Two Crabs

Greetings from St. Johann Tirol, Austria

St. Johann in Tirol, Austria, originally uploaded by TwoCrabs.

Over the next few days, I'm redesigning the look and mission of our blog. Because we're moving from London back to the United States, this web site will no longer serve as a clearinghouse for Americans in London.

The primary goal of this blog will now be to 1) keep our friends & family updated on our current life and whereabouts; 2) provide an inside view of life in the US Foreign Service and 3) provide information for those interested in pursuing a career with the US Foreign Service.

More details TK! (journalism-speak for 'to come')

Homeward Bound

After five years in London, I'll be back home in the good ol' U. S. of A. in less than 12 days!  We've had a busy past few weeks packing and preparing for our international move. Mrs. Crab has taken the lead on the pack-out, creating detailed inventories of everything we own that's going on our move. Our first step was to decide what we are and are not keeping. We decided to sell almost all our furniture, since most of it was just cheap Ikea stuff. We also decided to sell all our electronics since they won't work in the US. We held a yard sale last Saturday and are happy to report that we sold almost everything! There was a line out the door when our yard sale began!

The government packout involves separating our remaining belongings into three categories: UAB, HHE and check-in/carry-on.  UAB, or Unaccompanied Air Baggage, is 250 pounds of stuff that will be flown directly to our new apartment in the Washington DC area.  HHE is HouseHold Effects; we are allotted 18,000 pounds of such stuff including kitchenware, books, linens, extra clothes, photos, framed pictures, furniture, etc. This stuff will be sent to storage and we won't see it again for up to a year when we arrive at our first overseas post. The final category is check-in; as the name implies, it's stuff that we are carrying on the airplane as either check-in or carry-on luggage.  Mrs. Crab has done a fantastic job separating everything into different rooms. On Tuesday, a representative of the moving company came over to conduct the pack-out survey and he was impressed at our preparations.

Next Wednesday is our "pack-out", when all the UAB and HHE stuff will be packed and shipped out. After that, we'll be living out of our suitcases!

In the meantime, I've been also busy filling out tons of government forms, plus dealing with the usual moving tasks like canceling our utilities, saying goodbye to friends and doing some last-minute London sightseeing!

More to come! 

-30-

 After 18 years as a journalist, my career has officially come to an end. Last night I completed and filed my final writing assignment. It's a bittersweet ending to my career. It's had its ups and downs, but for the most part I've certainly enjoyed my life as a newspaperman. I began my career as an editorial assistant at a local hometown newspaper..the paper folded (bankrupt) just 3 months after I was hired!  That should have been an omen because as we all know now, the entire media industry has been in a downward spiral for years. But later I got an internship and full-time job at The Washington Times, then USA Weekend and finally USA TODAY, where I worked in a variety of roles including entertainment reporter (read: celebrity gossip), London correspondent and  war correspondent in Iraq & Afghanistan. Then later as a self-employed freelance writer, I got to globe-trek as a travel writer for Lonely Planet. It's been a fun, whirl-wind adventure. But, it's time to move on. Until the next chapter...

Top 10 things you didn't know about my journalism career

1. I once took a leak next to Paul McCartney in London's High Court.

2. I survived a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in 2005. I've been to Iraq nine times; eight of those trips were for USA TODAY and one was on assignment for Lonely Planet.

3. Art Garfunkel's wife kissed me in the Kennedy Center.

4. Pamela Anderson and Busta Rhymes were the most surprisingly intelligent and interesting celebrities I've interviewed.

5. I interviewed Julie Christie in an East London pub. She had a salad and tea and I had a pint of beer. She rode to the interview in a rusty old bicycle. 

6. I once got lost in the back woods of Iowa with Sen. John Kerry's daughters.

7. Despite my Army background, I was embedded with the Navy during the start of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. I have more aircraft carrier 'cats & traps" (catapult landings & launches) that most career sailors on such carriers as the USS Enterprise and USS Roosevelt.

8. As a young Army military journalist stationed in Bosnia, I met my future boss, then First Lady Hillary Clinton. Whilst in Bosnia I also sat on Alex Trebek's lap, met Sheryl Crow and Sinbad and hosted an AOL chat live from the field with The Gin Blossoms. I kept a blog while stationed in Bosnia that some folks claim is the first "milblog" (military blog) on the Internet.

