One of the cool things about being a Management Officer here in Johannesburg is that we get a lot of visitors. We are also a training hub for the Department of State, so we're very busy usually. Last week, as some of you may know, Consulate General Johannesburg had the opportunity to host the Africa Bureau's Management Officers Workshop. That meant that every Management officer from every Embassy in Africa (minus the Arabic ones up north, different bureau) came to Johannesburg. Even some USAID people came too. Talk about pressure. I mean, you screw up and everyone is thinking: "Well that's not the way I would have done it at my post. How did he end up here while I'm in Bujumbura?" To add a little more to the mix, most of the high ranking Management officers from the Department were here too. Nothing like a little pressure to help my sleep habits. (Or lack of, as I kept waking up every 3 hours due to hyperactivity.)
Well, I was a walking ball of anxiety the entire week. My boss kept saying that it would be ok, and that any workshop is a success when all participants leave upright and above room temperature. I agreed, but secretly I was afraid I'd screw this up somehow. I mean, I'm the guy that lost an Ambassador in the halls at Main State! And with every Management officer in town, the microscope I was under was large enough to be seen in DC. Also, the highest ranking Management Officer in the Department was coming. Now imagine you're working at a plant for a decent sized Multi-national. Now imagine during a training session, the COO comes in. He knows you, calls you by name, and talks about how excited he is to see what you've got planned for him. Yeah, that was exactly what happened with me. The guy that everyone in the Department knows, who can recall minor details about a post from memory, and can discuss, without notes, Afghanistan reconstruction, knew my name and where we'd met. Sweat? Meet flop. Add in that I still had work to do via blackberry back at the Consulate, and I was stretched.
The workshop went off better than I expected. With the exception of the teleconference with DC not working (and no one blamed us for that because, come on, it's Africa) we got rave reviews. My staff is awesome, and deserve all of the praise. Me? I was just happy not to have choked on my own tongue. As I sat there in the ballroom of the hotel after the workshop, and people kept coming to me and telling me how well everything went, and how good the Consulate looked when they came to visit, I couldn't help but be proud of myself. It's nice to get a few plaudits now and then, right? At least I can feel good about myself for a bit while I get around to answering the 1075 emails waiting on me in my inbox.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Return of Joburgers
A very strange phenomenon occurs in South Africa around December 15. Everyone in Johannesburg and Pretoria disappear. You can cross the street without fear of being run over by a ridiculously overloaded bus, or drive and not be run off the road by a ridiculously expensive Ferrari. Actually, except for the extreme thunderstorms that hit every afternoon and sound as if Odin himself is bowling, it's quite pleasant. There are seats in the mall, the air is a bit cleaner, and Jozi, as the people here call Johannesburg, is a lovely place. A trip to Soweto, which usually takes at least an hour in traffice, only took me 30 minutes a few days after Christmas.
There are some trade-offs on this of course. We called into an Indian restaurant that was getting rave reviews and found they were closed for two weeks. This isn't something new for us, though. Recall that we lived in Luxembourg for three years, and in August there isn't ANYTHING you can do there. When we arrived in Luxembourg in 2006, we couldn't even go to the little restaurant down the street because it was closed for the month. (We never did eat there.) Another trade off is that the tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, builders) also take off a month. So any work needed to be done should be finished by the beginning of December, or else you're SOL until Mid-January.
This is something that is a problem that I have to deal with as the Management Officer. If there is something that breaks during the month of December or the first part of January, I either have to do without or I pay an exhorbitant amount of money to get it done. And since I'm still trying to manage the expectations of my fellow officers here at post, usually it means paying the money.
Well, yesterday was the return of the Joburgers. My two children started school again, and the roads were full of crazy. Trying to cross the street to get to the bank and pay a bill I had a Masserati aim at and barely miss me. Oh, and to make life even better, the national energy group, ESKOM, announced they didn't have enough energy for everyone, and load shedding would be in effect for pretty much the rest of the year. (It's January.) Add in the crazy thunderstorms and I'd say everything is headed back to normal.
While it was nice to have some time to ourselves, it wouldn't be Joburg without all of the commotion. Crazy Little Man starts soccer again on Saturday, and I have a huge workshop we're hosting next week so I'll be very busy. Lovely Little Girl is swimming like a fish, and Lovely English Lass is getting ready for her parents to visit. I don't think we'd be able to function if it wasn't so crazy. However, I know I'd like to give it a try once in a while.
There are some trade-offs on this of course. We called into an Indian restaurant that was getting rave reviews and found they were closed for two weeks. This isn't something new for us, though. Recall that we lived in Luxembourg for three years, and in August there isn't ANYTHING you can do there. When we arrived in Luxembourg in 2006, we couldn't even go to the little restaurant down the street because it was closed for the month. (We never did eat there.) Another trade off is that the tradesmen (plumbers, electricians, builders) also take off a month. So any work needed to be done should be finished by the beginning of December, or else you're SOL until Mid-January.
This is something that is a problem that I have to deal with as the Management Officer. If there is something that breaks during the month of December or the first part of January, I either have to do without or I pay an exhorbitant amount of money to get it done. And since I'm still trying to manage the expectations of my fellow officers here at post, usually it means paying the money.
