June 2018 - I finished my first year of the English Language Fellowship in Mbarara, Uganda and returned home to spend a glorious summer in Michigan going to the beach, eating ice cream, sailing (thanks, Mindy!) and seeing family. One of the biggest highlights was buying a small house in Holland with Sean and his sister, Jen.
August 2018 - I attended the English Language Fellowship orientation in Washington, D.C. to prepare for my second year as a fellow - this time in Entebbe at a different university - and the highlights were seeing other ELFs there for their second year as well and having the opportunity to speak to the entire group about social media engagement during the fellowship as a program alumna.
September 2018 - I returned to Uganda (Sean followed about two weeks later) and spent the first week or two finding a place to live, getting a car, and figuring out my role and work responsibilities at Nkumba University.
October 2018 - The day I received the formal invitation to join the Foreign Service was the same day that Sean departed for Antarctica to spend 5 months there during the summer season as a dishwasher. I ended my fellowship, returned to Michigan and spent a very busy and stressful two weeks packing up my and Sean's lives for training in Washington, D.C. followed by a career abroad. There was so much to do and I felt completely overwhelmed during this month - there was no way I could have done this without the help of my mom.
November 2018 - I started "A-100" which is the name for the first six weeks of training for the Foreign Service. The month and a half was an extremely intense, challenging and social time where we learned about the Department of State and got to know our fellow officers as we prepared for a life of service around the world in embassies and consulates.
December 2018 - A-100 concluded with "Flag Day" when I found out that my first assignment was in China. Then I had two weeks of "Area Studies" training followed by spending the holidays with my family in Michigan.
January 2019 - The government shutdown occurred during which I entertained a lot of visitors in D.C. and Skyped with Sean as much as I could while he was in Antarctica.
February 2019 - I started Chinese language training at the Foreign Service Institute.
March 2019 - Sean returned from Antarctica and also started Chinese language training.
April - October 2019 - Our lives were filled with Chinese language training, which was enjoyable but stressful because we knew we had to pass the final speaking and reading test.
November 2019 - "ConGen" training was offered for both me and Sean when we learned about U.S. immigration law, visas, American citizen services and crises management.
December 2019 - We moved to Shenyang, China where I started working at my first post, the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang.
January 2020 - Sean and I returned to the U.S. for a week of required training and got "caught out" from Post. This means that while we were abroad, the U.S. Ambassador to China issued Authorized Departure due to COVID-19 so Sean and I were not allowed to return to Shenyang.
February-March 2020 - Sean and lived in a hotel in Arlington and I reported to work every day in one of the HQ buildings of the U.S. Department of State doing a new "bridge" or temporary assignment for Consular Affairs.
April 2020 - We're in the same hotel, but now I am teleworking (working from home) and we are self-isolating because of the spread of the Coronavirus.
Whew, that was a lot to catch up on and I regret that I hadn't kept up with this blog because so many interesting things happened in our lives. I know I will wish for that digital memory in the future when I can't remember details of those events.
I'm looking forward to writing about a few of the events I mentioned and about life in China while the stay-at-home order has hit the pause button on life and allowed me to slow down, take time to write and read, and get plenty of sleep. Thanks for following along and I hope your quarantime is just as relaxing!
Wow! That is a lot. Thanks for the update, heh, I feel like I'm the only one who ever blogs anymore. :)