9. Kevin Bacon hand-wrote me a letter to complain about an article I wrote about him. Kevin misspelled "wasted." I framed the letter.

10. I have shaken the hand of every US President since Ronald Reagan, though I have not yet met President Obama.

-30-

Londoners: Ready for some football?

 Oi!  Here's my annual roundup of known London bars & restaurants that will be showing Super Bowl XLIV this Sunday, 7 February 2010.

Watch the game from the comfort of your flat, as BBC 1 and Sky Sports 1 will both air the Super Bowl live on Sunday night. Coverage begins at 11pm GMT. For more information visit NFLUK.com. Unfortunately, neither network will air the famous/infamous US commercials.

If you want to watch the commercials from overseas, there are a few, questionably-legal websites that carry live streams of the Super Bowl, like here.

Super Bowl Parties in London. Where to Watch the Super Bowl in London.

--The London American Expat Meetup Group (the largest American social club in London) is hosting its 7th annual London Super Bowl party at Zoo Bar, 13-17 Bear Street, Leicester Square, WC2H 7AS, London. This is by far the biggest party in town, with live cheerleaders! Admission £10. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.   (NOTE: This is a change of venue)

--The Sports Cafe in Soho will hold its annual Super Bowl party. And unlike British telecasts of the game, Sports Cafe will be airing a US feed, so you'll even be able to watch the famous (infamous) commercials! Prizes for best "fancy dress" (costumes).

--Planet Hollywood in Haymarket Super bowl Party will host a Super Bowl Party from 10:30pm-5am. Coverage of the game on 15 screens includes cheerleaders performing at half time with a live DJ and Planet Hollywood set menu including the classic PH burger, BBQ Pork Ribs and traditional cheesecake (???) for dessert. Tickets: Bar entry includes a free glass of house wine, bottle of house beer or soft drink: £5.00; Restaurant entry includes a 3 course meal and a drink: £25. For tickets and bookings please call Caroline or Phil in the Planet Hollywood sales department on 020 7287 1000.

--All five London locations of Bodeans BBQ will be screening the Super Bowl. £25 includes late-night nosh with Bodean's famous BBQ ribs, pulled pork, etc.

--The Chicago Rib Shack's party begins at 10pm. Admission £10 gets you a table and one Budweiser. Junk food menu includes hot dogs, ribs, fries & popcorn.

--The Social on Little Portland Street, featuring "fit cheerleaders", live DJ spinning American tunes, drink specials and of course the game. Admission £5.

The Underdog Bar in Clapham at #8-10 Northcote Road will be showing the Super Bowl on 7th Feb live and in HD.

Get all the news and highlights on NFLUK.com.

More TK...

Signed on the dotted line

Last Friday, I received my official "Agreement to Join the Foreign Service." More commonly known as "the salary offer", this letter is a formal extension of a job offer from Uncle Sam to the FS candidate. The letter outlines the salary being offered, plus the FS grade/step that is used in determining how much scratch you'll earn.  I'm pleased to report that I signed and returned the agreement tonight. I'm cracking open a bottle of red wine and celebrating, because only now has it really hit me that this is really happening! Holy toledo, batman!  I made it! 

Mr. and Mrs. Crab are now in full pack-out mode. Since I'm still busy wrapping up my current job, Mrs. Crab has really taken the lead on this task. She's been separating everything in our flat and placing it into categories: stuff that is going into government storage (HHE: HouseHold Effects), stuff to be shipped to our temporary DC apartment during training (UAB: Unaccompanied Air Baggage), stuff to be carried onto the plane in our checked luggage (AB: Accompanied Baggage) and stuff we are selling.  

We are selling practically everything we own in London including furniture, electronics, household goods and other stuff. And anything we can't sell we are giving away to our local charity shops. I've already sold two pieces of furniture on Gumtree.com (which is about 100 times better than CraigsList).  On top of that, there's tons of other errands to run, bank accounts to close, utilities to disconnect, flight arrangements to be made, going-away party to arrange, etc. 

