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..

Earthquake Day

Today was earthquake in Washington, D.C.

In the early afternoon while sitting at my desk, the floor started slightly rumbling.  I assumed someone was moving furniture or someone was transporting a heavy cart down the aisle but after 15 seconds of rumbling, things really started shaking.

My colleague, who sits across the aisle from me, came running out in a panic and started riling the floor about a bomb or an attack.  I suppose by the fact of working in the nation's capital and continuous cycle of fear propagated by politicians and the media that this is one of the first thoughts people have.  Grabbing my phone and wallet, I headed out floor and down the stairs joined by the rest of the building filing out.

While walking down the stairs, I figured it had to be an earthquake since I don't work at the main headquarters building and the only other agencies with me are State and FEMA.  Well, maybe some Louisianians might harbor a grudge against FEMA.

Outside the building, workers from all the surrounding building were gathering outside in firedrill fashion with tourists out in the Mall standing about.  After about half and hour of waiting, security began allowing people into the building and our Director came around and gave the OK for an early dismissal due to phones and internet connections being out throughout the building.

The Metro was probably the most crowded I've ever seen it heading out to Virginia.  I think even more crowded than Fourth of July.  It seemed pretty much all of DC was vacating the city.  The best comment I heard during that day on the subway was "I'm going to now have to tell my wife about you", from one stranger to another, on that intimate commute.

Another interesting experience on the subway home was the amount of pushing and self-interest people exhibited to attempt to squeeze themselves onto the crowded train.  Rather than just wait the few minutes for the next train to come along (typically every 3-5 minutes but today, extended to around every 15 minutes due to trains only running at 15 mph), people would push and shove to fight their way onboard.  Occasionally during rush hour, this occurs to some degree but not to the extent I saw today.  People at the train doors would push/repel others as the train would stop to prevent anyone from attempt to board.

Makes you think about the comparison of what actions people will take here in America for 10-15 minutes of their time relative to other places in the world, where people must take extreme measures to ensure they might obtain humanitarian relief for their families to keep from starving or to escape war and conflict.

Countdown to Language Training

Been out for a while due to laptop issues.  So, I tentatively have been assigned Indonesia for my directed assignment.  It's not completely formalized but confident enough that it will be the country of assignment that in two weeks, I'll be starting language training at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA  to learn Indonesian (Bahasa) for the next 6 months.

I'll also be taking the language examination for Mandarin in a couple weeks as I've had that test scheduled for 2 months now and I might as well see how I formally score.

I'm looking forward to this assignment and think it'll be great to learn a more obscure language.  I think both personally while navigating and living in the city and professionally while working with local officials and people, it will be invaluable to have the ability to communicate.  Not very many professions allow for the opportunity to learn something like Indonesian!