Well, I can write fini to the second week of PDOS, and I don't think Pardek suspects anything yet. I have to skip lunch to get through the work that piles on my desk while I'm away at class, and I have to run across the Home Office building whenever I get urgent calls, but otherwise, its looking increasingly likely I'll pull this thing off. Fingers-crossed.
On to the highlights.
Week Two
Day One
(No classes today thanks to EDSA. Unfortunately, I pull holiday officer-on-duty watch. Fortunately, the Oscars are on, and everytime the movie's mentioned, I hum "and there wiiiiiiiillllllll beeeeeeeee bloooood....and there wiiiiiiiiillllll beeeeeeeee blo-huh-huh-hod")
Day Two
Predictably, the course has a simulation exercise. In this case, we're gonna pretend to host a National Day reception abroad. Because my Department batchmates have tons of organizing experience by now, and because most of my PDOS batchmates are well-disciplined military-types, preparations go smoothly and swiftly. Roles are farmed out right away, floor plans go up on whiteboards immediately, and - for reasons I still don't fully understand - everyone's digital picture gets taken. In case you're wondering, I'm playing the host country's Foreign Minister (naturally).
Day Three
Outbreaks and Pandemics. Sh*t. I mean...holy sh*t. We're all gonna die. Horribly. Well, no, not really, but the LLDDL and I just finished season 5 of "24" on DVD, and all the classroom talk of lesions, casualty counts and "aerosolizing" viruses left me rocking my seat, sucking my thumb, and waiting for Jack to slap me silly while shouting "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" On the other hand, we were also lectured on a Bird-flu tracking experiment called "The Minnesota Trojan Chicken Study" which, I'm sure Dave Barry would agree, would make a great name for a rock band.
Day Four
Assistance to Nationals, the bread and butter of the foreign service. Our unified coordination of services across many government agencies is called "The One Country Team Approach", which could only be more kick-ass sounding if it were called "The United Forces of Diplomacy". Whenever we're lectured on this, I always get images running through my head of an Ambassador rallying his staff, like a coach at halftime. "C'mon Country Team! Kayang-kaya kung sama sama! There is no 'I' in 'DFA'! "
Day Five
Service Sector Success Stories. We discuss, among others, the booming BPO industry (hell yeah), the booming spa and wellness industry (testify, LLDDL, testify!), and the booming animation industry (Cooooo-braaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Man, just saying that's got me pumped for the last week of PDOS!
Peeeeeeeeeee-dossssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!
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