Norwegian Expedition: June 2013

Last week I was all consumed with the Fourth of July event held annually at the ambassador's residence. My staff and I spent more than a week setting up for a party with 2000 of the embassy's best friends. Set up included more than 30 tents, dozens of tables, hundreds of bottles of soda, beer, wine, 3000 hamburgers, a McDonalds French Fryer, and dozens of deliveries. During the event we cleared trash, washed wine glasses, and climbed through the Tesla Model S. As a note, no tax payer dollars were spent on anything other than my staffs labor to set things up. Donations from a variety of American and Norwegian companies financed the event in it entirety. Ultimately these events are opportunities to build important relationships and demonstrate a positive American image.

I really enjoyed the event because it was a chance to work with my staff as a team and as equals. I loved the chance to talk and joke as we pulled off some amazing work in a very short period of time. I gained incredible respect for the abilities of my staff. Each and every one of them was stellar.

On Thursday morning I went into the office before going over to work on breakdown at the ambassador's residence. Not two minutes after getting in I got a call from the Management Officer in Iceland. I was absolutely surprised to hear from him considering he is very independent. He called to inform me of a fire and asked if I could help get them back up on running. Anyway in the course of 30 seconds things had changed from a party to a panic. I hopped up from my desk and literally started running around the embassy to make arrangements to get to Iceland.

7 hours later I touched down at Keflavik and an hour after that I was in the embassy working to get the building into working condition. One of the cool things is that another team arrived at almost the exact same time to start work on the stuff that pertained to them. Over the next few days I've seen a lot happen all over the world to give this tiny little embassy all the help it could handle for a full recovery.

Government is inherently political and we were really stung by the events in Benghazi. As such people at the highest levels take extreme personal interest in emergencies. It made my organization look really capable when they were able to report up that they had boots on the ground and a damage assessment before lunch time in Washington.

From there I have been in a white suit with a respirator cleaning smoke damage, coordinating contractors, installing temporary ventilation, and constructing new rooms. This is the stuff I love and why I do this job. One line in the job advertisement stuck with me and was probably the most intriguing part. "The facilities manager is considered essential emergency personnel." I know this is why some people in my family don't care for this career path. For me I am extremely proud that I serve my country and that I run the platform from which our foreign policy operates around the world.

To lighten things up I have a dry dock outside my hotel window:)

We are just living life. I realize that I haven't posted any pictures since things have greened up. It is as green as it was white during the winter. We are loving riding bikes, hiking, sticking our toes in the fjords, and jumping on the trampoline.

17 May - Norwegian Constitution Day

17 May is Norway's National day. It is a really neat day. Every town it seems holds a parade, everyone displays Norwegian flags, and people all dress up in a suit, dress, or traditional bunad. Wikipedia tells you all you want to know.

When we walked out the door to go to the parade in the city we realized how painfully underdressed we were. We promptly turned around and put on our very best clothes and headed into town for a really nice day. For me, nothing compares to the American flag, but the sight of hundreds of Norwegian flags was awesome. It has to be one of the coolest flags out there.