How I Took My Arabic from 2 to 3

One of the requirements of our diplomatic work is being able to communicate in foreign languages. I personally see the opportunity to learn and practice new languages as one of the biggest perks of a Foreign Service job. To determine our language abilities, we're tested by examiners at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) using the Inter-Agency Language Roundtable (ILR) scoring system. The scale goes from 0 (no proficiency) to 5 (native or bilingual fluency), but the Department of State recently stopped scoring people that high and just said everyone who scores at least a 4 (full professional proficiency) will be given a special designation of Advanced Proficiency, or AP.

Most Foreign Service jobs that require a language require a 3 (professional working proficiency), though some (like the Consular job I did in Seoul) only require a 2 (limited working proficiency). Most language scores expire every five years, so we often retest even in languages where we previously achieved proficiency. Passing the language test can really help when it comes to bidding (i.e., applying for the next assignment) or help you get a pay bonus if you're serving at a post where that language is used (depending on the language - usually this is just for "critical languages" that are high priority but difficult for most English speakers to learn).

When I joined the Foreign Service in 2017, I tested in Arabic and received a score of 2/2 - the first part of the score is for speaking and the second is for reading. I remember feeling disappointed given my many years of studying Arabic in my undergraduate and graduate programs as well as countless night classes, online classes, and studying abroad in Oman, but I didn't think too much of it especially after I was assigned to Nairobi and then Seoul for my first few tours. After that, I finally made my way to working on the Middle East, where I knew I wanted to refresh my language score after it expired.

At first, I only wanted to renew my score of 2/2. However, when I tested last year I was surprised to get a 2+/3. (One thing to know about the ILR scale is that a score of "X+" is much closer to the next level than it is to X. The way someone once explained it to me is that the evaluators almost wanted to give you the next level score but you didn't maintain that level consistently enough, so they downgraded you to the level below with a plus instead.) Once I was that close, I decided to retest and recently received my 3! (Unfortunately for people like me who did well in reading, the Department of State recently decided to focus only on speaking for testing purposes so now we just have a single-number score instead of two.)

For those who are preparing for their own FSI language tests, I thought I'd condense some of the best advice and things that helped me in case it's useful for others. Here are my best tips for language test prep on your own (i.e., when you're not in full-time language training) that don't violate any non-disclosure agreements, in no particular order:

• Meticulously review the FSI language testing SharePoint page including all FAQs and sample materials. The test format has changed quite a bit in recent years and the internal SharePoint is your best source for the latest and most accurate information on the format and content.
• Always take advantage of distance language learning (DLL) and the post language program (PLP), even if your post or your job don't require the language. We're very lucky to have access to free foreign language classes all over the world, and I found these essential for maintaining and improving my language skills.
• I included this in a previous post on maintaining language skills generally, but know language-specific filler words (i.e., the other language's equivalent of "um") and essential clarifying vocabulary (like "Could you please repeat that more slowly?" or "What does that mean?") in that language to reduce the amount of time your brain switches to English or your native language while you're trying to speak the target language.
• My advice from a previous FSI test to be bold and to practice your self-introduction still applies, but now they've shifted the test from a personal introduction to a professional one. Be prepared to talk about your current work and past work right off the bat in the test.
• Keep a few proverbs and idiomatic expressions in your back pocket, but make sure you know how to use them correctly. A well-placed proverb can really demonstrate you have a nuanced and advanced command of the language.
• Especially now that the test is focused only on speaking, make sure you get real conversational practice beforehand. It's not enough (in my opinion) to listen to podcasts and read the news, but you need to practice speaking whether that's in a classroom or with a family member or friend. (In my case, I started speaking Arabic with S Monday through Friday to help him keep up with his Arabic, and it's paid huge dividends for improving my comfort with conversation.)
• For Arabic, pick the dialect you're most comfortable with - not the one you think will be the most practical for a specific post. In my case, I picked Modern Standard Arabic because I had always learned Arabic formally in school and that's what I'm most comfortable speaking. With my lack of knowledge now, I definitely wouldn't be able to perform on test day in any dialect!
• Explore the best language learning apps for you. To prepare for my FSI test, I used a combination of Anki (flashcard app), Duolingo (gamified language learning), Drops (vocabulary-focused app with lots of inclusive langauge), and Lingolette (AI short articles with audio, questions, and freeform answers to check comprehension and then a conversation with real-time correction afterward). At other times in my life, I preferred italki (private certified virtual tutors, who really helped with my accent and some advanced grammar questions I had) and Mango Languages (which helped me refresh my language skills after a long period of disuse). On the other hand, I tried Rosetta Stone many years ago and quickly learned it was not my cup of tea. After my test, I discovered that Google's Gemini Voice Assistant speaks Arabic quite well and understands many dialects (though it always answers in Modern Standard Arabic). Knowing that, I think I would try using that tool more for future conversational practice and test prep. Figuring out the right apps (if any) for you will take some trial and error.
• Use every opportunity to practice the language with native speakers, and accept the inevitability of mistakes. It's normal! Most people will be so thrilled you're learning their language, they will forgive any errors you make. Meeting people from around the world, traveling, and volunteering could all be opportunities to practice your language skills.

