Score One More for the EFMs, Version 2.0! (Or: HELLS YEAH, MAH PEEPS!)

Last we encountered our deeply flawed and highly neurotic female protagonist, she was threatening to vomit and, in general, was having complete and total meltdowns on Twitter and Facebook about having to take her Chinese language test at FSI almost a month early so that she could seize her only chance to get into a ConGen class.  Since she's an EFM and all and since EFMs only get leftover seats in ConGen and all.  You are now caught up.


                                                  ~   ~   ~


SO!  Today was my Chinese language exam!  I am happy to report the following:


1.)  I PASSED!!  I needed a 2/1 (2 in Speaking/ 1 in Reading) and somehow or another I ended up *exceeding* my needed score and got a 2/1+.  I have no idea how I did this. 


2.)  I never once vomited!  Nor was I crushed by any random pianos falling from the sky, which is what I was begging for on Twitter during the days leading up to the test. 


3.)  EFMs, shockingly enough, CAN pass Chinese language exams!  I am living proof of this! 

In fact, herein lies an open letter to all EFMs.  Ready?


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Dear Random EFM,


A long time ago, when I first started trying to ask random official State people (who will not be named or even have their Departments named because, hello, I'm not *completely* stupid) who get paid to help EFMs who are going overseas with stuff and things, and they found out that I had just started Chinese, they were all:


"Um, so when you don't make your required Chinese score, this is what you can do next in order to try to find a job..."


And then I was all, "No really, I think it will be okay..."


And then they were all, "As I was saying, when you don't make the language score that you need, you can next try..."


And then I hit my head against a brick wall for a while until my desire to talk to someone about jobs went away. 

But then, (what feels like hundreds of) months later, I now have my score!!! 


So if and when this sort of thing happens to you, my dear Random EFM, you and I can totally look at each other (across the internet, figuratively) and be all:





and move on with our lives in quiet smugness. 


Unless we blog, at which point the smugness is a tad less quiet. 


Ahem.


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Oh, Chinese. 


Unless people have experienced you first hand, they really cannot truly fathom how you touch their lives.  And bookshelves. 


Why, between your textbooks, workbooks, grammar books, newspaper readers, listening exercises, handouts, class notes, Consular language materials, etc., etc., etc., my house is overrun with a plethora of your printed materials:













[Not pictured:  my husband's own set of this stuff.  Which is, actually, more vast than mine since he's had two months more of Chinese than I have.]


[Also not pictured:  The seven gajillion gigabytes of iPad flashcards, other iPad-based materials, and all the materials we Chinese students are only able to access online.]


[Also keep in mind:  All of those books?  I got them during 33 weeks - a bit more than 8 months - of Chinese. So you can just imagine how fast that class went.]


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And, actually, come to think of it, this would be a really great time to talk seriously to DS folks who are thinking of bidding for positions overseas that come with required language training (super-hard and otherwise, but super-hard languages seem to be steeped in their own particular form of misery).


I'm trying to tread lightly here, but I would like to communicate that the stress and drama of language training is quite sobering and very serious.  Please, before you bid for that language-designated spot, PLEASE know that you will be way more than a full-time student during the entirety of your language training.  PLEASE ask yourself whether or not you truly enjoy and really want to be plunged into an extremely high-stress academic environment for a very long period of time.  We're talking worse than what you went through to get your Master's, worse than law school, and worse than any class you took in college.  Seriously.  Way worse.


                                                     ~   ~   ~


So, anyway, VICTORIOUS CHINESENESS!  (etc., joyful mayhem, happiness and dancing, ad naseum)


Next stop:  ConGen!  (Which starts on Wednesday.) 


Thank you, everyone, for your support and prayers.  I'm so very grateful!!

Comments

[Kate]

Congrats! You rock.

[Kelly]

We are all darn proud of you! PS, I outscored my husband on a language test once *cough* though it sure wasn't Chinese!

[Jill]

I never in my small little mind thought for one fraction of one second that you wouldn't pass. Moreover, I KNEW deep within the bottom of my heart that not only would you pass, but you'd pass with FLYING colors.

The reality is that I, and everybody else, believed in you. So happy. So PROUD that you did too... xx

[CC]

Congrats on passing your language test!!!! And you'll love ConGen - it's great and the instructors are awesome!

[I'll take mine...]

Congratulations!!! You have earned every bragging right!

[Becky]

Awesome! When I heard your score I thought "Yeah! Time to burn some books!" Looks like you have plenty. Congrats, congrats, congrats. Chinese is no small feat. Your are awesome!

[Becky]

And I can't spell. You are still awesome! And thanks for the lead on Skritter. I have loved using it.

[Daniela]

Yes, you awesomeness, you did it! Let the "happily ever after" begin. Enjoy ConGen! I apparently somehow did not make it into the class that starts on Wednesday but am now hoping to be able to get into the one that starts on 7/7.

[Nomads By Nature]

My Dear "Not Completely Stupid"
Congratulations on knocking your exam (and the haters that preceded said feat) out of the park. Your celebratory picture is inspiring to all under-rated EFMs and should be made into a subculture t-shirt within the FS. Rock on, NCS! Rock on!
Sincerely,
Random EFM

[Anne]

Woohoo!! Big congratulations to you!

[Diplogeek]

Well, I said this on Facebook, but congrats again!

Also, your reading level is now officially better than mine, so I'm going to send anything I need read to you. Wouldn't want you to get out of practice, or anything. Ahem.

*may not have used Skritter once since arriving in China, because she is phenomenally lazy*

[Kristin]

GO YOU!!! That rocks!!!
Chengdu is our 2nd stop so I'm looking forward to reading y'all's adventures there!

[FSOWannabe]

Whoop-Whoop! Congrats!! It's fantastic when hard work pays off!

[Amy]

You rock. As I said on Facebook. I got the same reaction when I wanted to take Serbian and I rocked too. EFMs can do! Thanks for representing us so well!

[Missy]

Congratulations! You are awesome.

BTW, we are now in the DC area (I took a DoD job). Which means I kind of gave up on getting into State, but oh well. Those are da breaks.

I am overwhelmed by your awesome awesomeness with Chinese! Yay!!

[Chelsea]

I know Chinese is probably the last thing you want to hear right now, but gongxi gongxi!!! I don't know how you were able to drink from the firehose for so long, but you did it! The ninja squirrels on the sidebar also look quite awe-struck.

[Heather Dray]

Serious awesomeness! 'nuff said.

[Connie]

So happy for both you and your husband! Great job!!!

[Nomads By Nature]

You are on the weekly round up! You can find the post at http://webtexans.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/the-red-white-and-blue-round-up/. If you have any objections or concerns please let me know! Have a great 4th of July weekend!

[Melissa]

WOOHOO!!! I knew you could do it!! Way to kick some FSI butt!! Congratulations!!