It's Official- the swearing in ceremony

Although flag day is technically more exciting for us, the big deal day for the government is the “Commissioning Ceremony”; this is where the new class of diplomatic officers are sworn into service by the secretary of state. Jacob’s class was fortunate enough to have Hillary Clinton, our secretary of state, come and perform the swearing in herself.

The ceremony began with several speeches about of how wonderful this class of officers is, and how talented and great they will be. Finally the secretary arrived and she gave a 10 minute speech regarding how important their role as diplomats are, and how crucial their jobs are to American policy. She also talked about how talented the class is and how difficult it is to be accepted into this elite rank in the government. Finally she recited the oath, and they were officially officers of the foreign service!

Washington, DC- Flag Day

Well we finally made it to DC, I’m sure you have all been wondering what happened to us? So I apologize for not writing this entry sooner, we’ve been enjoying the life in DC and Jacob has started training.

On Friday April 23^rd, they had a ceremony they call “flag day.” It is the only time in their careers where they will receive their posting in a ceremony and it is celebrated. In the future they will be told where they are going via email.

Anyway, the ceremony is one of the more stressful things we’ve been to, as you have very little control over what you will receive, and it is 45 minutes of your life that determines the next 2 years of your life. They had several speakers talk about the class and then they proceeded to announce each country with its flag on the big screen. They would follow this up with the job this person would be holding and the name of the officer. They would present each officer with the flag of the country they were heading to, and a folder with their training schedule. After they had announced about half the class they finally announced “Gaborone, Botswana”, and stated that Jacob would be taking on this job. So the moment we have all been waiting for, well at least Jacob and I, has come and we are headed to Botswana in July!

Identity Theft Hot Potato

The FBI says Identity Theft is "the fastest growing white-collar crime in America."

Well, if you want to jump on that bandwagon, let me enlighten you on the best path forward:

Actions:

1. Choose a state to steal personal information and data

2. When stealing said data, ensure you choose identities that reside in another state

3. Fraudulently represent identities in a third state

Result:

Police precincts in all states do not want to take your complaint

Almost America

I think we need to come clean...we left America.

I love America, but it's hard for me to resist exotic destinations...like Toronto and Montreal--although not exactly balmy this time of year. Admittedly, we had been planning to come through Canada since we embarked on the trip but still billed it as a Roadtrip Across America. How could we live with ourselves in this deceit? Well, it is a roadtrip across North America.

We began the diversion in the Northland with a brief stay on Lake Ontario. We looked longingly over the inland ocean (i.e. great lakes) at the twinkling lights of the homeland on the horizon.

I soon found myself feeling a little more foreign when the signs started changing to French as we entered Quebec. I think Amy found herself at home with a whole province of bilingual French/English speakers.

Our entertainment for the 20 hours in Montreal was playing "visiting parents" to our friend, who is a 3rd year law student at McGill. I've never been on the other end of a college visit; we enjoyed seeing the classrooms, cafeteria, study lounges, meeting friends, going to dinner and then saying goodnight and going back to our hotel. In the morning, our little student came to pick us up at the hotel after her class and we went to visit her house where she lives with 4 other girls.

I suppose it wasn't quite the same as a parental visit since we weren't constantly assessing if the tuition dollars were being well spent.

At Home in the Heartland

Enough with the personal financial troubles of the last couple posts. We have certainly been a bit distracted by the responsibilities of life, but we are still making Eastward progress. We have made it across the Heartland of America—affectionately called the “land we fly over” by some of the folks who live on the coasts.

While we have been in the Midwest we have not climbed mountains or tasted wine or walked the footsteps of movie stars. The scenery is subtle with rolling hills of endless cornfields. The people are hospitable and enjoy a sane pace of life. It was a good breather from our hectic travel schedule and life in the big city.

For me it is also a return to family—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, a nephew and my dad. In my intermittent visits during and since college, I have taken snapshots of life in the Midwest but have not lived there for nearly a decade. What strikes me while reflecting on the past 10 years is that despite the steadiness and routine of the Heartland, it is not exempt from the involuntary changes that come with the passing years of life. When my mom passed away two years ago this summer, it changed daily life for my dad and brother at home and has altered the dynamics of our family visits since then.

We will experience much of the inevitable change of life from afar while we are away in the Foreign Service. Potential change makes me appreciate the everyday life that we share with friends and relatives on our visits. While every day schedules may seem routine and unchanging, one day they will only be relived through fading memories. It is these everyday activities and moments of life that make the fabric we weave together to form our most lasting relationships. We have appreciated our time with all of you along the way and look forward to more memory making in the years to come.

