On the Road Part II

The other day, I posted about a few of my favorite travel experiences...and here's a few more for you!

 

The Harry Potter Experience

My second trip to the UK was as part of a college class on British literature. We had some classroom stuff before going, then finished up the course by going to the UK and seeing the things we had studied. Being a big Harry Potter fan, my favorite part was seeing a few of the sights from the movie! In Oxford, we went to Christ Church College and got to explore the Great Hall (which also has some Alice in Wonderland connections) and in London, we went to King's Cross and saw the little Platform 9 3/4 area they have set up! 

The Guinness Storehouse

In Dublin, I went on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of beer, the tour itself is exciting and the building is very impressive. It's shaped like the traditional Guinness pint glass, complete with foam on top (the top floor is a bar with floor-to-ceiling glass windows while the rest of the building is dark). They have a ton of interesting exhibits and interactive displays...and now, having been to a few other breweries, it still ranks as number one in my opinion!

The Best Chocolate Shake EVER

Unfortunately, I haven't made it to San Francisco to visit the original Ghirardelli Soda Fountain...but I've been in Chicago and Orlando, and it was, without a doubt, the best ice cream experience of my life. My sister and I lovingly refer to Ghirardelli's chocolate shakes as "Heaven in a Glass." It doesn't matter whether I'm on a health kick or if it  requires a bit of a walk...if there's a Ghirardelli in the neighborhood, I'm going!

Walking Across Monaco

One weekend while I was studying abroad, I took the TGV down to Nice, France, for the weekend with some friends. Since we were only a 5 euro train ride away from Monaco, I opted to go there for a day and walk across the country! It is a gorgeous little country with a very interesting blend of historical and modern. 

On the Road

Over the last couple of weeks, it seems like travel has come up a LOT.  So, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite travel experiences...

French Stereotype Night at Le Tour Eiffel

Studying abroad in Paris was a phenomenal experience over all, but obviously there were lots of little events that stood out while I was there.  "French Stereotype Night" was one of the first of many of our outings to the Eiffel Tower. On this particular night, we befriended a pair of Moroccans and practiced our French with them (they had initially tried to charge us to use their wine opener to open our bottles of wine), posed with berets and the French flag (see above) and had lots of wine and cheese. It was a great bonding experience for our little group of Americans!

European Public Transportation/The Munich Incident

Subways are awesome. Yes, I know New York City has an awesome subway system, too.  But the awesome thing with the London and Paris transportation (not just subways, but train networks, as well) systems is that you can get within walking distance of anywhere you need to go without ever having to use a car. Okay, maybe not absolutely everywhere...but you can get pretty damn close.

Oddly enough, my first time in Europe, I had a pretty bad experience with the Munich U-Bahn (subway).  When rushing to grab the train before it left with my school group, I happened to be running the fastest...and was the only one to make it onto the train before the doors closed. Since I was not running this tour and it was our first night in town, I had no idea where we were going or how to get around the city, nor did I speak a word of German (except for sheiße, which probably wouldn't have gotten me far). Ultimately, I did end up finding my group (which included my grandma...she was pretty relieved when I got back) after experiencing some more colorful areas of Munich. I definitely learned some very important things about traveling: always know your hotel's name, and always know where you're going!

My love of European public transportation is kind of ridiculous...I even made a little video of my study abroad experiences with the Paris Metro.  If you're clever, you might be able to find it on YouTube somewhere.

Trunk Bay, St. John, USVI

Most. Beautiful. Beach. Ever.  After returning from a few trips to Europe, I got a little bit of a big head...why would anyone vacation somewhere so close to home (I lived in Florida for a few years, so the Caribbean seemed WAY too close to be considered a vacation)?  Still, my parents wanted to visit the US Virgin Islands because my mom had lived there for awhile when she was fresh out of college. So, we went...and I fell in love, quickly deflating my little travel ego I had developed. Soft, super white sand...crystal clear water that seemed even cleaner than most pools...a coral reef just a short swim away... It really is the perfect beach destination.

