There are many rituals in the Foreign Service and many of them take place during the summer transfer season: taking your final language test, packing out, and the dreaded Hail and Farewell. The longer you're in the Foreign Service, the more annoying it becomes to say goodbye; or, rather, to endure the same ol' farewells and well-worn felicitations of your co-workers when it's time to move on. I've yet to meet an FSO who truly enjoys the Hail and Farewell ritual, and yet it persists. Like an unreligious couple who has their newborn baby baptized because to not do so seems wrong.
Saying goodbye to colleagues is one thing, saying goodbye to friends is different. I'm approaching my 9 year mark with the State Department and I'm in the middle of my 5th assignment. Along the way I've made some wonderful friends, all of whom I've had to say "goodbye" to at some point (some more than once). It doesn't get easier, per se, but after you've done the farewell party so many times, the sentimentality of the ritual fades.
Saying goodbye to colleagues is one thing, saying goodbye to friends is different. I'm approaching my 9 year mark with the State Department and I'm in the middle of my 5th assignment. Along the way I've made some wonderful friends, all of whom I've had to say "goodbye" to at some point (some more than once). It doesn't get easier, per se, but after you've done the farewell party so many times, the sentimentality of the ritual fades.
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