It’s been a week since I’ve arrived in America and I’m
pretty sure I’ve jolted the economy all by my lonesome. Home leave is generally
expensive because you’re trying to buy stuff you’ve needed for the past two
years, will need for the next two or just flat-out have missed. (That’s mostly
food.)
My new laptop, a Dell Inspirion, is a cute little thing. It weighs
less than half of the old one, which I already deep-sixed. I’m picking up new
stuff here and there – like a pair of pants from LL Bean today – but just
dumping the laptop frees up so much space/weight in my backpack!
I also upgraded my luggage to a real spinner bag. I’d been
using my Peace Corps duffel, which served me well during its time, but it’s
time to move on. The little divider thing tore in the duffel, so basically
whatever I loaded up fell to the bottom of the bag and nothing stayed neat. That
worked for Peace Corps; I needed something for Foreign Service.
Target’s been my friend and neighbor, too. Prior to my
departure from Guangzhou, I ordered $325 worth of stuff including a safe and a
filing cabinet. I ordered them the Monday prior to my departure and oddly, it
was the “Your order has been delivered!” that arrived on Wednesday or Thursday
that, more than anything, made it hit me that I’d soon be in ‘Merica.
Besides the mail order, I also dropped another $200 the
first day. In order to ship the filing cabinet and safe, I had to ship 200
pounds worth of stuff, so I went shopping for heavy (mostly liquid) items I
could use in the next two years – cooking oil, vinegar, Listerine. A friend is
headed to Istanbul a little after me and I asked if I could take stuff for her,
so she also added a ton of liquid laundry detergent and Cascade. So no problems
on the weight.
The food portions continue to
astound me. I got three meals out of a Fatoosh lunch and tonight I’m having the
second half of my Cheesecake Factory dinner. (I managed to eat the entire
dessert on Evening One, though.) I think I’ve gained about 5-8 pounds already.
That’s depressing.
My little hotel gym is no Ascott,
either. I’ve been on the treadmill the last three days but I don’t like it. The
window faces outside and people can see in. Who needs that? But I’m trying to
make do and not walk out of here two sizes bigger than when I walked in. (The pants
I dropped $60 on today wouldn’t fit!)
Training-wise, it’s been smooth.
Coincidentally (which seems to happen a lot in Foreign Service), I knew the
teacher. She’d been one of my 95 TDYers last year. I’ve also caught up with
many colleagues, including three who also teach there now.
And I’ve met a lot more people,
mostly who are associated with Istanbul in some way. I had a lot of meetings to
discuss what I’d be doing there and taking names and all that kind of stuff. So
far, it sounds like a good gig.
Oh, and my differential went up!
This is extra money on top of salary. Guangzhou, when I got there, was an extra
20 percent. That went down to 15 in the last few months I was there, and
Istanbul was only 10 so I figured I’d take a further pay cut. But they revamped
stuff and now Istanbul is 15, so I’ll eventually make the same as I did in
Guangzhou. When you’re in the States, you do not get the extra money, so I am
down to base salary. It means a drop of $650 in my next paycheck until I return
overseas.)
The living situation is very
elementary. As in school. I take a bus to class. It’s even a Bluebird, but it’s
white and not yellow. The bus comes after Mama Marriott feeds me breakfast,
too, and then when I get home, Marriott has another snack for me, at least from
Monday to Wednesday.
The classes are easy. It’s really
a sweet gig because class is officially 9 to 4. You get in early – well, I do –
and check email before 9, then go to class. There’s a break around 10ish and
then, if you’re lucky, you get out for lunch at 11:something. Back at 1,
another break around 2ish, then you’re done by 4 and, pending another email
check, you head back to the bus.
My teacher arrived back in country
about an hour before I did and was equally as jet-lagged, so she covered the
material quickly the first day and we were done by 3 p.m. It’s so different
than actual work, or at least my job in Guangzhou.
It is still not real to me that I
am not going back. Since the work has been so easy – and because I spent three
days running around – it still seems like I’m on vacation, not a permanent
change of station. I feel like I’m going to return to Guangzhou and start
working again. It just hasn’t hit me yet, and I don’t know how I am going to
react when it does.
In the meantime, I am enjoying
being home. It’s fantastic.
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