Consular Work in Action!

http://world.time.com/2012/07/06/the-making-of-an-american-an-iraqis-journey-to-citizenship/

My Country.

Former Secretary of State George Shultz is known in the FS world for the test he would give to new U.S. ambassadors in his office, where he kept a globe of the world. “They’d been through all kinds of exams and so on — confirmation — and I’d say to them, ‘Well, there’s just one more test you have to pass.’” They’d usually groan. “‘You have to walk over to that globe and demonstrate to me that you can identify your country.’ And, inevitably, they would point out the country to which they had been assigned.”

The correct answer, of course, was in fact the United States — THAT was their country. And Shultz’s moral was that you never forget what country you’re representing. It's a story I always enjoy sharing, especially because I believe so strongly in it and our missions abroad.

Everything is a little sweeter with an expiration date.

As I prepare for our departure, I have thought more than once about what I am going to miss the most about living in the United States. Looking around me on a daily basis, it pretty quickly becomes clear. The diversity of my nation. Living, working, eating, and playing around people of various backgrounds, ethnicities, races, cultures, religions every single day. I take it for granted, this rainbow of the United States. But the prospect of moving to a country where most people are racially/ethnically similar, I realize that I am going to miss this very visual reminder of how open, tolerant, and accepting the U.S. is. Few places in the world have this diversity. And I am embarrassed to admit I got a rather large lump in my throat at the gym a few days ago (right after a set on the lat pull-down!) looking around me and realizing how much I am going to miss seeing the variety of people I do on a regular basis. It will be different. Very, very different. And in the meantime, looking around at everyday people is well, just a little sweeter.