by testing out in 22 for personal reasons.

I was surprised at the large number of people they had starting classes this week.  I think the number 800 was put out there of students beginning language studies.  That number though includes FSOs, who make up the largest amount of that number, Eligible Family Members (spouses of FSOs, typically from State Dept., who are allowed to learn their post's language), and a handful of DoD and other agencies.

So far, I've been very impressed with the method of instruction and have good expectations for the future.  They push us at an aggressive pace to build our understanding of grammatical construction and vocabulary and the instructors are very personable and knowledgeable.

When contrasting it to my previous experiences in formal language training, I think this is the most impressive.  The teachers seem well-trained and quickly adapt to the needs of the students.  They also prepare much of their language materials and books themselves to specifically address the needs of the Foreign Affairs professionals which they mainly cater to.  I'll need to dedicate lots of time to studying..