If I Must: Learning Burmese, Weeks 36-37

During the past couple of weeks, I hit some exciting milestones in our PCS move preparations, while simultaneously seeming to backslide in my acquisition of Burmese. 

Forty-four weeks is a very long time to study a language on a full-time basis. I admit after 37 weeks I’ve gotten a little burned out with it. Not only is the Burmese language difficult in its own right, but lately my mind has felt like a sieve. I hear something, and only seconds later it’s gone. Forget moving new information from short-term to long-term memory; it’s just sliding off like Teflon.

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It doesn’t help that lately our class structure has lacked the previous regular lesson format and now consists more of speaking at length (or avoiding doing so). I know it’s important to speak, but it has also felt excruciating lately, as if I’m never prepared even when I spend a lot of time preparing.

I try to concentrate on studying, and sometimes feel as though I’m in a room filled with TVs, all tuned to different channels with the volume cranked up. What I do manage to focus on, doesn’t predictably stay in my head beyond a day. “I deleted that file,” I joked with my instructor when asked how to say a particular phrase. 

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I was supposed to have my fourth and final progress evaluation at the end of week 36. I had to postpone it due to illness, and then I postponed it again in week 37 because I still hadn’t felt well and hadn’t been able to prepare the way I’d wanted. 

Feeling “ready” for a progress evaluation — for me — is more about not feeling stupid than it is any actual negative outcome of not doing well, though. Progress evaluations are low-stakes. You can’t fail one, as I proved during our second evaluation back in December. The feedback afterwards is meant to give you pointers of what you need to achieve in the remaining time before the End of Training test, and helps your instructors help you.  

But for some reason, just the idea of struggling through the experience of being on the spot for an hour while my mind was mostly blank was too excruciating to contemplate putting myself through.

How disappointed would I be if I tried to talk about some topic — such as educational exchange programs between countries, or the importance of bilateral relations to regional security — and couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I can generally respond to prompts, but oddly, I find it very mentally difficult to organize prepared statements about these topics. (Side gripe: these topics also have very little to do with the practicalities of my everyday work and language needs, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole just now.)

I’ve never postponed a progress evaluation before, and it wouldn’t have occurred to me in the past to do so. However, it felt like the right thing to do at this time — to take a pause and try some self-management. 

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And while it’s still hard to imagine actually moving to Rangoon, a place I’ve never seen or been, a number of things happened during the past two weeks that made that reality seem less abstract. 

One, my future boss set up a call for us with our predecessors to talk about life and work in Burma. The call hasn’t happened yet, but when it does, it will be a great chance to get some initial questions answered… like, how long does it take for UAB to arrive? What’s the consular workload like? How does it feel to live there during this period?

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Two, I sourced information from colleagues already in Rangoon about what foods and goods are or are not available there. I then aggregated it and shared it with my classmates to help us prepare our consumables shopping lists. This is helpful so we don’t buy three of something to ship in our limited allowance and then find out we could have bought it right there in the commissary or on the local market. Normally this would be a conversation with one’s social sponsor, but as far as I know, none of us have been assigned one yet and I like to think about (and financially plan for) such things earlier than a few weeks out.

Three, V began updating his medical clearance and we reached out to the medical office at FSI to begin updating our immunizations. Some of the recommended shots come in a series, so it’s good to start about eight weeks before departure to give the protective factor of inoculations time to take effect.

Four, I renewed my Virginia driver’s license, which was set to expire this fall while we’ll be in Burma. I had actually renewed it last year to upgrade to a Real ID. I thought I was ahead of the game. However, since my license was then still more than a year from expiring, the DMV reissued it without extending its validity. They said that could only be done within a year of expiration. So, being early ended up creating extra work for me. But last week I received my new license in the mail—valid through 2033—so I persevered and now it’s done. Letting your U.S. driver’s license expire while overseas is a huge hassle I don’t plan to allow.

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Five, Post invited us to submit our visa applications to the Burmese embassy in Washington, DC. V and I finished preparing all the paperwork and got our pictures taken, so I will submit the application package next week. 

Six, the Department acknowledged that I had submitted my TMTWO (request for orders), and that it had queued my request up for funding and processing via a TMFOUR (travel orders). The final TMFOUR hasn’t come through yet, but it was good to know it’s on the way. Having orders will allow my packout to be funded, allow us to purchase plane tickets, and assure me that reimbursement will be forthcoming for out-of-pocket expenses I will soon incur. For example, for our weeklong required attendance at a security-related training after Burmese class ends. 

And seven — and perhaps the most exciting development — the embassy notified me of our housing assignment. We had been waiting close to two years (since my assignment to Rangoon came down in summer 2023) to know whether we would be in an apartment or a house. I’m happy to say we did get a house!

Being assigned to a house was super thrilling to us. While some love the idea of an apartment building with a gym, cafes, daily housekeeping, and other modern conveniences, I was concerned about neighbor noise (since V will be working remotely from home) and the possibility our cat could escape. To have a standalone house with a nice yard that’s also close to work and in a walkable neighborhood doesn’t make convenience a trade-off for peace and quiet.

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Not totally PCS-related, but still importantly, I also received a notice last week that it’s time for me to register my interest as a Summer 2026 consular bidder. I will bid for my onward assignment this fall, likely before my HHE even arrives in Rangoon. That’s because my assignment in Rangoon is only for one year, which significantly compresses the cycle.

It makes sense to start thinking about what’s next—my tour will be ending almost as soon as it begins. I’ll need to line up an onward assignment, then work backward from that arrival date to determine when to leave Rangoon for home leave and any required training. Still, it feels strange to plan so far ahead, this close to a PCS and the start of a new tour.

Perhaps one more thing to think about as I procrastinate preparing for the rescheduled Burmese progress evaluation?