The US Foreign Service

Finally it was time to leave the old country and make our way down to Continental Europe. We had to do another day of traveling by, car ride, catch a train, catch another train, catch a third train, walk a lot, wait on a plane, catch another train, walk some more and finally arrive at our evening's destination. We made it from Duxford to Heathrow in splendid time. By that I mean enough time to check in, have a mooch, grab a couple of drinks, eat lunch, and try to blow our last few pounds left over.

As most of you know, airport food is usually dreadful, or terribly overpriced. We were lucky enough to find an airport restaurant that had Fuller's on cask, and good food. The price was not even terribly inflated. We lucked out. After we'd ordered food, I set out to have my last cask conditioned ale of my English trip, and as usual started chatting with the fellow next to me. He sounded American and so I asked him where he lived. To my surprise he said, "Moscow." After a short while we each returned to spend another pound or two, and we chatted a bit more. I invited him to our table as our gate hadn't been announced. He was on the same flight as we to Frankfurt and so we had time for a good ol' chin wag.

He told me his reason for living in Moscow was that he is in the US foreign service. He's a low-level diplomat. So I got into asking him how he got into that. His reasoning was basically that his wife had been a diplomat's daughter and wanted to travel more, as well as having her children grow up around the world. Pretty simple I suppose. Then he waxed on about the advantages and disadvantages of being in the foreign service. Apparently he loves Indonesia, but when you love a place, they are sure to move you. Moscow is roughly a two-year assignment and he has no idea where they'll send him next. I got to thinking, maybe I could be in the foreign service too.
So I went to the site "Is the foreign service right for you? I took the quiz, and apparently the foreign service is right for me. Nevertheless, I think I'm too much of an educator, mathematician, brewer, and straight-talker to join the foreign service. But perhaps one's mind is changed by signing up for it and working for the dept of state. I still think I'd like to brew professionally and take beer all over the world as an ambassador rather than having to (at times) stick up for policies with which I wholeheartedly disagree. But, as with many things I find while traveling abroad, the wheels have been set in motion...