Ad Hoc, Compulsory Budget Reduction Fees

More than one state across the nation is in fiscal trouble, but their seemingly semi-random revenue generating activities can be frustrating. To cut through the verbosity, I got a speeding ticket. I hope it helps reduce Illinois’ raging deficit.

I suppose it doesn’t come as a surprise that we would meet a friendly State-trooper at some point in our journey, and I guess I should be happy we made it over 8,000 miles without handing over my license and registration. And I certainly can’t argue that I was speeding, but isn’t it frustrating to see those lights in your rearview mirror?

Who am I?

If you were hoping for some existential reflections, you’ll have to wait for a later date. Today my contemplations are about my legal identification.

My identity was stolen last week—credit cards opened in my name and our checking account drained of funds.

Although I will hopefully not have any lasting financial impact, my first few days of identify-theft remind me of coping with other tragedies like death. When someone else has a death of a family member or friend, I can be empathetic, but I do not know exactly how he is feeling, nor can I truly share his perspective. I always felt bad for folks that had their Social Security Numbers stolen, but never shared in their anguish.

I never before contemplated these burning questions: Who is this imposter? Does he even look anything like me? Is he at least good-looking? Why did he choose me? How did he get my information? Will he be caught? How can I ever rest easy about my identity security again?

Identity Theft is a very strange crime of which to be a victim. I happened to find out immediately due to fraud detection at my bank and a credit card. But the other new credit card I detected on my own by accessing my credit report. I could not have discovered the crime until well after it was committed.

These acts of fraud are a byproduct of our modern world. While my friends and family recognize my physical appearance and voice and know my character through our interactions, the rest of the world recognizes my SSN, address and driver’s license and knows my character through a compilation of recorded historical behaviors. It would be quite a feat (Mission Impossible worthy) to be an impostor in my personal life, but much easier to use my basic information to get credit in my name.

I hope my impostor had a fun weekend and enjoys his freedom before our legal system brings him to justice.

Religious Freedom in the Desert

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” – The Constitution of the United States of America, 1^st Amendment (Proposed 9/25/1789; Ratified 12/15/1791)

Many of the first settlers in the American colonies were seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe. In the same way, some of the settlers of the American West were seeking freedom from religious persecution in the Eastern United States. Our Constitution protects our legal right to practice any religion, but that has not necessarily changed the way people perceive and interact with those who have different beliefs.

Mormonism began in the Northeast but resistance to these different beliefs led Joseph Smith to take the followers of this new faith to Illinois and ultimately Brigham Young led the followers to Salt Lake City. In the same way that the Pilgrims found freedom an ocean away from Europe and in the less populated colonies, Mormonism was finally able to put down its roots across the continent from its birth and in the isolation of the Utah desert. Visiting Salt Lake City reminded us of the diverse applications of freedom in the United States; the Mormon family-oriented, conservative lifestyle is a stark contrast with our previous urban desert experience—the hedonism of Las Vegas.

We took the opportunity to learn about Mormonism from the experts. We visited Temple Square and attended a movie about Joseph Smith shown in the memorial building of his namesake. It was insightful to learn about his journey and the beginning of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We also enjoyed the modern day benefits of Salt Lake City’s location—the ski slopes! A little bit of powder and warmth reminded us we were not in the Northeast. It is a mystery to me how it can be warm enough to eat lunch on the patio of the ski lodge and then ski down the mountain on fresh snow—must be a miracle.

Eastward HO!?

The Expedition of Lewis and Clark, the California Gold Rush, the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Trail. America's cultural narrative is Westward. Even our pre-nation history is told by European explorers sailing into the sunset to the New World.

Whether it is cultural indoctrination or innate aesthetic appreciation, there is something I love about going West. Watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean after crossing our great nation filled me with a sense of hope that tomorrow will be even better than today. But what if tomorrow means going East?

Our road trip is no longer mimicking the historic expansion of the United States. Now we are driving east. I can't help but think how the trip is more than halfway done--and, for me, concluding an adventure can hardly compete with the adrenaline rush of beginning one. The outset of an adventure is filled with expectations--the end is filled with great memories, but the potential and unknown are no more.

I shouldn't get ahead of myself here, we still have a continent to cross, friends and family to revisit and more exploration of what makes America great. The route back will be further north so pray we don't have to use our snow chains (since we don't have any;).

California, the land of reduced service levels...

