Family Shenanigans, Part 1: A Birthday

Boy, it has been a busy few weeks for me! This month has involved so much family and so many family gatherings that I will forever think of it as the Shaw-Schu-Schae Reunion Month.

The day after our counselor training academy, I took a red-eye flight to Berlin. My Oma, you see, turned 90 years old this month, and that's a big deal and a cause for celebration!

90 roses for 90 years

Schuberts, Schaefers, and Shaws turned up from all over the world for Oma's big day. From Berlin, we took a road trip to Bad Godesberg, the town near Bonn where both of my maternal grandparents are from (and where many of my distant relatives still live). I had been there once before, but only for sightseeing in Bonn and nearby Cologne, so it was nice to reconnect with some family history.

The "ancestral hometown" of the Schaefers and the Schuberts.

We stayed at a really nice hotel, right on the Rhine, called the Dreesen. The hotel itself is gorgeous, and holds sentimental value for my family. It was right on the Rhine, too, so every morning I awoke to the beautiful views of ships churning to and fro on the Rhine in autumn.

Hotel Dreesen

View from our window.

The day before the big party, we all took a walk around town as a family. Bad Godesberg is a beautiful place (I will definitely be going back!) and a lovely town to walk around. It's like something out of a storybook.

Walking around the town.

We made sure to stop by the Rüngsdorfer Friedhof, the cemetery where my Opa is buried. This was important to me, because when my Opa died when I was still pretty small -- my brother and I weren't able to go to the funeral, and I had never visited his resting place before. Twenty years later, I finally got to pay my respects to my Opa.

Oh, hey there, Opa! (and other relatives)

The next day, it was time for the Big Party. Excitement buzzed through the whole family. The table was immaculately set, the menu carefully chosen -- and boy was it delicious! Many of the foods were Rhineland specialties: some kind of fish tartare, mushroom soup, sauerbraten, knödel, and fancy ice cream... yum. Prosecco, beer, and wine flowed freely, conversation flourished, people laughed and talked, and several people gave really sweet and heartfelt toasts.

The best part was that the whole family was together. On the German side of my family, we have people living in Brazil, Chile, and Texas...and Germany, of course, so it's not often that we all get together. But for Oma's 90th, we all made the effort, and it was wonderful. I know it meant a lot to everyone!

Table is set for dinner!

My cousin and I dressed up and ready to go!

Oma flanked by her two siblings.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Oma!

The next day, it was time for me to return home -- but not for long. I was at home for only about 48 hours, at which point I jumped right back on a plane and flew to London. That's the story for the next blog post: Family Shenanigans, Part 2: A Wedding.

The First Annual Counselor Training Academy

If you are a Hungarian high school student and you want to go to college in the United States, the odds are stacked against you. The American college admissions process is unnecessarily complicated, and few people in Hungary know how to navigate it; furthermore, Hungarian high schools don't have "College Counselors" like American ones do, because they are generally not needed. If you want to study law in Hungary, you go to one of the handfuls of universities that offer law, if you can get the right scores on your high school leaving exams. Hungarian students and teachers are rightfully confused by our American process of personal statements, standardized tests, different application types and deadlines, etc. etc. etc. Often times, the students just give up and go to school in Hungary.

To fix this, my colleague Nelly and I decided to host a new event last week: the first ever Counselor Training Academy. This idea has been brewing in Nelly's head for some time, and with both of us invested in this effort, we made it a reality! Last Thursday, we brought seven high school teachers and counselors from all over Budapest together in our office, and we trained them to navigate this process better.

Nelly handled most of the logistics -- finding participants, issuing invitations, ordering supplies -- and I created the program, putting together a 90 minute presentation from scratch that covered higher education basics, the American college admissions process, common application components, and how to write a good letter of recommendation, school profile, and official transcript for a student.

Although we "only" had seven participants, the program was a huge success. All seven teachers were very interested and participated actively. Several of them had students they were currently working with, so they could directly use the knowledge and skills they were learning. All of them had positive reactions to the event, and two of them even invited me to come and talk to their classes in the spring!

