I spent all last week wrestling with obtaining my visa and passport in between Christmas shopping, work, and several other committments. On Tuesday I went to Wal-Mart to get four 2x2 pictures taken for both the visa and passport. I had to leave work early on Thursday to get to the post office by 4pm. I met with the lady at the passport office and luckily I had everything in order. The application was rather confusing as there are different types of applications and some of the questions were vague. She gave it the stamp and sent it on its way. I only had to pay $30 since this is a government no-fee passport. Supposedly that $30 gets reimbursed to me at my staging event. On Friday, I read through the instructions again, I found out that I was supposed to get the forms back from her after she stamped it so I can mail it out with my visa paperwork in the special envelope that was mailed to me. Okay, so I missed that part of the directions. I called the passport office on Monday praying that she hadn't mailed it out yet, but she did (as I figured). I called Sato Travel (the Peace Corps' travel service) and asked them how bad I screwed this all up. Believe it or not, they said it really wasn't that big of a deal as long as she mailed it to the right office in Washington D.C. I guess we'll find out.
I finished up the visa application on Friday and as I was ready to mail that out, I read that I need to seal it up in an envelope before putting it in the FedEx envelope provided to me. Soooo, after work today I had to go to Target to buy a large envelope. By the time I was done, the FedEx place was closed so now I need to try this again tomorrow. I hope it's all taken care of from here on out. I will receive the visa and passport when I arrive at my staging event (orientation) most likely in Chicago or Washington D.C.
After work today I spent a couple hours putting together documents I was supposed to have emailed out last week. I needed to email a new resume detailing every job I have ever had, all training, language experience, college courses and extra-curicular activities, volunteer experience and personal hobbies. When I was done, it came out about 6 pages long. I also had to draft up an aspiration statement which outlined what I can bring to this assignment, what I want to get out of it and how I plan on adapting to the new culture and host business. These documents get sent to the representatives in Ukraine to help them figure out where to place me and to give my future host business a "heads-up" on my background. Once I emailed those out, I had to send a survey to a few reps in Ukraine which outlined my preferred learning style when I get to Ukraine for language training.
Now that I have emailed all of that out, I feel a little load off of my shoulders. The next thing I need to tackle is some beginning language lessons that are ready for me on the internet. I imagine it will be similar to an online college course with some audio clips in Ukrainian and Russian.
LET ME TAKE THIS TIME TO WISH ALL OF YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SINCE I AM NOT SENDING OUT CARDS THIS YEAR. HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND!
GO BEARS!!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The Road to Here
The following is an outline of my journey so far up to this point. I had heard the application process was pretty brutal and time-consuming and the rumors turned out to be somewhat true.
It was late July 2006 when I decided to throw my name in the hat and apply. I went to www.peacecorps.gov and ordered the application. It came in the mail the following week. The initial application was rather hefty. Along with your work/education history, resume, etc, you had to include 2 essays. The first was your mission statement of sorts and the second was describing your experiences with diversity. You also had to include 2 sets of fingerprints. I went to the police station in Elgin, IL to get that done for a reasonable $10. It took me a week, but I finally got everything together and submitted it.
About the second week of August I got a call from the Chicago office and they wanted to schedule an interview at their downtown office. I spent the night before preparing and got on the train the next morning to Union Station and from there walked to the office. The lady that interviewed me was super nice and it was not as stressful as the first time I interviewed with the Seattle office several years ago. Through talking with her, my recruiter decided that business advising and business development were the best fit based on my experience. I had not even considered that option as I was initially interested in teaching English or youth development. However, after the hour-long interview, I became excited about this new direction. Though I thought the interview went well, I was unsure if I was truly confident that I had enough experience. My recruiter told me the next step is to relay the information from our interview to Washington DC and from there it was out of her hands. At that point, I was considering a move to Montana and she assured me that I was a strong candidate and not to be too worried about it.
September 13th - I finally received my nomination in the mail and a huge weight was off my shoulders. When I opened it, it was a nomination for the NGO (non-governmental organization) advising program somewhere in Eastern Europe. I accepted the nomination and awaited the next steps. I wasn't officially in quite yet. I spent the next few weeks researching the countries in Eastern Europe that I could end up going. Those included Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Macedonia, Romania and Ukraine. After reading through others' blogs, I liked what I heard about Ukraine and I also was intrigued with Macedonia. To be honest, when I first applied, I was expecting to end up somewhere in Africa or somewhere warm and did not expect this at all. When you apply, you can request a few countries of choice. From what I hear, it is nearly unheard of to end up with an assignment in a country of your choosing. At any rate, I requested Jamaica, Fiji and the Phillipeans.