We will only comment on this for a moment, but I thought it was interesting to mention. On the east coast we hear about California being broke and their budget not being balanced, but I did not expect to experience the results of this. We stopped into a state park in Northern California to see the redwoods, we expected to find a state park with information and rangers…we saw one ranger. We walked up to the visitor’s center and were greeted with a sign reading “please note due to budget cuts you may experience reduced levels of service”…hmmm we thought. So we proceeded to get a map, and we tried to use the bathroom which we soon discovered was locked…reduced levels of service. We decided to try and do a short loop to see an old redwood, called “old tree” that was supposed to be 12” across, we found the path and soon encountered a fallen down tree, we walked on and found several fallen trees across the path…apparently more reduced levels of service…

We continued into San Francisco that evening and the next morning on our walk along the wharf were continually greeted with folks trying to save the state parks, we were clearly not the only people noticing the reduced levels of service…

Northern California, more American dreams

We drove up Route 1 and 101 along the California coast, it is tremendous scenery. The rolling hills and incoming fog reminded me of Jurassic Park and yet we were right between two of the largest cities in America. We arrived late to Palo Alto and the next morning went running around the campus of Stanford University. It is unlike any other school, with Spanish influenced architecture and wide expanses of lawn. It is a school known for its tremendous scholastic ability and its business school prides itself on its entrepreneurial flavor.

Today we enjoyed the beauty of the Napa wine valley, we drove through the hills and stopped to taste the local varietals. The people are friendly, relaxed and encouraging. At one vineyard we ran into a gentleman originally from Wales who has become an American citizen and is a chef. He has decided to leave the wine industry and start his own business being a private chef. He said in this country you have to have a dream and a goal, it’s great to be an American but if you aren’t living your dream and you don’t have a goal, you aren’t living up to what this country stands for.

California, the land of the American dream...

We did it; we made it to the Pacific Ocean. Now some people have told us, that if we get tired of driving, we can always book a flight home once we get here…I think we’ll keep driving.

Driving from the city of human desires and imagination in the middle of the desert, we have now made it to Hollywood! Hollywood an American creation entirely different, a place where we create dreams, stars and stories.

We started our time in Los Angeles in Santa Monica, with a run along the beach and stroll down the 3^rd street promenade. We noticed something truly interesting on the promenade, people like to stand out, here in LA they want to be individuals and be seen, become a star. In New York everyone wants to be an individual but you want to blend in. We walked down the promenade with our tea latte, which my sister told me I had to try, and listened to the musicians, watched the dancing trefoils (girl scouts dressed up as cookies trying to sell cookies, they were successful I should mention since my husband is truly a cookie monster at heart), and enjoyed the flavor of the evening. We made our way back to dinner to share in some good old family reunion time with all the cousins.

We continued our Hollywood experience by getting the specialized tour with a studio tour, and private viewing of a new film from my cousin Greg. He then showed us the walk of fame and the Chinese theatre, and we saw the red carpet being prepped for the Oscars the following evening. It was a true taste of Hollywood, and it was a great flavor of the excitement that is found in this industry of creating the uncreated and limitless possibilities that the human mind can come up with.

We met up with another cousin, the rocket scientist and enjoyed another side of LA seeing the rose bowl and having some fantastic Chinese American food at a dumpling house. Here we heard about the latest in the scientific, space and robotic community in LA. It is the side of the human mind that strives to achieve the unachievable, discover the unknown and each question is taming the impossible. Her latest project is creating a robot to carry an astronauts' living facility, enabling scientists to explore and understand the moon--this is a challenging task! It is so precise and yet it is so creative in an entirely different way than the Hollywood films and New York Fashion.

LA reminded me of the unique privilege we have as Americans to dream, to build and create intellectual capital.

Dam, Sin City

To contrast God's creations, we thought we'd visit a few of man's creations.

The Hoover Dam was the largest concrete structure and largest hydro-electric power plant ever erected when it was finished in 1936. Over a football field high and a football field thick--it takes a lot to harness the mighty Colorado River. As we drove over the Dam we couldn't help but be impressed by what humans can accomplish with a bit of planning.

And then there is the human creation in the image of human creation--Las Vegas. In only a few short steps we revisited places we have actually visited--Egypt, New York, Paris. Only the last time we were in each of these places I didn't remember as many slot machines and strip show advertisements.

At each step of the Johnson Family Vegas Vacation I was reminded of the lovable Clark Griswald--all the signs for the dam tour, our awful luck at the casinos (we lost all $2 we bet), the lone mobile homes in the desert and the remembrance of how important family relationships really are even amongst all the glitz and glamor of the Vegas Strip.