It's much harder to achieve score improvements without full-time language training, but it's not impossible. I hope my list of tips comes in handy for at least some readers preparing for their next FSI test!

#WhatGovDoes: One Data Point

Image by mar lidia from Pixabay

Someone on social media made the point that amid all the news headlines in the United States about the federal workforce, there's a lot of confusion about what the U.S. government actually does. I think it's even less obvious to most people in the realm of international affairs, because few Americans know what Foreign Service members do or how we advance the interests of the American people. Foreign Service Spouse Crystalline Randazzo started the hashtag #WhatGovDoes to share more about what we do, so I'm adding to the conversation with the list of some of the things I've done, in no particular order:

• When notified of a U.S. citizen's unexpected death in international waters in the middle of the night during the pandemic, I called that citizen's spouse back home and informed them. I helped negotiate the transfer of the deceased person's remains and belongings back to the family, despite concerns from the local government that the remains posed a COVID-19 risk. I ensured that family did not bear the costs of returning the remains and received all the rights due to them under international maritime law.
• I have assisted surviving family members with recording U.S. citizens' deaths abroad and providing the necessary paperwrok for them to transport the remains back to the United States for burial, if needed.
• I have issued many, many passports for U.S. citizens including emergency passports.
• I have issued many, many Consular Reports of Birth Abroad documenting the birth of U.S. citizens overseas.
• I have issued many, many visas for students, businesspeople, investors, tourists, and other non-immigrant visitors who poured millions and millions of dollars into the U.S. economy.
• I have denied many, many visas for travelers who posed a threat to U.S. national security or interests or otherwise did not qualify for a U.S. visa.
• I have comforted U.S. citizen victims of violent crime including sexual assault and helped them navigate the complexities of a foreign justice system with compassion. I ensured that failures to address violent crimes against U.S. citizens factor into the U.S. Department of State's public annual Human Rights Report and enhanced international cooperation between the United States and our partners on transnational sexual cybercrimes like fake pornography.
• I have helped U.S. citizens in critical medical condition return home with a medical evacuation.
• I have helped U.S. citizens without money, living on the streets of a foreign country, get an emergency loan to return safely home.
• I have visited U.S. citizens in prison overseas and ensured they did not face discrimination or mistreatment due to being American.
• I have helped U.S. citizens in prison overseas apply for the international prisoner transfer program, which allows U.S. prisoners to transfer to a prison back home and serve their sentence closer to their loved ones.
• I have taken custody of a wealthy American's belongings when he died alone overseas with no next of kin on record including no parents, no children, no spouse, and no siblings. With my colleagues, we found nine cousins in the United States and ensured they received their rightful inheritance instead of it being lost in a foreign country.
• I assisted American parents whose children were abducted and taken to another country by the other parent with the legal and law enforcement processes necessary to return their children home under international law.
• I helped negotiate a change to the implementation of a local law that drastically reduced barriers to American business.
• I supported official visits culminating in a joint financing deal unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in co-investment for U.S. businesses overseas.
• I have promoted U.S. leadership and influence in critical sectors including AI and other emerging technology, including warning our partners about the national security consequences of using untrusted technology from our adversaries.
• I have informed Americans overseas how to vote from abroad and helped get their ballots back in time for the vote to count.
• I have served as a spokesperson explaining the United States and what we stand for to everyone from school groups to journalists to the general public to other countries' diplomats.
• I have served as a duty officer, who takes U.S. citizen emergency calls at any time after hours on nights or weekends. (I'm even the duty officer as I write this blog post, and in one day this week I helped a U.S. citizen couple who lost their passports in transit, a U.S. citizen who was arrested, and a U.S. citizen who was scared for their family member trapped in Syria and at risk of violence.)
• I helped a 3-year-old child and his parents secure emergency travel documents to fly to the United States for an approved heart transplant, without which his doctors confirmed he would have died within 48 hours.
• I have helped people understand Americans better and helped Americans understand others better through exchange programs and cultural diplomacy. This brings more people to the United States and supports our economy, debunks negative stereotypes holding us back from our full potential cooperation in shared interests with our partners, and helps Americans receive a warmer welcome when they travel abroad.

