# My new office is 200 yards from the Indian Ocean **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668 "2003-04-01T08:19:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/21 "2003-04-02T14:54:31Z")
Hey! I have a bachelor’s degree! And I test well! How does one get a job like this? What are the disadvantages? Did you get to pick which region of the world you went to? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/22 "2003-04-02T18:18:44Z")
Hey, I’m a few weeks away from a master’s degree, too. Can I request a place close to a beach? In an area where the work day is really short and there’s lots of really great looking women? James Bond gadgets would be a real plus, too. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/23 "2003-04-02T22:41:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by False\_God \* > \*\* > How about a gently used Mercedes for $2500? > \*\* [reallyjealous]I’m guessing it doesn’t have a lot of rust from the road salt.[/rj]😃 ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/24 "2003-04-03T06:42:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuauhtemoc \* > \*\*Hey! I have a bachelor’s degree! And I test well! How does one get a job like this? What are the disadvantages? Did you get to pick which region of the world you went to? \*\* Go to [www.state.gov](http://www.state.gov), and look around for the “Careers” section. You have to have a bachelor’s degree and not have killed anyone recently. Oh, and there’s two tests–the written has a 80% fail rate, the oral has a 90-95% fail rate. Ask **Maeglin** about his experiences–he took it and passed in March. The disadvantages? You can as easily wind up in Ashgabat as in Amsterdam, and there’s standard political backstabbing. It’s a government job, pays pretty well and they pay for your housing and travel to post, as well as all expenses for shipping or storage of your personal effects. Oh, and you get diplomatic immunity, don’t have to pay any local taxes, and after about three days, everyone knows you and will greet you on the street. As far as picking postings, you get a list when you’re eligible for transfer of open positions. You pick, you lobby with people, then you get assigned. I could have gone to Santo Domingo, Barcelona, Bogota, Bangui, Beijing…about 100 posts in all. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/25 "2003-04-03T14:55:47Z")
I’d be happy to chat about the oral exam. And happy birthday, man, I was thinking of you yesterday as I celebrated my own birthday. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/26 "2003-04-03T15:32:17Z")
Wow, your post brought back a lot of memories of Columbo and Sri Lanka. I spent a month in Columbo in 1974 and made several more trips there over the following years. It was still called Ceylon by a lot of people even tho they had recently changed the name to Sri Lanka. Have you had a chance to explore the island yet? The trip up to Kandi was very memorable and Trincomalee was really cool. The diving there is incredible. Congratulations on your new post. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/27 "2003-04-03T15:47:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francesca \* > \*\*Windowless _and_ doorless? Do you climb through a trapdoor to get to work? \*\* Yep - and I’m chained to my desk at all times! Ummmm by no door I meant that there is just a hole in the wall for an entrance - only bosses have doors (supposedly doors are expensive) grrrrrr \<\\> new administration, lousy tricksy gov’ners\<\\> ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/28 "2003-04-03T15:48:04Z")
How totally cool for you, \*\*False\_God \*\*. Now, on for further questioning: Is there a monkey problem in the area? Have you found a favorite local food yet? How is it you speak Tamil? Do you scuba? Is tea cheaper there? All I know about Sri Lanka is from Romance novels…so, have you met any fiesty British Nabob’s daughters who need a tamin’? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/29 "2003-04-03T16:46:16Z")
CITE! Or at least send is a PICTURE fer chrissakes! ---
**Author:** ![Blueapple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blueapple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blueapple)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/30 "2003-04-04T01:32:44Z")
Ooooo…. Sounds interesting. One of my more serious career interests (I’m still in school) is to work in the Foreign Service, so I have a few questions if you don’t mind answering. Are you a Foreign Service officer or a Foreign Service Specialist? Which ‘path’ or specialty are you working in? What other posts have you worked at? How do local people treat you? Do you have any advice to the posters in this thread who want to be in the foreign service/are taking the test? ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668/31 "2003-04-04T01:43:08Z")
Blueapple: Are you a Foreign Service officer or a Foreign Service Specialist? Foreign Service Officer, Consular coned, as yet untenured.I’m doing a political/public affairs job here. What other posts have you worked at? None, this is my first, How do local people treat you? Very well indeed, but we’ll see what happens after the novelty wears off. Do you have any advice to the posters in this thread who want to be in the foreign service/are taking the test? Take the test, play your cards right and whenever anyone says “Well, when you’ve been in the Foreign Service as long as I have…” they’re bullshitting. Shirley Ujest: Is there a monkey problem in the area? Not in Colombo proper. The problem here is crows and garbage dogs. Have you found a favorite local food yet? All of them. There are more varieties of curry than words can describe. Also good are tambili, immature coconuts with a hole cut in the top. You drink the water then scoop out the jelly inside. How is it you speak Tamil? Six long, painful months of Government training. Do you scuba? Yep, and we’re scheduled to go sometime next week. We have thirty local holidays and all the official US ones, so weekend trips are really easy. Is tea cheaper there? Everything except cheese and imported electronics is extremely cheap.I pay about forty cents a kilo for regular loose tea. All I know about Sri Lanka is from Romance novels…so, have you met any fiesty British Nabob’s daughters who need a tamin’? I’ve only been here a week–give me time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-new-office-is-200-yards-from-the-indian-ocean/165668.md?page=1)