I'm excited, but simultaneously a bit sad about leaving London. This has been our home for five years. And now, on to the next chapter of our lives!

US diplomat in Haiti describes destruction

 Gary Rex, a Foreign Service political officer stationed in Haiti, writes this deeply personal and moving account about surviving the earthquake and the aftermath. 

"We're experiencing the most terrible disaster movie you can imagine, with sights, sounds and smells beyond description or comprehension, especially during the night of the quake.

I had to climb over and through a mile of debris and stalled cars to get home, through masses of wounded, screaming, crying and bewildered people. The destruction and suffering is immense and beyond description."

His first person account appears in the Lincoln, Nebraska's Journal Star.

Click here to read the full story:

http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/article_b143007c-07b5-11df-80a8-001cc4c03286.html

Foxy Babe!

Foxy Friend in London, originally uploaded by TwoCrabs.

You wouldn't think that that urban London would be a place for wildlife spotting, but the city is teeming with animals like red fox. This little fellow (or fella) visits our back garden in Angel-Islington quite frequently. Many people consider fox to be pests because they are everywhere, and exhibit scavenger behavior like rummaging through rubbish bins, using gardens as litter boxes, etc. On Wednesday our foxy friend slept curled up all day on our garden lounge chair! I'll miss him!

With a little help from my friends

US Embassy in Baghdad Looking For Facebook Friends

By CHELSEA J. CARTER,

Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jan 21, 2:59 pm ET

BAGHDAD – The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is looking for Iraqi friends on Facebook.

The embassy launched the page Thursday with the aim of reaching out to Iraqis who want to learn more about American culture and society, the latest step by the State Department to boost interest in Iraq's burgeoning online culture and promote Web entrepreneurship.

The State Department has organized a number of high-profile visits to Iraq in recent months by top executives from Google, Twitter, AT&T and others. Recently, the embassy assisted in setting up a YouTube channel for the Iraqi government.

The Facebook page launch came the same day U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a speech about Internet freedom and its place in U.S. foreign policy. The embassy rolled out the page after a two-month test run on Facebook, said Philip Frayne, an embassy spokesman in Baghdad.

"We didn't get 2 million fans," he said. "The natural audience for embassy Facebook pages is not enormous."

But by late Thursday, the page had more than 800 fans — nearly matching the number of Facebook fans of the U.S. Embassy in London.

More than 170 U.S. diplomatic missions around the world have Facebook pages, according to the State Department.

Full story here.

The long & winding road

 After more than two years of testing, retesting, waiting, hair-pulling and pacing, today I received my official invitation to A-100: the Foreign Service Orientation Course!!

I honestly thought this day would never come. It still hasn't quite hit me. I've been dreaming about this day for so long that now I don't even have words or emotions left to express myself!  

A quick recap of my very long timeline:

Dec 07 - Foreign Service Officers Test (FSOT) at US Embassy London. Passed.

June 08 - Foreign Service Oral Assessment (FSOA) in Chicago. Failed. 

Nov 08 - FSOT #2 at US Embassy London. Passed.

April 09 - FSOA #2 in Washington DC. Passed!!

May 09 - Medical clearance granted

Oct 09 - Security clearance granted

Nov 09 - Final Suitability granted

Jan. 20, 2010: Received and accepted an invitation to A-100! 

So what's next? I'm still working out the logistics, but it looks like I will be moving back home to DC in March.

The next chapter of our life is about to begin! 

Killing for Jesus

I've seen some crazy stories in recent weeks, but this takes the cake. If I hadn't read this article myself, I would have thought somebody was pulling my leg. According to an Associated Press story published Jan. 19, US defense contractor Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., has been secretly inscribing references to Bible verses on night-vision gun sights used by US AND Iraqi troops. 

Markings on the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, which is standard issue to U.S. special operations forces, include "JN8:12," a reference to John 8:12: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

The Trijicon Reflex sight is stamped with 2COR4:6, a reference to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

This is so wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. For starters, Trijicon is a US defense contractor, which means they receive funding from US tax dollars. Talk about a violation of Church & State.  Second, these tools are used by soldiers of all faiths, including Jews, Muslims, and even Atheists. And third, these pieces of equipment are used for KILLING!  Soldiers use these scopes so they can spot a human target, night or day, and take them down. Read the Bible verses above closely. WWJD? I don't think He would be very happy about his words being used on killing machines. Have we really reverted back to that old saying: "Kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out?"