The next week, I received my medical packet which I was dreading based on what I had heard about this next phase of the interview process. At this point I was new into my job and did not have insurance yet which added to the stress level. I had heard trhough the grapevine that Peace Corps applicants are eligible to go to a VA clinic and have everythign reimbursed as opposed to just a small fraction of reimbursement through a regular clinic. I made an appointment at the VA clinic next to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
October 11th - The first day I showed up there, the lady that was in charge of taking me around was pretty cool. I remember she was a big Grateful Dead fan and was really friendly to me and rather "bitchy" to everyone else. I have never seen so many crazy freaks in one building in my life. So this first day was just spent running tests. I got a Tuberculosis shot and they drew blood for a number of tests including HIV and Hepatitus. I didn't realize there was more than one day involved so when we were done with all the bloodwork (and there was a ton of it), we had to schedule a follow-up the next week. The next day there was not quite as bad as I am not a big fan of needles. This day included a dental exam with x-rays, a complete physical and vision and allergy tests. All in all, I was a healthy lad and was out of there in about 2 hours.
Now, I figured since all of my requested exams were complete that I was done with the medical portion. The next week I moved to Montana where they do not have VA clinics. Once I got settled in Billings, I received a letter in the mail. To my dismay, this letter tells me that I need to take another type of dental x-rays and I need to provide a record of my immunizations. My parents didn't have any immunization records on file from when I was a kid and I didn't have anything to prove it so I had to start all over with them. I went to a clinic nearby and got stuck with shots for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Polio and something else. I also had to get retested for Hepatitus because they took the wrong kind of test in Chicago. I went to my dentist to get those x-rays done and to get a regular cleaning and I submitted receipts to Washington for reimbursement which I got back yesterday. They only covered about 20% of what I paid out of pocket so I currently am working on paying off my credit card bill because of this.
November 14th - I finally got medical and dental clearance along with legal background clearance; now I can just sit back and wait for the inivitation.
Novemer 15th - My invitation packet arrived. I was invited to join the 32nd group stationed in Ukraine for NGO advising. Inside was a ton of literature describing my assignment, Ukraine and what else needs to be done. As I said earler, I had 10 business days to respond and I spent all 10 to make sure I could commit to this 100%. I was skeptical about this assignment due to my experience and some of the literature I read was actually scary as it described how some volunteers are treated violently and how Ukrainians tend to dress professionally all the time. Here I thought I was leaving behind the suit and tie and now I'm right back into it. At any rate, after it sunk in and the dust had settled, I am now anxious to get the ball rolling.
It was late July 2006 when I decided to throw my name in the hat and apply. I went to www.peacecorps.gov and ordered the application. It came in the mail the following week. The initial application was rather hefty. Along with your work/education history, resume, etc, you had to include 2 essays. The first was your mission statement of sorts and the second was describing your experiences with diversity. You also had to include 2 sets of fingerprints. I went to the police station in Elgin, IL to get that done for a reasonable $10. It took me a week, but I finally got everything together and submitted it.
About the second week of August I got a call from the Chicago office and they wanted to schedule an interview at their downtown office. I spent the night before preparing and got on the train the next morning to Union Station and from there walked to the office. The lady that interviewed me was super nice and it was not as stressful as the first time I interviewed with the Seattle office several years ago. Through talking with her, my recruiter decided that business advising and business development were the best fit based on my experience. I had not even considered that option as I was initially interested in teaching English or youth development. However, after the hour-long interview, I became excited about this new direction. Though I thought the interview went well, I was unsure if I was truly confident that I had enough experience. My recruiter told me the next step is to relay the information from our interview to Washington DC and from there it was out of her hands. At that point, I was considering a move to Montana and she assured me that I was a strong candidate and not to be too worried about it.
September 13th - I finally received my nomination in the mail and a huge weight was off my shoulders. When I opened it, it was a nomination for the NGO (non-governmental organization) advising program somewhere in Eastern Europe. I accepted the nomination and awaited the next steps. I wasn't officially in quite yet. I spent the next few weeks researching the countries in Eastern Europe that I could end up going. Those included Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Macedonia, Romania and Ukraine. After reading through others' blogs, I liked what I heard about Ukraine and I also was intrigued with Macedonia. To be honest, when I first applied, I was expecting to end up somewhere in Africa or somewhere warm and did not expect this at all. When you apply, you can request a few countries of choice. From what I hear, it is nearly unheard of to end up with an assignment in a country of your choosing. At any rate, I requested Jamaica, Fiji and the Phillipeans.
