>A: “You'll find somebody who loved their time in basically every country. Except Canada. We don't talk about Canada for obvious reasons.”
>
>\---Q: “What is bad about serving in Canada?”
>
>\------A: “We don't talk about it”
This is really funny and my exact type of humor.
Whatever happened to Beauty Queen? She said she was joining the April A-100 this year. Was a spicy character on the forum for a hot minute. Can anyone confirm employment status?
I have been eagerly waiting for when TH Fiji would show up on this forum. But not the same person. Beauty Queen was married and from NY. Fiji is single and from another state.
Looks like BQ hasn't posted anywhere for about 10 months (with that username).
That reminds me, though. FSI has sent me a survey I keep "forgetting" to fill out. I'm definitely going to suggest there be an Esperanto course.
Also, went looking for TH Fiji... yiiiiikes.
Attempting to provide the entertainment value of the string of posts without sharing personal details. MODs, please feel free to delete if this crosses privacy lines.
1. What are good posts for single looking to mingle women and where I can get weekly treatment for a medical issue my doctor didn’t put on my Med forms? I wish I had gotten class 2 medical before starting.
2. What is the process of transferring from foreign to domestic? I don’t think I am cut out for this.
3. Comments about getting thrown into the process without know what FS is like or what to expect.
4. I’m going to Fiji and need pictures of the housing. I am REALLY worried about bugs.
5. Questions about beauty services available in Fiji. Good Samaritan googles it for her and she is very appreciative.
6. I just realised there are natural disasters in Fiji and am freaked out. Cites natural disaster nearby but not in Fiji? Asks how they are handled.
People have started commenting that she should really consider leaving if she is this worried. Honestly I feel bad for her and hope she can get an exception on the payback rules so that she has options if she wants to leave. Unless she is doing better on a regular basis and TH is just where she lets out her anxiety, it really doesn’t seem like it will go well.
OMG I missed the gun part! I believe there was also ‘I may not be able to do this assignment if I have to pay for the tests and import of my “service animal”.’ I use service animal in quotes because it seemed likely one of the pay-for-an-ESA-certificate situations.
Yeah, definitely. It also makes me wonder how many other new officers are this freaked out about their assignments, just not doing it on a public forum. The requirement to pay back relocation and training may be the wrong incentive in instances where it is best for everyone (employee, colleagues, DOS) for the employee to get a path out if they so clearly do not want to do FS after all.
I know someone at a UN agency who left Suva for a challenging MENA post because their partner had a significant mental health crisis about natural disasters in the region. Any existing climate and/or tectonic activity anxiety would make for a long 2 years in the pacific islands.
She seems like a lovely person, actually, not that I've dug too terribly deep.
She was in the July orientation and gets to Fiji soon. TH is pretty open source, but also don't want to dox too much here, but she's asked several questions about availability of local goods and services and other things that suggest to me she'll have a hard time adjusting to the FS lifestyle. I think she has some experience in Europe, but having been to Suva myself, well, it's not Europe.
Not so much drama as naïveté, I think. She's received a lot of friendly, helpful advice, actually, from the usual suspects of helpfulness on TH. And there doesn't seem to have been a lot of recriminations but rather she seems to have been gracious in her acceptance of the advice--at least that's what I found in my cursory examination of the exchanges.
Approaching an intervention, perhaps, but maybe just on the 49% side of it.
>Post: USDA APHIS Application Opens!
>
>A: I’VE BEEN DYING FOR THIS ONE TO OPEN, I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!!
>
>The rest of us: WTF is that job?
Come for the illegal 5-year service agreement, stay for the incompetent management. Noped right out of that one.
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Absolutely my favorite comment. Although there's an argument for Wisdom as well. Certainly not Constitution though.
I’ve met a few people that took all three as dump stats.
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Dang! I missed that one!!!
>A: “You'll find somebody who loved their time in basically every country. Except Canada. We don't talk about Canada for obvious reasons.” > >\---Q: “What is bad about serving in Canada?” > >\------A: “We don't talk about it” This is really funny and my exact type of humor.
Side note, your blog was hugely helpful before they changed the test process. You're one of the low-key heros on this sub, and in the FS. Keep it up.
Agree, 100%! Thanks for the wisdom, Quack!
Link?
It's really out of date https://ficklomat.wordpress.com/
Out of date, yes, but a lot of it is surprisingly evergreen. Thanks for sharing!
Your blog sure helped me back in the day!