But most importantly, this fiasco just reinforces the beliefs/stereotypes among many in the Arab World that Americans are Christian crusaders bent on destroying Islam. I'm sure many Americans will see nothing wrong with these 'Jesus Guns', but I'm wondering how they would felt if the situation was reversed and the weapons contained references to Koran verses.

Now before you go accusing me of being a bleeding-heart liberal, let me preface by saying I am a US Army veteran. I am not anti-war or anti-guns, and there are certainly bad guys out there who need to be taken out permanently. But this is just un-fracking-believable. Bible references do NOT belong on government equipment.

Click here to read the full AP story

And here's the story from ABC News

US diplomat killed in Haiti

From the Pasadena Star News

  AZUSA - The first American reported killed by the earthquake in Haiti was a foreign service officer from Temple City who was crushed when her home collapsed.

Victoria J. DeLong, 57, died Tuesday, said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. DeLong, a 27-year diplomat and native of Temple City, was a cultural affairs officer and had been stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince since February.

Family members on Friday released a brief statement.

"Victoria cared deeply for her family and friends. She was a wonderful sister, friend, and humanitarian; she was cheerful and full of life in all her endeavors and accomplishments," the statement said.

"Victoria was a dedicated professional who spent her career serving others through her work at the State Department and her volunteer work. She was touched by a particular orphanage in Haiti and told us how they are able to do so much, for so many, with so little."

The State Department raised the confirmed U.S. death toll from Tuesday's earthquake to six.

Obituary from the US State Department's official Dipnote blog: 

Victoria DeLong, our Cultural Affairs Officer stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, died inside her home when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit on Tuesday. DeLong had served in Haiti, one of the most challenging environments in the world, since February 2009. She was highly regarded, not only by the Department of State, but also by the many youth exchange participants, scholars, professionals, journalists, community leaders, and ordinary people she befriended throughout the world. The Department of State salutes her dedication, compassion, courage, and successes in promoting educational and cultural exchange between the people of Haiti and the people of the United States.

Since 1983, Victoria DeLong served her country in diplomatic posts around the world, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Germany. She had a genuine enthusiasm for her work and was loved by all her colleagues. Her commitment and devotion to our mission at the Department of State will not be forgotten. Her memory will live on through her work and through the numerous lives that she has touched.

We have received an outpouring of support as people extend their condolences and express their appreciation of Victoria DeLong since the announcement of her death on the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince’s Facebook page. 

Update: The Washington Post had a nice obituary on Saturday.

See also Sec. Clinton's  statement

Letters from London

Happy New Year!  After two months and five days of traveling in Costa Rica, NYC, Baltimore and Washington DC, I'm finally back in London. We spent Christmas and New Years in Baltimore...our first Xmas in America since 2005!  Hard to believe we're nearing our five-year anniversary of living in London.

On this particular trip back home, one of the things I really noticed was customer service. It's no surprise that the US has MUCH better customer service than the UK. In the US, despite perceived failings, customer service is still an art form. A tip is something to be earned. My fellow Americans just seem more friendly and eager to please. (A Brit friend of mine once remarked how jealous they were of how Americans can become your best friend just 5 minutes after meeting).  And I'm not the only one who has noticed these glaring differences. The New York Times had a great article about how Americans are perceived by Brits. In case you missed it, click here to read the column.

Meanwhile, for reasons I can't figure out, this blog received a HUGE spike in traffic on Wednesday, Jan. 6. We're talking nearly 5 times the usual traffic. I'm bewildered, as I've been pretty lazy about blogging lately. I promise to try and do better, but between Lonely Planet, the Foreign Service, pack-outs and more, I'm going to be swamped over the next few weeks!

Speaking of the FS:  I'm now #14 of 63 folks on the Consular register. Keeping my fingers crossed for a March invitation to A-100!