Bids were due the very Friday I returned to Rangoon after a month-long hospitalization in Thailand. Fortunately, I had already submitted my top bids at least a week earlier, fulfilling the minimum five-bid requirement while staying laser focused on my strategy.
I had also reviewed the applicable portals again a few days before the deadline (and again the morning of) to fine-tune and make sure my entries hadn’t somehow disappeared into the vortex, rendering me a non-compliant bidder.
When the U.S. government closed for more than six weeks this autumn, it completely blew up the Foreign Service bid-season timeline for summer 2026 bidders. Summer 2026 bidders are those of us completing our assignments next summer who need an onward. Our bid cycle was meant to begin at the end of September 2025, with bids due in October and handshakes coming out in November.
But as the shutdown dragged on through October and into November without appropriations, bidding—an activity not deemed “excepted”—was at a full stop. Posts and bureaus weren’t permitted to interview candidates, and bidders couldn’t express interest in projected vacancies. In an attempt to create parity between excepted employees who were working without pay and non-excepted employees who had been furloughed and weren’t allowed to sign on during the lapse, the organization even took the portal used for most bidding activities offline, cutting off bidders’ visibility on capsule descriptions for open assignments.
When I first wrote about sixth tour bidding in late September, I described it as a “ready or not” situation; bidding had snuck up on me quickly at less than two months into a one-year tour. But just two days after the cycle opened, everything ground to a halt. October 1 marked the start of the new fiscal year, and without an approved federal budget, the government shut down. And so, at least for now, this bid season has become another exercise in “hurry up and wait.”
At my most recent pedicure, I chose a deep cranberry shade—even though my toes still spend most weekends poolside or in strappy sandals. The signs of autumn flooding my social media feeds and podcast ads from home feel distant here in Burma, where my tan is still going strong. There are no cardigans, pumpkin spice lattes, or even jeans for me. I’ve worn a long-sleeved shirt only once since arriving in Rangoon. But if I close my eyes, I can almost smell the fall leaves of Virginia and the crisp evening air tinged with woodsmoke a world away.
Our PCS trip to Rangoon last week broke records for each of us, including longest consecutive air travel time and longest individual flight.
When you add up the 2,731 miles it took me to cross the United States by car, the additional 879 miles I motored around the west coast before dropping off my car at my dad’s, and the 11,649 miles traveled by plane, you get 15,259. Fifteen thousand, two hundred and fifty nine miles of total wear and tear on the body for what will be both our farthest-away and our shortest tour yet.
After our grueling three-day packout ended late last month, I spent the following day preparing to drive across the United States by myself. Ideally I would have left first thing in the morning. But as the final day of our packout had stretched into the evening, I realized some tasks — like going to the bank and post office, returning newly purchased aerosols the movers wouldn’t pack, and making one last run to my private storage unit — would have to wait until the following morning. This would delay my departure until later in the day.
V spent the day cleaning the rental house where we had lived since early 2022, while I repacked all my suitcases at our temporary apartment. Once I finished, I loaded the car and ran a few last-minute errands before stopping by the house one final time to say goodbye. It was only a temporary goodbye to him, but a fond farewell to the only home we’ve known since we left Ciudad Juárez three and a half years ago.
V and I spent last week out of town at the five-day Foreign Affairs Counterthreat Training, otherwise known as FACT. Typically, FSOs attend FACT every five or six years. However, we had not been for 10 years — since spring 2015. When we last attempted to complete FACT in March 2020, our timing was unfortunate — the world was just beginning to shut down due to COVID-19. We had already unpacked and were relaxing in our hotel several hours away when, on a Sunday evening, we learned that the weeklong FACT session scheduled to begin the following morning had been canceled due to the emerging pandemic. We were so close, but missed out. We went to Ciudad Juárez on the same FACT waiver everyone received during that period. But in 2025, the stars finally aligned and we checked FACT off our list once more.
Friday was a mixed bag of emotions for me. On one hand, I was happily celebrating the successful end of 10 months of Burmese study. I was busy running errands around town, completing lab work, seeing my doctor to fill prescriptions before moving to Burma, using the official pouch to save my precious suitcase space and advance work-related materials to myself in Rangoon, and driving my husband V to his urgent dental surgery.
But on the other hand, as V and I were making every effort to deconstruct our lives in the United States and prepare to move ourselves and all our stuff on overseas government orders, we were paradoxically also both monitoring our work emails to see if we were losing our jobs. That’s right, losing our jobs. On Friday, the Department of State fired more than 1,300 U.S.-based employees via email, including almost 250 Foreign Service Officers (FSOs).
After our 44th and final week of Burmese language class, last week consisted of three days of review. I attended class on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I missed Monday due to a minor dental emergency.