America’s amazing land formations…

After departing New Mexico we hopped back on the road and our next destination was Sedona, Arizona. As we drove through this area of the Southwest we found lots of open space, land formations and lots of Native American reservations.

There is nothing quite like the national parks, a place where we can enjoy the wide open space and natural beauty of our country without all the tourism and all the hustle and bustle of modern life. We decided to see what Arizona had to offer and made our first national park stop, the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest.

The Painted Desert is truly fantastic, the landscape is a movement of color, beginning red and orange and becoming purple and blue as you drive on. Scattered throughout all this landscape are pieces of petrified wood from when this used to be a tropical climate. The petrified wood is both unique and fascinating; the trees crystallized and became stone.

We left the Painted Desert and continued down the interstate driving through the Coconino National forest. It’s amazing you drive through a beautiful national forest with several feet of snow on the ground, and then come over the ridge of the mountain and enter the desert. As you drive into Sedona it is absolutely beautiful with its red rock formations but it is a stark contrast to the wide open unobstructed views of the national parks. Sedona has become known not only for its red rock but also its spiritual energy and vortexes.

The town has become a center for retirement, tourism and spiritual growth. When you walk into the main strip in Sedona, you can find jeep rides through the red rocks, massage centers, UFO siting tours and centers for photographing your aura. Now I don’t know exactly what photographing your aura means or looks like but it appears to be a popular activity.

We took advantage of the red rock country and went for a hike up to Cathedral rock, the most photographed formation in Sedona. It was truly fantastic, and quite strenuous. After completing our on the ground tour we took to the skies in a helicopter ride. We spent about 15 minutes flying around the area and around the formations for a very unique view.

After departing Sedona we took off up north to see the most famous formation we American have, the Grand Canyon. We arrived just in time for sun set, and despite the cool temperatures it was still an amazing sunset. How do you really even try to describe the Grand Canyon, it is truly huge. We often make it larger than life, and I don’t want to do that, but it is difficult to put into words the canyon created by waterways slowly eroding the land and showing us the sediments going back 1900 million years ago, it is hard not to be impressed.

Frost bite in the desert…

You may be wondering how that is possible? Well it is nearly possible.

While staying in Cochiti Lake, New Mexico on the Cochiti reservation, we went for a hike up out of the desert to see the ruins of the pueblo. Several hundred years ago the tribe moved to the top of the mesa to protect themselves from the Spanish. The story goes that the Spanish had been quite cruel to the native people as we have all heard many times. Well the Cochiti got together with several other tribes in the area and drove the Spanish out of the region. The Cochiti than were afraid that when the Spanish returned they would be even more brutal, so they moved up to the top of the mesa. You can still find the ruins of the pueblo they inhabited up there. The trail is actually the trail that the women would use to go retrieve water from below. It was a fairly steep hike and it was especially challenging given the foot of snow that resided in some portions of the path. I thought that my hiking boots would be ok with a pair of smartwool socks, however by the time we reached the top my boots were soaked and my feet were sloshing around inside. By the time we came back to the car at the bottom and returned to the house, my feet were blocks of ice and you could ring the water out of my socks when I took them off.

Renting the Reservation

We just left New Mexico after staying three nights on a Native American Reservation. We didn't stay in tepees, nor did we stay with Native Americans. We stayed with my aunt and uncle who own a house on land leased for 99 years from a Native American Reservation. Fewer groups have tried renting land for developments compared with those seeking quick money from casinos.

I could see why the Native Americans would try to monetize their location. We were minutes from hiking up a plateau with views free of all human settlement. It took us less than an hour to get to the Rocky Mountains to ski on fresh powder and a base of 90 inches. The starry night sky was a crisp reminder that we live in the Milky Way (I often forget there are other stars than the sun when living in New York).

In 45 minutes we were in Santa Fe, where one can enjoy a plethora of original art galleries and live entertainment. The City Different, as it's called for its uniqueness, entices artists and performers out of big city life to enjoy the small town feel. With 75,000 people and the third largest original art gallery selection in the US (behind only New York and San Francisco), Santa Fe clearly has a unique attraction away from a large metropolis.

There is a lot of appeal to living away from the hubbub of a major metropolis. The air is cleaner and quieter, and the people are small town friendly. But most jobs take you to the big cities. And, of course, we aren't currently picking a place to live in the US of A, so the contemplation of a slower, quieter life will have to wait for another day...