My experience is just one data point, but I hope it helps illuminate the work we do a bit better. If you're a federal government employee or have benefitted from the work of a federal government employee, please feel free to share #WhatGovDoes in the comments below!

My Biggest Early-Career Mistake

Today I wanted to share my biggest early-career mistake, one that I think a lot of early-career people make not just in diplomacy but in many fields. I hope that there are readers who benefit from this and can avoid some of the pitfalls I couldn't, since those lessons can be very painful to learn. Without further ado, my biggest early-career mistake was not knowing how to manage workplace conflict.

People would say and do things that offended me, bothered me, and even undermined me professionally and it wasn't obvious to me how I was supposed to resolve it. I consulted my mentors and most of them said they were conflict avoidant themselves and would choose to ignore almost everything if they were me. They were well meaning, but I don't think this advice was the most helpful. In professional settings (and life) there are a lot of people who bottle up resentments and talk badly about people behind their backs, but far fewer people who are willing to address difficult conflict in an open-minded and productive way directly with the person they have conflict with. I, too, kept many of my grievances to myself and bought into negative narratives about people (which in our line of work we call bad corridor reputation) without giving people a chance to address the issues. I'd like to think this is something I've improved at over time.

Here's a real, anonymized example from my life. I once took notes at a meeting, and one of my coworkers didn't like my summary of the conversation. He said, "You shouldn't have included that quote from that person!" I stood my ground and said, "That's what she said, though." He replied, "She was misinformed and now you've spread incorrect information with these notes!" Clearly, my notes bothered him, but it was too late for me to go back and change them since I'd already circulated them with our internal offices. Moreover, I wasn't convinced that I needed to change them. He lost his temper and began sending emails to my colleagues saying I didn't know what I was doing and that I was unqualified. He would raise his voice to me on the phone and send all-caps emails. Finally, the straw that broke the camel's back: when I had a meeting with contacts at another organization, he told these people, whom I was meeting for the first time, that I was ignorant and didn't know what I was talking about.

The entry-level me would have simmered until I boiled over, railing about this guy to anybody and everybody except him. I might even have taken steps to switch portfolios and projects to avoid working with him again, writing off our professional relationship as irreparably doomed. This time, I took my concerns up the chain of command and began documenting everything in case it got worse and I needed to escalate. (I had learned the hard way earlier in my career that sometimes documentation and witnesses were necessary.) To my shock, multiple people I raised my concerns with made comments like, "Oh, yeah. Everyone knows he can't work well with women" or "He's just sexist; don't take it personally" or "There have been so many women like you who have complained about this before." I guess these responses were supposed to make me feel better, but instead they made me extremely frustrated. If this was a known issue, why didn't anybody address it? And had we all really just decided to tolerate someone who couldn't work with half of the population? Was that even really the problem?

I told leadership that I was going to try to resolve this directly with the colleague, but if that failed I had no choice but to escalate. I knew I couldn't do my job effectively with a coworker harassing me in the office and deriding me in front of others. When I first asked him to sit down and talk one-on-one, he avoided me, ignoring my calls and emails. (Note: I find these conversations are always best one-on-one if you have a choice.) Finally, I asked him to hang behind and talk one-on-one after a group meeting we both attended. In that room, I told him that I didn't know he felt that strongly about the initial meeting notes I had written. I told him how his actions since made me feel like he didn't respect me as a colleague and undermined me and my work, making it difficult to do my job. To his credit, he admitted he lost his temper. He apologized to me and said he wouldn't do that again. We discussed together a solution for the next time we faced a disagreement. And you know what? Despite all the horrible things everyone had said about this guy, he never did do those things again. He did work with me constructively when we disagreed. He helped find compromises. I was not only able to tolerate working with him again, but we both enjoyed working together again.

This experience made me realize people were perfectly happy to make assumptions about his character or the reasons why he behaved the way he did, but those same people hadn't been willing to have the tough conversations necessary to find out if their assumptions were correct or to move forward. People tried to marginalize him and his work when they reached a point of friction instead of addressing the friction itself. I thought about all the misunderstandings and conflicts that arise in typical working life and accrue over time and wondered how many of them could be completely transformed by a simple, honest conversation.