Considering this was the first program of its kind in Budapest, I consider this a win! Nelly and I work really well together, so that definitely helped. Hopefully, next year's English Teaching Assistant can use the materials we created this year to take it a step further -- each year, we can train more people and reach more students -- and just like that, bit by bit, we make a difference.

Visit to the Homeland

Last week was fall break! I think my students were as happy as me to get some time off, especially after the mid-term I gave them (apparently, it was “sooooo hard!”). So what did I spend my time off doing?

Taking a test.

Well, originally I had planned to travel this week anyway, to go to the wedding of my good friends, Caitlin and Brian. But luckily, I also managed to schedule the Foreign Service Oral Assessment for the same week. The timing was perfect, but this looming exam had been stressing me out for weeks. Thankfully, I flew into D.C. a few days early and was able to stay with a high school friend, Megan, as well as meet up with my peace corps friend, Matt, both of whom helped me stay sane. (Thanks, guys!)

There’s a limit to how much I can say about the test, as all candidates sign a confidentiality agreement, but I’ll say what I can. The test started ridiculously early in the morning – I had to be there at 6:45 a.m. UGH! After signing in, I met the other test takers while waiting. There were four other people testing with me for the Foreign Service Generalist position.

 Our first task of the day was a group exercise, where we acted as a mock country team at an embassy and had to decide how to allocate limited funding among several competing projects while assessors watched and listened. It was weird being watched, but my group mates worked well together, although I worried I didn’t stand out.

The second activity was an individual writing task, in which I was given a binder full of information about an issue and had to read through it, analyze the data, and craft a well-written memo with recommendations in a limited time frame. I felt pretty good about this part, since writing has always been my strong point.

After lunch, I went in for the third part, the interview – in which two assessors asked me questions about my experience, motivation and qualities for about an hour. This is the section I was most nervous about (I don’t interview that well) and I did not feel confident about it afterward at all.

Of course, then I had a two-hour break to sit there and think about all the things I said or did wrong and all the things I forgot to mention or shouldn’t have said. It was agonizing, but everyone else was agonizing about their performance along with me, so that made it better. While we waited, the assessors deliberated about us and came to a decision about each candidate. By the end of the waiting period, I had just about convinced myself I had failed. (“I should have been more assertive in the group exercise! I should have tightened up my memo more! I should have not sucked so much in the interview!”)

After what seemed like an eternity, I was called into a room to await my verdict. Completely frazzled at that point, I was a totally surprised when the assessor congratulated me on passing! I was still stunned as she reached out to shake my hand, but once it sunk in, I broke into a huge smile and thanked her about a dozen times. The smile stayed on my face for most of the afternoon. I was even more surprised when she told me my score – it was pretty good! (And here I had convinced myself I failed!)

Afterwards, I was escorted to a room where I met up with the other test passers – three of us in total – and we were briefed on the next steps in the process. Over the next several months, I will work on medical and security clearance. Once everything is done, I will be placed on a list of eligible candidates awaiting the magical invitation to an A-100 class – training for New Foreign Service Officers. However, if I don’t get called within 18 months, my candidacy expires, and I have to start over from square one. The list is rank-ordered by score, which means I should be decently high on the list (especially because I am eligible for extra points due to foreign language competency), but with hiring numbers way down right now, it’s more competitive than ever. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

After the test, I was in the mood for a celebration – so it was really a perfect time for a wedding! After staying the night with a good family friend (who also gave me a tour of the State Department where she works – how fitting!) I flew back to Houston for the nuptials.

The wedding was wonderful – I was able to see lots of Rice friends that I hadn’t seen too long, and I was a bridesmaid for a perfect couple who I know will make each other very happy. There was delicious food to be had, a cake shaped like a dragon, and endless champagne. What a great way to finish off the trip! Congratulations, Brian and Caitlin!

I’m back in Budapest now, and things are full steam ahead! Next week, we have our big Counselor Training Academy which I am preparing (I’ll write a post about it!) and later this month, I am flying to Berlin to celebrate my Oma turning 90 years old, and then turning around and heading to London to celebrate my big brother getting married to one of my oldest friends.

Lots of great things happening! More to come soon. 

Pre-test hiking for anxiety relief.

Hangin' out with good ol' George Washington

Even got a fall besties photoshoot in!

Wedding time!

The happy couple <3