The next week, I received my medical packet which I was dreading based on what I had heard about this next phase of the interview process. At this point I was new into my job and did not have insurance yet which added to the stress level. I had heard trhough the grapevine that Peace Corps applicants are eligible to go to a VA clinic and have everythign reimbursed as opposed to just a small fraction of reimbursement through a regular clinic. I made an appointment at the VA clinic next to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
October 11th - The first day I showed up there, the lady that was in charge of taking me around was pretty cool. I remember she was a big Grateful Dead fan and was really friendly to me and rather "bitchy" to everyone else. I have never seen so many crazy freaks in one building in my life. So this first day was just spent running tests. I got a Tuberculosis shot and they drew blood for a number of tests including HIV and Hepatitus. I didn't realize there was more than one day involved so when we were done with all the bloodwork (and there was a ton of it), we had to schedule a follow-up the next week. The next day there was not quite as bad as I am not a big fan of needles. This day included a dental exam with x-rays, a complete physical and vision and allergy tests. All in all, I was a healthy lad and was out of there in about 2 hours.
Now, I figured since all of my requested exams were complete that I was done with the medical portion. The next week I moved to Montana where they do not have VA clinics. Once I got settled in Billings, I received a letter in the mail. To my dismay, this letter tells me that I need to take another type of dental x-rays and I need to provide a record of my immunizations. My parents didn't have any immunization records on file from when I was a kid and I didn't have anything to prove it so I had to start all over with them. I went to a clinic nearby and got stuck with shots for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Polio and something else. I also had to get retested for Hepatitus because they took the wrong kind of test in Chicago. I went to my dentist to get those x-rays done and to get a regular cleaning and I submitted receipts to Washington for reimbursement which I got back yesterday. They only covered about 20% of what I paid out of pocket so I currently am working on paying off my credit card bill because of this.
November 14th - I finally got medical and dental clearance along with legal background clearance; now I can just sit back and wait for the inivitation.
Novemer 15th - My invitation packet arrived. I was invited to join the 32nd group stationed in Ukraine for NGO advising. Inside was a ton of literature describing my assignment, Ukraine and what else needs to be done. As I said earler, I had 10 business days to respond and I spent all 10 to make sure I could commit to this 100%. I was skeptical about this assignment due to my experience and some of the literature I read was actually scary as it described how some volunteers are treated violently and how Ukrainians tend to dress professionally all the time. Here I thought I was leaving behind the suit and tie and now I'm right back into it. At any rate, after it sunk in and the dust had settled, I am now anxious to get the ball rolling.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Here We Go
Welcome to the first official entry. This site is intended to serve 2 purposes:
1. to keep my friends and family up to date on my 2-year voyage through Europe and a means to maintain contact with them
2. to be a resource for other volunteers and those who are considering joining the Peace Corps or embarking on a similar journey
Let's start with the questions on everyone's mind and those that I've already had to answer about 50 times:
Why in the blue hell did you decide to join the Peace Corps?
Here's my response...first off, I have been bouncing around the idea of joining the Peace Corps since I graduated college in 1999. Seeing how you need a bachelor's degree to apply, I never took it seriously until that time. It wasn't until right after 9/11 (2001) that I finally caved in and decided to apply. I had gotten through most of the interview process and found myself at a crossroad. I put the Peace Corps on hold to get married to a beautiful and amazing girl. Needless to say, the marriage didn't quite work out and I found myself back to the drawing board. The problem now was that I was 31 years-old, well into a career in human resources, a home-owner amongst other things. The question became...do I continue to live this good life always wondering "what if?". At the time I was living and working for a great company in Billings, MT, but decided to seek out more opportunity and a change of scenery in Chicago. I landed a great job in HR out there, but still was not 100% fulfilled. Prior to finding that job, I spent 3 months over the summer looking for a decent job which meant much alone time to do some soul searching. I decided, you only live once and to at least apply and see what happens. When I heard that only about 40% (or some number close to that) of applicants receive an invitation to serve, I didn't even think it would become reality anyway. I began the interview process in July and got accepted just 2 weeks ago (a very long process which I'll outline in a future post). They gave me 10 business days to accept or decline and I took all 10 days to really weigh the decision before accpeting the job yesterday. At first I started to get cold feet, but now I am really excited after taking those 10 days to read others' blogs and talking to my placement officer.
So that's all great, but....WHY???
- I found myself hitting an early mid-life crisis of sorts. I started to get scared of the fact that I may end up sitting behind a desk pushing papers for the next 35 years. I did not want to end up on my death bed without at least one exciting adventure under my belt.
-I really wanted to live outside the country and experience a different culture for a year or two. I wanted to become educated on the differences this world has to offer and not be so ethnocentric toward the U.S. In the process, I think it would be fun to learn a new language.
- I wanted to make a difference or at least attempt to make the world a better place. I figured 2 years out of a person's life is really nothing to give up when you think about the possibility of changing a whole community's life or bringing happiness to another culture or just giving a helping hand to those that need it.
