The Foreign Service Journal, June 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2014 31 Talking the Talk Last year, my path brought me to Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Depart- ment of State with the Transatlantic Exchange Diplomatic Fellowship Program. It was my first time traveling outside Europe, and the experience was fascinating and enriching. The excellent TDF program offers mid-career diplomats from NATO coun- tries the chance to work closely with their American colleagues at the State Department, and for U.S. diplomats to work as TDFs with their diplomat-col- leagues in those countries. I vividly remember my first encoun- ter with the State Department system during my first staff meeting in the Office of Iraq Economic and Assistance Affairs, my host office for the year. I was amazed by the “DOS-lish” language. It was something special: about 45-per- cent English and the rest ... acronyms. Seeing my puzzled face, one of my friendly new colleagues reassured me that this happens to all newcomers, and that I’d get used to it. I did. In fact, by the end of the year, my DOS-lish was not bad at all. Working at the State Department led me to discover amazing, dedicated people. I learned a lot, and feel inspired to continue to build bridges between the Romanian Foreign Service and the U.S. Foreign Service. Two Faces of the Same Coin Similar to the American system, between assignments at missions overseas Romanian diplomats serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Bucharest. I envision working at headquarters and overseas as being two faces of the same coin. One face, diplomatic work in Bucharest, is similar to that done by other civil servants throughout the Romanian govern- ment. We serve as desk officers and work on different projects. The other face might be seen as the unique one: perform- ing diplomatic responsibilities overseas. At larger missions, Where else can you change your job, and the focus and location of your work every few years, without actually changing employers? Diana Tase in front of the Central University Library of Bucharest in Revolution Square, where the 1989 Romanian Revolution against communism began. Andreas Georgiadis