Today was the day we all found out where we would be posted on our first assignment. It was somewhat anticlimactic for the Construction Engineers as we know where we are going, Virginia, but most exciting for the other folks who had options ranging from the Congo to London.  Not going through the bidding process really takes away from the training experience as negotiating and strategizing with your counterparts is part of the bonding process.

Some of the folks in training get assigned domestically, like me, but to different areas.  Thus, the first flag shown in the ceremony was the Texas flag.  I found this quite fitting as it was the best looking of the bunch.  The next best looking flag was the Virginia State flag which has a bloke bearing a single breast in a tunic standing on the chest of a tyrant with his crown fallen off to the side.  The phrase “Sic semper tyrannis” is written on the flag meaning:  thus always to tyrants.  Cool.  One of the flags had an AK-47 on it.  That must be a fun country!  Welcome to the Foreign Service.