The Last Area Studies

You thought I forgot, right?

So Thursday was our last area studies. A larger number than I expected showed up, I suspect so they could fill out the course evaluations.

The professor told us there was an 800-word limit per question when he saw how much we were writing...of course, he wasn't actually supposed to be in the room watching us fill out the evaluations. He didn't leave until everyone had turned theirs in.

Not cool.

At least he did not make us watch a Woody Allen film (Death and Love, I think)...instead we watched The Pianist.

Yep...another movie...at least on topic (Poland)....but on the week before most of us have our final tests.

Yes, really.

One of the Best

Area studies today was one of the best we have had.

But of course, we both (that would be me and you) knew it would be because...my wife was on the panel!

Seriously, it was a good class. We had the Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania Desk officers there along with the region's INR analyst. The Latvian Desk officer apparently had work to do!

We got to talk about our countries. And ask specific questions. And get answers about our countries and not Russia. By people who knew the answers.

It was awesome.

And here is a very telling quote from the class:

One panelist asked, "Have you talked much about the political situation in Latvia in the past few weeks?" (You know, where the president dissolved Parliament days before his own election, which he lost. He dissolved them because of the corruption of the Oligarchs in Parliament...an oligarch is now the president...).

And someone (not me) in the class answered, "No, not at all. But we can tell you all about this church in Kiev."

Nuff said.

Ukrainian Studies

Oops, I meant area studies.

Okay, today was actually not THAT bad. Our speaker, from the National Committee on Soviet Jewry, talked a bit about what his organization was doing (and how they really wish they had a different name, since there is no longer a Soviet Union, but that with their group's name recognition, they were advised not to change it...branding and all).

He did talk a good bit about Ukraine, and again I am thankful that at least it is on a country some of us are going to.

And he did at least mention the other countries.

Still, I find myself annoyed that we have three weeks left of area studies and I feel I have learned so much about Ukraine, a bit about Poland and substantially less about the Balts. Or NATO. Or the EU (we did get that one lecture on the history of the EU...I think we made it to about 1936...not much on what is currently going on).

Meanwhile, interesting things are going on in the Balts. Estonia had elections, interesting elections that demonstrated how stable the government is despite their austerity measures. They have also transitioned to the Euro, and yet with all the change and all the world economic crises, their economy has suffered less than others. I know about this stuff because I read the news, not because area studies has taught me anything. And then there is Latvia. Their President DISSOLVED parliament this week and then lost his election. Good stuff...not a peep about it in area studies.

Next week, we will have break out sessions. These are good in theory, but more often than not, for us, they mean the Balts and Poland together in a session while Ukraine's folks go someplace interesting. For our break out, we will have the same speaker we have had for at least three other lectures (all but one were breakouts I think). He is great, and really knowledgeable, but seriously. Is he the only person who can talk about the Balts?

One good thing though...my wife will be coming with him this time. So at least I get an afternoon with her out of it!

Area Studies and A Visitor

Credit where credit is due.

Area studies yesterday was decent. At least it concerned one of the countries covered by our area studies...though of course, that country was Ukraine.

Still, it was an interesting, if mostly anecdotal, talk about minorities in Ukraine.

Today, we had a visitor in class.

He is a Department employee, but before joining State, he lived in Estonia for a total of six years, two as a Peace Corps volunteer.

His Estonian is better than that of any native born American I have met (not better than any American I have met...our teachers are Americans, but they were born in Estonia to Estonian parents and so have an unfair advantage).

But what was great, and is beginning to give me a glimpse of my missing self-confidence, was that I understood him. Completely.

That made me really happy, and was a pretty good way to cap off the week and put me in the right mindset for my progress test Tuesday.

Back to the USSR...again

Seriously.

I get that Russia is a great big country that affects basically every country in the world.

I get that Russia has had a tremendous impact on the countries we are going to.

I get that we need to know about Russia to understand the relationship.

But really, I would like to hear about the relationship, not just about Russia. And more than that, I want to learn about the country I am going to. And how it related to NATO, for example, or th EU, which it is now a member of. I would like to hear about the elections it just had and what direction it is going politically. I would like know about their economy, and how they have achieved such great stability despite their austerity measures.

I would like to learn these things, but I haven't.