I'll be the first to admit I didn't have the skills to do this when I first started my career, and it's still not easy. It's not fun to have difficult conversations about how someone has hurt or impeded you or to hear about how you might have hurt or impeded them. But those conversations are essential to people and teams achieving their full potential. It's easier in the short-term to avoid conflict, bottle things up, and then message your group chat what a jerk your work rival is. In the long-term, though, everyone is better served by healthier conflict resolution.

When I tell that true story, the response I most often get is, "But what if he'd doubled down instead?" In that scenario, I still see the difficult conversation as necessary. It shows that you tried to resolve things at the lowest possible level and it gives you the information you need to know whether you need to escalate: whether that's bringing in your supervisors or requesting a mediator or in some cases even filing a formal grievance or complaint with that documentation you prepared in advance.

It may be my inherent optimism, but deep down I truly believe that if more conflicts were addressed sooner in healthier ways, they would never get to that point. I can definitely think of conflicts earlier in my career that I might be mature enough and savvy enough and skilled enough to defuse better now. And there are probably others I will experience in the future that could be de-escalated, but that I may lack the ability to defuse now. It's reassuring to me to think of this as a skill you can never "complete" or "master" but one that grows in strength with repeated use over time, like a muscle of emotional intelligence. It reminds me that nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes, so hopefully when others make mistakes the least we can do is give a fair shot of repairing the relationship - just as we would hope people can do for us when we mess up.

Of course, I don't want to take this idea to the extreme. I don't think people need to tolerate abusive or toxic environments, and some working relationships are not possible or worthwhile to save because the (emotional, mental, physical, and - in the case of some formal grievances requiring legal representation - financial) cost is simply too great. However, I'd like to think those cases are a small minority. I fundamentally believe that most people are good people trying their best and falling short from time to time. The more positive experiences people have of resolving conflict and repairing relationships, the more I find they too begin to believe it's possible and approach conflict with a healthier mindset. This is a small impact each of us can make in our circles every single day, and it can ripple outward and lead others to start doing the same.

Would you agree that this is a common mistake people make early in their careers? Do you have any tips for resolving conflict in a healthier way? If so, I hope you'll consider sharing in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Hosting Our First Dubai Guests

After more than a year in Dubai, we finally hosted our first guests! (More of our family and friends should come visit before we leave. ;) ) My sister and her husband stayed with us on their way to Italy from the States, and it was so fun catching up with them and exploring Dubai with tourist's eyes. You know how you can live somewhere for a while and then still not do the most well-known attractions until you're with someone from out of town? That was me the whole time they were here.

We went to Jumeirah Mosque for a fantastic tour they do most days at 10am and 2pm. I'm adding this to my list of must-do activities for Dubai - we had an excellent tour guide and for just 40 dirhams per person (about $10) we got the full mosque tour, Emirati refreshments, access to the small museum and gallery on site, and henna. The tour was very family friendly, with a room of the mosque set up as an area for young kids to play that S loved once he found it. Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained the UAE and Islam very well - no prior knowledge needed for visitors. If you do the 10am tour like we did, you can pop over to nearby La Mer and walk along the beach and have a nice lunch. (You can also swim if you bring your swimsuit to change into and the weather is nice! There were so many people enjoying the water when we went.)

After that, we took our guests to Dubai Miracle Garden (one of my favorite attractions from when M and I visited Dubai many years ago), a garden with stunning, enormous flower sculptures that's only open during the winter. Then we took them to the classic Global Village, which is like a theme park with pavilions for countries and continents around the world. As you can imagine, the gifts and food options are as diverse as the theme. It's so big it's hard to explore it all in one visit. Funny enough, my sister visited me in Kenya many years ago and finally wore down sandals she had purchased there and adored, so at Global Village she popped over to the Africa pavilion and bought more sandals she already loves.

While I went to church on Sunday, my sister and her husband went to Aura Skypool, a 360-degree infinity pool where they enjoyed the sunrise and breakfast. I've never been there, but they said it was a gorgeous view so I might have to give it a try. That afternoon, we embarked on an overnight desert safari with a company called Platinum Heritage that many friends and colleagues recommended to me. We found their reputation was well deserved, with the whole experience running like clockwork and executed perfectly.