Well, yesterday was the return of the Joburgers. My two children started school again, and the roads were full of crazy. Trying to cross the street to get to the bank and pay a bill I had a Masserati aim at and barely miss me. Oh, and to make life even better, the national energy group, ESKOM, announced they didn't have enough energy for everyone, and load shedding would be in effect for pretty much the rest of the year. (It's January.) Add in the crazy thunderstorms and I'd say everything is headed back to normal.
While it was nice to have some time to ourselves, it wouldn't be Joburg without all of the commotion. Crazy Little Man starts soccer again on Saturday, and I have a huge workshop we're hosting next week so I'll be very busy. Lovely Little Girl is swimming like a fish, and Lovely English Lass is getting ready for her parents to visit. I don't think we'd be able to function if it wasn't so crazy. However, I know I'd like to give it a try once in a while.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Strange Days indeed
This morning, I woke with an American Girl doll under my arm, and my daughter standing next to the bed smiling at me and trying to wake me. Probably one of the more interesting sights I've awakened to in the past 5 years.
I should explain...
Lovely Little Girl doesn't sleep the entire night in her bed. She has anxiety issues and for some reason feels better sleeping in Mummy and Daddy's bed. Sadly, I was too cheap to spring for the California King bed, and our Queen size bed isn't exactly big enough for Lovely English Lass, Lovely Little Girl and myself. So, I end up going and sleeping in her and Crazy Little Man's room. The only problem with her not sleeping totally in her own bed is that she wakes up at 430-500 all the time. Lovely Little Girl is very peppy in the morning, running around and talking loudly. Lovely English Lass isn't. You see the problem. Thus, there are times when Lovely Little Girl is sent out of the room, which means she comes back to her room and wakes up whomever is asleep at the time. This morning she decided that Daddy apparently looked lonely asleep, and put Kelly doll next to him to keep him company. Sweet, but I would have preferred an extra hour of sleep to be honest.
This is how I began my day. I woke, made coffee, and tried to feed the children, which can be an adventure in and of itself. Crazy Little Man wanted croissant and Lovely Little Girl wanted toast. This lead to a shouting match over whether LLG wanted butter or jam on her toast. I contemplated throwing the leftover steak from last night on the table, giving them wiffle ball bats and letting them fight it out for breakfast. But, knowing that if I did this my mother would sit bolt upright in bed in Florida and immediately call me on Skype to tell me I was being a horrible role model, I decided to just roll with it. After making coffee, and tea for LEL, and having my own breakfast, I got ready to go to work.
While walking to work in 80 degree heat in January, which still feels strange, listening to Bell Biv Devoe, I realize this is going to be a big year, but a strange one too. I've got a major conference coming up that we're hosting which will have several very high ranked State Department officials in attendance. We've got some rumored events coming up that are going to be big. The ANC is celebrating its 100th anniversary, so there will be some HUGE parties going on here. The Presidential elections will be wild, and we go to England in September for the first time in 3 years. We're trying to get LLG into a good school. These are the strange days. If you'd have asked me in 1990, when Bell Biv Devoe's album came out, what I'd be doing in 2012, I can guarantee you that living in South Africa, being the Management Officer at the Consulate in Johannesburg and waking up with an American Girl doll under my arm would have been last. But I wouldn't have it any other way. (Except maybe my daughter sleeping all night in her bed.)
I should explain...
Lovely Little Girl doesn't sleep the entire night in her bed. She has anxiety issues and for some reason feels better sleeping in Mummy and Daddy's bed. Sadly, I was too cheap to spring for the California King bed, and our Queen size bed isn't exactly big enough for Lovely English Lass, Lovely Little Girl and myself. So, I end up going and sleeping in her and Crazy Little Man's room. The only problem with her not sleeping totally in her own bed is that she wakes up at 430-500 all the time. Lovely Little Girl is very peppy in the morning, running around and talking loudly. Lovely English Lass isn't. You see the problem. Thus, there are times when Lovely Little Girl is sent out of the room, which means she comes back to her room and wakes up whomever is asleep at the time. This morning she decided that Daddy apparently looked lonely asleep, and put Kelly doll next to him to keep him company. Sweet, but I would have preferred an extra hour of sleep to be honest.
This is how I began my day. I woke, made coffee, and tried to feed the children, which can be an adventure in and of itself. Crazy Little Man wanted croissant and Lovely Little Girl wanted toast. This lead to a shouting match over whether LLG wanted butter or jam on her toast. I contemplated throwing the leftover steak from last night on the table, giving them wiffle ball bats and letting them fight it out for breakfast. But, knowing that if I did this my mother would sit bolt upright in bed in Florida and immediately call me on Skype to tell me I was being a horrible role model, I decided to just roll with it. After making coffee, and tea for LEL, and having my own breakfast, I got ready to go to work.
While walking to work in 80 degree heat in January, which still feels strange, listening to Bell Biv Devoe, I realize this is going to be a big year, but a strange one too. I've got a major conference coming up that we're hosting which will have several very high ranked State Department officials in attendance. We've got some rumored events coming up that are going to be big. The ANC is celebrating its 100th anniversary, so there will be some HUGE parties going on here. The Presidential elections will be wild, and we go to England in September for the first time in 3 years. We're trying to get LLG into a good school. These are the strange days. If you'd have asked me in 1990, when Bell Biv Devoe's album came out, what I'd be doing in 2012, I can guarantee you that living in South Africa, being the Management Officer at the Consulate in Johannesburg and waking up with an American Girl doll under my arm would have been last. But I wouldn't have it any other way. (Except maybe my daughter sleeping all night in her bed.)
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