Today's talk in area studies on energy was interesting, and the speaker was very good. But it was mostly about Russia, and how it controls energy resources. And it was not different enough from a previous lecture on energy issues in our region that we had earlier, with the exception that the previous lecture actually discussed our countries in depth.

Next week, we are having a repeat of a lecture we had earlier. The week after that, we are hearing about Belarus, yet another place none of us are going.

And we only have nine weeks left.

It Was The Best of Times...

...and then it was area studies.

Sigh.

First the good stuff.

Despite the fact that I have a progress test tomorrow (and on a slight tangent, please please please cross your fingers and toes, pray, send positive energy, or whatever other assistance you can offer that I do well...), I had a really good day in language class.

Specifically, I was really happy with my performance during speaking at length. We had Culture Shock as a topic, and I felt like I did pretty well with it. I was comfortable. I had anecdotes. I had a point I wanted to make and I feel like I made it. And I spoke for six minutes. And when the teacher asked me a follow on question, I had an answer and an example for why I thought my answer was true.

Yay!

And then we went to area studies.

I so shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

Last week was great...I foolishly thought we had turned a corner. And the topic this week seemed relevant.

Sadly, it wasn't. And our countries weren't mentioned. And he took the whole three hours. And at one point, he was taking so long on each slide that the computer went into screen-saver mode. He literally spent 45 minutes on the first three slides...and he had 32 slides.

Just painful.

Next week is supposed to be on the Balts. But I am afraid to get my hopes up.

In better news, how cool is my post?! They assigned me a control officer for my immersion trip.

I don't need one, of course...it is an immersion trip. Even so, their doing so makes me feel welcomed and valued.

And that means a lot to me.

Pleasantly Surprised

It is no secret that I have been incredibly frustrated with area studies. The countries we are going to haven't been discussed AT ALL for weeks. In fact, before today, we had gone six weeks with no substantial discussion of any of the countries alledgedly covered by the course. Five of those weeks had been spent discussing Russia. The sixth was the manditory Appeal of Conscience (where they asked for a show of hands from "believers." Really? In a government class?)

And today's topic was Russian Foreign Policy. To say I was not optimistic is an understatement.

But I can admit when I am wrong.

Our speaker, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was interesting and knowledgable...about our countries!

He talked about Russia's policy towards our countries. When I relayed some of what he said about Poland to my wife, she said it was an incredibly accurate assessment.

Numerous people went to our course coordinator (the one who returned today after a two month absence) after class today to tell him how this was about the best class we have had so far.

I agree completely...more please!

Back in the USSR

But I don't feel so lucky.

So we had area studies again this week. This makes week five of the past 6 weeks that we have spent area studies discussing Russia and/or the Soviet Union.

You might remember that NONE of the people in my class are going to Russia.

I say five of the past six weeks, because last week we had a command performance at the "Appeal of Conscience" program.

First, you can't brag about attendence if you make the event manditory.

The first half of that program consisted of diplomats talking to us about religious freedom. The second half started with one of the religious leaders asking for a show of hands of "believers."

I am not sure that has a place in a manditory training class.

Anyway, this week, we had a lecture on how the collapse of the Soviet Union led to 9/11.

And interesting topic, without a doubt, but really, I would like to hear something about where I am going.

It took him one hour and 45 minutes to even MENTION one of the countries we are headed to, and then only in terms of that Russia could take it and Belarus back if they wanted to lessen the percentage of Muslims within the Russian federation. yes really.

Nine minutes later, he mentioned Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but only in terms of saying he asked as the Soviet Union was crumbling if FSI knew how many speakers of those languages we had since they might have embassies soon. He said he was told that they would never be independent (sure he was, because his whole persona is based on being the ONLY one in the government who knows anything but that no one would listen to). Five minutes later, he referred to the imam in Kiev. Two minutes later, class was over. Poor Poland never even got a footnote.

In the course of this class, he spouted lots of stats, like how the average birthrate of Chechen women was 10. When someone asked him his source, he said he wasn't sure and he didn't think the number was right. But then why would he use it to make his argument (because it was key to the point he was making). Like I have said before, every time he says something I know about, I know the areas he is wrong. And this makes me question everything he said.

And he has this really irritating habit of saying something controversial and then quickly adding "but anyway" and changing the subject so that your only option is to chuckle or grumble and move on.