We started with a driving desert safari in a vintage Land Rover. In my younger days, I used to go dune bashing (i.e. driving fast up and down sand dunes) with my friends, but when I learned about how damaging it was to the desert ecosystem I couldn't in good conscience participate any more. I want to help conserve the beautiful desert landscape so future generations can enjoy it as much as I have, and that's why choosing an eco-friendly tour company is so important to me.

We saw unique animals native to the desert in this region, including the majestic Arabian oryx. As the sun set, we enjoyed a falcon show with a professional falconer and learned about the importance of falconry historically and culturally in the UAE. At the end, we got to take photos with the falcon, named Shadow, and even take a look at his passport (because yes, apparently these falcons do have actual passports and many Gulf-based airlines allow them on planes).

Following our sunset falcon show, we reached our Bedouin-inspired campsite that provided henna, Arabic coffee, camel rides, and an outstanding Emirati traditional dinner.

After that, we had a stargazing session led by an expert who pointed out the many stars and planets we could see. They even had shisha for those who were interested in smoking. We spent the night in very comfortable accommodations - they reminded me of the luxury safari tents we'd experienced in Kenya.

The next morning, we enjoyed a fabulous breakfast and breathtaking desert sunrise. The sun somehow seemed to rise faster in the desert than it normally does... Or maybe it's just that it's been a while since I was up early enough to see the sunrise.

Then, we returned to the city. My sister and her husband went to enjoy a luxury couples' hammam spa treatment I recommended. Later, we explored the massive Dubai Mall and ate delicious food in the Chinatown portion, which was just starting to get decorated for Chinese New Year. We took the metro from there to Dubai Expo City for the event that prompted me to ask my sister to visit in the first place: a Green Day concert! When I saw the advertisement, I couldn't believe it. I didn't realize Green Day, a band we had listened to when we were younger, was still making music - let alone touring. The opening act was The Offspring, another band I hadn't heard in ages. The concert was packed with people, and although I had a ton of friends attending I didn't see a single one of them in the crowds. I had so much fun with my sister and her husband. When "Wake Me Up When September Ends" started playing, I was struck with what a special memory this was that I would cherish forever.

The next day, we walked around Old Dubai including Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood and the Gold Souk just a short abra (i.e., traditional boat) ride across the river. When nighttime came, we went downtown to see the light show at Dubai Fountain.

Then, we did a Burj Khalifa tour and enjoyed the views of Dubai from 148 stories high! I'm so glad we booked this tour at night so we could enjoy the experience of seeing the city lit up. One thing that always strikes me about the Arab world in general but especially Dubai is how late everything is compared to what I'm used to: things open later and close later, and even babies stay up way later than I would expect as an American. From the tallest building in the world, you can really see the city bustling after it gets dark!

And just like that, our visitors had to get back on the plane and head to their next destination! The time flew by way too fast, but at least we spent it well. I just found out one of my best friends will visit me later this year, and I already can't wait to play host again!

My Tips for Writing EER Bullets

Several FAST (First and Second Tour) Officers (also known as ELOs, Entry-Level Officers), recently asked me for advice on writing EER bullet points. It made me realize that although I have several advice posts about writing the EER statements themselves, I've never done a post about the bullet points so I thought I'd fill in that gap here. For those who may not know, EERs are our Employee Evaluation Reports upon which Department of State Foreign Service promotion decisions are based. We do at least one per year (and in rare cases more frequently depending on whether a supervisor changed or there were outside circumstances that led to more). I was promoted from 04 to 03 (as Foreign Service grades weirdly count backwards so as we move up the number moves down) at my first look, meaning the first chance a promotion panel reviewed my file to consider whether I should be promoted, so I'd like to think I know what makes a good entry-level EER, at least.

Ideally, a FAST Officer will have a good rater (usually the immediate supervisor) and reviewer (usually the supervisor's supervisor but sometimes the Deputy Chief of Mission known as the DCM, section head, or someone else) who actually write their portion of the EER. I've heard horror stories of bosses who don't write any of it and hapless ELOs who have to write not only their own statement but the two others on their EER that should be written by their chain of command, but thankfully that has never happened to me. If your rater and reviewer are actually writing their portion, they will almost always ask for bullet points from you about the things you want them to write about. This is a crucial part of the process that, in my opinion, takes just as much skill as writing the EER itself. So here's my advice to newer diplomats for EER bullets:

• Meet with your rater and reviewer early to find out their preferences for bullets, including timeline. DIfferent bosses will have different preferences: some will want "meaty bullets" that are written like paragraphs they can copy and paste as a working draft of their statement, others will want very concise memory joggers about things you did, and most will want something in between. If you don't get a strong steer, I would err on the side of providing more substantive information since nobody will care more about your EER than you do. Typically, you will share all your bullet points in one document that shows what you will write about, what your rater will write about, and what your reviewer will write about all together. Get these to your rater and reviewer on time so you aren't already running behind before the statements are even drafted.
• Know when to hold your ground and when to let go. Some raters and reviewers will have very strong opinions about which examples they think each person should cover in their section of your EER. I find the vast majority of the time it's not worth pushing back, because if they write about the examples that stand out to them then they will naturally write better. In some cases, you might feel they didn't have full visibility on your work or only the rater or reviewer could do the example justice - in that case, it's okay to challenge their preference. At the end of the day, it's your EER and you should get the final say.
• Keep space constraints in mind. The rater has the longest statement, followed by the employee. The reviewer's statement is significantly smaller. As a result, I wouldn't give a reviewer more than three bullet points because there simply isn't space. The rater should have the most bullet points, followed by the employee. Some people argue two examples very fleshed out is enough for an employee or rater statement, but I strongly disagree and think more examples are better (as long as you're not going overboard and trying to cram in ten per statement).
• Make sure you address all the core precepts in every EER, something you can see at the bullet point stage. You can find the core precepts on the Department of State intranet, from your CDO, or from your office or post HRO. Although the promotion board that decides whether to promote you generally looks at the past five EERs, I think there's plenty of space to address all the precepts every year. When I make my own EER bullets each year, I color code them by precept and review it to see if I'm missing any precepts. If so, I reframe some examples or add ones that showcase the missing precept. (Note: I know there's a lot of confusion this year about whether the DEIA - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility - precept will remain. It's not worth speculating or trying to find out on social media. Just keep checking with your office or post HR team or the American Foreign Service Association known as AFSA, the Foreign Service union that routinely negotiates the precepts.)
• Only include the minimum context needed to understand your accomplishments. The vast majority of EER bullets I read from newer officers focus way too much on context and not enough on impact. If there are factors that make your post or job particularly challenging, you can include those. But those should only be a few sentences, not entire paragraphs. The promotion board is evaluating you, not the position itself, so make sure the vast majority of your bullets also talk about what you did and not just things about post or your office.
• Focus on what you did and results, not on outputs and titles. Don't just tell me you coordinated the National Day event, but tell me what that entailed and what the outcome was. Perhaps the event enabled a successful introduction of a new Ambassador, opening doors to higher-level follow-on meetings than have been historically possible. If you tell me you were chair of the FAST Committee, that's not as impactful as telling me that as chair of the FAST Committee, you provided essential public speaking training for 20 FAST colleagues that gave them the skills necessary to promote U.S. priority messaging to hundreds of youth through the Embassy Speakers Program. Even better if those speaker programs increased applicants to U.S. exchanges by a certain percentage or improved perception of the United States by a good margin. Or maybe your Consular cooperation with local authorities reduced fraud and increased awareness of visa scams. Whatever your job is, there is some way to show impact and that should already be in there in the bullets.
• Don't just cover special projects, but make sure your core work is well represented in your EER bullets. Most people will raise an eyebrow at an officer in a Consular section whose EER doesn't reference Consular work. If you only write about official visits and other special projects, it will give the impression that that was your only priority and you may have neglected your regular job duties. It's worth remembering the promotion panel will see your Work Requirements Statement including your position description and title when they read your EER. I personally think your core work should be reflected in the bullets of all your statements if possible: the employee, the rater, and the reviewer. If that's not possible, only the reviewer might be able to get away with only focusing on special projects since the space they have is much smaller.
• Ask mentors to see their EER bullets as examples. I always share my EERs and EER bullet points with mentees because I think it's helpful to see the evolution of bullet points to statements to final, polished product.

This is a non-exhaustive list of EER bullet point advice, but I hope it's helpful for any readers out there still relatively new to the process. I benefitted from my own mentors guiding me when I was new, and I'm happy to pay it forward. Happy drafting!

Cruisin' into 2025: Highlights from Our Mauritius to Singapore Cruise

M, S, and I cruised into 2025 on a 17-day Mauritius to Singapore cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line. Our ports of call included Port Louis, Mauritius; Pointe des Galets, Réunion (French territory); Antsiranana, Madagascar; Port Victoria, Seychelles; Malé, Maldives; Phuket, Thailand; Penang, Malaysia; Port Klang, Malaysia; and Singapore. We covered a lot of ocean and had plenty of days at sea, too, which were great for disconnecting from the outside world, practicing my 2024 resolution of mindfulness, and getting my 2025 resolutions to write every day and embrace the joy of missing out (JOMO) off to a strong start.

