I guess it's time for an update.
Mar. 4th, 2010 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gelbes_gilatierFor example on the job front. And maybe a bit on the health front as well. Also, includes lots of Berlin pictures again because I just can't help gushing about it.
So... yesterday I finally had the interview at the State Department. Which was more like... a series of interviews, a group discussion and a group task. In Germany we call that assessement centers (in exactly those words... yes, we're very fond of English...). How do you call that? Anyway, first thing was that I was shocked that the group was so small (the only other thing like that was eight years back when I applied for the Bundeswehr and that took three days and there were about a hundred people in the beginning) - only eight people. I'd really thought we'd be more.
Second thing was that the board of examiners consisted of about a hundred people... no, okay, I'm just kidding... in reality there were like ten or eleven people... which were still shockingly many. Four or five from Human Ressources, three who belonged to the Academy (the place where the Chosen Ones are going to study is called Akademie Auswärtiger Dienst - something like Academy for the Foreign Service), a psychologist and the rest were people who worked in other departments of the State Department. They asked a lot of "Imagine"-questions (i.e. "Imagine you get a transfer to Ramallah [at which point I feverishly wondered where exactly that was... kinda embarrassing for someone aspiring to go into Foreign Service, I know] and your significant other doesn't want to accompany you because he finds it to dangerous. How would you react?" and stuff that could happen in the everyday working routine), questions or in which departments I'd like to serve (at which I answered quick like a shot "Crisis management group!"...) and in which countries (I explained to them that of course North America and Australia are very high on the wishlist and also Near East because I like challenges... and that Europe was very high on the list of countries that aren't exactly dream destination #1... come one, I am European and I've been to most European countries various times now...) and some other stuff, like where I see myself in 15 years and all that.
Another thing was a presentation of five minutes about a topic we could chose from a list of four and had 30 minutes to prepare for (without any research ressources, of course). I think mine went well although I took a little more than five minutes but they said that we could use one more minute. So I guess I just shouldn't dwell on it anymore.
There was also a group discussion with three of the other testees which went okay, most of all considering the fact that it was a topic ("Should the German state do more for the integration of immigrants?") we usually would have easily agreed on ("YES OF COURSE!") but were forced to take different stances to in the beginning (the two guys were supposed to be pro, us two girls were supposed to be contra). The last thing was a group task ("Organize a preparation seminar for young people who want to pass a year with a development aid organisation in an African country."), again in a group of four which went pretty well because the group was really cool and I had the feeling we really worked well together.
They'll tell us who passed and who didn't by the end of April (meeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!) and I really have no idea about the outcome so you'll also have to wait for that ;) I'll tell you, though, of course!
The first biggest pet peeve were that I had to get up an 0500 to get to the Academy campus (seriously, usually I'm not even fully human before 1000... and when I have to get up before that, you better not talk to me until I had a shower... or, no... just don't talk to me until 1000, period) because this city is apparently insanely big. Took me 1 1/2 hours from where I live to the campus (which, by the way, is a very beautiful campus, right next to one of the many lakes Berlin has) which used to be the distance between TTW and another of the towns in that federal state... the one - very important - difference is that back in TTW trains to other cities went every hour whereas public transport in Berlin (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Tram and bus) has a 5 to 10 minutes interval most of the day. Also, it takes about half an hour from the campus to the city (i.e. Bahnhof Friedrichstraße) which is a lot less than I feared when I saw it on the map. So yes.. I could imagine living and studying there.
Second was that I went with my sister to a bar on Simon-Dach-Straße in the evening which unfortunately ended with me having just another migraine. You know, it's not like it's the third this year already and I'm starting to get fed up with and all that... ARGH! Seriously, I thought we were beyond my head acting wonky when I least need it. I'm tempted to ask my GP here to refer me to a migraine specialist because I'm starting to become really fed up with the migraines. At least it was a fairly light attack, already over when my sister and I changed Tram trains on the way back home. I just hope the two week/three week intervals won't become the norm :P
Also, on the rest health front: Remember the little accident at fencing last week? Went to the GP on Monday and thankfully she told me it wasn't a ruptured muscle fibre but just a bruise. Apparently, there are kinds of bruises you can't see but feel and she said that was such a thing. It's also gotten a lot better since it happened so I'm confident I can go back to sports next week.
Oh, oh, oh, AND I'm an idiot because with all the State Department commotion yesterday I totally forgot that it was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asugar's birthday yesterday. Shame on me :( Happy Birthday, dear! And I just know you'll graduate this year and you'll graduate with the best result possible! You can do it!