But no matter. Today was his last day.

Yep, he is quitting. Our former instructor is returning.

So we are losing the instructor who knows, but never actually shared, something about the Balts, and regaining the professor who made our class all Ukraine, all the time. At this point, I am grateful it is at least about ONE of our counties. And on the bright side, should I ever be assigned to Russia, I shouldn't have to take area studies. Really, I'm good.

But of course, because our old instructor has been gone for six weeks, our current instructor set up classes for the next three weeks.

Next week's topic: Russian Foreign Policy. Yes, really.

I am not sure what the week after that is (I think it is a joint session with another area studies), but the third week is an Azeri journalist talking about Azeri NGOs.

Hooray! It isn't Russia.

Except, none of us are going to Azerbaijan either...

Maybe I am in the wrong area studies

I think I must be in the wrong area studies.

Because for the last four classes, we have talked about Russia.

NONE of us are going to Russia. NOT ONE.

Remember I told you about how our instructor ridiculed State for "forcing all the countries of the former Soviet Union to report through the Russia desk"? And how I told you that this actually isn't true, and that some of the countries aren't even in EUR anymore because we recognize that it makes more sense for them to be in SCA?

And how this same instructor persists in examining all of our countries through a Russian lens?

It continues. Today, he brought in an instructor to talk about organized crime and corruption.

RUSSIAN organized crime and corruption.

And he left, saying he had two other places FSI needed him to be today (really? He is a replacement for the instructor who retired. He teaches ONLY our class. And FSI has double-booked him? Really?)

So we are left with this guy who didn't seem to know where we were going. He talked about Russia, and to a degree, AFRICA. And offered to talk about Central America.

How about central Europe? That'd be fun.

And when we did try to get him to talk about our countries, he knew very little, told us to ask our regular instructor, and got defensive.

At our break, most of the class bailed. I stayed (Catholic guilt). One friend said he would start taking area studies seriously when FSI started taking it seriously. I get it.

Yes, Russia is a HUGE current and historic influence on our countries. Yes, we need to know about Russia. But this is NOT Russia's area studies. We would like to know some about the countries we are going to. It matters.

But it seems to be too much to ask.

Oh No He Didn't!

I had today's post mostly written in my head by this morning. I had used the drive in the polish it up in my brain.

But of course, I don't write my posts at work. So I was waiting until I got home.

And then I went to area studies.

I was already a bit dubious, since today's topic was the Russian Federation and its neighbors. Which is sort of what he talked about last week when our scheduled speaker was unable to make it past the guards (bureaucratic oops).

Now bear in mind that we are not going to the Russian Federation, but okay, we are going to neighboring countries.

AND bear in mind that this is the same guy who criticized State for lumping all the former Soviet countries under the Russian bureau (never mind that this isn't actually true, or that some of the countries of the former Soviet Union aren't even in the European bureau anymore...you just gotta pick your straw man and stick with it) but is for the second week in a row, talking about all of us in the context of Russia....

His area of expertise is the ethnicities of the former Soviet Union.

Which means that he should stay the hell away from discussions about other ethnicities...like say, American Indians.

Particularly southeastern US American Indians...and if I am in your class, stay FAR away from the Indians of North and South Carolina unless you know what the hell you are talking about.

So as a throw away joke about ethnicities, he said ethnicities were still being created. And that if you didn't believe they could even be created overnight overnight, you need to read about the Lumbee.

Really, you're going there?

I am the historian for my tribe. We have two main bands, one of which originates from just across the border from the Lumbee. There is a ton of intermarriage and shared history between the Lumbee and my people. So as the historian for my tribe, I know more about Lumbee history than your average non-Lumbee bear.

And they are NOT, as he said, a "group of people who have nothing in common except their New York lawyer." They are NOT seeking recognition as an Indian tribe so they can get a casino. And the reason they lawsuit is ongoing has much more to do with Jesse Helms than Lumbee origins. There is NO DOUBT, at least by anyone who actually bothers to do the research, that the Lumbee are Indians (and even Lumbee who are mixed with other races are still Indian, much like I am Indian even though my father was white...it is both my race and my culture). And even if they are, as some argue, a remnant tribe, that does not make them any less a tribe than other tribes that are remnant tribes but enjoy federal recognition. (Though again, if you do the research, you can scarcely miss coming to the conclusion that the Lumbee descend primarily from one dominant group).