17 days is by far the longest we've ever cruised at once, but time passed so much more quickly with S in tow. Our kiddo is still too young for us to drop him off at the onboard kids' club, so our days are naturally divided into his wake windows, nap time, and sleep time (when we get to go down the hall for a dinner date thanks to babycam technology). M and I are quite opposite cruise personalities: he prefers to stay on the ship as much as possible and do the same things he knows he'll like, while I want to get off the ship and explore every port. I took full advantage of the opportunity to have outdoor adventures. The air quality was excellent, and I saw some stunning natural phenomena my pictures don't do full justice.

It was really unique celebrating the holidays including Christmas and New Year's Day on a cruise ship. Norwegian Cruise Line did a great job making the holidays feel special, with gingerbread villages, a Santa, a New Year's Party, interdenominational church and Hannukah volunteer-led religious services, a Holiday Spectacular performance, and more. I had so much fun twisting balloons into candy canes with S and introducing him to Santa's elves around the ship. We also sang a lot of Christmas songs (his favorites are Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town), and he saw the Grinch for the first time (both on repeat on various TVs around the ship and at least one passenger dressed as the Grinch on Christmas Day).

In this post, I'll just cover some of my personal highlights. We loved Mauritius and flew in from Dubai a few days before the cruise started. We made it more of a family beach vacation to recover from the stress of air travel, and before we knew it our couple of days were up and it was time to board. I can't say we had the smoothest onboarding process, with a long wait outside in a hot and humid tent with a toddler I would not recommend, but thankfully once we got on the ship we quickly found our room and were able to get S's sleep set-up in place. When we travel, we use an inflatable toddler mattress under a blackout tent called the Slumberpod, into which we slide a white noise machine and a babycam that sends a notification to our phones when it detects movement or sound. This has changed our travel game.

I felt like I could've spent a week at least in Réunion since the nature was so stunning and the climates so diverse given differences in elevation. I booked an excursion to visit Piton de la Fournaise Volcano and I did not regret it. The drive was absolutely gorgeous and our knowledgeable tour guide explained to us on the way there and back the island's important history. A few tidbits that stuck with me included the cruelty of some of the French slavers who had lived on the island, one of whom was a woman so notorious for her evil treatment of the people she enslaved that the islanders said after she died and confessed her sins to the devil, he was so shocked at her monstrous acts that the volcano erupted. I also learned about a church on the island that's become a pilgrimage site after one eruption that destroyed several houses in the same village miraculously split into two streams just before pouring inside the church and never damaged the building. The tour guide also shared with us some songs exemplifying Sega music, which originated among enslaved people and is typically sung in the island's Creole.

Despite being one of the most active volcanos in the world, Piton de la Fournaise was inactive when I was there. There were a myriad of hiking trails in and around the vast volcano itself. We saw families and friends camping and having picnics in the area, which I thought was quite brave given the enormous amount of flying insects we experienced at the top. If I had had more time, I would've done a proper hike but with the limited time I had I took a brisk stroll down one of the hiking paths and turned back in time to make it to the tour bus. It was a beautiful view, with wildflowers dotting the volcanic rock formations and volcanic ash filling the valleys.

In Madgascar, I reserved a spot on another nature excursion, this time to the famous red tsingy. The tsingys are laterite (i.e. reddish clay) sandstone formations shaped by wind and water erosion. The view of the blue sky above, red tsingy below, and greenery around the edges was breathtaking. I learned that "tsingy" usually refers to a specific limestone formation and in that sense the red tsingys are not real tsingys at all since they are made of sandstone.

Although they didn't put it this way on my tour, I read later that the red tsingys are the result of massive anthropogenic environmental degradation, specifically slash-and-burn agricultural practices. It's a sad origin story, but thankfully I learned tourism fees now contribute to sustainability efforts.

We were also lucky enough to spot a chameleon in the wild. Our tour guide explained that in his culture, chameleons are considered to carry the souls of departed ancestors and those who harm them will be punished with bad luck. Different villages and different parts of Madagascar have different understandings of the chameleon, with some believing they are evil.