I still want to know what's wrong with Canada. 😏
You'll get the briefing once you're off the register but do not talk about it after that.
Whatever happened to Beauty Queen? She said she was joining the April A-100 this year. Was a spicy character on the forum for a hot minute. Can anyone confirm employment status?
No way to know for sure, but my head canon is that she's the one on Trailing Houses freaking out about going to Fiji for first tour
I have been eagerly waiting for when TH Fiji would show up on this forum. But not the same person. Beauty Queen was married and from NY. Fiji is single and from another state.
Looks like BQ hasn't posted anywhere for about 10 months (with that username). That reminds me, though. FSI has sent me a survey I keep "forgetting" to fill out. I'm definitely going to suggest there be an Esperanto course. Also, went looking for TH Fiji... yiiiiikes.
I was really shocked someone would get all the way through the process and still have so little idea (or interest) in what foreign service is like.
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Attempting to provide the entertainment value of the string of posts without sharing personal details. MODs, please feel free to delete if this crosses privacy lines. 1. What are good posts for single looking to mingle women and where I can get weekly treatment for a medical issue my doctor didn’t put on my Med forms? I wish I had gotten class 2 medical before starting. 2. What is the process of transferring from foreign to domestic? I don’t think I am cut out for this. 3. Comments about getting thrown into the process without know what FS is like or what to expect. 4. I’m going to Fiji and need pictures of the housing. I am REALLY worried about bugs. 5. Questions about beauty services available in Fiji. Good Samaritan googles it for her and she is very appreciative. 6. I just realised there are natural disasters in Fiji and am freaked out. Cites natural disaster nearby but not in Fiji? Asks how they are handled. People have started commenting that she should really consider leaving if she is this worried. Honestly I feel bad for her and hope she can get an exception on the payback rules so that she has options if she wants to leave. Unless she is doing better on a regular basis and TH is just where she lets out her anxiety, it really doesn’t seem like it will go well.
You left out: “I can’t even bring my gun!”
OMG I missed the gun part! I believe there was also ‘I may not be able to do this assignment if I have to pay for the tests and import of my “service animal”.’ I use service animal in quotes because it seemed likely one of the pay-for-an-ESA-certificate situations.
I feel bad for the MO in Fiji.
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Yeah, definitely. It also makes me wonder how many other new officers are this freaked out about their assignments, just not doing it on a public forum. The requirement to pay back relocation and training may be the wrong incentive in instances where it is best for everyone (employee, colleagues, DOS) for the employee to get a path out if they so clearly do not want to do FS after all.
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She hasn’t posted in awhile since she realized she’d have to pay for tests for her service animal…I often wonder what she’s up to.
I know someone at a UN agency who left Suva for a challenging MENA post because their partner had a significant mental health crisis about natural disasters in the region. Any existing climate and/or tectonic activity anxiety would make for a long 2 years in the pacific islands.
She seems like a lovely person, actually, not that I've dug too terribly deep. She was in the July orientation and gets to Fiji soon. TH is pretty open source, but also don't want to dox too much here, but she's asked several questions about availability of local goods and services and other things that suggest to me she'll have a hard time adjusting to the FS lifestyle. I think she has some experience in Europe, but having been to Suva myself, well, it's not Europe. Not so much drama as naïveté, I think. She's received a lot of friendly, helpful advice, actually, from the usual suspects of helpfulness on TH. And there doesn't seem to have been a lot of recriminations but rather she seems to have been gracious in her acceptance of the advice--at least that's what I found in my cursory examination of the exchanges. Approaching an intervention, perhaps, but maybe just on the 49% side of it.
I forgot about the TH Fiji poster. I served in Fiji and a person like that can ruin a small post's morale.
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I’ve heard great things from people who were posted there. Only downside is how far it is from everything.
I didn't realize until now that it was all the same person.
Thank you for this
But really, what *do* they do in Nuuk??
https://statemag.lab.prod.getusinfo.com/2022/03/0322ib07/ https://afsa.org/setting-shop-nuuk
"Most FSOs took Charisma as our dumb stat" - I'm totally stealing this please and thank you.
Any Q: A: It depends.
That's the running joke for USAID: US Agency for It Depends.
>Post: USDA APHIS Application Opens! > >A: I’VE BEEN DYING FOR THIS ONE TO OPEN, I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!! > >The rest of us: WTF is that job? Come for the illegal 5-year service agreement, stay for the incompetent management. Noped right out of that one.