It is a testament to the degree to which I have become a diplomat that I did not go with any of my first three impulses. My first was to rip him a new one. Closely related is my second, which was to throw something at him. My third was to just walk out.

Because I am a diplomat, I went for door number four, and sat and stewed.

And because I am a diplomat, I plan in the very near future to have a private "frank and open" discussion with him about it.

Area Studies

Area studies is better, at least in that the instructor knows something more than one country.

But seriously, is it not possible for him to teach without all the self-aggrandizing?

And maybe he could conceal the distain he feels for government employees, since that is who he is teaching!

Grumble.

In other news, I finally went and got the report on my progress test. Yes, the text I took in, um, November?

I should have gone sooner...then I would remember the positive things the instructor said at the time rather than the only negative things the LTS wrote (we never write down the positive because we don't have much space, she says).

At least they said I was doing well and on track.

Clown Car

Today was area studies again, and so I welcome you to the latest episode of "how many people can we fit into this classroom?"

Several languages have just started new classes. Among them, Polish. So we had lots of new people in our classroom.

Now you might remember my previous complaint. We have some 45 students in class and seats for 36.

Well, no one has left.

We don't have a new room.

And now we have MORE students. Awesome.

As my friend S said, it was like fitting people into a clown car (wish I could take credit for that. I rewarded her for her creativity by annoying her while she was trying to study a flashcard program in her language on her phone by saying the Estonian version of those words. And yet Kolbi at A Daring Adventure thinks I am a nice person!).

Our speakers were some folks from INR's Opinion Research shop, and as you should already know, I really like INR. They did a good job.

Our new instructor was absent. No idea why.

Much Better, But Much Longer Too

So today was our first day of area studies with our new instructor. Our previous instructor retired at the end of the year.

I had mixed feelings about our new instructor. On the one hand, he knows MUCH more about the Balts, which made me hopeful that we'd get more useful information. Our previous instructor seemed to know LOTS about one of the other countries lumped in with us, but not so much about the Balts. And with few exceptions, his speakers didn't seem to know much more. I am not the only one who felt that we were not getting out of area studies what we needed, and we really really need to have good area studies before going to post.

So like I said, I was happy the new guy had potential to give us great info on our countries. In fact, I took a one-week course from him before, though not at FSI, so I knew he was really knowledgeable.

He is also a little full of himself. When he spoke to our area studies a few weeks back, he still seemed really dismissive of the government and those of us working for it. Plus, he told all the same jokes.

Today I was pleasantly surprised.

He brought in a speaker today who seemed knowledgeable about all five countries we cover. And he seemed a little more circumspect. This gives me great hope for the remainder of our area studies.

The class was also our first to go the full three hours, so my backside was a little tired when we were done. Even so, I am optimistic.

Also, he had GREAT things to say about the local staff I will be working with in Tallinn. This is not the first time I have heard this...in fact, every single thing I have heard about the folks I will be working with has been positive. I am unbelievably excited about getting to post! I am certain this is going to be an awesome tour!

Best FSI Day Ever

Today was a great day at FSI.

I was in language training alone today because one of my classmates is sick and the other may or may not be having her baby.

While being alone in class is exhausting, today just felt great! I was able to work on stuff I needed, plus we talked a lot abut all kinds of things (like my complex family!) and used very little English.

I even commented that I felt like I did better alone...my teacher said I seemed calmer. Weird.

Anyway, then we had area studies...

Which was ALSO awesome!

We had the DCMs from the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian embassies here in DC come talk to us. It was great to listen to people with real, current experience in the countries we are heading to. It was interesting and useful. Which area studies unfortunately almost never is.

Of course, some people might also say today's snow would add to the awesomeness of the day...I am not one of them. My teacher said "Yay!" and I said "Ei" (Estonian for no, and it rhymes with yay). I think poor Ben was pretty cold too, though at least he is in the spirit with his Santa hat.

Can't believe they pay me to do this

And not in a good way...

Let me say first that the idea of area studies is a great one. Awesome. Vital.

But it just seldom translates to that in reality.

