It’s (almost) that time again

Is it really? Is it really (almost) that time, already?

We’ve only been here (almost) six months, but yes it is. We’re on our second assignment, so it’s only two years long. Which means that this summer we’ll be planning our lives around our next move.

It’s time to research posts, because this summer…it’s bidding time.

This will be a new experience for us. John will be bidding on a mid-level assignment. In consular, it’s management. Depending on the size of the Post we go to it could be Visa (or American Citizen Services) Chief. It could also be deputy chief.

John’s been looking at the available jobs for a little while. There’s a position open in Santiago, Chile. There’s one open in Kyiv, Ukraine (which is where some good friends of our are going next). There’s a position in Ho Chi Minh, Vietman. There are a bunch more Asian posts that he’s interested in.

So we’re asking ourselves questions like…do we want to do a long language training in the U.S. (yes)? Do we want to speak Spanish again (yes)? Would we want to do an Unaccompanied Tour and be separated for a year (no, not really)?

After we think about those things, we have to consider what posts are available for Malachi’s class 2 clearance (for occasional Epilepsy). Which posts are good for me working (because that’s my requirement). Which posts have good schools. Where we can afford to have house help.

There are so many things to consider.

But for now, it’s down to research. We have to figure out what jobs are available in places where Malachi can go, and research the heck out of them. Once our above questions are answered we can have a good idea of what jobs to bid for. Then the real nail biting and unfortunate amount of waiting begins.