I Am a Rockstar Chapter 2: In which evidence of my rockstardom is provided.

Hey! I just realized that I never wrote this chapter. Oops!

In Chapter 1, I mentioned that if I pass the Foreign Service Officer Test, I can take the Foreign Service Oral Assessment in DC in December. However, I knew that I might not get my test results until early December and it would be tricky to plan a trip to DC during the holiday season with 3 weeks notice.

I discussed possible scenarios with my mom and she suggested that the two of us plan on spending a few days in DC in December. That way, if I pass the test, I can take the Oral Assessment while I'm in DC. But if not - neither one of us has ever been to DC, why not see the sights?

Well, one thing led to another, and Jessica, Jonathan, and Julianna decided to join us!

We tried to get my dad to join us, but he had a valid argument. If we were all in DC and noone was back at the ranch, then everything would fall apart when we segued with, "Meanwhile, back at the ranch."*

At any rate, this is where my rockstardom comes in -

I spent about two hours working out the logistics of the trip and booking all of our tickets (getting excellent ticket fares for all of us, I might add).

This is what we (mostly I)** worked out:

Friday afternoon, December 14th, I'm renting a car and picking up my mom and Jonathan at EWR (Newark International Airport), who will be flying in from Seattle.
Then we're driving five hours to DC (mini road trip - woot woot).
On our way to our hotel, we'll swing by DCA (Ronald Reagan Washington National) and pick up Jessica, who will be flying in from Tulsa.
The next morning, we'll pick up Julianna at BWI (Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport).

Then we'll all rock DC, like only the Willeys can.

On Tuesday, we'll all fly back to Seattle on the same flights (no I'm not getting carried away with pluralization - we have a layover).

I had five browsers open and I booked these flights as close to simultaneously as possible. I also selected seats for all of us, so that we're sitting together (and I get the window - shhhhhh...don't tell).

That's why I'm a rockstar.

I suppose I could have just said, "I'm a travel agent." But that's not as glamorous.

So now you know.

And knowing is half the battle.


Added bonus: By renting a car, then flying back to Seattle with four relatives, I have also effectively solved the "How-in-the-world-do-I-get-all-of-my-accumulated-belongings-home" dilemma: I simply throw all my junk in the car, then sneak it into suitcases when people aren't looking. Jackpot.

*I hope he wins the lottery while we're gone.
**What?! I'm the rockstar!

I Am a Rockstar Chapter 1: In which nothing is said about being a rockstar

K, here's my exciting news:

I quit my job.

However, in my line of work, "giving notice" does not mean two weeks. More like eight. But because my boss was worried that she couldn't get someone to start right before the holidays and I'm such a nice person (no comments from the peanut gallery, please), I gave 11-1/2 weeks notice.

I can sense you doing rapid mathematical calculations in your head and realizing that this means it took me 2-1/2 weeks to share my news with you, my faithful readers.

But don't look at it that way - I'm letting you know nine weeks in advance! Wow! Don't you feel privileged?!...

Technically, though, I have more than 9 weeks left. In 9 weeks, I start my Christmas vacation. I'll have 2-1/2 weeks off, then I come back for 1-1/2 weeks to train the next person. But I'm calling it 9 weeks for a few reasons:

1. Nine weeks is easier to digest than thirteen weeks*, or in a word - sanity.

2. I'll only be working eight days in January. Following a 2-1/2 week vacation and preceding...the end of my job...it will go quickly and should be easy.

3. I'm moving home at Christmas; so I'll be packing a bag to come back out here in January. This lends to the notion that I'm really quitting in December. Rather than taking a trip home for Christmas before coming back to work, I'll be moving home for Christmas and taking a trip back out here for work. See the difference?

One of my weeks at Christmas is unpaid time off, but the rest is vacation. So I'll be paid for my last 3 weeks here, but only working half of it. Cool, right? I think so.

Then I'm back in the good old Northwest for a month. I'm not going to work, either. For a whole month. I'm pretty excited about it. But I hope I don't go crazy. I don't think I will. I should have plenty to keep me busy. Between catching up with friends and family, getting rid of as much of my stuff as I can part with (it's tough to be a nomad and a packrat at the same time - not practical), and preparing to move to South Korea, I shouldn't get bored.

That's right, I said I'm moving to South Korea. Seoul, to be specific. I'm hoping to go in mid-February, right after the Lunar New Year. This has led to all kinds of ideas for a new blog name. Here are my favorites:

"Life through my eyes: your window into Seoul"

"For those about to ROK,** we Seoul-ute you."

Too cheesy? Any other ideas?

I'm sure that some of you are wondering what happened to my dreams of becoming a US diplomat. Oh, they're still firmly in place. But they're also still dreams and I have to have a backup plan. To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about the exam I took last month. I'll find out how I did sometime over the next few weeks, but I'm not holding my breath (mostly because that would be stupid - holding one's breath for a few weeks could not end well).

However, if I do pass, I will be invited to take the oral assessment. I could take that in DC in December and I would find out at the end of the day how I did.

Were I to pass the written exam and pass the oral assessment with a high score, there would be a good chance of getting hired within the next few months. In this case, I would not go to Korea. In any other case, it is off to Korea for me!

If anybody*** wants to come with me, let me know soon and we can probably be roommates and get jobs at the same school! All that is required is that you have a passport from an English-speaking country, a Bachelor's Degree in any major, and the ability/willingness to commit to a year.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2, in which I reveal details of my secret life as a rockstar.

*If you recognize that I actually have 13 weeks left, that means I gave 15-1/2 weeks notice! Wow! I'm a really nice person!

**ROK = Republic of Korea aka South Korea. All the cool kids use this abbreviation. Admittedly, the phrase doesn't make sense if you understand what ROK means, but I still think it's mildly clever...

***By "anybody," I don't really mean anybody. For example, if you randomly stumbled onto this blog and we've never met, this doesn't include you. Sorry.

9 1/2 weeks left! or I am a rockstar (Preface)

That's right. It says "preface." This is not a real post. I tricked you.

I really, really want to write a whole post right now. I'm happy and excited and I want to share my news with you. But I'm also exhausted and I really should get to bed. I've slept a total of about 9 hours in the last two nights and if I went to sleep right now, I would get about 6 hours of sleep tonight. But as it is, I will probably be up another hour. Were I to take the time to actually blog right now, it would be even later by the time I went to sleep. See the dilemma?

So for now, I'll just share one little factoid, to whet your appetite:

I am a rockstar.