Last week, our area studies class was cancelled. Apparently there was a death in the family of our speaker, and no time to reschedule. That said, there was NEVER a noticed up saying what that week's program was and where it was to be held. So I suspect they knew early on that it was cancelled, and never bothered to let us know. I had to hunt down the info on Thursday afternoon.

So we actually had class today. But once again, our speaker knew next to nothing about the area we were going to. Our area studies professor is an expert on one of the five countries we cover in area studies, and our classes and speakers lean hard towards that country. So today's lecturer spoke knoweldgibly about that one country and had nothing really for the rest of us. He read some stuff from the computer, and made a couple comments...that were wrong.

Total waste of time.

I am interested. I WANT to know more about where I am going. I think it is really important. But only about two classes so far have been useful. Really annoying.

We also found out today that our professor has decided to retire. Next week, we have breakout sessions (hooray! We'll have folks from our countries to talk to!), and he is going off campus for one of them. Starting in the new year, we will have a new instructor.

We have had our new instructor speak to us already. He knows a lot, particularly about our countries. But he thinks he knows everything. And that he is smarter than everyone else.

And he is very dismissive of folks in the government, because they are all clearly too stupid to never listen to him.

Sigh.

A Little Annoying

Let me say up front that I HATE being late.

Many of you know that I am part Indian, part German. I joke that this means I either need to be 15 minutes early or it is a good day to fish.

Usually, especially for work, I channel my dad (the German half): being on time means being early.

If I am going to be late, I often prefer not to go at all.

So today area studies met at the Holocaust Museum. They made no arrangements for transportation for us, and we were originally scheduled to start there at 1 o'clock.

This is a problem for those of us who have language class until 12:30 at FSI. So the instructor agreed to make it 1:30.

Great. So we get there...I carpooled with my classmates. We were there 45 minutes early, so we had some lunch at the museum cafeteria (the fish chowder was good...the brownie, sadly, not so much. And it is really expensive! My classmates spent $30 for sandwhiches for the two of them). And then we were outside at the entrance where we were instructed to meet in plenty of time.

But our instructor took folks up early. And left no one downstairs. So we waited and waited...finally (once the line going in died down), we went in, found someone who knew of our group...then we had to find our way to a conference room that even employees of the museum didn't seem to know the location of.

We finally found them, but we were late.

The speaker was good, but really, they should have arranged for him to come to FSI, so we could have listened longer, or arranged transportation so we could have arrived as a group. Or left someone downstairs for those of us who were EARLY but apparently not early enough.

Grumble.

Useful Area Studies

It only took five weeks, but today's area studies was actually useful!

We were broken out into small groups and we had a guest speaker from INR talk to us about the Baltics. I feel like I have a much better handle not only on citizenship issues in Estonia (a big issue...there is a substantial Russian-speaking population there, much of which does not have Estonian citizenship) but on energy issues affecting the region as well.

Next week, we are back to a combined class...and back to talking about a country that is not one of the Balts.

Sigh.

Brain Cramp

If you have ever studied language for any length of time, you know you have days where you feel like you are really getting a handle on things and days when you suddenly panic and think you know nothing.

Today was a day of that second kind.

I blame one of my classmates.

She was able to accurately use a newly placed chart in our classroom to guess at the proper endings for cases (did I mention we have FOURTEEN cases??) that we have yet to cover. Which left me feeling like holy crap, I am so far behind! How can I not know any of this?

Of course, we haven't studied it yet, so how would I? But you might have gathered we FSOs are a competative bunch, especially with ourselves. So while I don't feel the need to be better than anyone else in the class, I do (unrealistically) feel like I should know everything we HAVE covered perfectly. So to suddenly think I had missed something made me panic. To realize that even though I hadn't missed anything but that there was SO MUCH we haven't even broached made my brain cramp.

A lot.

And then we went to area studies...

I mentioned last week the poor planning that went into room size. So I was delighted to see we moved rooms this week. Even so, I decided I would get to the room early just to make sure I got a seat, and I would eat my lunch there before area studies began.

Glad I did.

This room seems bigger and better laid out...and yet as I counted, it seems to be that fewer people actually got to sit at the table than did last week.

Seriously, isn't there a room that will fit 46 people? Are we really going to have people sitting on cabinets for the next 40 weeks?