In Port Victoria in the Seychelles and Malé in the Maldives we threw out my usual method of a detailed plan and just explored the port town together as a family. The highlight was the National Botanical Garden in the Seychelles, which was beautiful and within walking distance of the ship. We saw the double coconut (the world's largest seed) and plenty of giant tortoises.

S insisted on calling the giant tortoises "big big big BIG turtles" despite us explaining the difference between turtles, tortoises, and terrapins: a nuance I'm sure he'll appreciate someday but that day is not today. In the Maldives, we walked around the capital of Malé, something we didn't have time to do on our last trip to the country.

In Penang, Malaysia we did a self-guided walking tour of the local Georgetown area that included a lot of Chinese heritage sites and an awesome historic jetty where people still live and operate shops today. When we reached Port Klang, Malaysia the following day I booked a private car to take us around for the day.

We visited the stunning Hindu temple inside Batu Caves, had local food and the best milk I've ever tasted fresh from their own dairy cows at nearby Farm Cafe, and then explored Kuala Lumpur City Centre a bit with a stop in the Petrosains Discovery Centre, a family-friendly science museum. I don't know who got more of a kick out of Petrosains: M or S! They had plenty of simulations and science experiments for adults and educational play options for all ages of kids.

In Phuket, Thailand, we took a casual family walk around to explore the port area of town, ate lunch at a restaurant with a view (where I had the best pad thai of my life), and then I booked a massage at Moontree Elemental Spa. It was such a divine and relaxing day!

Our last stop on this trip was Singapore. We only had one day to enjoy the city, but M immediately fell in love (which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows M and knows Singapore). He marvelled, "Even the street food vendors take tap-to-pay credit cards!" "See how everyone waits their turn to use the crosswalk?" "It's city convenience for me and greenery for you all in one."

We went multiple times to the excellent Lau Pa Sat Hawker Centre, which had so many varieties of food I feel like I could go there every day for a month and still barely scratch the surface of what they had to offer. We had some delicious pork and chicken with nasi lemak, a Malaysian-style coconut and pandan rice, wonderful srping rolls and summer rolls from a Vietnamese shop, and some of the best ice cream I've ever had in my life from a place called Creme & Cone. My yogurt lavender and dark chocolate flavors were phenomenal, and S loved sharing them with me.

My favorite stop in Singapore (which you can probably tell by the disproportionate photos in this post of it) was the Gardens by the Bay. Even though I'm not much of a gardener, I love being around plants and especially flowers. I love their variety, their scents, and their opportunity to teach us about the natural world. So as soon as I heard of Gardens by the Bay I put it on our list as a must-see while we were in Singapore. We experienced the Floral Fantasy, Flower Dome, and Cloud Forest before ending our night with the Skytree light show.

Floral Fantasy was an artistic flower exhibit whose themes change depending on the seasons. I was blown away when I learned that none of the enormous, beautiful displays we saw used any fake flowers but they were all real. The current showing happened to be an official collaboration with Disney, and S even recognized a few of the characters like Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh.

Next came the Flower Dome, which was exactly what it sounds like: an enormous greenhouse-style dome with gardens upon gardens of flowers. They were winding down the Christmas-specific decorations while we were there, but to my surprise and delight they had an impressionist painting-inspired temporary exhibit I was able to explore.

My mom is an excellent gardener and the Flower Dome reminded me so much of her, from the luscious clusters of hydrangeas to the replicas of some of her favorite impressionist paintings from Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and others. They did some brilliant things with the art exhibit where they created spaces to sit and observe the works in motion, collaborated with contemporary flower artists inspired by impressionism, included Singaporean art and culture, and even incorporated the sense of smell into the experience.

The Cloud Forest was the most scientifically informative stop of our visit, where I learned that there is actually a type of forest called a cloud forest and it wasn't just a catchy name for that particular attraction. We saw so many rare plants and learned about the different levels of a cloud forest and what we're most likely to find there. Many of those plants I've never seen before in the wild or in an exhibit, and it always fills me with awe to think about how diverse our planet is.

Once we were done walking around, we watched a Skytree light show where large artifical trees showed off a programmed light display to a performance highlighting Asian culture. I was so surprised and touched to hear "Arirang", the classic Korean folk song, among the melodies. I'm glad I got to share that special memory with M and S.

Although our time in each stop was short, our whole trip was quite long and by the end we were ready to go home, sleep in our own bed, and get more of a routine going. I feel so lucky to be able to travel with my family. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year to all the readers out there! I hope your 2025 is off to a peaceful start.