For the first time ever, I got to experience a U.S. Presidential Election overseas, which was a unique and fascinating experience. Particularly because of the country I currently am posted. It was also the first time I hadn’t voted in person since I first became eligible to vote in the 2003, being one of the
One of the coolest parts of my job is easily the periodic travel I get to do. Last month had me heading to Las Vegas for continuing medical education, and this month had me heading to Mandalay in Upper Myanmar to do some hospital visits. Mandalay is the former imperial capital of Myanmar, until the
Late September into Early October gave me a wonderful opportunity to visit the U.S. for work as well as take some time to see my family after being away for two months. To kick things off, I flew from Yangon to Las Vegas (via Seoul) for our annual continuing medical education conference. MED puts these
One of the most common questions I get is how long it took me to go from applying to hiring when I joined the Foreign Service. There is a headline page at the top of this blog where you can find that information, but based on the questions and page view totals, I know not
It’s election season and recently I got a very interesting question that asked if Foreign Service employees can vote. This apparently stemmed from an incorrect news report from a major U.S. news outlet that claimed State Department employees, specifically diplomats, not being allowed to vote. The answer is: yes, diplomats, State Department employees, and federal
I still get frequent questions about the Foreign Service hiring process so thought I would post an update to one of my very first posts over 3 years ago, detailing that process. This has been updated slightly, but otherwise the government moves pretty slowly, so not much has changed. There is a page here that
I’ve chatted throughout my 3+ years blogging about some of the annoying things about working in the Foreign Service, but I think at this point the most annoying aspect of the job is the never ending “will they” “won’t they” back and forth between congress passing a budget. In a perfect world, Congress should pass
By far one of the biggest surprises I had waiting for me when I arrived to Yangon was the sheer number of electric vehicles on the road. The overwhelming majority of them being of Chinese origin. Most people think of California or Norway when they imagine a place with high EV utilization, but Myanmar? Yup.
One of the best parts about my job in Yangon is I actually can walk to and from work everyday. My apartment is on a not too crowded street and is just a little over a mile walking distance from the Embassy. As you can see, Yangon is a VERY green city with lush trees
The currency in Myanmar is called the Kyat (pronounced “chat”), and it has been on a rollercoaster of inflation over the last year. Initially pegged at about 2000Kyat to the dollar, local banks are now offering an exchange rate of 6000kyat to the dollar, a 300% increase. The highest denomination note seen below is a
