calmI'm horrible at gaming the system, so I wrote back explaining my situation - and we'll see if they still want me to come talk to them. To be honest, I'd probably interview really poorly if I was trying to be all crafty and not tell them I might be needing to leave in September. I interview poorly enough without any exacerbating circumstances.
On a related note, I will say one thing about the not-yet-war situation with Iraq - it has erased any doubts that might have lingered in my mind about my decision not to continue the interview process with the Foreign Service. It would have been a Bad Idea, and not because of the increased danger of being shot, stabbed, gassed, kidnapped, etc. as an employee of the State Department during tumultuous times. I don't think I'd be able to hold my tongue or my nose and do the things I would almost certainly be required to do.
As much of an ego-boost as it was to pass the test and have the State Department courting me, sometimes I have to wonder what was I thinking? I can barely muster the distance to play the board game Diplomacy, let alone stab people in the back metaphorically day in and day out as my regular life's work. Once again a vocation for which I am eminently qualified yet entirely temperamentally unfit.