- I grew so accustomed to a ridiculous way of life that I needed out for a brief time. The big screen tv's, tivos, tv schedules, cell phones, nice restaurants, cars, fake people, bar-hopping, cruising for ladies, and all the insanity this country has grown to depend on started to seem so silly to me. I just needed a break!
-Does it really surprise anyone anyway? Those that know me realize I take a different approach to life. I realize that time is flying and we only get one shot at this so, personally, I want to experience all I can and meet as many interesting people as possible, I have tried several different careers, I tried the American dream of marriage, a nice house with a white picket fence and a dog, I have lived in several places, been through some amazing and ugly moments and it just comes down to...I like change! When I look back on my life as a whole, I love to remember the places I've lived and people I have met and spent time with over the years. I have experienced more in 30 years than most people experience in a lifetime and........
WHY STOP NOW???!
There are other little reasons, but these are the main ones. I'm just in a good spot in my life to do something of this calibur and the time is right.
So there ya have it. Feel free to post additional questions and I will answer them accordingly.
This is long enough. Stay tuned for the outline of what I had to go through to receive an invitation.
1. to keep my friends and family up to date on my 2-year voyage through Europe and a means to maintain contact with them
2. to be a resource for other volunteers and those who are considering joining the Peace Corps or embarking on a similar journey
Let's start with the questions on everyone's mind and those that I've already had to answer about 50 times:
Why in the blue hell did you decide to join the Peace Corps?
Here's my response...first off, I have been bouncing around the idea of joining the Peace Corps since I graduated college in 1999. Seeing how you need a bachelor's degree to apply, I never took it seriously until that time. It wasn't until right after 9/11 (2001) that I finally caved in and decided to apply. I had gotten through most of the interview process and found myself at a crossroad. I put the Peace Corps on hold to get married to a beautiful and amazing girl. Needless to say, the marriage didn't quite work out and I found myself back to the drawing board. The problem now was that I was 31 years-old, well into a career in human resources, a home-owner amongst other things. The question became...do I continue to live this good life always wondering "what if?". At the time I was living and working for a great company in Billings, MT, but decided to seek out more opportunity and a change of scenery in Chicago. I landed a great job in HR out there, but still was not 100% fulfilled. Prior to finding that job, I spent 3 months over the summer looking for a decent job which meant much alone time to do some soul searching. I decided, you only live once and to at least apply and see what happens. When I heard that only about 40% (or some number close to that) of applicants receive an invitation to serve, I didn't even think it would become reality anyway. I began the interview process in July and got accepted just 2 weeks ago (a very long process which I'll outline in a future post). They gave me 10 business days to accept or decline and I took all 10 days to really weigh the decision before accpeting the job yesterday. At first I started to get cold feet, but now I am really excited after taking those 10 days to read others' blogs and talking to my placement officer.
So that's all great, but....WHY???
- I found myself hitting an early mid-life crisis of sorts. I started to get scared of the fact that I may end up sitting behind a desk pushing papers for the next 35 years. I did not want to end up on my death bed without at least one exciting adventure under my belt.
-I really wanted to live outside the country and experience a different culture for a year or two. I wanted to become educated on the differences this world has to offer and not be so ethnocentric toward the U.S. In the process, I think it would be fun to learn a new language.
- I wanted to make a difference or at least attempt to make the world a better place. I figured 2 years out of a person's life is really nothing to give up when you think about the possibility of changing a whole community's life or bringing happiness to another culture or just giving a helping hand to those that need it.
- I grew so accustomed to a ridiculous way of life that I needed out for a brief time. The big screen tv's, tivos, tv schedules, cell phones, nice restaurants, cars, fake people, bar-hopping, cruising for ladies, and all the insanity this country has grown to depend on started to seem so silly to me. I just needed a break!
-Does it really surprise anyone anyway? Those that know me realize I take a different approach to life. I realize that time is flying and we only get one shot at this so, personally, I want to experience all I can and meet as many interesting people as possible, I have tried several different careers, I tried the American dream of marriage, a nice house with a white picket fence and a dog, I have lived in several places, been through some amazing and ugly moments and it just comes down to...I like change! When I look back on my life as a whole, I love to remember the places I've lived and people I have met and spent time with over the years. I have experienced more in 30 years than most people experience in a lifetime and........
WHY STOP NOW???!
There are other little reasons, but these are the main ones. I'm just in a good spot in my life to do something of this calibur and the time is right.
So there ya have it. Feel free to post additional questions and I will answer them accordingly.
This is long enough. Stay tuned for the outline of what I had to go through to receive an invitation.
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