Throughout the week, I was full of nerves and felt my usual dread about taking an End of Training (EOT) test. On Thursday morning, I arrived at FSI early for one last solo review and my final preparations. After 10 months of study, it was finally EOT day.
Since last September when I began studying Burmese at FSI, I knew the finish line was at week 44. It seemed nearly impossible early on to imagine studying Burmese full-time for 44 weeks. Yet, I have. Imperfectly, but I have. I didn’t study as much as I should have. I missed too many days for health reasons. Maybe I didn’t spend my free time listening to Burmese language podcasts and daydreaming about different ways to say something. I definitely did not master the language in any impressive way.
However, I arrived at the end of the program. I didn’t give up, flame out, or quit, even though I thought about it during several rough patches. I felt dread, discouragement, even disinterest at times – but also elation, hope, and gratitude for the chance to receive training many others went to post lacking, and for the small wins I earned. Despite the curriculum or experience not being exactly what I expected, we are approaching the inevitable time to shift professional gears once more.
Week 40 was the week where we could finally say, “We’re moving to Burma next month.”
And also, “Less than five weeks left of language class.”
Psychologically, each time we’ve advanced to a new stage in the program—moving from single-digit to double-digit weeks, hitting week 20, week 30, and so on—has felt like a milestone. And none more so yet than week 40.
Burmese is the third language I’ve studied at FSI, and it’s also the longest formal language program I’ve undertaken. Last week, I completed week 29 of Burmese, surpassing the time I’d previously spent in Spanish (24 weeks)* and Russian (28 weeks).
As I ventured into the great beyond, spring arrived on campus—fittingly—and offered clear proof that we’ve endured the long winter and a new season is just ahead.
*(Note: Since I completed Spanish in 2020, FSI has extended its Spanish program from 24 to 30 weeks. This is partly due to the high no-pass rate on the Spanish End of Training test and a desire to help students avoid language training extensions that delay arrival to Post.)
Last Friday marked the end of week 26 of my Burmese program. Now 59% complete, we’ve shifted from everyday topics like our biographies, weather, and travel to work-related themes such as peace and security, bilateral relations, human rights, natural disasters, and the global economy.
Just weeks ago, my biggest challenges—less individual instruction time after our class merger last November and preparation for our upcoming PCS move to Burma this summer—felt significant.
As we reached the halfway point of our 44-week Burmese course recently, I felt an increasing awareness that significant changes lie ahead. I’ve also felt a renewed determination to meet the challenges of our important work. [Author’s note: I wrote and edited this post two weeks ago, before the State Department news of a personnel Reduction-in-Force was reported by the press.]
As I prepared for my second Burmese language progress evaluation last month, I also was getting ready for a special Christmas at home in Virginia. The reasons it was special were twofold. One, my dad (and later my stepdaughters) were planning to visit from out of state; and two, it would be the last Christmas V and I would be in the United States, potentially for years.
foreign in my own country
World Traveler and Consular Officer
A record of worldwide travel
My personal blog
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!
A Millennial's Musings of the World.
A senior project travel blog
Stories from a mid-west girl in Macedonia
This blog does not represent the US government, Peace Corps, or people of North Macedonia.
Live well & Enjoy.
Exploring the World Diplomatically
some stories from a life in the foreign service
My rocks are the memories from different adventures. I thought I would just leave this bag here.
A soulful explorer living an inspired life
Time for adventure
My Life As An Expat Abroad
My thoughts.
Tales from a Serial Expat
Detroit --> Angola --> Chile --> Cambodia--> India
the doings of the familia Calderón
my travels, my way. currently exploring eswatini and the rest of southern africa as a peace corps volunteer
Foreign Service Officer and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
Short Fiction by Nicola Humphreys
We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls. – Anais Nin
Foreign Service Blog
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." - Helen Keller
just another story
Experiences of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Macedonia
My Journey to the Foreign Service
A Diplomat's Life Abroad
A little ditty about our adventures in the Foreign Service
a peace corps memoir
Our Expat Adventures
We are a foreign service family currently posted in Windhoek, Namibia!!
Perspectives of a Trailing Spouse, etc.
Staying in the Honeymoon Phase
A trailing husband's vain search for cookies in an unjust world
CLS Korea, Fulbright Uzbekistan, TAPIF in Ceret, and everywhere in between
My life as a trailing husband of a Foreign Service Officer
Our Adventures in the Foreign Service
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” -Cloud Atlas
Defining Global Citizenship
Our family's adventures in the Foreign Service, currently the USA
Tales from My Foreign Service Life
Chasing two kids around the globe
Collecting Postcards 