Lesson Learned (and more)

Remember that air baggage that I said got delivered? The good news is that it WAS the boxes we were looking for. The bad news is that said boxes DIDN'T contain some of the things we thought they did, most notably our clothes. Or our printer. Or Malachi's toys. What did we get, you might wonder? Well, we received several dented boxes of organic macaroni and cheese, Sara's jewelry box, and the contents of our filing cabinet (sans cabinet). Unfortunately, this is our fault for not watching what the packers were putting in what box (though so many things were packed and repacked that they were confused as well). Oh well.

There were two rather stressful activities this week during A-100. We each gave a short speech and then were critiqued by a professional and our classmates. They also gave us a copy of the speech on DVD so that we can share the humiliation with our friends and family. My speech actually went pretty well--it was a confidence boost.

The other activity tested our composure under tough questioning. Part of my job as a diplomat is to defend U.S. policy, even if I personally disagree with it. The activity involved rapid fire questions from classmates about all aspects of U.S. policy, personal questions, hypothetical situations, etc.--everything from Guantanamo Bay, to Michael Jackson, to CIA. My classmates insisted that I appeared to be very composed, but I was pretty stressed on the inside.

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's very exciting--Monday is Flag Day! We will all assemble to receive tiny rectangles of colored cloth that represent the next 2-3 years of our lives. I'll make sure to post the information here, as soon as I can, and after important parties have received a more personal notification.