Magnolia Bakery, New York City

If you know me, then you probably know of my love for cupcakes. It rivals my love for European public transportation, although I have yet to make any videos about cupcakes.  The vanilla-vanilla cupcake at Magnolia is still the best cupcake I have ever had in my life. I'm sincerely hoping that the recent news of Magnolia starting a franchise results in two things: 1. delicious Magnolia cupcakes close to me and 2. loyalty to the original, so amazing recipe. Seriously, guys...go eat these cupcakes.  They're so good that I made Josh wake up at 6am with me on Easter Sunday (our last day in NYC) so that we could trek across town (the subway stations nearby were closed) and buy a dozen to take home. 

More travel memories to come...

"Love never fails."

I'm not typically one to push religion. Yes, I have my religious beliefs, but I also believe that faith is a personal choice and shouldn't be forced on anyone. If people have questions, I'm always more than willing to talk about faith with them...but like I said, it's a person choice.

Last night, though, this phrase got stuck in my head: "Love is patient, love is kind." So, I got online and looked up the full chapter (yes, I was being lazy...I didn't feel like walking to my bookshelf to open up a real Bible). Somehow, this chapter gets me every time! And I think whether you're religious or not, it's just a beautiful piece of writing that I feel anyone could relate to.  For me, I read this chapter as sort of an instructional guide to not only romantic love, but friendship.

So, friends of mine out there, this is what guides me towards being a better friend and person.  What guides you?

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."  (1 Cor. 13)

30 Days of Photos - Day 17

Day seventeen - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

Yes, that's right...the Department of State. After getting excited about the possibility of joining the Foreign Service a few years ago, I got a little sidetracked by internships and jobs. However, a few months ago, the idea popped back into my head and, instead of just thinking about the Foreign Service, I acted on it and actually took the FSOT...and passed! The whole process thus far has only served as a great reminder about why I got excited about this in the first place so many years ago. Even if I don't make it in this time around, I'm going to keep trying until I do. It's a big challenge to get in, but it's a challenge I'm willing to take because I know it's a great fit for me.

PNQs

One more step in my quest to join the Foreign Service has been completed! I submitted my personal narrative questions (PNQs) last night. Technically, I had two more weeks to work on them because of a technical glitch that meant I didn't get an email notification about my FSOT scores. But, since I had them completed, I figured I'd go ahead and submit on the original due date.

So, now I have six to eight weeks of waiting to find out if I make it through to the next round. According to statistics I've read on various Foreign Service blogs, there's around a 40% chance of making it through PNQs to the OA. So, I'm hopeful but I'm also continuing to go about life as usual just in case I don't make it on to the next round.

For now, I'll just fill my time reading all kinds of Foreign Service blogs...because even if I don't make it this time around, I'm going to keep trying until I do make it in!

30 Days of Photos - Day 16

Day sixteen - A photo of someone who inspires you

My grandma!  She raised six children, was married for nearly sixty years and took care of her husband through cancer. And, even though her husband (my grandpa) died last year, she has kept her life full of the things and people she loves.  She is over 80 years old, yet she's out meeting people and going on exciting trips all the time! I am extremely blessed to have such a great, strong female role model in my life.

PASSED!!

I PASSED THE FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER TEST!!!

I haven't talked about it on here because I honestly didn't think I had ANY chance of passing.  I decided to take it at the last minute, so I only had a few weeks to study for it (and there are people out there that study for years for it!).  Fortunately, my political science education paid off!!!

For those of you who don't know what this means, the Foreign Service Officer Test is a standardized test that people interested in working in the foreign service (for American embassies overseas or for the State Department domestically) take.  No, this does not mean I'm leaving my current job or anything...the hiring process takes about a year and, even with the test passed, there's still several more phases to pass in order to even get on the hiring list.

Next, I have to complete six essays and submit those.  From what I've read, about a third of the people who are asked to do the essays are passed on to the next stage.  After that is the oral assessment (in Washington, DC).  If you pass the OA, you have to get a medical and security clearance, then you're added to "The Register" based on your OA score.  As jobs become available, they take people off of the register and assign them to the jobs based on their skills and scores!  If you haven't been called off of the register after a year, then you get to start the whole process over again.

So, even though there's still a ways to go, it's still super exciting to have gotten over the first hurdle!

And although this probably means nothing to anyone reading this (they base passing scores on t-scores, not your score-out-of-100 or anything like that), here are my individual results:
Job Knowledge: 52.13
Biographic Information: 61.06
English Expression: 55.93
Essay: 10