PAUL BENJAMIN
Writer, Editor, Supermodel

I've mentioned Flag Day a few times. That's the ceremony where all of the incoming foreign service officers (FSOs) find out their first posts. It was yesterday (Friday)  at the Foreign Service Institute.

(No skipping ahead for spoilers if you don't already know where we're posted!)

Friends and family joined the new FSOs in simple room filled with chairs and a projector that showed... y'know what, I describe locations in scripts all the time. Today's Saturday so how about I take a break and just show it to you?

We all hung around and greeted our FSO friends and their friends and families. I especially enjoyed meeting a D&D playing military officer who is literally a "Major Gamer" as well as the comic book fan teenage sons of another of Lisa's colleagues. 

Once things settled down the folks in charge brought out the flags. There was a flag for every country so that they could hold up the flag and present it to the officer assigned to that country. When I first heard about this ceremony I was picturing something like this:

However, it turns out that the actual flags were a bit less grandiose:

The moderators were some of the higher ups at the FS Institute and in the State Department. There was an ambassador in attendance as well as this guy:

No, not the guy who played Batman but the FSO who happens to have the same name. Adam West has heard all the jokes before, of course, and I almost feel bad lowering myself to the level of making one but from what I hear he's a fantastic guy with a sense of humor and I can't have a blog combining comics with the foreign service and not mention it. That would just be wrong.

Once things got started it was a whirlwind. They flashed a flag up on the monitor then named the city and country then the name of the FSO heading there for the next two years. The FSO then went up and took an official photo receiving their flag from the ambassador. Given that we ranked learning Spanish as a high priority, I was waiting to hear Lisa's name every time I saw this one:

However, we'd also ranked Russian and Slavic posts high because of Lisa's Russian background. Every time I saw the flag for a post we really wanted I was a little disappointed when I didn't hear Lisa's name, though I was excited for her colleagues to be going to those cool posts. As they got towards the end of the list, I was wondering where we might end up. I didn't know by then which posts were left. Then I saw this flag and heard them call Lisa's name!

For those who don't know it (and from the reaction I've gotten from folks so far, that's just about everyone) this is the flag of UZBEKISTAN. We're heading to the US embassy in the capital city of Tashkent around July 2011 after Lisa gets additional Russian training!

Most of the family and friends we've told so far have had little to no knowledge of Uzbekistan aside from the fact that it ends in "istan" which is generally believed to be a red flag. However, Tashkent was actually one of our top choices. Where the heck is it? RIght here under Kazakhstan:

In short, Uzbekistan is a former part of the Soviet Union that became its own country when the USSR disbanded. It's a generally non-wartorn place not to be confused with other "istans." I'm planning to post more info on Uzbekistan as I do my research, so we can all learn together. Here's a few factoids to get us started:

1. The word "ummm" is a dirty word for some part of the body in Uzbek (I don't know which body part yet). I've given Lisa permission to punch me in the arm every time I say "ummm" as a filler.

2. Blowing your nose in public is rude. I imagine it's doubly rude when you've got a nose as big as mine.

3. It's a left hand/right hand country where the left hand is traditionally used for, ummm (Ouch!! Quit hitting me, Lisa!)... unclean things. No high fives or fist bumps with the left hand.

The Tashkent post was a High preference for several regions. First, Lisa has been to Russia twice and wanted to be back in the same region. Second, the job is an Information Officer position which means she'll get to do the public diplomacy work she's been hoping to do (a relatively rare thing for a beginning FSO). Third, because Lisa took extra points for speaking Russian on her test to get the job, she has an obligation to serve at a Russian-speaking post during either her first or second posting. This will fulfill that obligation. And finally, because this position is considered a "hardship" post, primarily due to the lack of western amenities (not a Starbucks to be found) , she'll have some equity that might help us land a cushier post on her second tour, should we decide that's a priority. It also bears mentioning that while there may not be wifi at Dairy Queen like in Austin (in fact, there are no Dairy Queens in Uzbekistan) I will have access to the Internet so that I can continue to do my work.

As you can see, Lisa was very excited to get her flag. 

Hmmm... maybe she shouldn't be holding it in her left hand...

All in all, we are very excited about our future adventure at our first post. It's an eleven hour time difference so it's quite literally on the other side of the world. It bears mentioning that while many of Lisa's fellow FSOs got their High choices, plenty of them are heading to places they ranked as Medium or Low. They're an inspiring group of people and it's pretty amazing to see how quickly they've adapted to the fact that they'll be heading to places that weren't their first choice. These are people who took the job knowing they would have to be "worldwide available" and they seem to be ready to step up and serve America wherever they may be. They've also been incredibly supportive of each other and I'm hopeful that the bonds they've made will help all of us, FSOs and family alike, face the challenges ahead. Good luck, everyone!!