So... yesterday I finally had the interview at the State Department. Which was more like... a series of interviews, a group discussion and a group task. In Germany we call that assessement centers (in exactly those words... yes, we're very fond of English...). How do you call that? Anyway, first thing was that I was shocked that the group was so small (the only other thing like that was eight years back when I applied for the Bundeswehr and that took three days and there were about a hundred people in the beginning) - only eight people. I'd really thought we'd be more.
Second thing was that the board of examiners consisted of about a hundred people... no, okay, I'm just kidding... in reality there were like ten or eleven people... which were still shockingly many. Four or five from Human Ressources, three who belonged to the Academy (the place where the Chosen Ones are going to study is called Akademie Auswärtiger Dienst - something like Academy for the Foreign Service), a psychologist and the rest were people who worked in other departments of the State Department. They asked a lot of "Imagine"-questions (i.e. "Imagine you get a transfer to Ramallah [at which point I feverishly wondered where exactly that was... kinda embarrassing for someone aspiring to go into Foreign Service, I know] and your significant other doesn't want to accompany you because he finds it to dangerous. How would you react?" and stuff that could happen in the everyday working routine), questions or in which departments I'd like to serve (at which I answered quick like a shot "Crisis management group!"...) and in which countries (I explained to them that of course North America and Australia are very high on the wishlist and also Near East because I like challenges... and that Europe was very high on the list of countries that aren't exactly dream destination #1... come one, I am European and I've been to most European countries various times now...) and some other stuff, like where I see myself in 15 years and all that.
Another thing was a presentation of five minutes about a topic we could chose from a list of four and had 30 minutes to prepare for (without any research ressources, of course). I think mine went well although I took a little more than five minutes but they said that we could use one more minute. So I guess I just shouldn't dwell on it anymore.
There was also a group discussion with three of the other testees which went okay, most of all considering the fact that it was a topic ("Should the German state do more for the integration of immigrants?") we usually would have easily agreed on ("YES OF COURSE!") but were forced to take different stances to in the beginning (the two guys were supposed to be pro, us two girls were supposed to be contra). The last thing was a group task ("Organize a preparation seminar for young people who want to pass a year with a development aid organisation in an African country."), again in a group of four which went pretty well because the group was really cool and I had the feeling we really worked well together.
They'll tell us who passed and who didn't by the end of April (meeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!) and I really have no idea about the outcome so you'll also have to wait for that ;) I'll tell you, though, of course!
The first biggest pet peeve were that I had to get up an 0500 to get to the Academy campus (seriously, usually I'm not even fully human before 1000... and when I have to get up before that, you better not talk to me until I had a shower... or, no... just don't talk to me until 1000, period) because this city is apparently insanely big. Took me 1 1/2 hours from where I live to the campus (which, by the way, is a very beautiful campus, right next to one of the many lakes Berlin has) which used to be the distance between TTW and another of the towns in that federal state... the one - very important - difference is that back in TTW trains to other cities went every hour whereas public transport in Berlin (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Tram and bus) has a 5 to 10 minutes interval most of the day. Also, it takes about half an hour from the campus to the city (i.e. Bahnhof Friedrichstraße) which is a lot less than I feared when I saw it on the map. So yes.. I could imagine living and studying there.
Second was that I went with my sister to a bar on Simon-Dach-Straße in the evening which unfortunately ended with me having just another migraine. You know, it's not like it's the third this year already and I'm starting to get fed up with and all that... ARGH! Seriously, I thought we were beyond my head acting wonky when I least need it. I'm tempted to ask my GP here to refer me to a migraine specialist because I'm starting to become really fed up with the migraines. At least it was a fairly light attack, already over when my sister and I changed Tram trains on the way back home. I just hope the two week/three week intervals won't become the norm :P
Also, on the rest health front: Remember the little accident at fencing last week? Went to the GP on Monday and thankfully she told me it wasn't a ruptured muscle fibre but just a bruise. Apparently, there are kinds of bruises you can't see but feel and she said that was such a thing. It's also gotten a lot better since it happened so I'm confident I can go back to sports next week.
Oh, oh, oh, AND I'm an idiot because with all the State Department commotion yesterday I totally forgot that it was
asugar's birthday yesterday. Shame on me :( Happy Birthday, dear! And I just know you'll graduate this year and you'll graduate with the best result possible! You can do it!
